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*****
The sunlight spread lazily across the grass as the children of the Konoha Orphanage laughed and played under the watchful eyes of the caregivers.
Although Kabuto Yakushi had departed only the day before yesterday, they were, after all, a group of young children; they quickly reverted to their lively, active natures, and the sounds of joy and laughter soon echoed through the orphanage once more.
Nonō Yakushi leaned against the window of the office, watching the children play outside, a soft smile gracing her lips.
How she wished this moment could last forever.
"Director, are you really leaving?" Behind her, an older female caregiver approached, clutching the edge of her apron with a look of worry.
The night Danzo had come to the door, she, as the Director's assistant, had also been present.
"Yunai, after I leave, I'll have to trouble you and the others to look after the children." Nonō Yakushi turned around, offering a perfectly practiced smile.
The caregiver named Yunai sighed. "We finally managed to get the orphanage running the way it is now."
Much of the orphanage's funding was raised by Nonō herself; it consisted of her own mission rewards as well as the compensation she received for taking Urushi and Kabuto to the front lines to provide medical aid to shinobi.
After all, for ninja like them, aside from earning money through missions, there were few other ways to generate income.
Nonō Yakushi smiled gently at Yunai, reassuring her: "Don't worry, it's only for two or three years, then I'll be back."
"Also, regarding that child Kabuto... I will find a way to bring him back." Nonō Yakushi still held that brilliant boy in her thoughts.
After Yunai left, Nonō Yakushi turned back to the window, watching the children frolicking outside.
The sunlight hitting her face was as warm as her smile.
Suddenly, she noticed a solitary child leaning against a large tree in the distance, cradling something in his hands.
"Menma?" Nonō had a deep affection for this special child. For some reason, on the verge of her departure, she felt a vague sense of unease.
She climbed out through the window and slowly walked toward Menma.
Under the shadow of the great tree, Menma's lonely figure stood in stark contrast to the laughing children in the distance.
"Menma, come and play a game too!" a caregiver shouted toward him, hands on her hips.
"I don't want to play," Menma replied flatly, continuing to fiddle with the object in his hands.
Seeing Menma refuse repeatedly, the caregiver sighed, truly at her wit's end with this child.
She simply let him play by himself, as long as he didn't disappear from her sight.
As Nonō Yakushi reached Menma, she saw clearly what he was holding: a small, dark-red fox figurine. However, the fox's head seemed to be wrapped in cloth, and it wore a tiny fox mask.
"Menma likes dolls like this! Have you given it a name?" Nonō didn't press him on where it came from; the orphanage often received donations from villagers, and it was normal to find broken toys or dolls among them.
Most of the time, the caregivers would repair these dolls themselves.
"Yes." Menma lifted the little fox with both hands to show his foster mother, Nonō Yakushi.
He said seriously: "Nine Masked Beast: Jade." (九面子狐・玉)
Nonō Yakushi looked at the strange doll in bewilderment. Its four paws were black, the tip of its tail was black, and the head was wrapped in cloth. On the white fox mask was the kanji for "Jade."
Nonō assumed a caregiver had simply stitched together parts from two different dolls, so she didn't use chakra to sense or probe it.
"Hey, Menma," Nonō Yakushi knelt down and asked tenderly, "do you have a dream?"
At the moment of parting, she realized she knew the least about Menma, her youngest ward, and had never heard him speak of any aspirations.
"A dream?" Menma pulled back the figurine and lowered his head in thought for a moment.
Once, he wanted to return to the real world.
To that end, he hadn't hesitated to trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War, bringing pain to the "Limited Tsukuyomi" world in exchange for the world's rejection.
Now he was back, yet he had become a person who didn't exist in the original main timeline.
If there was any pressure, it likely came from the weight of the heavens above.
With the Dark Nine-Tails inside him and having just developed "Nine Masked Beast: Jade"—possessing a summon at the level of an elite Jonin—ordinary Kage-level ninja were no longer his match.
Only Uchiha Madara, Nagato in his prime, or Itachi Uchiha still posed a threat.
And then, there was the sealed Otsutsuki Kaguya on the moon.
And the Otsutsuki clan that might descend in twenty years.
Menma looked up at Nonō Yakushi, his small face solemn: "I want a peaceful world without war."
Only without war could the strength of the shinobi world be unified for development.
Or rather, ground-level warfare could no longer satisfy Menma Uzumaki; the enemies he had to face came from beyond the sky!
"A peaceful world without war..." Nonō Yakushi murmured to herself.
She used to think Kabuto was the most precocious of the children, but looking at it now, perhaps Menma was the one.
---
**Late night.** After packing some personal belongings, Nonō Yakushi bid farewell to the caregivers she had worked with for many years.
They were kind-hearted women; some were war orphans themselves, while others had families in Konoha and volunteered occasionally.
But they all held a sincere admiration for Nonō, their Director.
Under their gaze, Nonō Yakushi walked out of the side gate of the orphanage. As she passed the dormitories, she looked through the window at the sleeping children inside one last time.
Then, she vanished into the darkness.
Once she left, there was no telling when she would return.
What Nonō Yakushi failed to notice was that high above the orphanage, Menma—wearing his white three-eyed fox mask—was suspended in the starry sky, quietly watching her depart.
Beside Menma, a female summoned beast wearing a long robe and a fox mask floated silently, cradling the tiny Nine-Tails in her arms. Her silk ribbons unfurled in the night wind like ripples.
This was the "Kumen Supaho: Tennyo" (Celestial Maiden), developed by Menma using the Dark Nine-Tails' chakra.
She possessed the power of flight and used her ribbons for combat.
Her original form was the "Nine Masked Beast: Jade."
As Menma Uzumaki's signature ninjutsu, the *Kumen Supaho* (Nine Masked Beasts) could only be developed in conjunction with Nine-Tails' chakra.
The code names for the Nine Masked Beasts follow the order of: 'Sei, Haku, Shu, Gen, Kū, Nan, Noku, San, Gyoku' (Azure, White, Vermilion, Black, Void, South, North, Three, Jade).
They correspond to: 'Seiryū (Azure Dragon), Byakko (White Tiger), Suzaku (Vermilion Bird), Genbu (Black Tortoise), Kinsha (Golden Snake), Nanto Sennin (Sage of the Southern Dipper), Hokuto Sennin (Sage of the Northern Dipper), Shinigami (Reaper), and Tennyo (Celestial Maiden)'.
The code names of the Nine Masked Beasts were similar to the Akatsuki rankings; each possessed special abilities, with individual combat strength rivaling an elite Jonin. When fighting together, they could erupt with power comparable to a Kage.
"It's time for me to make my move as well." Menma's murmur dissipated into the night wind.
Having watched Nonō Yakushi disappear into the night, he turned and flew toward the towering gates of Konoha.
(End of Chapter)