Chapter 60: Menma’s Ambition: Ending This Era!
Outside Uzu Village, twenty kilometers out at sea, near the Land of Waves, a small fishing boat bobbed like a leaf on the waves in this stretch of ocean.
The old fisherman on the boat cast his net into the sea, then sat cross-legged at the bow, took out a pipe, and quietly waited.
When passing fish bumped into the net and couldn’t break free, after a suitable time, he would pull the net back up. Repeating this a few times, if lucky, he could catch some precious fish species and sell them for a good price at the fish market, adding some oil to his meager life.
But most of the time, it was just ordinary fish, maybe not even enough for a family’s meals.
It could be said he completely relied on the heavens and the sea for his meals.
The waters where he was had few visitors. It was said that the small island in the distance had once been a ninja nation, later destroyed for some unknown reason, becoming a pirate stronghold.
The old fisherman only dared to fish on the edges, not venturing too deep.
He stuffed some low-quality scrap tobacco into the pipe, lit it, and began puffing clouds of smoke.
Suddenly, a sea breeze blew, knocking off his straw hat.
“Strange, the weather doesn’t look like it’s about to change.” The little old man looked toward the horizon where sea and sky met, seeing no signs of an approaching storm. The sky was sunny, the sea surface calm with gentle waves, and a flock of seagulls flew in the distance.
But suddenly, the little old man saw the flock of seagulls as if they had spotted something terrifying, panicking and scattering in all directions.
The little old man sensed something was wrong, stood up on the boat, and looked around.
The next moment!
The slaughter of two massive creatures on a distant small island appeared before his eyes, shocking this little old man who had never left the Land of Waves in his life so much that the pipe fell from his hand.
Splash—
A surging wave came from the direction of the two monsters’ fight. The little old man gripped the gunwale desperately with one hand while forcefully pulling in the net with the other.
Even though the fishing boat might capsize in the waves at any moment, he dared not let go.
After enduring great peril and finally returning to the Land of Waves, the little old man acted like a madman, his whole person dazed and lost in soul, telling everyone he met that he had seen a battle between a deity and a fox demon!
Some nosy people grinningly asked him for specific details and the location, but the little old man looked panicked and claimed he dared not reveal it, fearing punishment from the deity.
This drew laughter from the passersby.
——————
The small island where Uzu Village was located.
After a fierce battle, the entire island was beaten into collapse, shattered and fragmented.
Most of the forest on the island was destroyed, with several deep pits on the ground looking terrifying and hideous.
The former Uzu Village Ruins were also completely destroyed in this battle.
On the beach dyed yellow by the setting sun, Uchiha Hikari hugged her knees, sitting under a big tree that had not yet been toppled, staring blankly at the sun sinking below the sea horizon.
Beside her, Menma lay spread-eagled on the beach, stretching out his limbs, letting the dusk cover his body.
Uchiha Hikari brushed aside her long hair tousled by the sea wind, her black pupils reflecting the boy’s silhouette, her face full of curiosity: “The power you possess far surpasses mine. It’s already enough to destroy the entire Ninja World, right? Why do you still need my power?”
This battle had lasted the entire day. Her body, restrained by seals for hundreds of years, had its joints stretched, and the pent-up frustration and dark negative emotions sealed for centuries were vented.
Her whole person felt incredibly refreshed.
“This power is still far from being able to dominate the Ninja World.” Menma placed his hands behind his head. He was all too clear about how many strong practitioners there were in this Ninja World.
He could overpower the Raiden AB combo, but Akatsuki’s Nagato, Obito with Kamui, and Uchiha Madara who had left contingencies all posed threats to him.
As for the mere Itachi Uchiha.
On the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, Menma was prepared to give him a “big gift.”
“My enemies are not just in the Ninja World.” Menma looked up at the bright moon already appearing on the horizon: “They come from above the dome.”
“Moreover, why destroy the Ninja World?” Menma turned his head to look at the girl beside him. The fresh, youthful fragrance from her nose tip tickled his heart.
This time, it was Uchiha Hikari’s turn to look puzzled: “Don’t you want to destroy the Ninja World?”
For Uchiha Hikari, who had not received formal education and had been raised as a war weapon from a young age, power was meant for destruction! For devastation!
Menma sat up on the beach and said seriously to Uchiha Hikari: “What I want to destroy are the twenty-plus countries including the Five Great Nations, and their ninja villages.”
“My goal is to establish a brand-new country where ninjas and ordinary people live together, eliminating class and discrimination! Then destroy the twenty-plus countries including the Five Great Nations, unifying the Ninja World!”
“With no other countries left, there will be no more wars between humans. Ninjas’ power will no longer be just for slaughter, but for construction and development; people can live in peace and contentment, children can receive better education, grow up safely and happily, not like in the Warring States Period and now, being sent to the battlefield as killing tools at a few years old.”
“To the ninjas and nobles of this era, I am indeed destroying their world, but I will create a brand-new era!”
“An era where everyone can walk in the sunlight, free from war and man-made disasters!”
“To establish such a new era, my power alone is far from enough, so I am seeking people who recognize my ideals, recruiting some subordinates willing to follow me.”
“So, I need you!” Menma stood up from the beach and extended his hand to Uchiha Hikari.
“Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Uzumaki Menma.” The setting sun plated Menma’s silhouette with a golden edge.
Uchiha Hikari looked up at the boy standing before her and that hand, her cheeks flushing slightly.
‘Needs me…’ She had never felt such a sense of being needed and valued.
Moreover, the feeling Menma gave her was different from the Uchiha clansmen who both dreaded her power and exploited it.
He truly saw her as a companion, a friend, valued her feelings, and was willing to sit with her under the setting sun watching the dusk in a daze.
Thinking of those clansmen who had imprisoned her and raised her as a war weapon for exploitation, Uchiha Hikari lowered her head slightly, her mood downcast: “I… have no name. The clansmen all call me Nameless…”
“You have a name!” Menma’s gentle yet firm words startled Uchiha Hikari, and she lifted her head to look at the boy before her.
“I know. You’re called Uchiha Hikari!” Menma softly spoke that nearly forgotten name.
“Light…” The deepest memories of Uchiha Hikari were awakened, and her parents’ blurry faces also appeared in her mind.
The message her parents had when naming her also traversed hundreds of years of time, echoing in her ears.
‘Hope she can walk out of the darkness, toward the light…’
“Why… why do you know…” Recalling her parents’ appearances, two lines of clear tears suddenly fell from Uchiha Hikari’s eyes.
“The Ninja World holds no secrets from me.” Menma’s hand remained extended before the crying girl.
Uchiha Hikari wiped away her tears and tremblingly reached out with both hands, tightly grasping Menma’s hand.
She was then firmly pulled up by Menma.
“Hello, my name is Uchiha Hikari!” Uchiha Hikari stood before Menma, blooming into a smile, teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes.
The sea wind carried her vow: “Even if you stand against the entire Ninja World, I will forever, forever stand by your side!”
