Chapter 39: First Meeting With Naruto
In the depths of the Iburi Clan’s cave, a ray of sunlight slanted in from the tree hole above, bringing vitality to the lush green seedlings inside the cave.
Gōta brought Yukimi and a total of twenty-five clan members from the Iburi Clan, who had already packed their luggage, preparing to move.
“This is our clan’s resting place.” Gōta squatted down, his fingertips gently stroking a tender green seedling, his voice low.
“Our clan’s Bloodline Limit is extremely unstable. Those who don’t live past twenty-five years will dissipate into smoke without leaving a corpse behind. Therefore, for every clan member who passes away, we plant a seedling here.”
Menma stood quietly behind him. As far as his gaze could reach, this underground space had already grown into a dense small forest.
Yukimi looked at so many newly planted small seedlings and slowly accepted the fact that Tenzo and those children had passed away.
After paying respects to the deceased clan members, Gōta led the clan members to begin moving.
“This passage connects to another cave, which is a backup base our clan has long been excavating.” In the deep passage, Gōta introduced as he walked.
Menma recalled the terrain on the surface and speculated that they were heading toward the heartland of the mountain range.
“I will arrange for people to send you food, medicine, and various supplies.” Menma pondered for a moment: “The organization’s base is still under construction. Wait a while longer before moving there.”
“Everything as Lord commands!” Gōta respectfully replied.
——————
In Konohagakure, in the basement of Menma’s private residence, a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai was suspended upside down in the air.
Whoosh—
Menma appeared out of thin air, dispelling the Transformation Jutsu and reverting to his original child form.
In the Limited Tsukuyomi World, the first S-rank ninjutsu he learned was the Flying Thunder God Technique taught by Minato Namikaze.
Thanks to the Uzumaki Clan’s physique, the massive chakra allowed Menma to perform ultra-long-distance Flying Thunder God teleportation.
“Territory… territory…” After returning home, Menma frowned in thought as he walked out of the basement along the stairs.
In the Limited Tsukuyomi World, he had single-handedly swept through the Ninja World, creating the legend of one man battling the eighty-thousand-strong Shinobi Alliance, yet he had never thought of creating his own organization or managing a territory.
Because he knew that world was false—no Uchiha Madara, no Zetsu, no threat from Kaguya Otsutsuki, and no enemies from the depths of outer space.
He felt the world’s rejection every moment.
After returning to this world, although Menma still had some unreal illusions, his body was no longer experiencing rejection.
He had subdued Kakuzu and Kado, and made the Iburi Clan serve him. The organization’s prototype was taking shape, and it was time to establish his own sphere of influence.
After all, this world was not like the Limited Tsukuyomi World. Behind the Akatsuki here were Obito and Zetsu; the deceased Uchiha Madara had left behind plans for revival; and on the moon was the sealed Kaguya Otsutsuki.
In the depths of the universe, the Otsutsuki Clan was searching everywhere for this planet.
Having a powerful organization to unify the entire Ninja World would allow the maximum integration of the Ninja World’s resources and chakra.
Moreover, as a person from China in his previous life, Menma had deeply ingrained ideas of great unification.
“Young Master.” In the courtyard, Kina and Yuka, the two women, were hanging clothes to dry and sweeping fallen leaves.
“No need to prepare my dinner tonight.” After instructing them, Menma headed straight to the study room.
“Yes, Young Master.” The two women slightly bowed.
Young Master Menma would occasionally wander and play in the village, finding food outside, and the two women were already used to it. This way, they could return home early to reunite with their families.
In the study room, Menma pulled out a map of the Ninja World, spread it on the desk, and scrutinized the Ninja World map.
‘The countries on the east side of the continent are not very suitable, squeezed between the Land of Fire, Land of Lightning, and Land of Water—narrow territory, scarce resources, basically all controlled by the great nations. Development would inevitably lead to fierce conflicts with these three countries, not suitable for early development.’
‘The north side of the continent is the Land of Iron, with eternal snow and harsh environment…’
‘The central continent has many small and medium-sized countries, but squeezed between the Land of Fire, Land of Wind, and Land of Earth, with the Land of Rain having the Akatsuki, it’s the most chaotic region on the continent, also not suitable for development.’
‘Then only the west side…’
Finally, his gaze locked on the western part of the Ninja World.
‘Land of Demons, Land of Bears, Land of Shadows, Land of Snow, Land of Swamps—their territories combined are comparable to the Land of Lightning and Land of Water. The Land of Demons has Mōryō monsters, the Land of Bears has Hoshigakure, the Land of Snow has relatively developed heavy industry, and the Land of Shadows and Land of Swamps have vast agricultural resources. Integrating the resources of these countries can complement each other’s shortcomings.’
These were all medium-sized countries, with scattered territory and population, but with value for integration.
And in the crevices between these countries, there were some very small nations—perhaps just one island or one city, with few people and small territory, which could be directly skipped.
While Menma was looking at the map and pondering, preparing to send a command to Kado, a small hand covered the map.
“Hey hey, Menma, let’s go eat something delicious.” The delicate, porcelain-doll-like little Nine-Tails sprawled on the map, her eyes full of expectation as she looked at Menma, her nine fox tails wagging happily like a puppy’s.
“I really can’t do anything with you. Alright, let’s go eat Ichiraku Ramen.” Menma indulgently patted the little Nine-Tails’ head.
He put away the map,
“Yay!” The little Nine-Tails cheered joyfully and jumped onto Menma’s shoulder.
Menma put away the map, took out a scarf and tied it around himself, so the little Nine-Tails could hide in the scarf and observe this world.
——————
“Is that the guy?!”
“Yeah, that’s him, that… that…”
“So disgusting… Why let a monster like that stay in the village?!”
“He caused the Fourth’s death…”
“Shh… Keep it down…”
Three-year-old Naruto walked alone on the street, the bursts of whispers amid the bustling crowd like kunai stabbing deeply into his young heart.
Every gaze was filled with hatred, every murmur carried malice.
The young Naruto didn’t know why everyone discriminated against him. From as far back as he could remember, he had lived in isolation and malice.
No one wanted to play with him, no one wanted to talk to him, not even shop bosses wanted to sell him anything.
The women once responsible for caring for Naruto had changed several times due to their disgust for him, and in the end, the three-year-old Naruto had to start living alone.
The gazes and whispers around him made Naruto’s heart even more painful, and he started running quickly, wanting to escape this world.
Bang!
Naruto, running with his head down without looking ahead, bumped into a figure.
Sitting on the ground after the collision, Naruto opened his eyes and saw a small boy about his own age, leisurely eating dango.
“Hey, kid, didn’t your mom tell you to say sorry when you bump into someone?” Menma chewed on the dango in his mouth, not expecting to meet his brother in such a scene.
“Sor… sorry…” Naruto raised his head and murmured: “I don’t have a mom…”
“What a coincidence, I don’t have a mom either.” Menma casually made a hellish joke.
Naruto stared at him blankly, an inexplicable sense of closeness surging in his heart.
“Then as an apology, treat me to ramen.” Menma pointed to the nearby Ichiraku Ramen Shop.
Naruto’s eyes widened: “Huh?”
