Naruto: I'm in Konoha, my name is Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 326 You might really die here today.

Under the influence of "Shona Bikuna", Jigen's true form shrank to a level almost like dust, hiding in the gaps between the air and the rain curtain.

He thought this would be enough to temporarily shake off the enemy's pursuit and buy him some time to observe them or launch a surprise attack.

However, Mianma's gaze pierced through the layers of rain and fixed firmly on Cixian's hidden spot.

Feeling that ever-present, inescapable gaze, Cixian's last shred of hope vanished completely.

He de-shrunk, his body returning to its original size in mid-air, gracefully hovering there, facing Menma from afar.

His expression was extremely puzzled and solemn. Slowly, as if pacing on a stage, he took a few steps closer to Menma, his voice still trying to maintain the elegance characteristic of Isshiki Otsutsuki:

"It seems you have more secrets hidden than I imagined." His gaze swept over Menma like a scanner: "Byakugan... Sharingan... and now this Nine-Tails chakra of unknown origin. I'm very curious, where did this 'Nine-Tails' of yours come from? Logically speaking, the Nine-Tails should still be sealed inside the Jinchuriki of Konoha."

Menma keenly noticed that Jigen was talking more than before.

This usually means that the other party is preparing to use their true trump card.

This was exactly the result he wanted.

"Little Nine, get ready, a big meal might be served soon," Mianma transmitted to Dark Nine-Tailed Fox via their mental link.

At this moment, deep within Menma's mental world, it is not a dark sewer like Naruto's, but a vast and boundless grassland full of life.

The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the grass beneath my feet was soft and green.

In the center of this grassland, a Dark Nine-Tails, far larger than 'Kurama', with dark red chakra wrapped around its body and ten tails dancing wildly behind it, was lying lazily.

Upon hearing Mianma's call, Xiao Jiu's ruby-like beast eyes snapped open, flashing with excitement and greed.

Its enormous body stood upright, its ten tails thrashing excitedly in the air like mad snakes, emitting a deafening cheer: "Yay! Mianma is the best!"

In the real world, Menma remained silent in the face of Jigen's inquiry, but the dark red Nine-Tails chakra around him surged even more fiercely like burning flames, his posture of being ready for battle was self-evident.

Seeing this, Cixian knew that trying to extract information from the other party was futile.

He no longer hesitated, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.

For the sake of my grand plan, this guy absolutely cannot be allowed to live!
The next moment, the space behind Cixian rippled.

A circular vortex, deep and dark at its center and radiating a dark red light from its periphery, appeared out of thin air.

A powerful suction force emanated from it, instantly engulfing Cixian's figure. Then, the spacetime vortex rapidly contracted and disappeared, as if it had never existed.

The battlefield, devoid of the roar and chakra clashes of two powerful ninjas, instantly fell into an eerie and unsettling silence.

Only the sound of rain washing over the ruins, and the faint cries and calls for help from afar, proved that time was still passing.

On the ground, Yahiko, along with Akatsuki members, Vanilla Uzumaki, and some Amegakure ninja who had arrived, were racing against time to rescue the wounded.

Vanilla manipulated two dazzling golden chakra chains, carefully lifting and moving the heavy, collapsed building components.

Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, and the others immediately rushed forward to rescue the survivors trapped underneath and provided emergency treatment and evacuation.

After confirming that Jigen had indeed disappeared, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato exchanged glances, suppressing their grief, and immediately went to Hanzo's body.

Hanzo's body was still supported by those cold black chakra rods, hanging in mid-air, maintaining the tragic posture he had when he died in battle.

Yahiko and Konan carefully began trying to remove the black rods, preparing to properly preserve the former hero of Amegakure.

But to their surprise, they discovered that these mysterious black rods had the effect of interfering with their chakra, causing Yahiko and Konan to withdraw their hands as if stung.

"Nagato, watch out!" Yahiko called out to stop Nagato as he tried to touch the strange black rods.

But when Nagato gently touched one of the black chakra rods piercing Hanzo's chest, nothing happened.

“This is…” Konan murmured, looking up at Nagato in surprise.

Beneath Nagato's bangs, the purple ripples in his Rinnegan seemed to be trying to sense and analyze the Yin-Yang Release power contained within the black rod.

A strange realization, like a seed, quietly took root in his heart, plunging him into deep thought.

Yahiko raised his head and looked at Menma, who was still suspended in the air and seemed to be sensing something with his eyes closed. His voice was filled with uncertainty and expectation as he asked loudly, "Menma! That enemy... did he escape?"

Menma slowly opened his eyes, shook his head slightly, and said in a condescending voice, "No, he only left temporarily to retrieve some of his power."

His tone was calm, and he then reminded Yahiko and the others, "You'd better move faster, because the upcoming battle... might have a wider impact."

"Even bigger?!" Upon hearing this, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato all trembled involuntarily!
Yahiko looked around and saw only ruins, scorched earth, and bloodstains. The once prosperous northern area of ​​Amegakure had been almost wiped off the map.

The battle that caused such a terrible scene wasn't even fought with full force?
An indescribable chill rose up my spine.

Yahiko couldn't help but look up again at Menma in the air and ask the question that had been lingering in his mind for so long: "Menma! Who exactly is that person? Why...why are you fighting such a brutal battle? If possible, isn't there...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Mianma interrupted him.

"Yahiko, you're too naive. He's not the 'human' you think he is." Menma's gaze swept over the busy rescue figures below, his tone carrying a rare solemnity.

Do you think an eagle soaring in the sky would care about the grudges and feuds between ants in an anthill below, or try to understand their thoughts?

This metaphor stunned Yahiko instantly, a harsh sense of reality washing over him.

Menma pondered for a moment, feeling it necessary to prepare these young people, who harbored ideals but knew nothing about the truth of the world, for the harsh realities of the future.

He continued, "For the Otsutsuki clan, this planet is nothing more than a resource point they stumbled upon on their long journey, an ant nest by the roadside."

He paused, then emphasized, "And this is one of the underlying reasons for the millennia-long war in the ninja world that I mentioned to you before. They are invaders of all living beings on the entire planet."

Menma's gaze fell on Yahiko again, with an almost cruel foresight: "You want to protect more people, you want to achieve your so-called peace. Then you must be prepared. In the future, you will face more and more powerful 'Otsutsuki' invaders."

"More... intruders like him?!" Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato murmured, their hair standing on end.

One person alone nearly destroyed half of Amegakure, and even Hanzo of the Salamander, hailed as a "demigod of the ninja world," was instantly killed without any resistance. And this isn't just one enemy; will more appear in the future?!
Just then, Mianma's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"found it."

He muttered to himself, and then, in an instant, he vanished from the spot without leaving a trace.

In the shadow of a collapsed building below, a white Zetsu, almost blending into its surroundings, slowly peeked half its head out from a crack in the wall.

It quickly transmitted the horrifying information it had just heard about "Otsutsuki" and "planet invaders" through its roots, which were connected to a special network of underground plants, in the form of chakra fluctuations.

After doing all this, it quietly retreated into the shadows, as if it had never existed.

Meanwhile, in a different dimension completely different from the ninja world.

There is no distinction between sky and earth here; all around is a void of darkness, with only a huge altar in the center emitting a faint light.

Beneath the altar, a colossal beast is imprisoned.

It has a seven-tomoe Rinnegan, ten tails firmly pinned down by huge black chakra rods and chains, and a huge mouth full of sharp teeth, which is now emitting a howl full of pain and violence.

This is the second Ten-Tails that Jigen controls!
Cixian's figure stepped out from the dark red vortex of time and space and floated in the center of the altar.

He greedily inhaled the rich Ten-Tails chakra in this space.

The Ten-Tails seemed to sense his arrival and struggled even more violently, its single, enormous mouth roaring towards Jigen's direction.

Jigen raised his right hand, covered with black wedge-shaped markings, and looked down at the imprisoned Ten-Tails. His tone was calm, with a domineering indifference: "I'm sorry, I originally intended to save your chakra for the crucial moment of dealing with that woman... However, now there is a troublesome enemy outside, and I urgently need your power."

Before he finished speaking, the "Karma" on his right hand emitted a huge suction force and began to frantically draw out the Ten-Tails' chakra!

"Roar--!!!"

The Ten-Tails let out an even more shrill and painful roar, its massive body convulsing and struggling violently, but the black chakra rods and chains piercing its body tightly restrained it, preventing it from resisting this plunder.

A massive amount of dark red, violent chakra surged into Jigen's body like a torrent!
The black wedge-shaped patterns on his body expanded and spread rapidly at a visible speed, becoming more complex.

The wounds on his abdomen from before he was paralyzed by the surging chakra healed rapidly.

An even more noticeable change appeared on his forehead, where a white, horn-like bone structure slowly grew and became prominent!
In the process, his appearance gradually lost the biological characteristics of Jigen and regained some of the majesty and coldness that belonged to the original form of Otsutsuki Isshiki.

He closed his eyes, feeling the abundance and pleasure of chakra, and couldn't help but curl a predator's smile at the corner of his mouth.

However, just as he was immersed in the wonderful feeling of increased power, at the moment when his mind was most relaxed.

call out--!
A sharp whistling sound rang out behind him without warning!
Cixian's smile froze instantly, and his pupils shrank!

He didn't even have time to turn around; he only had time to instinctively gather the chakra he had just absorbed behind him to form a rudimentary defense.

boom--! ! !
A powerful spinning kick landed squarely on his back!

Menma's figure appeared behind Jigen without warning!

This strike was fast, fierce, and accurate!
The timing was absolutely perfect!

They seized the moment when Jigen was most relaxed after absorbing the Ten-Tails' chakra!

"Ugh!" Cixian let out a painful groan. The immense force propelled him forward like a cannonball, sending him flying uncontrollably. With a loud "boom," he crashed into the wall next to the altar, which was covered with various strange emblems!
It crashed heavily into the wall opposite the altar, which was covered with various emblems of the Otsutsuki clan!

On the wall, the emblems representing different members of the Otsutsuki clan shimmered with a faint light.

The emblem of Isshiki was at the top, and below him was the emblem of Kaguya Otsutsuki, whom he hated to the core!
The violent impact caused tiny cracks to appear in the walls. Cixian slid to the ground in a disheveled state. He abruptly raised his head, staring at the uninvited guest who had somehow managed to track him down to this absolutely hidden alternate dimension. His face was filled with shock, anger, and disbelief, and he let out a distorted roar:
"How could you possibly be here?!"

After Mianma landed a successful blow, he did not rush to pursue the attack.

His gaze first swept to the Ten-Tails below the altar, which was tightly bound by countless black chakra rods and chains.

The most striking feature of this behemoth is the enormous single eye in the center of its head, which resembles the Rinnegan but has seven tomoe slowly rotating within its pupil!
Seemingly sensing Menma's undisguised greedy gaze, the Ten-Tails let out an even more violent and threatening roar, its massive body struggling wildly, causing the chains binding it to creak and groan under the strain.

Menma's gaze briefly met that seven-tomoe Rinnegan, and a look of understanding flashed in his eyes.

At the same time, his right hand pressed lightly against the cold stone wall of the altar without leaving a trace, and an extremely tiny Flying Thunder God Technique mark was quietly imprinted on it.

Just as Menma was observing the Ten-Tails, Jigen, who had been kicked away and crashed into the wall in a sorry state, was already furious!
He endured the excruciating pain in his back, his eyes blazing with killing intent, and without hesitation, he poured his chakra into the wall behind him that was covered with the emblem of the Otsutsuki clan!

Om-!
On the wall, those ancient and mysterious emblems seemed to be infused with life, suddenly shining with dazzling light!

Especially the emblem of Kaguya Otsutsuki located below the standard emblem, as well as the other emblems representing members of the Otsutsuki clan such as Momoshiki and Urashiki, shone the brightest!
The next moment, several ethereal figures made of pure chakra suddenly appeared on the altar!

Kaguya's phantom had snow-white hair, a cold face, and two horns on her forehead; Momoshiki's phantom was arrogant, the Rinnegan in his hand radiating a greedy light; Urashiki's phantom wore a sinister smile and held a red chakra fishing rod...

The moment these activated phantom emblems appeared, they acted like programmed guards, locking onto the only outsider on the altar.

They simultaneously raised their hands, either releasing the All-Killing Ash Bones, condensing a black chakra sphere that devours everything, or throwing out strange fishhooks, attacking Menma from all directions!

Its attacks are fierce, though not as powerful as its true form, they are still extremely dangerous!

Faced with the combined attack of several phantom Otsutsuki warriors, Menma's eyes narrowed, but he did not choose to confront them head-on.

Chakra erupted beneath his feet, and he retreated rapidly, his movements fluid and swift, easily dodging the attack range of all the phantoms and landing steadily outside the altar area.

The moment he stepped out of the altar's boundary, the phantoms activated by the emblems seemed to lose their energy support, instantly becoming blurry and transparent, and finally dissipating into the air like shattered bubbles. The altar returned to silence, with only the emblems on the wall still retaining a faint glow.

Menma stood at a safe distance, brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, and looked up at Jigen, whose face was terribly gloomy as he had just stood up from the wall. His tone carried a hint of mockery:

"So, this is your last resort? Your 'treasure'?"

He shook his head, his eyes narrowing slightly: "However, if it's only this bad... you might really die here today."

(End of this chapter)