Goals and Choices

The Uchiha Clan!

A shinobi clan with a history spanning nearly a thousand years, it was unquestionably one of the great noble clans of the Shinobi World. Throughout history, very few shinobi clans had been able to rival the Uchiha Clan, and in the past century, only one or two clans had been worthy of comparison.

After the era of the Five Great Nations began, and the Senju Clan naturally died out for unknown reasons, the Uchiha Clan became the publicly recognized foremost noble clan of the Shinobi World.

Even within Konohagakure, the Hyuga Clan always claimed that their clan was a noble house no weaker than the Uchiha Clan.

But what was the reality?

People from the various shinobi villages saw it as clearly as day.

It could be said that the Uchiha represented power.

Such a clan held immense significance and value for a shinobi village! Setting everything else aside, the Uchiha Clan alone possessed dozens of Three Tomoe Jonin, an absolutely terrifying level of combat power.

That was precisely why higher-ups like Sarutobi Hiruzen feared the Uchiha Clan.

Otherwise, if they had only ten or twenty Jonin, or even fewer, would Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and the others have had any reason to worry!?

If the Uchiha had truly been that weak, the Anbu could have wiped out the Uchiha Clan countless times just by charging in headfirst.

Yet such an Uchiha Clan...

Was destroyed.

The official news released by Konoha was that they had been exterminated by a single person: Itachi Uchiha, the genius of the Uchiha Clan, son of the current Uchiha clan head, only twelve or thirteen years old.

The sole survivor was Sasuke Uchiha, the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha and likewise the son of the Uchiha clan head.

It could be said that this news shook all of Konohagakure.

It also rapidly spread throughout the Shinobi World, drawing the attention of shinobi villages from other nations toward Konohagakure.

How great an impact would the disappearance of such a noble shinobi clan have on Konohagakure?

That was what the major shinobi villages were watching closely.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure in particular had both deployed additional forces along their borders. If an excellent opportunity truly arose...

It was foreseeable that the Two Great Ninja Villages would not let it slip away.

After all, the Third Shinobi War had ended a full seven or eight years ago. The major shinobi villages seemed capable of starting another great war in the Shinobi World!

So long as Konoha gave them an opening.

Thus, during this coming period...

Konoha's higher-ups, led by Sarutobi Hiruzen, would surely have to remain on high alert, with their nerves taut and their minds fully focused as they dealt with every possible test—and perhaps even the storm of war!

But none of that had the slightest thing to do with Menma!

Not to mention that he was thoroughly familiar with the plot of the Original Work and knew that another great war in the Shinobi World could not possibly break out during this period.

Even if one did break out, so what!?

Would Konoha really send a seven-year-old Jinchuriki like him to the front lines!? All he needed to do was focus on his training.

The Uchiha Clan massacre only passed through Menma's mind once before he automatically filtered it out.

Uchiha Sasuke might become a useful partner or someone he could make use of in the future, but that was not something he needed to consider now.

How to Become Stronger in the Shortest Time was his foremost priority!

No longer paying attention to the matter, Menma continued to steadily follow the daily routine he had set for himself. Never neglecting either theory or practice, Menma's performance in this life far surpassed that of the "Naruto Uzumaki" from the Original Work.

Menma eagerly absorbed every scrap of knowledge, while Naruto from the Original Work had grown purely through his talent. It was not that "Naruto Uzumaki" had not worked hard, but the protagonist of that original timeline had merely been working hard with nothing but his talent to rely on.

Like a giant moving forward on only one leg.

Menma was different!

He did not neglect any kind of theoretical knowledge. The Original Work simply had not shown it, but in truth, a shinobi had an ocean of theoretical knowledge to learn!

If the comprehensive evaluation standards had truly been enforced, Naruto Uzumaki would never have graduated in his entire life.

Yet the most important thing for a shinobi was ultimately "individual strength"!!

All other qualities and conditions had to take a back seat!

Menma naturally understood what mattered most, but when he was capable of it, he wanted to develop in every respect!

Wouldn't that make his foundation even more solid!?

Time passed peacefully.

A week later, the Uchiha Clan's second young master—the sole survivor, Sasuke Uchiha—returned to the academy.

He was utterly different from before.

After returning, Uchiha Sasuke carried an icy aura around him.

An extreme coldness was visible upon his face.

This was no longer his previous deliberate attempt to look cool. It was a genuine, fundamental change in his state of mind.

And that was only inevitable.

Having personally witnessed the older brother he respected most murder their parents and slaughter an entire shinobi clan, if he could still remain calm, then he would surely have to be considered seriously mentally unwell!

This is the cruelty of being a shinobi, Sasuke-kun. And this is only the first step of your life!

Menma watched Uchiha Sasuke, whose entire body seemed shrouded in an incomparably gloomy atmosphere, and silently thought to himself.

The destruction of the Uchiha Clan...

Seemed to be nothing more than a small ripple in the course of the Shinobi World.

It was clearly a plot point of vital importance to both Konohagakure and the entire Shinobi World.

Yet as time passed uneventfully...

The waves it had stirred gradually subsided.

Not only did few people in the village continue paying attention to it...

Even the other shinobi villages across the Shinobi World gradually turned their eyes elsewhere.

Naturally, this was inseparable from the efforts of Konohagakure's higher-ups, led by Sarutobi Hiruzen!

But regardless of how the process had unfolded...

The final outcome was still the same as in the Original Work. The Five Great Shinobi Villages did not erupt into another great war in the Shinobi World. There were many complicated reasons for this, but the most critical was that Konohagakure had not appeared overly weakened.

It still seemed to be the foremost shinobi village, capable of overpowering the others!

While the shinobi villages of the various nations feared Konoha's strength, they also had to take their other neighbors' intentions into account. With everyone wary of one another, they naturally lost the best opportunity to start a war.

As for these ripples in the Shinobi World...

Just as before.

Menma did not care in the slightest. Unless these shinobi villages could immediately start a war severe enough to plunge Konohagakure into an enormous crisis, even forcing the battle to the village's very core, it had absolutely nothing to do with Menma!

Menma remained immersed in his training.

At the end of Konoha Year 55, as the third school year was about to begin...

Menma's training entered a brand-new stage.