An Unexpected Turn

Kakashi had graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of five.

He had been promoted directly to Jonin at twelve. If he had not suffered those setbacks later on, he might very well have become another Kage-level powerhouse in Konohagakure before the age of twenty, following Minato.

Menma was not that greedy. He did not expect himself to grow into someone with Jonin-level strength over the next six years like Kakashi. That was impossible. Kakashi's rapid growth had come, first, from his own talent, and second, from the life-and-death battles of blood and fire he had endured again and again on the battlefield.

Menma knew full well that he could not have such conditions.

He could only strengthen his foundation as much as possible.

If Jonin was out of reach, then he should at least reach Chunin level.

During this most crucial stage of laying his foundation, every small improvement would have a qualitative impact on the future.

From the beginning of January.

Until the school term began in April.

Menma devoted himself wholeheartedly to Chakra extraction and control training.

When one focused on and immersed oneself in something, time often passed very quickly. What seemed like a long but was actually brief period of more than three months vanished in the blink of an eye, and by the end of March, the first breath of early spring had arrived.

In terms of Chakra usage alone, Menma could already call himself a fledgling ninja.

After all, he could now move at speeds ordinary people could never reach, and leap lightly to astonishing heights.

These were all the results of the careful work Menma had put in over the past three months.

Not just a trickle.

His Chakra surged like a spring. With Menma's talent in this regard, even though the amount of Chakra he could currently extract was not even one percent of his maximum, it already surpassed that of more than half the ninjas in the Shinobi World.

This was one of Menma's greatest assets.

In the Original Work, Kakashi had once said that Naruto had needed to use his Chakra to suppress the Nine-Tails' Chakra in the past. Even so, his Chakra was already four times Kakashi's. Without needing to suppress it, Naruto's Chakra alone would be a hundred times Kakashi's.

Whether Menma was the same as Naruto in the Original Work was impossible to know.

But as a member of the Uzumaki Clan.

Menma's total Chakra reserves could absolutely be measured in several Kakashis.

One percent of his limit!

That was already a terrifying figure.

This is enough for today. Tomorrow is the day I enroll at the Ninja Academy, so I should head back early, get some rest, and prepare for school!

After finishing his training for the day.

Menma stood, stretched lazily, and gazed at the sun that had only just begun to sink in the distance. After roughly estimating the time, he decided to pack up and head straight home.

Although Menma felt that time was pressing!

He still exercised considerable restraint in his training.

The physical strength of humans in this world far surpassed that of humans in his previous life, but Menma was still only a child. He needed to set limits on his training.

The same went for the training itself.

For now, he only conducted the most basic training. Menma would not even consider attempting anything more difficult or complicated. After all, he had only started learning Chakra extraction this year!

Even the common Chakra control exercises—Tree Climbing, Water Walking, and the like—would have to wait!

He was not yet suited for such "high-standard" training.

You had to eat one bite at a time.

And walk one step at a time.

Returning home a little earlier than usual, Menma took a bath, ate dinner, did some meditation training, and went to bed early.

He intended to enjoy a good night's rest and greet his first day at the Ninja Academy tomorrow in the best possible condition.

However, tonight did not seem destined to pass as peacefully as Menma had hoped.

The night sky had completely darkened.

A crescent moon slowly emerged.

Amid the quiet, peaceful atmosphere, his breathing gradually became long and steady, and Menma quietly fell asleep.

It should have been a night that passed in an instant between closing and opening his eyes.

However.

"Drip!"

A clear, pleasant sound of dripping water, from somewhere unknown.

His consciousness jolted awake.

"What is this?"

Menma's eyes flew open. At the first moment, he looked around at the extremely dim space with a trace of confusion.

But only a second later.

Another memory surged into his mind.

It made Menma shudder violently.

This incomparably familiar scene and atmosphere.

Immediately made Menma realize where he was.

"Could this be the world inside my body!?"

Empty, cold, and dark!

And from somewhere not far away came a faint aura that was chilling and immensely dangerous.

There was no need to doubt it!

Menma could now be one hundred percent certain that he had entered the sealing space within his body.

The mental world where that Nine-Tails Fox was sealed!

Does this count as a double blessing?

Menma murmured to himself.

Although this meeting had come much earlier than he had anticipated, Menma was more than happy to meet the strongest of the Tailed Beasts ahead of time.

The Nine-Tails might have seemed no different from a pet in the hands of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, but let someone else try it?

The Nine-Tails would teach them a lesson in minutes.

This was absolutely going to be his greatest source of Combat Power in the future.

Menma strode forward, following the source of that aura which could, for the time being, be called evil.

A long, dark passage.

His low footsteps echoed all around.

He walked straight down the corridor, then turned at a right angle.

Menma arrived before an enormous circular archway. At Close proximity, a dense crimson tide of Chakra that seemed visible to the naked eye slowly flowed out from within.

Menma's small body trembled instinctively.

After he Took a deep breath.

Menma finally stepped forward and strode toward the inside.

After entering.

His field of vision instantly widened.

Even the Light and Shadow seemed to grow slightly brighter.

Giant floor-to-ceiling Metal Bars immediately Appeared before Menma's Eyes.

It looked exactly like a massive prison.

"Rumble!"

Menma's arrival.

Seemed to have provoked the resident of this prison.

A flash of scarlet Light and Shadow suddenly appeared.

A terrifying Chakra aura surged forth, waves rolled up from the ground!

The powerful gust that Rushed towards him.

Made Menma's expression tighten.

"Hehehe, brat, come here. Come a little closer."

The next second.

A low, deeply seductive voice suddenly rang beside Menma's ear.

Menma's expression immediately turned dazed.

His feet moved instinctively, and he slowly approached the distant figure.