Nine Mask Svāhā

Sunlight lazily spread across the grass as the children of the Konoha Orphanage laughed and played on the lawn before the building under the caretakers' watch.

Although Yakushi Kabuto had only left two days ago, they were still just children. They quickly returned to their lively, restless natures, and laughter soon echoed through the Orphanage once more.

Yakushi Nonō leaned against the window of her office, watching the children outside laughing and playing, a gentle smile appearing on her face.

How she wished this moment could last forever.

"Director, are you really leaving?" An older female caretaker approached from behind, clutching the edge of her apron, her face full of worry.

That night, when Danzo had come to the door, she had been there as the director's assistant.

"Yunnai, after I leave, I'll have to entrust the children to all of you." Yakushi Nonō turned around with a perfectly measured smile.

The caretaker named Yunnai sighed. "You worked so hard to build the Orphanage into what it is today."

Much of the Orphanage's funding had been raised by Yakushi Nonō. Some came from her own mission rewards, while some came from the payment she earned by taking Aqi and Kabuto to the front lines to provide medical aid for shinobi.

After all, aside from taking missions to earn money, shinobi like them could hardly think of any other way to make it.

Yakushi Nonō gave Yunnai a gentle smile and comforted her. "Don't worry. I'll be back in two or three years at most."

"And Kabuto... I'll find a way to bring him back." Yakushi Nonō was still thinking of that clever child.

After Yunnai left, Yakushi Nonō turned back to the window and continued watching the children playing outside.

Sunlight fell across her face, as warm as her smile.

Suddenly, Yakushi Nonō spotted a lonely child leaning against a large tree in the distance, holding something in his hands.

"Menma?" Yakushi Nonō also held deep affection for this special child. For some reason, as her departure drew near, she could not shake the faint sense of unease in her heart.

She rose, climbed out through the window, and slowly walked toward Menma.

Under the tree's shadow, Menma's lonely figure stood starkly apart from the children laughing and playing in the distance.

"Menma, come play games too!" a caretaker called, hands on her hips.

"I don't want to play." Menma merely replied flatly, then continued fiddling with the thing in his hands.

Seeing Menma refuse again and again, the caretaker sighed. She truly had no idea what to do with this child.

She simply let him play by himself nearby, as long as he did not disappear from her sight.

Yakushi Nonō slowly walked up to Menma and finally saw clearly what he was holding: a dark red little fox. Its head seemed to be wrapped in cloth, and it wore a Fox Mask.

"Menma likes dolls like this? Did you give it a name?" Yakushi Nonō did not ask where it had come from. The Orphanage often accepted donations from villagers, so it was perfectly normal for there to be damaged dolls and such.

Most of the time, the caretakers repaired those toys.

"Mm." Menma lifted the little fox in both hands to show his adoptive mother, Yakushi Nonō.

Then he said seriously, "Nine Masked Fox Cub, Jade."

Yakushi Nonō stared in surprise at the strange doll. Its four paws were black, as was the tip of its tail. Its head looked as though it had been wrapped in cloth, and the white Fox Mask bore the character "Jade."

Yakushi Nonō only assumed that a caretaker had pieced it together from two different dolls, so she did not use chakra to sense or examine it.

"Say, Menma." Yakushi Nonō crouched down and gently asked, "Do you have a dream?"

As their parting approached, she realized that she seemed to know the least about Menma, the youngest child. She had never heard him speak of any dream, either.

"A dream?" Menma drew Nine Masked Fox Cub: Jade back into his arms and lowered his head in thought for a moment.

Once, he had wanted to return to the real world.

For that, he had not hesitated to provoke the Fourth Shinobi World War, bringing pain to the Shinobi World of the Limited Tsukuyomi World in exchange for the world's rejection.

Now that he had returned, he had also become someone who did not exist in the original main world.

If there was any pressure on him, it probably came from the oppressive feeling above the heavens.

With Dark Kurama within him, he had now developed Nine Masked Fox Cub: Jade, gaining an Elite Jonin-level summoned beast. Ordinary Kage-level shinobi were no longer his match.

Only Uchiha Madara, Nagato at his peak, and Itachi Uchiha still posed some threat to him.

Then there was Otsutsuki Kaguya, sealed within the moon.

And the Otsutsuki Clan, who might descend twenty years from now.

Menma raised his head and looked at Yakushi Nonō, his little face grave. "I want a peaceful world without war."

Only without war could the Shinobi World's strength be unified and developed.

Or perhaps wars on the ground could no longer satisfy Uzumaki Menma. The enemies he had to face came from beyond the sky!

"A peaceful world without war..." Yakushi Nonō murmured.

She had once thought Kabuto was the most mature among these children. Now, it seemed that perhaps Menma was the most mature one.

Late that night, after packing some personal belongings, Yakushi Nonō bid farewell to several caretakers who had worked alongside her for many years.

They were all kindhearted women. Some were also war orphans, while others had families in Konoha and occasionally came to help as volunteers.

But they all sincerely admired Yakushi Nonō, their director.

Under their watchful gazes, Yakushi Nonō left the Orphanage through a side door. As she passed the dormitory where the children slept, she looked through the window at the children sleeping soundly inside.

Then she vanished into the darkness.

Who knew how long it would be before she could return?

What Yakushi Nonō did not notice was that above the Orphanage, Menma wore a White Three-Eyed Fox Mask as he floated beneath the starry sky, silently watching Yakushi Nonō depart.

Beside Menma floated a female summoned beast wearing a long robe and a Fox Mask. She silently drifted through the air with Little Nine-Tails in her arms, her ribbons unfurling like ripples in the night wind.

This was Nine Mask Svāhā: Celestial Maiden, developed by Menma using Dark Kurama's chakra.

She possessed the ability to float and could fight using ribbons.

Her true form was Nine Masked Fox Cub: Jade.

As Uzumaki Menma's signature ninjutsu, Nine Mask Svāhā could only be developed in conjunction with Nine-Tails chakra.

The Nine Masked Beasts' codenames were arranged in the order: "Ao, Haku, Vermilion, Black, Void, South, North, Three, Jade."

They corresponded to "Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Golden Snake, Southern Dipper Sage, Northern Dipper Sage, Grim Reaper, Celestial Maiden."

The Nine Masked Beasts' codenames were arranged similarly to the Akatsuki. Each possessed special abilities, and each rivaled an Elite Jonin in individual combat. When all nine fought together, they could unleash power comparable to the Kage level.

"I should start making my move too." Menma's murmur scattered in the night wind.

After watching Yakushi Nonō disappear into the night, he turned and flew toward Konoha's towering gates.