I'm Here to Deliver Local Specialties!

The central mountain range of the Land of Lightning was shrouded in clouds and mist.

A rugged mountain road wound upward through the peaks, where a merchant caravan of more than a dozen carriages moved slowly along.

The surrounding peaks were steep and treacherous, the climate damp, and the area blanketed in dense fog year-round. Anyone unfamiliar with the terrain could easily lose their way.

"Oi, kid, we're almost at Kumogakure!" Joey, a dark-skinned merchant, called from atop one of the carriages.

His eyes were slightly vacant as he looked toward the black-haired boy lying on the carriage roof, fiddling with a little fox.

The little fox wore a mask over its head, with the character for "three" printed on its forehead.

"Thanks, Uncle Joey." Menma put away the Nine Masked Fox Cub and flipped down from the carriage.

This caravan was made up of several small merchant groups. Since Kumogakure lay deep within the central mountain range of the Land of Lightning, surrounded by perilous terrain and veiled in clouds and mist, outsiders had a hard time finding it.

Thus, Menma had used a Gato Company trade route to find a small caravan headed for Kumogakure and placed its leader under genjutsu control.

Before long, the caravan arrived at Kumogakure's main entrance.

Two Cloud Village shinobi stood guard there, registering both civilians and shinobi entering and leaving the village.

Menma jumped down from the carriage and gazed toward Kumogakure, hidden among the clouds.

Between the mist-covered mountain peaks, oval platforms had been built along the slopes, wrapping around the mountains and forming a highly distinctive cluster of buildings.

The villagers mostly lived inside those oval structures as well.

Farther away, a gourd-shaped building hanging upside down could vaguely be seen emerging and vanishing amid the thick fog.

"What's your name? What are you doing in Kumogakure?" A guard's voice interrupted Menma's observations.

"My name is Danzo. I don't have a surname." Menma grinned, disguising himself with Naruto's cheerful personality.

After all, Lord Pot Kage would not mind taking on a few more accusations.

He pointed his thumb toward the merchant behind him and said, "I'm accompanying Uncle Joey to sell goods from the Land of Tea this time. While I'm here, I also want to thank a Cloud Village shinobi who helped me."

"Danzo?" One of the Cloud Village shinobi quickly sketched Menma's likeness and registered him.

"What's the name of the shinobi you want to thank? Or do you know any distinguishing features? I might know him." The other Cloud Village shinobi had developed a favorable impression of this kid who kept saying he wanted to thank a Cloud Village shinobi.

"Uh, he looked kind of fierce, had dark skin, and wore bandages around his head," Menma recalled before answering.

The gate shinobi shook his head helplessly at that description. "I'm afraid that's going to make him hard to find. Plenty of people in Kumogakure dress like that."

"That's fine. I brought some local specialties from my hometown. If I can't find him, I'll just give them away at random." Menma pointed at the carriages behind him.

The Cloud Village guards at the entrance did not investigate further. After registering them, they allowed the caravan through.

Once inside Kumogakure, Menma separated from the caravan and headed toward the Raikage Building as if he knew the way by heart.

He had traveled across the Shinobi World for many years in the Limited Tsukuyomi World and had visited many hidden villages. Most of Kumogakure's roads and buildings were nearly identical to those in his memories.

Yo~ yo~ yo~ yo~ yo~

As he climbed a staircase toward one of the platforms, music drifted down from above.

"No way, what a coincidence?" Menma's expression twitched.

"Started training in the morning~ now I'm starving~"

"This rapping master's favorite thing~"

"For lunch, I'm having chicken sukiyaki~"

"Yesh! Yesh! Yesh!"

When Menma reached the large platform, he saw Killer B standing on a raised stage, holding a microphone and rapping at the top of his lungs.

Two Cloud Village shinobi beside him forced smiles as they clapped along.

The surrounding villagers whispered among themselves and did their best to take detours around the area.

"Back in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, Killer B was an incredibly popular singer." Listening to Killer B's hopelessly off-key rap, Menma found himself missing the Killer B from the Limited Tsukuyomi World.

"Hey, hey~ yo~ that kid over there~"

"Is this your first time in Kumogakure? Yo~"

Perhaps drawn by the Tailed Beast, Killer B suddenly noticed Menma in the distance. His gaze behind his sunglasses locked onto him as he called out loudly.

The two Cloud Village shinobi with Killer B also looked over. Upon seeing an unfamiliar face, both immediately became wary.

"Hello. I'm a merchant from the Land of Tea. I brought some local specialties because I wanted to thank a Cloud Village shinobi who once helped me." Menma took the initiative and walked over.

"I didn't expect to find a rap performance here."

Menma added another sentence.

It made the two Cloud Village shinobi unable to suppress bitter smiles.

Killer B, meanwhile, seemed to have found a kindred spirit. He leaped high into the air, flipped midair, and landed steadily in front of Menma.

His hands began gesturing as he said in a rapping tone, "Yo~ kid, you've got good taste~"

"Wanna come hear my~ personal concert~"

Killer B had been forbidden by the Fourth Hokage from leaving the village for many years. Normally, aside from training at Unraikyo, he spent his days rapping around the village.

Although the people of Kumogakure did not discriminate against Jinchuriki the way Hidden Leaf Village and Sunagakure did, Killer B's rap was unbearably annoying—and terrible.

"I'll pass this time. I need to check out the village mission center." Menma scratched his head and politely declined Killer B's invitation.

The other two Cloud Village shinobi walked over as well.

One of them asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"I don't know his name either. I only have a rough description of his appearance." Menma repeated what he had said at the village entrance.

After hearing Menma's explanation, the Cloud Village shinobi frowned. "It won't be easy to find someone based on a description like that."

Shinobi placed great importance on intelligence. Someone like Menma, who was directly searching for a person by appearance, could easily draw Kumogakure's attention.

Clearly, the two of them had begun to suspect Menma as well.

"That's fine. If I can't find him, I'll leave the local specialties at the mission center. Consider it my thanks to Kumogakure." Menma smiled openly, seeming like a sunny, cheerful young man.

Village mission centers were generally located near the building where each village's Kage worked, and those areas had the highest concentration of shinobi. The two Cloud Village shinobi were not worried about anyone causing trouble inside the village.

After all, in all the years since Kumogakure had been founded, no one had ever dared cause trouble within the village.

With the Raikage's explosive temper, if he heard any commotion, he would probably smash through a window and leap out to beat someone up.

Besides, Cloud Village shinobi had always been known for their toughness and bravery.

As one of the Five Great Nations, Kumogakure had fought Konoha for years, and the strength of its shinobi village was plain for all to see.

Killer B and the other two did not force Menma to stay. They stepped aside, watching his retreating figure leave.

"Yo, yo~ brought thank-you gifts, huh?" For some reason, as Killer B watched the black-haired boy disappear into the fog, he felt a growing sense of unease.

"B! Something's wrong with that person!" Suddenly, Gyuki issued a warning within Killer B's inner world.

Boom!

The Raikage Building in the distance suddenly exploded!

A plume of pitch-black smoke slowly rose amid the mist-shrouded mountain peaks!