A False Longing

"What a cliché question."

Menma's voice came through the Fox Mask, carrying a hint of lazy mockery. He slowly raised a hand and lightly tapped his mask with his fingertips, producing a crisp knock-knock.

"Still, I don't want to keep being called 'Masked Man' or 'the man in black' or whatever—" He paused, then plainly gave his name.

"Menma. That is my name."

The Raikage's brow furrowed deeply, his bronze muscles bulging with tension as Lightning Release Chakra crackled over his body.

"You wiped out Hidden Cloud's convoy and even made me, the Raikage, your target... brat, whoever you are, the entire Land of Lightning is now your enemy!"

He took a fierce step forward, cracking the ground beneath his feet.

"Tell me which village or organization stands behind you!" The Raikage clenched his fist as lightning burst around it. "I'll finish you off quickly!"

Menma merely shrugged indifferently. "I'm afraid the answer will disappoint you. If you insist on asking about whoever is 'behind me' or my 'backing'..."

"I have no such thing. Or rather... I am the leader of the organization behind me."

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Before his words had even faded, a blazing torrent of fire suddenly blasted in from the side! A massive fire dragon roared as it tore through the air, its heat distorting the surrounding scenery in shimmering waves. The flames instantly swallowed Menma's figure.

Yet the instant the flames touched Menma's body, an invisible barrier silently appeared. The scorching wave of fire seemed to strike a transparent wall and was forcibly stopped outside. After raging for several seconds, the flames finally dispersed, revealing Menma standing where he had been—completely unscathed.

Everyone looked toward the source of the Fire Style—

At some point, Hiruzen Sarutobi had changed into black combat gear, his aged gaze locked firmly onto Menma. Behind him, every Konoha Anbu member stood on guard, kunai and ninja blades gleaming coldly.

Among the Anbu, one figure stood out in particular: silver-white hair that could not be concealed even by a mask.

It was most likely Kakashi.

Menma's gaze briefly rested on that figure, and the corner of his mouth lifted beneath his mask.

"Lord Raikage! Do you believe now that the Masked Man is not part of Konoha's conspiracy?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice reached the Raikage through the uproar of the battlefield. His eyes remained fixed on the unharmed Menma in the distance, his body held in a guarded stance.

The Raikage's chest rose and fell sharply. He clicked his tongue heavily, forcefully suppressing his anger. The Third Hokage's words did make sense—if Konoha had secretly nurtured a ninja with such terrifying strength, there was no way no rumors would have surfaced by now. Besides, staging an invasion of Konoha themselves would deal far too great a blow to the village's reputation.

But the vigilance forged through years of warfare still left the Raikage with a trace of suspicion.

At that moment, the Third Hokage spoke again. "Lord Raikage, regarding the Hidden Cloud delegation, we can discuss it again after resolving the crisis before us."

He turned slightly, signaling for the Anbu behind him to prepare for battle. "Right now, the Masked Man who destroyed the delegation and invaded Konoha is our common enemy. Why not join forces and take him down first, whether by capturing him alive or killing him..."

The Raikage fell silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, his nostrils filling with the scorched smell in the air. "...It pisses me off, but we'll do as you say for now, Hokage."

"Unfortunately, capturing me alive is not an option."

Facing the two imposing Kage, Menma's voice emerged from behind the Fox Mask. His black robe fluttered slightly amid the surging Chakra, while the Nine-Headed Beasts encircled him, radiating a suffocating pressure.

"My purpose in coming here is very clear—"

He slowly raised a hand and pointed at the Raikage.

"To kill the Raikage."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat!"

The Raikage's roar thundered out. In his fury, his figure instantly turned into a bolt of lightning. Lightning Release Chakra surged violently across his body, shredding the air with a piercing shriek. Almost the moment Menma finished speaking, he had appeared before him, his right hand forming a blade as it came crashing down wrapped in lightning!

"Lightning Beast Horizontal Pounding!"

The strike was so fast it nearly surpassed the limits of sight. The air along the lightning-coated hand blade was ionized, filling the air with a scorched odor. Then, at the critical instant, Menma's figure vanished.

He had already teleported onto the head of Azure Dragon, one of the Nine-Headed Beasts. Each of these powerful Summoning Beasts was a Flying Thunder God marker he had placed.

Without the slightest pause, Menma flung out a Flying Thunder God Kunai. The kunai flew toward the Raikage, and just as it was about to reach him—

Menma's figure appeared out of thin air at the kunai's position, a pitch-black sphere of energy condensed in his right palm. Ominous Chakra vortices coiled around the surface of the sphere.

"Rasenshuriken!"

The black sphere drove straight toward the Raikage's chest with devastating force! Instinctively, the Raikage pushed his Lightning Release Chakra to its limit and crossed his arms to block.

"Boom—!!"

The instant the two terrifying energies collided, a blinding light erupted. The ground beneath the Raikage caved in with a crash, and spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread outward. He gritted his teeth as his Lightning Release Armor emitted an overwhelmed hum beneath the impact, but he ultimately endured the blow head-on.

The Raikage's thoughts raced. His muscles suddenly bulged as he used brute force to hurl the Rasenshuriken into the sky!

"Get up there—!!"

The black sphere carved a deadly arc through the air, shooting straight into the heavens.

"Rumble—!!!"

The explosion high above lit up the entire sky over Konoha. A blazing white fireball expanded outward, and the shockwave tore a massive hole through the clouds. The blast wind swept down, making everyone's robes snap violently.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at the sight, the color instantly draining from his aged face. If that attack had landed in Konoha...

The mere aftershock was enough to make their hearts tremble. If it had erupted within the village... the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Don't be in such a hurry to attack, Raikage."

Menma's voice suddenly lowered. He slowly raised a hand and made a stopping gesture. "Aren't you curious? About why I have done all this."

The Raikage's brows twisted into a tight knot, but he did not continue attacking. He stood where he was, staring fixedly at Menma as if trying to see through the mask.

Menma glanced around, his gaze passing over the fully prepared Konoha Anbu before returning to the Raikage.

"This world... has never truly known peace." His voice suddenly carried an unusual resonance. "Soldiers, ninja, civilians—they do not know one another. They have never seen each other's faces or known each other's names."

A fierce wind suddenly rose, whipping his black robe wildly. Dark clouds began to gather on the horizon, faint lightning flickering through them.

"Just because the forehead protectors on their heads are different... just because of orders from those above, they must raise their weapons and pierce one another's throats."

"People say that because their positions differ, they cannot understand one another..."

"Ridiculous."

"True positions were never chosen by them." Menma raised his hand, and black Chakra began gathering in his palm, forming a slowly rotating Rasenshuriken. "The Daimyo of every nation sign war agreements in luxurious palaces, while ninja fall one by one on the battlefield."

The Rasenshuriken spun faster and faster, distorting the air around it and producing an overloaded hum.

"Those who stand high above need only wave a pen to make millions bleed. Yet ninja... can only die for hollow righteousness."

The Raikage's pupils contracted slightly. He had never expected to hear such words from an "enemy."

"So—let me force you fools, bewitched by ambition, to stop! I will kill you all!"

Chakra erupted violently. The dark clouds instantly thickened across the sky, and massive lightning serpents churned and roared within them.

"I belong to no ninja village and no nation. I... will become war itself."

The Rasenshuriken floated above his palm, its black glow reflecting off the Fox Mask and tracing eerie patterns across it.

"Whenever a nation tries to stir up conflict, I will descend, destroy its armies, and crush its ambitions."

"Make them fear. Make them understand—if they dare start a war, they will face a price more terrible than death."

The Rasenshuriken's rotation reached its peak, and tiny cracks began appearing in the surrounding space.

"If peace cannot be achieved through understanding... then let it be maintained through absolute despair."

"...That is my long-cherished wish."