The Consequences of Excessive Hype

"That hurts! Isn't it done yet?! Hurry up, people in front!"

Piercing demands mixed with pained groans echoed through the corridors of the Grass Village hospital. The air was thick with the stench of blood and disinfectant.

"Hurry up! There are still lots of wounded behind us!"

A Grass ninja impatiently shoved the person in front of him. There was not a trace of sympathy in his eyes, only urgency as everyone scrambled toward the "medical tool" that could heal them instantly.

"Damn it! Doesn't this woman have a daughter too? Why didn't they bring her along?!"

Someone cursed under his breath, his tone full of greed. After all, one more "tool" meant faster treatment and less waiting.

Ever since Grass Village had acquired this mother and daughter, its ninjas had become far more reckless when carrying out missions. If they could recover instantly after getting hurt, why bother being cautious?

"Urgh...!"

Inside the room, Mizaki Uzumaki bit down hard on her lip, yet she still could not suppress her pained whimpers. Her arms were covered in fresh bite marks. Some wounds had not even fully healed before they were torn open again.

Was this the price?

She had once believed that as long as she could give her daughter a safe environment to grow up in, she did not care what she had to sacrifice. But she had never expected Grass Village's "protection" to be such cruel exploitation.

She did not dare let her daughter see her like this. After every treatment, she would force herself to wipe away the blood, straighten her clothes, and put on a gentle smile before returning home.

But could she really keep it hidden? In this Ninja World, where children matured early, Karin was a smart child.

Mizaki did not know. But even so, what could she do? Resist? Run away?

Under Grass Village's surveillance, there was simply no way for them to escape. Even if they did escape, where could they go? Back to a life on the run?

Someone... please save me...

Amid the agony of being bitten again and again, Mizaki Uzumaki had long grown used to silently calling for help in her heart. But who, exactly, was she praying to?

The gods? They had long abandoned them.

Her companions? The people of the Land of Whirlpools had practically all died out.

She did not know. She was merely instinctively, desperately, clinging to the last shred of illusory hope in the darkness as her life force steadily drained away.

But—

Boom—!!!

The sudden explosion shattered the hospital's silence. The entire building shook violently, and the Grass ninja who had been lowering his head to bite down abruptly looked up, terror flashing through his eyes.

An enemy attack?!

But the place was full of wounded people. There was no way they could provide support. The Grass Village chunin in charge reacted quickly and shouted sharply.

"Everyone! Evacuate to the shelter immediately! Treatment will resume once it's safe!"

He turned and glared at the swaying Mizaki Uzumaki, barking impatiently, "Hey! Don't just stand there! Keep up! Your work isn't finished yet!"

Mizaki trembled as she pushed herself up. The wounded had already begun covering their injuries in panic, preparing to evacuate.

Bang!

The door was violently smashed open, and a Grass ninja rushed in while roughly dragging a little girl behind him.

"...Karin?!"

The moment Mizaki saw the little girl, her heart nearly stopped. Why... why had they brought Karin here?! Their original agreement had clearly been that only she would become a "medical pack." Grass Village had promised not to touch her daughter!

"Mom!!!"

Karin cried out. For the first time, she saw the truth of her mother's body—the dense bite marks, old and new layered together like the remains of something gnawed apart by wild beasts.

Yet the Grass ninja who had brought her had no time to care about the mother and daughter's feelings. Pale-faced, he roared.

"Quick! Bring that woman over here!"

His voice held a fear unlike anything before.

"That guy is here! If we delay any longer, Grass Village is finished!"

Time rewound to a few minutes earlier.

At the gates of Grass Village—standing there now was not "Naruto."

The ripples of Chakra distorted the light. The boy's body gradually grew taller as the Transformation Jutsu faded, and when the final Fox Mask covered his face, the being who had made the entire Ninja World tremble descended.

"Menma."

Without another word, he slowly raised an arm. Black Chakra gathered and collapsed in his palm, finally forming an ominous sphere—

"Rasenshuriken."

The light of destruction suddenly bloomed.

Boom—!!!

Amid an earth-shaking blast, Grass Village's gates and the surrounding walls were reduced to dust in an instant. The violent shockwave hurled rubble and dirt into the sky, only for them to be shredded by the distorted gravitational field in the next second.

Without Kurama's Chakra, this attack was far less devastating than the one that had intimidated the Raikage. But it was more than enough to make all of Grass Village tremble.

Aside from lacking Nine-Headed Sobek, even without the trial card, Naruto's base strength still made him an extremely low-spec Menma.

As the smoke and dust slowly dispersed, the figure in the Fox Mask stepped across the ruins. By then, the Grass ninjas who had rushed over upon hearing the news had already assembled, yet not one of them dared step forward.

Their hands gripping kunai trembled. Cold sweat seeped down their temples as they froze in place like prey facing a natural predator.

A Fox Mask.

The leading Jonin's pupils contracted sharply when he saw that trait. He could hardly believe his eyes.

That feature struck his nerves like a heavy hammer. In an instant, all the horrifying rumors that had spread between the nations flooded his mind.

A calamity that tore apart the world, a nightmare above all ninjas—the ruler of the Ember Organization, the darkest sovereign of the Ninja World.

In the name of false peace, he turned suffering into a plague that swept across every inch of land. All who witnessed his true face became the dead; all who heard his name fell into despair.

The Nine-Headed Beasts lurked beneath his command—monsters no human could possibly resist. They were incarnations of natural disasters, embodiments of destruction.

Fear was their food, and slaughter their feast.

Wherever the Nine-Headed Beasts went, all life suffered and civilization collapsed. Wherever Ashes passed, all things perished, leaving behind nothing but ashes.

Blazing karmic fire scorched the shattered ruins. Even the wails had no time to fade before being swallowed by raging flames.

His minions lurked in the shadows, whispering his will—by the time you noticed them, death had already seized your throat.

He hunted "Kage" and used nations as sacrifices.

Beneath the Fox Mask lay an unfathomable abyss. Merely invoking his name would plunge an entire country into eternal night and turn it into a silent graveyard.

Now, he lay dormant in the cracks of the world, waiting like a venomous serpent for the bell of the end.

When the final shackles broke, all things would return to nothingness in his hands.

His name was—Menma.

(All of the above was completely fabricated nonsense spread by Hidden Cloud.)

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