Nine-Tails Rampage

A few pebbles came flying toward Menma, but he merely dodged with a light shift, the stones grazing his clothes. He frowned slightly, a hint of disdain in his eyes, before kicking the stones that had landed at his feet back with fierce momentum.

Seeing this, the ringleader of the children seemed to have discovered something extraordinary and suddenly shrieked at the top of his lungs: "The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is throwing stones at people! Come and see!"

His voice was sharp and piercing, spreading rapidly through the crowd like a timed bomb with a lit fuse, instantly causing an uproar and drawing even more attention.

At this moment, it was as if the people had finally found an outlet for their long-suppressed emotions, and many began to vent their inner dissatisfaction without restraint.

All sorts of unbearable insults surged toward Naruto and Menma like a violent tide, the vicious words acting like thorny brambles dancing in the air.

Some, blinded by rage, grabbed whatever was at hand—be it fruit from street stalls or miscellaneous items they were carrying—and hurled them viciously at the pair.

Menma watched this scene with a sense of helplessness, feeling utterly numb. He was fine, as his mindset differed from Naruto's and he was less likely to suffer deep psychological trauma, but Naruto beside him was a different story.

Naruto's fragile heart, which had only just begun to recover, was like a leaf trembling in a storm, on the verge of being completely shattered by this surging malice.

Seeing Menma being pelted with objects, a flash of resolve crossed Naruto's eyes. Without hesitation, he lunged forward to embrace Menma, his small body shielding him tightly as if to block all the malice with his own frail frame.

Watching this, Menma felt as if an invisible hand were gripping his heart, causing him immense pain. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, his heart filled with fury and helplessness. He wished he could instantly master the Rasengan and gift every person present a point-blank hit, letting them taste the feeling of being attacked themselves.

Just then, Menma seemed to sense something amiss and hurriedly turned to look at Naruto. Naruto's eyes had already turned scarlet, his pupils transformed into vertical slits like gaps leading into an endless abyss. Clearly, the Nine-Tails chakra was beginning to leak out uncontrollably.

Before long, a thick, red chakra flowed slowly from Naruto's body like surging magma. The red chakra emitted a bone-chilling aura, and the surrounding air seemed to be distorted by this power.

The onlookers, seeing this, were so terrified that they stopped throwing things, staring at the two brothers with wide, fearful eyes as if they were looking at the most terrifying monsters in the world.

"Brother! Brother! Calm down!" Menma shouted anxiously, trying to bring Naruto back to his senses. But the Nine-Tails chakra had already wrapped around Naruto like a surging red river.

Though Naruto still retained a shred of consciousness, his remaining reason had been completely overwhelmed by rage.

At this moment, a red chakra tail slowly sprouted from Naruto's back, writhing as if it had a life of its own, followed by a second and a third, growing at a terrifying speed.

Menma was horrified to see this; it was exactly what he had feared most. He shook Naruto desperately, gripping his shoulders tightly, as if trying to use his own strength to snap Naruto out of it.

But suddenly, the surging Nine-Tails chakra spread along Naruto and tightly enveloped Menma as well.

Menma immediately sensed disaster; he felt the Nine-Tails chakra within his own body resonate, also beginning to leak out uncontrollably.

Soon, Menma was also shrouded in the dense Nine-Tails chakra. His eyes turned scarlet, his pupils became vertical slits, and his expression grew ferocious, as if he were possessed by a demon. Red chakra tails began to sprout from his back—one, two, three... and the growth showed no signs of stopping.

Forget it, let it all burn, Menma thought to himself before losing consciousness, deciding it was better to just go berserk.

Under the scorching heat of the Nine-Tails chakra, the skin of Naruto and Menma began to tear and peel away like fragile paper, the intense pain forcing both of them to let out heart-wrenching screams.

Their shedding skin turned into a black substance, which then dyed the surrounding red chakra black like ink. Finally, the black substance and red chakra merged, forming two massive black spheres of chakra that tightly encased the two.

The onlookers were instantly struck with terror. Someone shouted, "The Nine-Tails has gone berserk again!" The voice was like a death knell, and the crowd scattered like startled birds and beasts.

Just then, an ominous black gas began to seep from the black spheres, and a powerful, tornado-like current of air blasted outward.

Amidst the chaos, the painful roars of Naruto and Menma could still be heard, sounding like bellows from hell and making one's skin crawl.

Surrounding buildings gradually collapsed under the impact of this immense power, with large stones and roof tiles falling everywhere. The ground seemed to be pressed down by an invisible hand, sinking to form a massive, hemispherical crater.

As the black chakra spheres shattered, Naruto and Menma were revealed inside.

Both now possessed four tails. From the outside, they looked like demons sculpted from blood-red chakra, their eyes and mouths emitting a blinding white light. They glared ferociously at the fleeing crowd, looking like two miniature versions of the Nine-Tails, albeit with only four tails each.

The two had completely lost consciousness, driven only by an instinctive desire for destruction. Like two out-of-control killing machines, they began to destroy everything in their path.

Naruto raised his arm high and brought it down with a "Bang!", instantly whipping up layers of surging air currents. The powerful shockwave acted like a violent tsunami, ruthlessly blasting away those who hadn't managed to escape. Like leaves caught in a gale, the people were sent flying in arcs before crashing heavily to the ground.

Jiraiya was walking leisurely down the street when he suddenly felt a violent tremor from ahead, followed by a surging shockwave. Many people fell to the ground in a panic, like dominoes. Jiraiya reacted quickly, steadying himself before reaching out to stop a man running past in a panic. "What happened up ahead?" he asked urgently.

"Run! The Nine-Tails has gone berserk!" the man, pale-faced and trembling, shouted before continuing his frantic flight without looking back.

"What? The Nine-Tails has gone berserk?" Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat, a flicker of worry in his eyes as he accelerated toward the scene.

Not far away, Kakashi and his three companions, who had just left the Akimichi BBQ Restaurant, also noticed the smoke rising in the distance, followed by a powerful shockwave. They simultaneously raised their hands to shield themselves from the aftershocks, the force of which felt like heavy blows striking their defenses.

Sensing something was terribly wrong, they exchanged glances and immediately rushed toward the source of the shockwave at top speed.

The Anbu also quickly detected the anomaly. After arranging for someone to notify the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, the rest hurried toward the scene.

Inside the Root base:

"Lord Danzo! The Nine-Tails has gone berserk!" a Root member reported, panting as he ran to Danzo, sweat beading on his forehead and tension in his eyes.

"The Nine-Tails has gone berserk? Which one?" Danzo asked calmly, frowning slightly.

"Both of them have gone berserk," the Root member, kneeling on one knee, replied in a hoarse voice.

Danzo fell into deep thought, his eyes profound and complex as he weighed the pros and cons.

"Lord Danzo, should we send our Root members to..." Before he could finish, Danzo impatiently cut him off.

"No. Let's see how they handle it first. If they can't control it, we will intervene," Danzo said slowly, his tone cold and steady, as if everything were under his control.

The Root member lowered his head helplessly, forced to obey Danzo's command.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen Sarutobi also received news of the Nine-Tails' rampage. The two elders, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, arrived at the Hokage Office uninvited, as if they had shared a premonition.

"Hiruzen, what is going on?" Mitokado Homura asked urgently, his eyes filled with confusion and worry.

"According to the Anbu report, Naruto and Menma were maliciously slandered while out for a walk. After being pelted with objects, both of them went berserk," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied with a grave expression.

Utatane Koharu couldn't help but interject: "I told you back then that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki should be locked up and kept under special guard, but you wouldn't listen." Her words carried a hint of resentment, as if blaming Hiruzen Sarutobi for his past decision.

"Enough. Now is not the time to assign blame. The immediate priority is to resolve the Jinchuriki's rampage," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, frowning, his gaze firm and composed.

"The Anbu have already rushed over, and I will be heading there shortly. I will not allow the Nine-Tails to reappear in this world," Hiruzen Sarutobi stated decisively, his voice filled with resolve.

"Furthermore, regardless of the circumstances, they are Minato's children. They are the children of a hero. I cannot lock them away; they have done nothing wrong. I have no intention of treating two innocent children like criminals and keeping them under guard," Hiruzen Sarutobi added, glancing back at the two elders with an unquestionable firmness in his eyes.

The two elders exchanged a look, at a loss for words to refute him.

"Very well, I understand." With that, the two elders left the Hokage Office in silence.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then looked out the window toward the direction of the Nine-Tails' rampage. After watching several plumes of thick smoke rise into the air, he took a deep breath, donned his combat gear, and rushed to the scene without hesitation.

Jiraiya arrived at the scene first. Seeing the two rampaging "mini Nine-Tails," his heart tightened instantly.

"Roar... roar... roar!" The two small Nine-Tails bellowed, the sound echoing through the air like thunder, as if venting the long-accumulated resentment and dissatisfaction in their hearts.

"This is truly troublesome. There's no other way; I must do whatever it takes to contain them first," Jiraiya muttered to himself, brow furrowed. With that, he began to weave hand signs rapidly and slammed his palms onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!" Following Jiraiya's shout, the ground rapidly transformed into a brown swamp. Naruto and Menma, caught off guard, sank instantly. The swamp seemed to have a life of its own, dragging them down firmly; the more they struggled, the deeper they sank.

Seeing this, Jiraiya knew they wouldn't be able to break free for a while, so he began anxiously rummaging through his pockets for something.

Kakashi and the others soon arrived at the scene. Seeing the surrounding devastation and spotting Naruto and Menma in the Swamp of the Underworld, their hearts ached. However, they understood that the priority was to control the rampaging Nine-Tails.

They were deeply confused; the two had been perfectly fine just moments ago, so why had they suddenly gone berserk? Their hearts were filled with questions, and they desperately wanted to know the true cause of this rampage.

At this moment, they spotted Jiraiya opposite them and moved in unison to his side.

"Lord Jiraiya, what should we do next?" Kakashi asked, his eyes filled with anticipation, hoping Jiraiya had a countermeasure.

"My Swamp of the Underworld can only hold them for a short while; they will surely break free soon. You help me pin them down, and I have a way to resolve this riot," Jiraiya said, glancing at the newcomers and issuing orders without time for pleasantries.

"Understood, no problem, leave it to us!" Kakashi replied without hesitation. He then lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan, which emitted a mysterious red glow. Asuma also quickly drew his Chakra Blade, his eyes filled with the resolve to fight as he prepared to restrain the rampaging Nine-Tails.

By now, the Anbu had also arrived at the scene. Seeing the situation, they did not hesitate to surround Naruto and Menma tightly. A captain of the Anbu calmly ordered:

"Set up the barrier quickly! We cannot let them escape and continue to destroy the village!" Hearing the captain's orders, the group scattered and began to set up the barrier in a tense flurry of activity.

Just then, Naruto suddenly looked up toward the rooftops, and one of his tails elongated, shooting straight toward an Anbu member.

Seeing this, Kakashi's heart tightened. Reacting with lightning speed, he wove signs: "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

Suddenly, a thick wall adorned with dog-head carvings emerged from the ground, acting as a sturdy shield directly in the tail's path.

However, to Kakashi's shock, the tail acted like a sharp spear, piercing straight through the wall and continuing toward the Anbu member with speed too fast to react to.

"Enma, transform into the Adamantine Staff!" With a thunderous shout, a white-haired monkey instantly transformed into a massive staff, striking the tail with great force.

The newcomer was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. His strike was immensely powerful, successfully deflecting the tail's trajectory.

The tail missed the Anbu member by a mere hand's breadth, nearly impaling him. The Anbu member turned deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his face.

Seeing the arrival of the Third Hokage, everyone felt a sense of relief; in such a dangerous situation, the Third Hokage was like a sturdy pillar of support. Hiruzen Sarutobi was undoubtedly the one capable of holding up the sky.

"Roar... roar... roar!" A wave of powerful pressure surged forth, as if the rampaging Naruto and Menma were venting their dissatisfaction at Hiruzen Sarutobi for striking their tail.

Before anyone could steady themselves, the Anbu members who hadn't prepared their defenses were ruthlessly knocked to the ground by the shockwaves.

Suddenly, the rampaging Naruto and Menma extended two tails each, grabbing onto the ground not covered by the swamp and pulling themselves out, breaking free from the restraint of the Swamp of the Underworld.

"Roar... roar... roar..." Naruto and Menma let out a series of bellows, the roars carrying a massive, chilling amount of chakra that made everyone's hearts race with fear.

"Old man, you organize the others to pin down the jinchuriki. I have a way to resolve this before the sixth tail emerges," Jiraiya said, stepping to Hiruzen Sarutobi's side and lowering his voice.

"Understood, no problem," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded firmly.

Jiraiya then pulled two square pieces of white paper from his pocket, each marked with mysterious runes and a large, striking character for "Suppress."

"This paper can instantly suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra, but it will only be effective before the sixth tail appears," Jiraiya added.