A Show of Force

At that moment, Menma slowly opened his eyes as he emerged from the Sealing Space. He looked at Kakashi, who was holding him, then glanced around.

Seeing that Menma had woken up, Kakashi quickly asked with concern, "Menma, are you all right? Does anything hurt?"

Jiraiya immediately turned around at that, and Might Guy, Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, and Hiruzen Sarutobi also came over.

"Menma, are you all right?" Kurenai looked at him with a heartache.

"I'm fine. I feel great." Menma shook his head. Then he gestured for Kakashi to put him down and continued, "After letting out all the resentment I'd been bottling up for so long, I really do feel a lot lighter."

Menma surveyed the people around him. Many of the faces were familiar—the very ones who had shouted the loudest back then. Some avoided his gaze, but a few hotheads still glared straight at him.

"You don't look very happy about this. I'll give you a chance: if you can beat me, I'll admit you're good." Menma looked completely unbothered.

The hotheads couldn't take that kind of provocation and rushed forward. Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai immediately stepped in front of Menma.

"What do you think you're doing, charging at a child?" Kakashi demanded, glaring at them.

"What kind of grown men gang up on a child?" Kurenai said, facing the crowd.

"If you want to bully my student, you'll have to get through me first," Might Guy declared, just as forcefully.

"I really don't want to fight, but if you insist on hurting this child, I won't hold back." Asuma drew his Chakra Blade, chakra beginning to gather along its edge.

Menma felt a warmth spread through him. So this was what it felt like to have people protect you. He watched their backs, deeply moved.

"Kakashi-sensei, Guy-sensei, Aunt Kurenai, Uncle Asuma, please don't stop them. This is a conflict between me, Naruto, Kurama, and them. We want to settle it ourselves." With that, Menma stepped in front of the four.

Watching this from inside the Sealing Space, Kurama smiled too. "This brat really does treat me like a person."

"Since you can't stand me, Naruto, and Kurama, we'll give you a chance to vent." Menma watched the ones who had stepped forward with interest.

Kakashi and the others were puzzled, but they had all noticed what Menma had said. "Kurama? Is that the Nine-Tails' name...?" they wondered, uneasy.

"Then... let's begin." As soon as Menma spoke, he brought his fists together. Dark golden chakra instantly enveloped him, and he entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

If not for the seal limiting him, Menma might have gone on the attack in his Perfect Jinchuriki form.

Next, Menma closed his eyes and gathered chakra in his hand. Before long, a Rasengan appeared—and it kept growing, showing no sign of stopping.

The Rasengan grew larger and larger until it was more than ten times Menma's size.

"Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan!" Menma raised the Rasengan high and eyed the group playfully. "Are you coming at me one at a time, or all at once?"

The group broke into a cold sweat. Too terrified to speak, they could only stare blankly at Menma.

Seeing them rooted to the spot, Menma immediately lost interest.

"You cowards only pick on the weak. What can you do besides talk big? If I used a Tailed Beast Ball, would you wet your pants and kneel down, calling me your grandpa?" The enormous Rasengan gradually faded from Menma's hand. He folded his arms and sneered at the hotheads.

It wasn't just those few who were shocked; everyone there was. Kakashi and the others stared at Menma in confusion, unable to understand how he had managed to do something like that in so little time. They knew perfectly well that if that Rasengan had hit the ground, its range would have been enormous. Those people would likely have been blown to smithereens.

Still, they were secretly relieved. Fortunately, Menma had only used his strength to intimidate them. If he had actually attacked, the situation would have been difficult to control.

Jiraiya was even more startled. Watching Menma's back, he couldn't help wondering whether Menma might be the Child of Prophecy mentioned by the Great Toad Sage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched quietly. If Menma had actually attacked, he had planned to intervene. But he knew Menma's personality fairly well and knew he wasn't the sort to hold a grudge.

"I'll say this again: my brother and I just want to live in peace. We don't expect your sympathy, and I don't need your apologies. If you want to apologize, apologize to my brother, Naruto. We're the sons of the Fourth Hokage. We owe you nothing!" Menma emphasized "Fourth Hokage" as if making a declaration, then swept his gaze over the crowd again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback. He hadn't expected Menma to say that.

Kakashi and the others weren't surprised. They felt that only by making things clear would these people understand what they ought to do.

Just then, someone spoke up again. "They're the ones who killed the Fourth Hokage."

The villagers said nothing. They all turned to look toward the speaker, instinctively making space around him.

The speaker felt a chill run down his back. With a whoosh, Menma appeared behind him. A dark golden chakra arm suddenly shot out from behind Menma and clamped around the man's neck.

"You want to dance too?" The ice-cold, terrifying aura of the Nine-Tails radiated from Menma, leaving the villagers trembling with fear.

With another whoosh, Menma took the man to Hiruzen Sarutobi. He set him down, then left Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

"Third Hokage Grandpa, I'll leave this man to you. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, I can sense people's malice. He's full of hatred toward me, Naruto, and Kurama. I also noticed that he bears you ill will." Menma brushed the dust off himself and said it as if it were nothing.

"All right, I understand." Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't doubt Menma. He immediately ordered the Anbu to take the man to the Intelligence Division, intending to interrogate him and learn his identity.

After that, Menma released Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. The instant the mode ended, his head suddenly felt heavy, and he collapsed straight to the ground. Kakashi and the others were alarmed and hurried over to check on him.

"How's Menma? Is he all right?" Jiraiya asked, holding the still-unconscious Naruto.

"His breathing is steady, so he should be fine. He may just be exhausted or have used up too much chakra. It's also possible this is a side effect of the Nine-Tails going berserk," Kakashi analyzed after checking Menma's pulse and breathing.

"Whatever the cause, we should take Naruto and Menma to the hospital first," Kurenai suggested.

Kakashi agreed. He immediately picked Menma up, and they hurried to the hospital.

At Konoha Hospital, the doctor finished examining the two children and turned to Kakashi and the others. "Neither child has any major problems. Naruto Uzumaki suffered an emotional shock, and on top of being worn out lately, he pushed himself too hard today. His chakra is in disarray, so it may take a day or two for him to wake up. Uzumaki Menma is in better shape. He simply exhausted too much chakra all at once and wore himself out. I recommend taking him home to rest. Neither of them is in any serious danger."

The doctor left the ward after speaking. Hearing the diagnosis, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness Naruto and Menma are all right. Otherwise, I really would have gone to Danzo and demanded an explanation." Jiraiya clenched his fists as he looked at the two children lying in their beds, his voice edged with anger.

"Go to Lord Danzo?" Kurenai looked at Jiraiya and asked in confusion.

"You may not know this, but the man Menma caught today was from Root. Without Danzo's orders, I don't believe he would have come here to deliberately cause trouble," Jiraiya explained.

The others finally understood and believed Jiraiya without question.

"Let's take them home first." Jiraiya was about to pick Naruto up when Kurenai hurried over to stop him.

"Lord Jiraiya, be gentle." With that, Kurenai picked Naruto up and carried him out.

The others didn't know what to make of it and exchanged looks. Jiraiya had no choice but to pick up Menma and head for the door.

Before long, they arrived at Naruto and Menma's house. Jiraiya saw the broken balloons and rubber balls scattered across the yard and felt relieved. After seeing Menma use the Rasengan, he had already guessed what had happened.

The others saw the mess and figured the two little ones must have been playing pretty wildly. Had they been throwing water balloons at each other? And who had been such a sore loser that they'd thrown a rubber ball? They fell into thought.

Kakashi stepped forward, took the key from Menma's pocket, and unlocked the door. Then he carried both boys upstairs and laid them on the bed in Naruto's room. After tucking them in, he looked around.

"You can tell from the way Naruto's room is arranged that he's a careless sort. It's pretty messy. Besides a photo of Minato and his wife on the wall, there are a few posters." They quietly left the room and closed the door, then went to Menma's room.

They found Menma's room quite interesting. Just inside the door stood a freestanding clothes rack by the window. Minato's Hokage robe hung on it, with the words "Fourth Hokage" facing the foot of the bed so Menma could see them as soon as he woke up in the morning.

Beside the clothes rack was a desk. On its right sat a small wooden stand that looked homemade, with one of Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai hanging from it. On the left was a small bookshelf, and there was a pen holder beside the desk lamp. Minato's Ninja Book lay in the middle of the desk, with a small notebook beside it. No one knew what it contained.

Kakashi picked up the notebook and found notes about how Minato had handled things while out on missions, as well as details about problems encountered during the development of the Rasengan.

"So meticulous. He really is the teacher's son," Kakashi remarked.

"This is a child chasing his dream, with his father as his goal." Asuma looked around, then glanced at the notebook in Kakashi's hand.

After Kakashi put the notebook down, a book on the shelf caught his eye. He couldn't help picking it up.

"Isn't this my Icha Icha Paradise? I didn't know Menma was a fan of my books! Ahahaha..." Seeing it, Jiraiya burst out laughing.