After the Earth Style was dispelled, Danzo looked toward Menma. Seeing that Menma and Kakashi were unharmed, he felt a headache coming on, even though he'd expected as much.
The air around them seemed to freeze. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground, but it did nothing to ease the tension.
"Listen here, you old dog Danzo. If you want to take my brother away, you'll have to capture me first. But with skills like yours and your men's, you'll need a lot more practice." Menma taunted him without restraint, his expression making it clear he didn't take Danzo seriously.
"Brat, don't get too cocky!" One of the Root shinobi angrily made to charge at him.
"Stand down. You're no match for him." Danzo stopped him, then picked up Naruto, who was under a genjutsu, and slowly stepped forward.
"Uzumaki Menma, if you don't want your dear brother to die right in front of you, stop resisting and come quietly." As he spoke, Danzo thought he'd found Menma's weak spot. He was certain Menma wouldn't risk Naruto's safety.
"Hey, old Danzo, did you get something wrong? As long as I'm not captured, you can forget about taking Naruto." Menma casually played with the Kunai in his hand as he spoke.
The moment he finished speaking, Menma used the Flying Thunder God to appear in front of Danzo. His Kunai flashed through the air with astonishing speed, cutting off the hand Danzo was using to hold Naruto.
The eight people nearby reacted at once and rushed to protect Danzo. But Menma gave them no time to respond. Eight dark golden chakra arms appeared behind him, each forming a Rasengan before slamming straight into them.
When the dust settled, several of the more skilled shinobi had escaped the attack with the Substitution Technique. Two others had been hit by the Rasengan and lay on the ground, gravely wounded and unconscious.
After that, Menma immediately took Naruto with him and used the Flying Thunder God to reappear beside Kakashi.
"Are you all right, Lord Danzo? Let me treat you." One of the Root shinobi beside Danzo began healing him with Medical Ninjutsu.
Looking at the nine of them in such a sorry state, Menma couldn't help teasing them. "Well, well. So this is Konoha's Root? You're not much to look at."
Menma picked at his ear with his little finger, his casual attitude infuriating.
"You brat!" One of the Root shinobi glared at Menma, his anger seemingly at its peak.
"Hey, hey, why are you looking at me like that? You can't even beat a kid. You're all so useless." Menma continued to taunt them.
"Brat, if you keep acting like this, you'll pay for it someday." Danzo clutched his injured arm and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Lord Danzo, you're worried about me? Then I really should thank you for your concern. But I'm afraid you won't live to see it."
As soon as Menma finished speaking, he vanished from where he stood.
"Here's one more thing you should know: the Flying Thunder God mark never disappears." Menma's voice came from behind Danzo.
"How can that be?" Danzo looked behind him in alarm.
"Rasengan!" Menma's Rasengan came crashing down toward Danzo.
"Look out, Lord Danzo!" The Root shinobi treating him shoved Danzo aside, taking Menma's Rasengan head-on.
Seeing that his attack had missed, Menma considered pressing on, but decided that killing Danzo just like that wouldn't be much fun. He gave up and returned to Kakashi's side.
"I think I might've gone a little overboard," Menma muttered.
"Maybe, but it shouldn't be a problem," Kakashi said.
"That's enough for today. Danzo, remember this: Root belongs underground. If you block out the sunlight, then Root will have to be dug up!" Menma shouted toward him.
Menma turned and signaled for Kushina to release the barrier. Once it was down, he walked over to her, with Kakashi carrying Naruto behind him.
"Kakashi-sensei, could you dispel the genjutsu on them?" Menma said, pointing at the people lying on the ground. Kushina had wanted to release the genjutsu on Shikamaru and the others a while ago, but Menma had stopped her.
After Shikamaru and the others were freed from the genjutsu, Menma went over to them and pointed toward Danzo.
"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and Kiba, when you get home, tell your parents that Lord Danzo of Root attacked you. You were under a genjutsu just now, and he nearly took you away."
Shikamaru and the others stared blankly for a moment. They looked at Menma, then in the direction he was pointing.
"But don't worry. Kakashi-sensei and Clan Head Fugaku rescued you," Menma added.
Only then did Shikamaru react. He got to his feet and thanked them, and the others followed suit.
Naruto still looked completely bewildered, staring blankly at everything before him.
"Lord Danzo, if there's nothing else, we'll be going. It's a shame your plan fell through and you didn't get to take anyone with you." Menma sounded polite, but his words were full of provocation.
"Damn brat!" Danzo glared viciously at Menma's back, as if he wanted to tear him to pieces.
To make the act more convincing, Menma, Kakashi, Kushina, and Fugaku took turns escorting Shikamaru and the others home, explaining to their parents what had happened.
Once they'd escorted everyone home, Menma grew excited and spoke up.
"Tomorrow at the Hokage Office is bound to be quite a show. I almost want to go watch." Menma was thrilled. He hadn't spared Danzo because he couldn't kill him, but because he thought this would be more interesting.
After all, there were plenty of secrets left to dig up about Danzo. If they were all exposed, the spectacle would be even better.
As if he'd suddenly remembered something, Menma looked at Fugaku and asked:
"Uncle Fugaku, did you come to see me about something today?"
Fugaku heard the question and glanced around. Menma immediately understood.
He put a hand on each of them and used the Flying Thunder God, vanishing in an instant. When they reappeared, they were back at home.
The others weren't especially surprised by the change of scenery. After experiencing it so many times, they'd gotten used to it.
"I came to see you today because..." Fugaku told Menma everything he'd discussed with Hiruzen Sarutobi that morning.
Menma thought it over for a while, then a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Looks like tomorrow's going to be even more interesting," Menma said.
"What do you mean?" Everyone looked puzzled. Naruto, standing off to the side, was even more confused. He still had no idea what was going on.
"You might not know this, but Danzo has people close to the Hokage." Menma said it as if it were nothing important.
"What?" The others were shocked. None of them had expected Root to have someone close to the Hokage.
"Let's just see whether Danzo makes a move tonight. He really wants the Sharingan, after all. His right eye is Kagami Uchiha's Sharingan." Menma sounded casual, but Fugaku was rattled.
He knew who Kagami Uchiha was. What surprised him wasn't that, but that Menma knew about it. Even he hadn't known.
"Menma, I've always wondered how you know so much. There are probably plenty of things even the Hokage doesn't know," Fugaku asked. He really wanted to know how Menma had learned all this.
The other two stayed quiet, but it was clear they were curious too.
"Well... how should I put it?" Menma suddenly realized he'd said too much, and couldn't think of a good excuse to fob them off.
"I've worked out a lot of it through deduction. For some reason, I just have a feeling about these things. When I used the Flying Thunder God to wander around before, I stumbled across a secret room and found something unbelievable inside." Menma was back to spinning one of his tall tales.
"What did you find?" Fugaku asked.
"A secret laboratory. There was a file about Danzo's arm and eye. It clearly stated that the eye was Kagami Uchiha's transplanted Sharingan, and the arm had been implanted with Hashirama Cells." Menma spoke as if it were all true.
"Where is this laboratory?" Fugaku asked anxiously.
"I accidentally triggered a mechanism when I left, and the place collapsed. Luckily, I got out in time. The laboratory's gone now, but I know who performed the transplant." Menma continued.
"Who?" all three asked at once.
"Orochimaru, one of the legendary Konoha Sannin!" Menma answered.
The three were greatly shocked, but after thinking it over, they felt it did sound like something Orochimaru would do.
The information they'd received that day was so astonishing that the three of them needed time to process it.
Naruto couldn't understand what they were talking about at all, so he asked, "What are you even talking about? I can't understand any of it. You keep talking about Danzo and Orochimaru. Who are they?"
"Super big villains," Menma replied simply.
Kushina nearly burst out laughing at that description.
"All right, Uncle Fugaku, you should head back. Let's leave Danzo aside for now. The Hokage probably already knows you've been spending time with us Jinchuriki. You could make excuses about looking after a friend's children, but I doubt the Hokage would be easily convinced by that." Menma said.
"I know. Even if they find out, there's nothing they can do about it. Things are getting tense between Kumogakure and Iwagakure, and war could break out at any moment. If it does, Konoha might get dragged in too, so the Hokage probably doesn't have much energy to spare for us right now," Fugaku replied.
"What? That's happening?" Menma was surprised. As far as he knew, Iwagakure and Kumogakure had continued to clash after the Third Great Ninja War, but they had never fought a large-scale war. Could his arrival have caused this?
The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed. He couldn't help pondering the reason.
Seeing how late it was, Fugaku said goodbye and left.
Before you continue