Menma's Boasting

After the Earth Style was dispelled, Danzo looked toward Uzumaki Menma. Seeing that Uzumaki Menma and Kakashi were unharmed, while expected, still gave him a headache.

At this moment, the surrounding air seemed to solidify. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground, yet this did nothing to ease the tense atmosphere.

"I say, you old dog Danzo, if you want to take my brother away, you'll have to restrain me first. But given the skills of you and your subordinates, you'd better go back and practice some more." Uzumaki Menma mocked him wantonly, his expression showing he didn't take Danzo seriously at all.

"Don't get too arrogant, brat!" A Root ninja made a move to charge forward in anger.

"Stand down, you are no match for him." Danzo stopped him, then lifted the genjutsu-controlled Naruto with one hand and slowly walked forward.

"Uzumaki Menma, if you don't want your dear brother to die in front of you, give up the resistance and come here obediently." As Danzo spoke, he felt as if he had grasped Uzumaki Menma's weakness, certain that he wouldn't disregard Naruto's safety.

"Hey! You old thief Danzo, did you get something wrong? As long as I'm not controlled, don't even think about catching Naruto." Uzumaki Menma said leisurely while playing with a kunai in his hand.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Uzumaki Menma instantly used the Flying Thunder God to appear before Danzo. He swung his kunai with astonishing speed, cleanly severing the hand Danzo was using to hold Naruto.

The eight men nearby reacted immediately, rushing forward to protect Danzo. However, Uzumaki Menma gave them no time to respond; eight dark golden chakra arms instantly sprouted from his back, each condensing a Rasengan, which he smashed directly toward them.

After a cloud of dust settled, save for a few who were skilled enough to use the Substitution Technique to dodge the blow, two were struck by the Rasengan and fell to the ground, severely wounded and left in critical condition.

Once he had done this, Uzumaki Menma immediately took Naruto and activated the Flying Thunder God to appear beside Kakashi.

"Are you alright, Lord Danzo? Let me treat you." A Root ninja beside Danzo said, beginning to treat him with medical ninjutsu.

Looking at the nine miserable figures, Uzumaki Menma couldn't help but tease, "Yare yare, is this the Root of Konoha? In my eyes, it's nothing more than this."

Uzumaki Menma picked his ear with his pinky finger, his indifferent attitude truly infuriating.

"You brat!" A Root member, seemingly provoked to the extreme, gritted his teeth as he glared at Uzumaki Menma.

"Hey, hey, hey, why are you looking at me like that? You can't even handle a kid; you guys are really useless." Uzumaki Menma continued to mock them.

"Brat, if you keep this personality, you'll suffer a great loss sooner or later." Danzo clutched his injured arm and said viciously.

"Oh my, Lord Danzo is concerned about me? Then I really must thank you for your concern, but I'm afraid you won't live to see it."

As soon as Uzumaki Menma finished speaking, he suddenly vanished from where he stood.

"Let me tell you one more thing: the mark of the Flying Thunder God does not disappear." Uzumaki Menma's voice came from behind Danzo.

"How is this possible!" Danzo looked behind him in horror.

"Rasengan!" The Rasengan in Uzumaki Menma's hand smashed toward Danzo.

"Watch out! Lord Danzo!" The Root ninja who was treating Danzo suddenly pushed him aside, taking the full force of the Rasengan himself.

Seeing his attack miss, Uzumaki Menma had intended to continue, but felt that killing Danzo just like that would be meaningless, so he decided to give up and returned to Kakashi's side.

"Seems like I went a bit too far." Uzumaki Menma muttered softly.

"Indeed, but it shouldn't be much of a problem." Kakashi said from the side.

"Let's end it here for today. Danzo, remember this: roots can only be buried underground. If they block the sunlight, then the roots must be eradicated!" Uzumaki Menma said loudly toward Danzo.

Uzumaki Menma turned and signaled for Kushina to dispel the barrier. Once the barrier was lifted, Uzumaki Menma walked to Kushina's side, with Kakashi following behind carrying Naruto.

"Teacher Kakashi, please release the genjutsu on them." Uzumaki Menma pointed to the people lying on the ground. In fact, Kushina had long wanted to release the genjutsu on Shikamaru and the others, but had been stopped by Uzumaki Menma.

After the genjutsu on Shikamaru and the others was released, Uzumaki Menma came to their side and pointed at Danzo:

"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and Kiba, when you go back, tell your parents that Lord Danzo of the Root attacked you, and that you were under a genjutsu and were almost taken away by him."

Shikamaru and the others were stunned for a moment, looking at Uzumaki Menma and then in the direction he was pointing.

"But please rest assured, Teacher Kakashi and Clan Head Fugaku saved you." Uzumaki Menma added.

Only then did Shikamaru react, standing up to thank the two, and the others followed suit.

Naruto remained in a daze, staring blankly at everything before him.

"Lord Danzo, if there's nothing else, we'll be going now. It's a real pity that your plan fell through; you didn't manage to take a single person." Uzumaki Menma said with feigned politeness, though his words were full of provocation.

"Damn it, this accursed brat!" Danzo glared viciously at Uzumaki Menma's back, his eyes burning as if he wanted to tear him to pieces.

To make the act more convincing, Uzumaki Menma, Kakashi, Kushina, and Fugaku escorted Shikamaru and the others home one by one, explaining clearly to their parents what had happened.

After everyone had been sent home, Uzumaki Menma became excited and said:

"The Hokage Office tomorrow will surely be spectacular. I'm almost tempted to go and see it." Uzumaki Menma said excitedly; he hadn't killed Danzo earlier not because he couldn't, but because he felt this would be more interesting.

After all, there were still many secrets to be unearthed from Danzo, and if those secrets were all exposed, the scene would be even more magnificent.

As if suddenly thinking of something, Uzumaki Menma looked at Fugaku and asked:

"Uncle Fugaku, was there something you wanted to see me about today?"

Upon hearing this, Fugaku looked around, and Uzumaki Menma understood immediately.

He placed his hands on the others and activated the Flying Thunder God, vanishing instantly, and when they reappeared, they were back at home.

Seeing the scene change, the group wasn't too surprised; having experienced it so many times, they were used to it.

"I came to find you today because..." Fugaku told Uzumaki Menma everything he had discussed with Hiruzen Sarutobi that morning.

After listening, Uzumaki Menma pondered for a moment, a smile playing on his lips.

"It looks like tomorrow will be even more spectacular." Uzumaki Menma said.

"What do you mean?" Everyone looked confused, and Naruto, standing to the side, was even more bewildered, still completely lost.

"You might not know this, but there are Danzo's people around the Hokage," Menma said in a tone of utter indifference, as if this were a trivial matter.

"What?" The group was startled; none of them had expected that there were Root members right beside the Hokage.

"Let's just see if Danzo makes a move tonight. After all, he is very eager to obtain a Sharingan, and his right eye is actually the Sharingan of Kagami Uchiha." Menma spoke lightly, but Fugaku could no longer remain calm.

He knew of Kagami Uchiha; what surprised him was not the fact itself, but that Menma knew about it—something even he had been unaware of.

"Menma, I have always been curious, how do you know so many things? Many of them, I fear, even the Hokage doesn't know," Fugaku asked, eager to learn how Menma had come by this information.

Although the two people beside him remained silent, it was clear they were just as curious.

"Well... how should I put this?" Menma suddenly realized he had said too much and couldn't immediately come up with a suitable excuse to brush it off.

"A lot of it is just my deduction. I don't know why, but I just have these premonitions. When I was using the Flying Thunder God to travel around for fun, I accidentally stumbled into a secret chamber and found some incredible things inside," Menma began his "master bluffer" routine again.

"What did you find?" Fugaku asked.

"A secret laboratory. Inside, there was a file regarding Danzo's arm and eye. It clearly recorded that the eye was indeed a transplanted Sharingan from Kagami Uchiha, and the arm was transplanted with Hashirama Cells," Menma said, sounding as if it were the absolute truth.

"Then where is that laboratory located?" Fugaku asked anxiously.

"I accidentally triggered a mechanism when I left, which caused the place to collapse, but fortunately, I ran fast. Although that laboratory no longer exists, I do know who performed the transplant surgery," Menma continued.

"Who was it?" the three asked in unison.

"None other than one of the legendary Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru!" Menma replied.

The three were greatly shocked, but upon reflection, they felt it was exactly the kind of thing Orochimaru would do.

The information received today was too staggering; the three of them needed time to digest it.

Naruto, standing to the side, couldn't understand what they were talking about at all, so he asked:

"What on earth are you all talking about? I don't understand any of it! You keep mentioning Danzo, Orochimaru, and so on—who are they?"

"Super big bad guys," Menma replied simply and directly.

Hearing this description, Kushina almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Alright, Uncle Fugaku, you should head back first. Let's stop talking about Danzo for now. I expect the Hokage already knows you have been associating with us Jinchuriki. Although you can use the excuse of looking after a friend's child to brush it off, I doubt the Hokage will be easily convinced by such a pretext," Menma said.

"I know, but even if they know, there is nothing they can do. Right now, Kumogakure and Iwagakure are making a lot of noise, and there is a possibility of war breaking out at any moment. If they really do start fighting, it might even drag Konoha into it, so I imagine the Hokage doesn't have much energy to spare for this side right now," Fugaku replied.

"What? There's something like that going on?" Menma was surprised. Logically speaking, although there had been friction between Iwagakure and Kumogakure since the Third Great Ninja War, they had never engaged in large-scale warfare. Could his arrival have caused this outcome?

The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed, and he couldn't help but begin to ponder the reasons behind it.

Checking the time and realizing it was getting late, Fugaku said his goodbyes and left.