Menma hurled a Flying Thunder God Kunai at the three Cloud Village ninjas charging toward him. It whistled through the air, tracing a golden arc.
The three Cloud Village ninjas blurred aside, easily dodging the Flying Thunder God Kunai.
Menma grinned and instantly used the Flying Thunder God to appear beside the ninja who specialized in Summoning Technique. Quick as a flash, he slashed at the man with his kunai.
"Is that all you've got, brat?" The ninja who specialized in Lightning Style and Water Style sneered. His hands rapidly formed seals. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A massive torrent burst from his mouth, rapidly taking the shape of a dragon in midair before lunging at Menma with bared claws.
Menma had no choice but to give up his attack. He kicked the Summoning Technique specialist away, then quickly formed Hand Seals. "Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!" A thick earthen wall surged up from the ground, blocking the Water Dragon Bullet. The dragon crashed against it, splashing water everywhere and turning the surrounding ground into mud.
Meanwhile, the Summoning Technique specialist quickly retreated and brought his hands together. "Summoning Jutsu!" In an instant, several small, highly venomous spiders appeared around him and scuttled toward Menma.
Menma's heart lurched. His body instinctively wanted to retreat, but he forcibly suppressed his fear.
Menma moved with lightning speed, weaving between the spiders with Taijutsu as he formed Hand Seals. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" A huge fireball flew toward the spiders. Several were swallowed by the flames, filling the air with a pungent smell of burning.
"Not bad, brat." The Lightning Style specialist gave a cold snort. He vanished in an instant and appeared behind Menma, his hand wrapped in powerful Lightning Style chakra as he struck at Menma's back.
Menma sensed the attack behind him and didn't panic. He tossed a Flying Thunder God Kunai straight up, then vanished.
"Menma!" Naruto shouted from the side. He struggled to break free of the webs binding him, but they only tightened. When Menma disappeared, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.
Menma appeared beside a Flying Thunder God Kunai some distance away. Seizing his chance, he used the Flying Thunder God again and reappeared behind the ninja.
The Lightning Style specialist seemed to sense something and launched another attack. He moved incredibly fast, unleashing a rain of Lightning Style strikes at Menma.
Menma could only keep dodging. Several attacks grazed him, leaving cuts across his body.
The Summoning Technique specialist used his technique again. This time, a gigantic spider appeared. Its thick, powerful legs made the ground tremble slightly with every step. The spider spat out one strand of tough web after another at Menma. As he dodged the Lightning Style attacks, he also had to avoid getting caught in the webs, leaving him in a sorry state.
Menma knew he couldn't keep this up. He decided to use Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. In an instant, more than a dozen clones appeared around him and charged at the three Cloud Village ninjas.
The ninja who specialized in Lightning Style and Water Style formed Hand Seals. "Lightning Style: False Darkness!" A powerful beam of lightning shot toward Menma's clones, destroying several of them at once.
Taking advantage of the opening, Menma's real body charged at the Summoning Technique specialist, hoping to take out the nuisance who kept summoning spiders.
He used Wind Style: Air Palm, sending a powerful blade of wind toward the ninja. The man hurriedly summoned several small spiders to shield himself, but the wind blade struck them and sliced them to pieces.
However, just as Menma was about to press his attack, the giant spider suddenly appeared above him, its huge fangs lunging down to bite him. Menma's heart jolted. He rolled to the side, barely dodging the fatal strike.
The three Cloud Village ninjas formed a circle around Menma, trapping him in the middle. Smiles of triumph spread across their faces, as if they were certain he had nowhere to run.
Menma wiped the blood from his face. He knew he couldn't hold anything back anymore. Drawing a deep breath, he activated Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Powerful chakra surged from within him, and dark golden light enveloped his body.
The three Cloud Village ninjas felt the sudden surge in Menma's presence. Their smiles vanished, replaced by solemn expressions.
Menma struck first. He was several times faster than before, appearing in front of the Summoning Technique specialist almost instantly.
He threw a punch imbued with tremendous force, sending the ninja flying into a large tree with such impact that it was uprooted.
Seeing its master attacked, the giant spider charged furiously at Menma. Menma calmly formed Hand Seals. "Lightning Style: Lightning Ball!"
A huge ball of lightning appeared in his hand. He hurled it at the spider, and it exploded on impact, blowing the creature to pieces.
Seeing this, the Lightning Style specialist gritted his teeth and used his most powerful Lightning Release Ninjutsu. "Lightning Style: Lightning Piercing!" His body became a bolt of lightning as he charged at Menma.
Menma scoffed and formed a Rasengan. Dark golden chakra enveloped it as he charged straight at the lightning bolt.
The Rasengan collided with the chakra surrounding the ninja, creating a flash of intense light and a deafening boom.
The powerful shock wave spread in every direction, making the surrounding trees sway and buckle.
Menma's Rasengan gradually gained the upper hand. The ninja was sent flying by its force, skidding several meters across the ground before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing both his comrades defeated, the ninja who specialized in Lightning Style and Water Style knew he had no chance of winning. Still, he decided to fight to the death. He formed Hand Seals and used Lightning Style and Water Style at the same time. "Lightning Style: Flash Lightning Arrow! Water Style: Great Shark Bullet Technique!" A huge shark-shaped attack, made of a mixture of Lightning Style and Water Style chakra, flew toward Menma.
Menma stood his ground, his gaze unwavering. He focused the Nine-Tails Chakra in his hands and thrust them forward, sending a powerful wave of golden chakra toward the Lightning-Water Shark Bullet.
The golden chakra wave easily broke through the attack and continued toward the ninja. He had no time to dodge. The chakra wave struck him, sending him flying like a kite with its string cut.
"Hmph! You look pretty pathetic, Menma. If you'd used my power earlier, you'd have finished them off already," Kurama said from within the Sealing Space.
"I can't rely on you all the time, can I, Kurama?" Menma said with a smile.
"Hmph! You're such a stubborn brat. Don't come crying to me to save you next time." With that, Kurama lay down as if preparing to sleep.
Menma only smiled and opened his eyes.
Menma looked at the three defeated Cloud Village ninjas and deactivated Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. He went over to his friends and channeled Wind Style chakra into his kunai, slicing through the webs binding them.
"Menma, you're amazing!" Ino said, looking at him.
Naruto punched Menma right in the face. Menma dropped onto the ground, clutching his face.
"What are you doing, Naruto? Why'd you hit him out of nowhere?" Kiba asked.
"If you'd just done it sooner—if you'd taken them all out sooner, Yota... Yota wouldn't have died!" Naruto said, looking at Menma as tears ran down his face.
Menma got to his feet, his expression complicated. He didn't know what to say. The others began to cry, too.
"I... I... Ah, forget it. It was my fault." Menma stammered, still unable to find the right words.
"If we're going to blame someone, shouldn't it be you, Naruto?" Shikamaru spoke up. Then he continued, "If you hadn't suggested going out to explore, how would we have ended up in this mess?" Shikamaru said through his tears.
"I... I didn't think things would turn out like this," Naruto said guiltily.
"Then did Menma know it would turn out this way?" Ino asked through her tears.
"Come on, everyone. Let's stop arguing. I don't think Yota would want to see us fighting." Choji spoke up from the side, sniffling.
"In the end, the Cloud Village is to blame. We'll take their bodies back to the village and let Grandpa Hokage handle this." Menma took out a Sealing Scroll and sealed the three bodies inside.
"Let's go. We're heading back," Menma said as he joined the others.
No one answered. They all followed Menma.
Along the way, Kurama kept teasing Menma, saying things like, "Aren't you usually so full of yourself? Why weren't you acting so tough when you saw those spiders?" He even mimicked the expression Menma had worn, then burst out laughing.
Menma was speechless. He'd never expected the fox, who usually seemed so haughty, to start mocking people. Menma often chatted with Kurama, but Kurama had always acted superior. This was the first time Menma had seen him like this.
Before long, they spotted the Konoha Gate. Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki saw the children approaching from a distance. They took a closer look and recognized them.
Kotetsu was startled. He wondered when the children had gone out. The two hurried over to them.
The children had their heads bowed and were still crying. The two men's expressions immediately turned grave.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Kotetsu asked.
"It's pretty serious. We were attacked by Cloud Village ninjas. Could you please call our parents and Lord Hokage, Uncle Kotetsu? I have something important to tell them," Menma said.
"I understand. Izumo, look after the children. I'll go report this." Kotetsu was still curious about how Menma knew his name, but what Menma had told him was far more urgent.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of them. Go on!" Izumo said.
Kotetsu then used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared. First, he went to find the others and summon Menma and his friends' parents. Then he went to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Izumo led them to the Konoha Gate guardhouse. Sobs rang out from inside as Izumo tried to comfort everyone.
Before you continue