Konoha's Blue Beast Appears

Naruto and Menma stepped into the house, and a stale, musty air rushed to meet them. Dust lay like a thin veil, gently blanketing every corner. Although the house was thick with grime from long-term vacancy, the furniture remained surprisingly well-preserved.

Sunlight spilled in through the gaps in the windows, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. To their surprise, they discovered upon arriving this morning that the water and electricity were still connected, as if the house itself were silently welcoming its new masters.

Menma stood in the center of the room, his eyes slowly scanning the surroundings. A trace of melancholy crossed his gaze as he sighed softly, "Things remain, but the people are gone." His voice echoed through the empty house, as if recounting the stories it once held.

"What a drag, we still have to clean this place up." Menma couldn't help but glance at Naruto; if Naruto had already mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, they might be able to finish in no time.

Naruto looked back at Menma, catching the strange expression on his brother's face. He felt a sense of bewilderment, as if Menma were implying that all the housework should be left to him.

"How about... we look around first?" Naruto suggested to Menma.

"Hmm, that works too." With that, Menma headed toward the second floor.

Menma reached the second floor and pushed open the door to a room. A faint, stale odor permeated the air, and spiderwebs hung in the corners.

The moment Menma saw the cobwebs, his heart skipped a beat, and his footsteps halted involuntarily. He carefully skirted around the webs, his eyes scanning the surroundings vigilantly, terrified that a spider might suddenly appear.

When his gaze was drawn to a cabinet in the room, he walked toward it, his eyes darting back to the cobwebs every few seconds.

Suddenly, he felt something crawl past his foot. He let out a startled "Ah!" and jumped into the air. When he looked closely, he realized it was just a small insect. He let out a sigh of relief, though his heart was still pounding.

Before he transmigrated, he had been terrified of spiders, centipedes, and snakes, and he hadn't expected that fear to follow him here.

Trembling, he opened the cabinet and found a white cloak inside, with five large characters printed on the back: Fourth Hokage.

"Minato's cloak, so cool," Menma said, pleasantly surprised. He picked up the cloak and put it on, but it was a bit too large; from the back, only the characters for "Fourth" were visible.

Menma's gaze then shifted back to the cabinet, where a kunai hung. This was none other than Minato's Flying Thunder God kunai.

Menma took it down and toyed with it in his hand. He thought to himself that if he learned the Flying Thunder God, he would surely be even flashier than Minato. At the thought, Menma couldn't help but giggle foolishly.

Downstairs, Naruto had made his way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Inside were some rotten, spoiled food items. Upon catching the stench, Naruto immediately covered his nose.

"How long has this stuff been sitting here?" Naruto remarked with disgust at the rotting, foul-smelling contents.

He looked around the first floor, but finding nothing of interest, he headed up to the second floor.

As soon as he reached the landing, he noticed a room with the lights on and curiously walked toward it. Upon entering, he saw Menma, dressed in the Fourth Hokage's cloak, playing with a kunai.

"Menma, what are you..." Naruto asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, this must be our father's stuff. Which means our father is the Fourth Hokage!" Menma explained.

"What? Our father is the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto looked at Menma in shock.

"By all rational logic, yes. There's also a photo here." Menma picked up a picture from the corner and handed it to Naruto. The people in the photo were none other than Minato and Kushina.

Naruto took the photo with trembling hands. His eyes remained fixed on the two people in the image, his eye sockets gradually reddening as tears welled up.

His lips quivered slightly, and he asked with a choked voice, "Are these... our... mom and dad?" Every word seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat, and his body swayed slightly with emotion.

"Since the Third Hokage gave us the key to this house, it's naturally our parents' home, and the things inside are naturally theirs," Menma answered, watching Naruto.

Naruto couldn't help but shed tears the size of beans. This was the first time he had ever seen a photo of his parents. Living in the house where Minato and Kushina once resided made him feel as though he were one step closer to them.

Seeing Naruto crying, Menma understood the feeling well. He walked over, gently patted Naruto on the back, and looked at him with a full smile. "It's okay, brother. You still have me."

Hearing this, Naruto hugged Menma tightly. Just as the brothers were immersed in this atmosphere of warmth and sorrow, a knock sounded at the door.

The sound was like a stone tossed into a calm lake, shattering the tranquility. Both of them stopped moving; Naruto was still sobbing softly, so Menma patted his shoulder, turned, and headed downstairs to open the door.

Watching Menma leave, Naruto wiped away his tears and trotted after him.

The two reached the entrance together and opened the door. Standing there was a man with a bowl-cut hairstyle, thick eyebrows, and a green training suit worn under a chunin vest, with his ninja headband worn like a belt. The visitor was none other than Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy.

Menma was ecstatic at the sight. This was the legendary Guy who nearly kicked the series finale into existence! Menma looked at Might Guy with eyes full of worship.

Meanwhile, Naruto, still reeling from the news about his parents, kept his head bowed low.

"Greetings! I am Konoha's Blue Beast, Might Guy! It is a pleasure to meet you. I have accepted a mission from the Third Hokage to teach you how to read starting today!" Might Guy didn't forget to strike his signature pose.

Huh? Guy is going to teach us... how to read? Isn't that a waste of talent? A chunin or even a genin could handle teaching kids to read. What is Hiruzen Sarutobi thinking? Menma grumbled inwardly.

"Um... Guy-sensei, I'm Uzumaki Menma, and this is my brother, Uzumaki Naruto," Menma said politely with a smile, habitually reaching out to shake hands.

Might Guy gripped Menma's hand enthusiastically, his eyes full of vitality. Then, his gaze inadvertently fell on Naruto. Naruto, feeling the stare, looked up and said with a bit of naivety and bluntness, "Hello, Bushy Brows-sensei."

Menma groaned internally; calling him by a nickname the moment they met was worrying. Would Guy-sensei get angry? However, Might Guy was remarkably broad-minded. He laughed heartily, gave Naruto a thumbs-up, and said, "You have spirit, Naruto!" He didn't seem to take the nickname as an insult, but rather as a sign of Naruto's youthful energy.

"Naruto, is it? Don't be so down. Your youth has only just begun!"

Looking at Might Guy, Menma had a bad premonition. Was it really a good idea for this man, who always had "youth" on his lips, to teach them how to read?

Would they be doing physical training while learning to read? Like, if they couldn't memorize 100 characters, they'd have to do 1,000 squats?

Menma broke into a cold sweat at the thought. That would be the death of him. But on second thought, it didn't sound half bad; after all, aside from senjutsu, only taijutsu could harm the Six Paths. With that in mind, Menma made up his mind: no matter what, he would learn taijutsu from Guy.

"Um... Guy-sensei... while we learn to read, can we also sweat like you? I've heard you're a taijutsu genius. Can I train with you?" Menma looked at Might Guy with almost pleading eyes.

Both Might Guy and Naruto were stunned for a moment, but Guy quickly recovered, struck his signature pose, and said, "I acknowledge your youth! I accept your request."

Menma then mimicked Might Guy, giving a thumbs-up with a grin that made his teeth flash.

Naruto looked at Might Guy, then at Menma, confused and unable to understand what the two were doing.

Only then did Menma realize he should invite Might Guy inside. The moment he stepped in, he suddenly remembered that the house hadn't been cleaned at all—there wasn't even a place to sit, as everything was covered in dust.

Seeing this, Menma scratched his head in embarrassment and said to Might Guy, "Sorry, Guy-sensei. We just moved in today and haven't had a chance to clean up yet, and you've already arrived."

"It's alright, Naruto! Doing chores is just another way to sweat, so let our youth burn!" Might Guy said to Menma.

"Um... Guy-sensei, my name is Menma. He's the one named Naruto."

Menma suddenly recalled the various situations between Might Guy and Kisame and couldn't help but feel this might become the norm. After all, he and Naruto really did look alike; there was hardly any difference, save for the fact that Naruto had three whisker marks on his face while he only had two.

Hearing Menma say this, Might Guy gave an awkward laugh and then said, "Is that so? My apologies, I won't mistake you next time. Now, let's get to sweating!"

With that, Might Guy began assigning tasks as if he were issuing a mission, then solemnly added to Menma, "If you don't finish cleaning the house by this morning, you'll have to run 10 laps around Konoha!"

Might Guy was taking into account that neither of these two children had undergone much training; if it were him, he would have started at 100 laps.

Hearing this, Naruto's mouth hung slightly open, and he looked at Might Guy in shock before glancing at Menma.

Menma was also stunned for a moment. He had expected something like a hundred or two hundred squats, but how did they end up running 10 laps around the village right off the bat?

After all, Konoha was quite large, and running 10 laps around it would surely cost him half his life.

Once Might Guy had arranged the cleaning duties, Menma began wiping down the furniture. When he reached a corner and saw a spiderweb, his body trembled slightly. He hesitated for a moment before summoning the courage to clear it away.

Naruto, who was mopping the floor nearby, saw Menma's reaction and laughed, "Menma, why are you so afraid of spiders?" Menma's face turned red as he retorted, "What's so funny? Spiders have so many legs; they look terrifying."

Might Guy overheard their conversation and encouraged Menma, "Menma, do not be afraid! This is your chance to overcome yourself; it is a challenge of youth!" Menma took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and carefully cleared away the spiderweb.

Watching the two of them work hard, Might Guy remarked, "This is what youth is all about!" He then grabbed a rag and began wiping down some of the higher surfaces.

At noon, it was time for lunch. The three of them sat together, Naruto and Menma collapsing onto the floor, panting heavily.

Unexpectedly, the three of them had managed to clean the house from top to bottom in just half a day; the workload had been no small feat.

Might Guy looked at the two lying on the floor with a satisfied smile and said, "This is what youth is all about! To reward your hard work, I have decided to take you both for five laps around the village!"

Hearing this, Naruto and Menma were frozen in place. Menma complained inwardly, Seriously, man? So no matter if we finished the work or not, we were going to end up running laps around the village anyway?

Seeing this, Might Guy called the two brothers to get ready for lunch. Naruto immediately perked up and asked Might Guy what they were having. Menma also sat up and slowly rose to his feet.

"What would you two like to eat?" Might Guy asked.

"Ramen! Let's have ramen for lunch!" Naruto looked at Might Guy excitedly, then glanced at Menma.

"Ramen again?" Menma frowned when he heard Naruto's excited suggestion. "Don't you get sick of eating it so much? Why don't we try something else?"

Naruto shook his head and replied earnestly, "How could something delicious ever get boring?"

Unable to do anything about Naruto, Menma had no choice but to compromise and go for ramen.

"Alright, then let's go have ramen!" Might Guy said, not forgetting to give a thumbs-up.