After leaving Shikamaru's house.
Uzumaki Menma and Naruto parted ways, and Menma returned to Root.
The moment he arrived at Root, a Root ninja found Uzumaki Menma. "Young Master Menma, Lord Danzo wishes to see you."
Uzumaki Menma went to Danzo's office.
The first thing Danzo said upon seeing Uzumaki Menma was, "Sit. There are some questions I want to test you on."
Uzumaki Menma thought Danzo was going to test him on Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques. Full of confidence, he sat upright in the chair and prepared for Danzo's test.
Uzumaki Menma was extremely confident. Thanks to Ryoma Aburame's almost sadistic methods, he had firmly memorized everything he had learned in Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques.
However, things did not go according to plan.
Danzo's first question left Uzumaki Menma completely stumped.
"Let me ask you this: if a village that regards Konoha as an enemy and frequently clashes with Konoha suddenly wants to come to Konoha to sign a peace treaty, what do you think the reason would be?"
Uzumaki Menma froze, his little face scrunching up as he failed to understand why Danzo had suddenly asked him this.
After thinking for a long while, Uzumaki Menma said, "Maybe that village was invaded by another village and felt pressured. They want to sign a peace treaty with Konoha to prevent Konoha from joining the attack, or perhaps they want to pull Konoha in to help them resist the other village's invasion?"
"What if everything in their village is stable and normal?"
After thinking for a moment, Uzumaki Menma replied, "Either they suddenly lost their minds, or they're up to no good."
"Not bad. Very good."
Hearing Danzo's praise, Uzumaki Menma beamed.
It was not easy to earn Danzo's praise.
Danzo continued, "If that village came to Konoha and carried out sabotage here, what would you do?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Uzumaki Menma answered, "What are we waiting for? Beat the crap out of them!"
A rare smile appeared on Danzo's face.
Danzo was very satisfied with Uzumaki Menma's answer.
Since he intended to train Uzumaki Menma to become Hokage, it was not enough for him to be strong. His methods needed to be strong as well. He could not be as indecisive as Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I am very satisfied with your answers today. As a reward, you may rest tomorrow and will not need to train..."
Before Danzo could finish, Uzumaki Menma let out a delighted cheer.
"Woohoo! I can finally have some fun!"
"Ahem!"
Danzo coughed heavily and said in displeasure, "Let me finish!"
Uzumaki Menma immediately sat up straight. It would be awful if his hard-earned day off got canceled.
Danzo continued, "For the next few days, stay in Root and do not leave."
Uzumaki Menma's face instantly fell.
"Grandpa Danzo, is it because Kumogakure is sending a delegation to Konoha?"
Danzo asked in surprise, "Who told you that?"
"Uncle Shikaku did. During dinner, he reminded Naruto and me not to wander around Konoha's streets these next few days. If we can stay home, we should stay home. And the questions you just asked me, Grandpa Danzo, were also because of Kumogakure, right?"
Danzo nodded slightly. "That's right. Although Konoha is the strongest of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Kumogakure's overall strength is not inferior to ours.
"As an aggressive, militaristic village, Kumogakure has always regarded Konoha as a thorn in its side. Its decision to send a delegation to Konoha to sign a peace treaty clearly carries ulterior motives. So for the next few days, stay obediently in Root. Do you understand?"
Uzumaki Menma asked tentatively, "Can I invite my friends to Root to play?"
The moment Uzumaki Menma brought that up, Danzo got angry.
Uzumaki Menma's harsh training left him unable to move afterward.
So those brats came to Root every day to take Uzumaki Menma out to play. Getting into Root was now as easy for them as walking into their own homes.
Did Root still look anything like it used to?
But considering that Uzumaki Menma would stay obediently in Root for the next few days, Danzo gritted his teeth and agreed.
Before Uzumaki Menma could celebrate, Danzo added, "Tomorrow's day off is canceled!"
Uzumaki Menma immediately wailed and pleaded with Danzo.
However, it was useless.
The next day.
Naruto, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Ino, and Hinata gathered at Root.
Root's training ground.
Uzumaki Menma was training.
The six of them watched from the side.
Watching Uzumaki Menma train, Naruto's mouth hung wide open. He was completely dumbfounded.
Shikamaru watched Uzumaki Menma's training intensity with his heart pounding. "Now I finally understand why Menma looks so weak every day."
Even the chubby flesh on Choji's face trembled. "This training intensity is way too terrifying."
Neji sighed. "I never expected Menma, who usually seems so unreliable, to train this crazily. No, I need to work even harder too!"
Ino and Hinata asked worriedly, "Will Menma be okay training like this?"
Two hours later.
Like a dead dog, Uzumaki Menma clawed at the ground with both hands and crawled in front of Choji.
"Choji, hurry and give me some of your snacks."
Choji hurriedly took out all his snacks. "Menma, eat quickly."
Uzumaki Menma opened a bag of chips and had barely taken two bites before he vomited.
Yamanaka Fu said "thoughtfully," "After completing high-intensity training, you can suffer gastrointestinal discomfort and throw up immediately."
Rolling his eyes, Uzumaki Menma complained, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"You didn't ask earlier. That concludes today's training course. See you tomorrow."
Yamanaka Fu used the Body Flicker Technique and left the training ground.
Shikamaru asked in disbelief, "Menma, don't tell me there's more training after this? No way, right?"
Before Uzumaki Menma could answer.
Ryoma Aburame had already appeared behind Uzumaki Menma. He lifted him up and placed him in the center of the training ground.
Ryoma Aburame directly summoned a huge swarm of insects, surrounding Uzumaki Menma.
The sight made Ino and Hinata break out in goosebumps.
Ryoma Aburame was as taciturn as ever. "Recite it."
Uzumaki Menma began reciting the contents of Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques.
"Sealing techniques are divided into even-numbered seals and odd-numbered seals. Even-numbered seals are..."
Uzumaki Menma began reciting.
At first, Uzumaki Menma recited quite smoothly, but the sound of Choji crunching chips distracted him, and he immediately forgot what came next.
"Uh... what came after that again? Uncle Ryoma, give me a hint?"
Ryoma Aburame curled a finger, and the insects surrounding Uzumaki Menma immediately surged forward, covering his entire body.
Uzumaki Menma's ecstatic voice came from within the swarm.
"Mm~ Oh~ Ah~"
The six watching from the side could only twitch at the corners of their eyes.
Wasn't this way too sadistic?
This was practically abuse!
Before you continue