Changes

Time flew by.

More than a year had passed.

Uzumaki Menma was now five years old.

Over the past year or so, Konoha had undergone tremendous changes.

The entire Uchiha Clan had moved into Konoha's central district and was no longer subjected to round-the-clock surveillance.

The Konoha Military Police Force was no longer a department exclusive to the Uchiha Clan.

Ninja from every major clan, along with a large number of civilian ninja, had now joined the Konoha Military Police Department.

Originally, the Konoha Military Police Force's emblem had been a shuriken with the Uchiha Clan crest engraved at its center.

Now, the Uchiha crest at the center of the Konoha Military Police Force's shuriken emblem had been replaced with Konoha's symbol.

Thanks to Fugaku Uchiha's efforts, Konoha's residents were no longer as hostile toward the Uchiha Clan.

As for the Hyuga Clan,

its internal structure had now changed completely.

The Caged Bird Seal had become a thing of the past.

Previously, Neji could only secretly watch others learn secret techniques reserved for the Hyuga main family, such as Eight Trigrams Palm: Rotation and Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.

Now, all former branch family members could openly learn them.

Konoha as a whole

had recovered from the severe blow dealt by the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Uprising because of the changes within the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan.

It had even become more prosperous than Konoha had been before the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Uprising.

As Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had woken up laughing in his sleep more than once.

As for Root,

although Danzo's methods remained harsh, he had gradually begun shifting Root from operating underground to acting openly.

Some Root ninja were already active in the light, carrying out Konoha's missions.

Root was no longer the terrifying organization that made people pale at its mere mention.

In fact, after word spread of Root ninja's efficiency in carrying out missions, as well as how the Cloud Village Delegation had twisted black into white and Danzo had firmly demanded war against Kumogakure,

a considerable number of Konoha's residents came to regard Danzo as an idol.

Danzo, who had once rarely left Root, now appeared on Konoha's streets more and more often.

And Danzo's mood continued to improve.

That was because Uzumaki Menma's Uzumaki Clan physique had begun to manifest.

Combined with the Nine-Tails' regenerative ability, Uzumaki Menma's healing capacity was nothing short of terrifying.

Once, while practicing shuriken throwing, Uzumaki Menma made a mistake and a shuriken plunged straight into his thigh.

Nearly the entire shuriken sank into his leg.

Just as Root's medical ninja pulled out the shuriken and was about to treat him, the wound on Uzumaki Menma's thigh had already healed completely.

There was also Uzumaki Menma's sensory ability.

According to the records left behind by Uzumaki Mito,

Uzumaki Menma had awakened the Uzumaki Clan's Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

With his eyes closed and his mind's eye opened, he could now sense unusual chakra activity within a radius of one or two kilometers.

If it was a chakra signature he had specifically identified, he could even sense its precise location and movements, the other side's numbers and traits, and even their movement speed in great detail.

Uzumaki Menma could even conceal his own chakra, preventing other sensory ninja from detecting him.

In terms of reconnaissance ability, it might already rival the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan.

Moreover, Uzumaki Menma possessed considerable talent for learning ninjutsu.

According to chakra test paper, Uzumaki Menma had wind and water chakra affinities.

He could quickly master even low-level ninjutsu taught to him.

However, Danzo later stopped teaching Uzumaki Menma new ninjutsu.

In Danzo's view, no matter how many low-level ninjutsu one learned, they could not compare to a single high-level ninjutsu in practical use.

And with the immense chakra within Uzumaki Menma, he could completely use high-level ninjutsu as if they were low-level ones in the future.

For now, building a solid foundation took priority.

Over the past year or so,

Uzumaki Menma had also committed all of Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques firmly to memory.

He had also learned a basic sealing technique: the Binding Seal Array.

Using four specially made sealing talismans, it could bind a target within the area enclosed by the four talismans after activation.

Everything about Uzumaki Menma was developing in the direction Danzo had envisioned.

What puzzled Danzo somewhat was Uzumaki Menma's strange summoned beasts.

After Uzumaki Menma had been injected with the Bloodline Completion Elixir to complete his Uzumaki Clan bloodline, the nine masked phantoms that had appeared were somehow summoned by Uzumaki Menma through summoning.

Moreover, Uzumaki Menma's Tiger hand seal for summoning was completely different from the summoning hand seal method Danzo knew.

Danzo asked Uzumaki Menma what had happened.

Uzumaki Menma told Danzo that the summoning hand seal method had suddenly appeared in his mind, and when he tried it, he had truly summoned them.

Danzo had also researched Uzumaki Menma's Nine Masked Beasts.

But the results left Danzo somewhat unable to believe them.

Because the Nine Masked Beasts' chakra was extremely close to the Nine-Tails' chakra.

It could even be said that it was Nine-Tails chakra.

But Danzo did not believe this result, because if it were true, it meant the Nine-Tails inside Uzumaki Menma was helping protect him.

How could the Nine-Tails, which hated humans so intensely, possibly help a human—especially the Jinchuriki who had imprisoned it?

Was that possible?

It was utterly impossible!

So Danzo filled in the blanks himself, leaning more toward the idea that Uzumaki Menma had somehow accidentally acquired the means to summon the Nine Masked Beasts, and that the Nine Masked Beasts had been affected by the Nine-Tails' chakra within him.

Uzumaki Menma's little team of eight had also expanded.

Two new companions had joined, turning it into a team of ten.

One was Kiba Inuzuka, who loved dogs, had a competitive personality, and was as impulsive and confident as Naruto.

The other was Shino Aburame, who loved insects, had a calm personality, looked difficult to get along with, was easily overlooked, yet became extremely long-winded whenever he spoke.

Although the team had expanded, its members now spent little time together and much time apart.

In another year, they would all be six years old and old enough to enter the Ninja Academy.

So they were basically all studying their clans' ninjutsu or secret techniques within their respective families.

Neji, who was already six, had entered the Ninja Academy.

It was said that Neji had even earned the title of top freshman at the Ninja Academy.

Hinata had become more cheerful, and through diligent training, she had successfully awakened her Byakugan.

And this year, Hinata's father and mother gave her a younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga.

The reason they had a second child was that Hyuga Hiashi worried Hinata might go off track if she kept hanging around Uzumaki Menma and the others, so he had another child as a safeguard.

Naruto had also been injected with the same Bloodline Completion Elixir used on Uzumaki Menma to complete his Uzumaki Clan bloodline.

And like Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged for a ninja to have Naruto study Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques, hoping to see whether Naruto could learn the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques in the future.

But Introduction to Basic Sealing Techniques had far too many words, and Naruto simply could not keep reading it. Hiruzen Sarutobi also could not make Naruto undergo the nearly abusive, harsh training Danzo imposed on Uzumaki Menma, so in the end, the matter was dropped.