Kappa!

After standing there in a daze for quite a while, Menma calmed himself and began thinking of a solution.

Looking at the Ninja Continent beyond the stars, Menma knew there was no way he could return anytime soon.

Though the ground beneath his feet was desolate, at least there was air for him to breathe.

And desolation meant there were no living creatures, so he did not need to worry about safety for the time being.

Jiraiya had probably already noticed his disappearance, so he would surely try every possible way to find him.

But Menma could not just stay where he was and wait for rescue. He needed to find a way to save himself first!

He would treat this as wilderness survival training! Menma encouraged himself inwardly.

He looked up at the sun and headed in its direction.

On this barren land without any landmarks, there was no sense of direction at all. To keep himself from walking in a curve and eventually circling back to his starting point, he would use the sun, moon, and the planet where the Ninja Continent stood as reference points!

After confirming his direction, Menma began running at an unhurried pace while analyzing the situation.

The land beneath his feet should have been a massive fragment blasted away when the Ninja Continent shattered.

But it was strange. Although he could clearly see the Ninja Continent from here, he had never seen this place while on the Ninja Continent.

Also, although there was clearly a sun in the sky, everything remained pitch-black. That meant this fragment had no atmosphere. Yet he could breathe freely, which meant there was air here.

It had clearly existed all along, yet had never been discovered. It clearly had no atmosphere, yet it contained breathable air!

There was only one explanation: this place had been created by someone!

Taking an even bolder guess, a catastrophe had occurred on the Ninja Continent long ago, causing the planet to shatter.

One of the larger fragments had broken away and become the land beneath his feet.

The people who had originally lived on that land had used some method to conceal this place and had sealed the air near the ground with something like a barrier.

Although he did not know who had done all this or what their reasons were, one thing was certain: other people had to exist in this place!

So long as he kept exploring, he would definitely find traces of human activity. Then he could ask them how to return to the Shinobi World and go home!

At that thought, Menma's uneasy heart settled somewhat.

After continuing forward for some time, Menma spotted sparse patches of grass on the ground.

Though all of it was yellow and withered, Menma was still thrilled.

This was precisely proof that his earlier assumptions had been correct!

And the presence of plants meant there was water nearby. Water meant his chances of survival would increase dramatically!

Menma sat cross-legged on the ground and created three Shadow Clones, sending each one off to explore in a different direction.

Their first priority was finding water. After that, they would search for whoever was behind this place!

After an unknown amount of time, the memories of one clone returned. It had found a water source and, after briefly observing it, discovered fish swimming within it. It immediately dispelled itself and reported those memories back to Menma's original body.

Menma was overjoyed. He quickly dispelled the other two clones, and sure enough, the other two directions were as barren as the path he had come from, with absolutely nothing to be found!

Menma raced toward the water source from his Shadow Clone's memories.

Now that he had a destination, Menma no longer needed to conserve his strength. He ran at top speed and reached the water source.

There was a fairly large pool here, with a small river running through it from one side to the other. Sparse aquatic plants grew around the pool, while farther along the river, he could vaguely make out some taller trees.

Menma channeled chakra, stepped onto the water's surface, and ran to the center of the pool.

He first scooped up a handful of water and lightly tasted it with the tip of his tongue.

There was no strange smell, and his tongue felt fine. It should be safe to drink!

Menma immediately began drinking in great gulps.

After quenching his thirst, Menma stared at the fish beneath the water and fell into thought. How was he supposed to get them out?

All he had at the moment were the kunai and shuriken in his ninja tool pouch. Was he supposed to catch fish with those?

Menma gave it a try and found it completely unworkable.

Because of the powerful resistance in the water, the kunai and shuriken lost all momentum less than half a meter after entering it and sank to the bottom.

Sigh, if only Sasuke were here. All he would need to do was use Chidori and stick it into the water. The fish from the entire pool would probably float right up!

Then he could roast them with the Great Fireball Technique. Slurp~ Just thinking about it made his mouth water!

But if this were his previous life, Sasuke would probably get arrested and detained for fifteen days for using destructive fishing methods like blasting, poisoning, and electrocuting fish! Menma could not help laughing at the thought.

"Wait!" A flash of inspiration struck Menma, and he came up with an excellent idea. "I can't electrocute fish, but I can blast them!"

Menma pulled an Explosive Tag from his ninja tool pouch, tied it behind a kunai, infused chakra into it to ignite the tag, then counted down from three before hurling the kunai at a distant school of fish.

With a thunderous boom, a massive splash erupted from the water.

When the surface gradually calmed, several small fish could clearly be seen floating on top!

Menma happily ran over the water's surface and picked up the fish that had been stunned by the blast.

Just as he was about to gut them with his kunai, a stream of bubbles suddenly rose from the middle of the pool!

Menma no longer cared about the fish. He gripped his kunai in reverse and held it before himself, bracing for battle!

A moment later, as the water surged upward, a humanoid creature appeared in the middle of the pool.

"Who is it? What's all this racket? Is it you again, Mountain Child?"

The creature speaking was extremely small and skinny, entirely green, and stood about one meter tall.

There was a depression in the middle of its head, with a pair of round eyes that might not have fully opened because it had just woken up.

Its nose protruded into a birdlike beak. It had four sharp fangs on both its upper and lower jaws, exposed as it yawned.

Its limbs were long and slender. Each hand had only four fingers, webbing stretched between them, and it carried a turtle-like shell on its back.

"Mountain Child, if you keep doing this...

No, you're not Mountain Child. Who are you?!" The humanoid creature seemed to have only just noticed Menma and turned pale with shock.

Menma looked at the creature before him and, after comparing their sizes, felt a little more confident.

He cautiously said, "Hello. I'm a human who accidentally stumbled into this place. You're the legendary Kappa, right?

What exactly is this place?

Do you know how to get out?

..."

The rapid string of questions left the humanoid creature dizzy. It hurriedly waved its hands and shouted:

"Wait, wait, wait,

wait just a second!"