High Plain of Heaven

The group across from him exchanged glances and nodded. Then the tall man with wings on his back stepped forward and said to Menma:

"Um, human boy, we still don't know your true intentions, nor can we tell whether what you said is true or false.

"So, could you come with us to our place? We can sit down and have a proper talk."

Menma smiled. "It would be my pleasure. I would not dare ask for more!"

"What did he say?" Longneck asked.

"You ignorant fool, he means he agreed!" the bald old man answered.

And so, Menma followed them to the shrine. Inside one of its buildings, Menma sat cross-legged on the floor with a group of bizarre-looking people.

The winged man spoke first. "Um, human boy, your name is Menma Namikaze, right? Would you mind answering a few questions?"

"Go ahead." Menma nodded slightly.

"Thank you, sir. First question: Kappa said earlier that you intended to declare war on us. Is that true?" the winged man asked.

Menma inclined his head slightly, a trace of apology in his voice. "I am truly sorry. I only used that excuse because I had no other way to make everyone take me seriously.

"But I truly have no intention of becoming enemies with any of you!

"Also, hurting Mr. Kappa was not my intention. I simply could not have met you otherwise. Please apologize to Mr. Kappa on my behalf."

The winged man said solemnly, "If that is the case, then let this matter be put behind us."

"Thank you all very much for your understanding!"

"Next is the second question. Kappa said that you first called yourself a human, then later claimed to be a creature called a Ninja. What exactly is your true identity?"

Menma smiled and replied, "The two do not conflict. I am both human and a Ninja. Human is my race, while Ninja is my profession."

"I understand. Just like us—we are both yokai and gods. Yokai is our race, while god is our profession."

"It would not be wrong to understand it that way."

"Then the third question: what kind of profession is a Ninja?"

Menma thought for a moment, organizing his words before explaining, "Ninja is a combat profession where I come from. We use the Chakra within our bodies to unleash all kinds of Ninjutsu for destruction, transformation, healing, and other purposes."

"Now I'm completely confused. Not only have my doubts not decreased, they seem to have grown even greater. What is Ninjutsu? And what is Chakra?!"

Menma found it quite a headache as well. These were common-sense concepts in the Shinobi World, but after arriving in this godforsaken place, while the language was mutually intelligible, conceptual terms had become difficult to explain.

Menma rubbed his head, thought for a while, then said, "If you do not mind, I can start from the beginning, including the origins, development, and current state of Ninja."

"We are all ears!" The winged man sat up straight to show his respect.

"More than a thousand years ago, there was a Sage named Six Paths. It is said that he invented Ninjutsu, defeated all kinds of demons that plagued humanity, and founded the Ninja Sect.

"Those who cultivated within the Ninja Sect were called Ninja.

"The energy cultivated by Ninja was called Chakra.

"By using Chakra, Ninja could accomplish things ordinary people could not, such as breathing fire, summoning wind, controlling water, and shattering rocks. These techniques were called Ninjutsu."

"I see, so it was a new cultivation system. No wonder we had never heard of it! But the timing was quite a coincidence—it happened during our Great Calamity Period." The winged man suddenly understood.

"Great Calamity? What Great Calamity?!" This time, Menma was the confused one.

The winged man glanced at the others, sighed softly, and explained to Menma:

"About a thousand years ago, many strange people came to our homeland. Their skin was as white as snow, horns like those of evil demons grew from their heads, and they possessed devilish eyes.

"They brought a seed and planted it in our homeland. That seed grew into a towering tree, at the cost of our land crumbling apart and the cycle of reincarnation collapsing.

"We gathered the strength of everyone and fought them. At first, we even held the advantage.

"But as time passed, that great tree continuously absorbed the life force of our planet and released an evil energy into the air.

"Our strength grew weaker and weaker, and we gradually became no match for those outsiders.

"Later, our priests died in battle, our onmyoji sacrificed themselves, our shrine maidens fell, and even we yokai could not escape disaster.

"At the moment the land completely shattered and was swallowed by the stars, our great yokai leader paid with his life to gather this patch of land together and conceal our tracks with a barrier. Only then did a spark of hope remain.

"This final refuge is called the High Plain of Heaven!

"But over the past thousand years, many more companions have still died.

"We call that period the Great Calamity Period."

The more Menma listened, the stranger his expression became. Why did this plot sound so familiar?

The winged man noticed Menma's strange expression and asked, "What is it? Is there a problem?"

Menma paused, then said, "If I am not mistaken, we should be from the same planet."

The winged man was stunned and uncertain. "What? You must be joking! Our homeland already fell into the stars. It is impossible for anyone to have survived!"

Menma shook his head. "I am serious. If you do not believe me, look up. The planet above your heads, the one that is shattered in half—doesn't the broken half resemble the way your homeland fell apart?

"Also, many legends about all of you have been passed down in our homeland. The gentleman who has been speaking with me should be the Great Tengu.

"That beautiful lady over there should be the Snow Woman.

"And that bald old grandpa over there, wearing wooden clogs and carrying a katana, should be Nurarihyon!"

"Damn it, don't call me bald!!!" Old Man Nurarihyon snapped.

Menma smiled awkwardly, then continued speaking to the Great Tengu. "Besides that, I have more evidence to prove my guess."

"What evidence?" Great Tengu asked.

"We should know a yokai in common!" Menma dropped a bombshell.

"Who is it?"

"Gamamaru!" Menma said with certainty.

Several great yokai exchanged looks, confirming it among themselves before saying to Menma, "We do not know any yokai called Gamamaru."

"What?" Menma frowned. That should not have been possible. Every piece of evidence indicated that these yokai should be the original inhabitants of the Ninja Continent!

At that moment, a timid voice came from the corner of the shrine. "Chief, I might know this little yokai called Gamamaru!"

The yokai turned to look. Kappa was hiding behind a pillar in the corner, showing half his face as he spoke nervously.