69novels Chapter 209 Menma's Ambition, A New Era for Ninjas!
Chapter 209 Menma's Ambition, A New Era for Ninjas!
Chapter 210 Menma's Ambition, A New Era for Ninjas!
Menma led Kushina into the living room of Naruto's apartment.
A scent mixed with expired food and long-standing loneliness wafted over, causing Kushina to hold her breath instantly.
The living room was small and cluttered.
An old wooden table was piled with empty milk cartons and instant noodle containers, some of which still contained dried sauce and noodle crumbs.
It attracted a few flies, which hovered around it.
A few pieces of clothing that had been taken off were scattered in the corner.
The kitchen was in an even worse state, with unwashed dishes piled up in the sink, grease and food scraps covering the stove, and the trash can overflowing.
Kushina's heart felt as if it were being held captive by a cold hand.
She knelt down and walked to the table, trembling as she picked up an empty milk carton. Turning it over, she saw that the expiration date had long passed.
She picked up another instant noodle cup; the pungent smell of the cheap seasoning packet mixed with the smell of overnight soup made her stomach, which had been resurrected, churn.
"Naruto is only eating this much," Kushina's voice was dry and hoarse, tinged with a heavy sob.
She couldn't imagine how Naruto lived day after day in that cold, dirty house.
Her gaze fell on the armrest of the sofa, where a worn-out red scarf was draped.
The scarf's yarn was worn and pilling, the color had faded to white, and some of the edges were even coming undone.
Kushina walked over and carefully picked up the coin as if it were a rare treasure.
A cold, rough texture came through, and it seemed to still retain a trace of Naruto's aura.
She clutched the scarf tightly to her chest, her cold cheeks pressed against the rough wool. Her body, covered in grime, could not shed tears, but the excruciating pain made her tremble all over.
Menma stood silently to the side, his azure eyes sweeping over the dirty and messy apartment without any comment, but a hint of anger flashed deep in his eyes.
Meanwhile, at Konoha Park.
The afternoon sun in winter carried a false warmth, sparsely sprinkling on the snow-covered slides and swings.
There weren't many children in the park; most were bundled up by their parents and playing in a sheltered pavilion.
"Brother Menma! Higher! Higher!" Naruto's excited shouts broke the park's quietness.
He was wearing a faded orange jacket, his little face was red from the cold, but he was radiating pure joy as he sat on a swing, kicking his two short legs with all his might.
Behind him, a numb shadow clone was slowly pushing him.
"Be careful, I won't be responsible if you fall." The shadow clone Menma said in a calm tone, but the way he pushed the swing was just the right amount of force, making Naruto swing even higher.
"I won't fall! I'm going to be the Hokage!" Naruto shouted triumphantly, his blond hair bouncing in the sunlight.
"When I become Hokage, I'll make sure everyone recognizes me! Menma-san, I'll treat you to the best Ichiraku Ramen then!"
Eat a hundred bowls!
The shadow clone's numb face seemed to twitch at the corner of its mouth, but it didn't respond to the "one hundred bowls" comment.
After playing for a while, Mianma gradually stopped pushing the swing, took out a bag of potato chips from his pocket and handed it over: "Here you go."
"Wow! Thank you, Brother Menma!" Naruto cheered as he took the package, eagerly tore it open, and started crunching away, his cheeks bulging like a happy little squirrel.
Only in front of Menma could he temporarily forget the omnipresent cold gazes and harsh words.
Just as Naruto was enjoying his meal, a "woman" wearing a dark green cotton-padded jacket and carrying a simple fruit basket walked over somewhat awkwardly.
Her face was pale with illness, but her eyes were unusually gentle as she looked at the two boys.
"Two or two little brothers," Kushina said, her voice a little nervous as she tried to make her tone sound natural.
"Would you like to buy some fruit? It's very fresh." She handed the fruit basket forward, where bright red apples and golden oranges gleamed enticingly, and several plump, juicy peaches stood out prominently.
When Naruto saw a stranger approaching, he almost reflexively shrank his neck, stopped chewing, and a hint of wariness and unease flashed in his blue eyes. His little hands instinctively gripped the swing ropes.
He was used to being driven away and disliked, and instinctively felt afraid of strangers who approached him.
The shadow clone, with a face full of ugliness, glanced at the woman, his gaze fixed on the fruit basket she was carrying, and then naturally asked, "How much are the peaches?"
"Huh? Oh, it's very cheap." Kushina didn't expect the shadow clone to ask the price, and she pointed to the biggest peach in a fluster.
"This one is only fifty taels each"—the price is ridiculously low.
"Give me two." The shadow clone with the pockmarked face took out one hundred taels and handed them over.
Kushina quickly took the money, carefully picked out the two largest and reddest peaches from the fruit basket, and wiped them carefully with a clean cloth.
He then handed the mask to the shadow clone.
The shadow clone Menma took the peach, keeping one for himself and shoving the other into the hand of Naruto, who was still somewhat dazed.
"Here, this is for you."
Naruto stared blankly at the big, red peach in his hand, which exuded a sweet fragrance, and then looked up at the unfamiliar "auntie" in front of him.
Unlike the others, she didn't look at him with disgust. Instead, her eyes seemed to hold something he couldn't understand, but something warm.
Moreover, Brother Mianma gave him the biggest peach to eat!
The overwhelming joy instantly overwhelmed Naruto's vigilance and unease.
A bright, even slightly silly smile bloomed on his little face, and his blue eyes sparkled like a small lake filled with sunlight.
"Thank you, Auntie! Thank you, Brother Mianma!" he said loudly, his voice filled with pure joy.
That "Thank you, Auntie" was like an arrow with barbs, piercing Kushina's heart.
Her pale hands gripped the fruit basket tightly, and she forced a smile, her voice trembling slightly: "You're welcome—eat it quickly—it's very sweet—"
Naruto nodded vigorously, eagerly hugging the big peach. He took a bite, and the sweet juice immediately filled his mouth. He squinted his eyes happily.
The shadow clone, Menma, glanced at the sky and said to Naruto, "It's getting late, we should head back."
Although Naruto was a little reluctant, he obediently nodded and said, "Okay! Goodbye, Auntie!"
Clutching a half-eaten peach, he skipped and hopped along with Mianma, running away towards the apartment. His golden hair danced in the sunset like a tiny flame.
As Naruto and Menma's figures disappeared into the park, Kushina's tense body suddenly relaxed, and her ashen complexion and the tear stains and scraps of paper at the corners of her eyes reappeared.
She gazed greedily in the direction Naruto and Menma had left, as if she wanted to etch that small figure into her soul forever.
The real body of the demon emerged silently from behind the bushes in the park and came to Kushina's side.
"Thank you," Kushina's voice was terribly hoarse. She turned her head and looked deeply into her eldest son beside her with her gray eyes, filled with indescribable gratitude and complicated pain.
"Thank you for taking care of Naruto all this time—so that he—at least still has a little warmth."
Menma's gaze fell on the street corner where Naruto had disappeared in the distance:
"After all, he's my brother."
As night fell, Konoha Village was illuminated by lights, but they could not dispel the coldness and disappointment that had settled deep in Kushina's heart.
Menma led her back to an open area overlooking the Hokage Rock.
The massive stone sculpture stood silently in the night, the head of the water gate appearing somewhat blurry in the shadows.
Kushina wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter and looked up at her husband's statue. Her impure body felt no cold, but her heart was colder than the winter night.
What she witnessed firsthand in Konoha was a place rife with suspicion, indifference, and gossip, a place where the orphans of heroes were cruelly ignored.
All of this was far removed from the vibrant village she remembered, a village that, while having its share of conflicts, was generally united.
Is this the place that Shuimen protected with his life?
A deep sense of disappointment gripped her soul, followed by a wavering of her belief in the choice she had made years ago.
Is it really worth sacrificing yourself and your children for the village?
If they had made other choices back then, would Naruto and Menma have been spared all this suffering?
"Mom, it's time to go back." A hand was placed on Kushina's shoulder, and Menma's voice sounded beside her.
Kushina took one last deep look at Minato's statue, as if she wanted to imprint all her questions and resentment onto the stone.
The two then disappeared into the winter night of Miyake.
Star City, Menma's mansion courtyard.
On the veranda, Kushina removed her dark green cotton-padded coat and illusion disguise, revealing her withered body and cracked face reborn through Edo Tensei.
She stood silently by the veranda, gazing at the night view, so different from that of Konoha.
The administrative and military districts are situated on higher ground, allowing Kushina to see directly from her courtyard the distant lights of countless homes, which, like a galaxy fallen to earth, are dazzling, vibrant, and full of life.
The lampposts, like glowing ribbons, connect the towering modern buildings.
Even on a winter night, the streets are still bustling with traffic, and the lively sounds of the commercial district can be faintly heard in the distance.
A warm, bustling, and hopeful atmosphere swept over her, creating a stark contrast to the cold and oppressive Konoha she had just left.
Kushina's voice, heavy with emotion, echoed in the silent courtyard: "Your ambitions must be quite grand, right?"
She turned around, her gray, earth-stained eyes meeting the calm, deep blue eyes of the boy beside her: "What you want to achieve by building such a nation and gathering such power is far more than just seeking peace in a corner of the world."
Mianma met her mother's gaze without looking away.
He walked to the edge of the corridor and stood side by side with Kushina, both gazing at the brightly lit city that belonged to him.
The night breeze ruffled his black, tousled hair, making the young man's handsome profile appear exceptionally deep in the light and shadow.
"Ambition?" Menma's voice was deep and clear.
"I just want to end this chaotic era."
He raised his hand, pointing to the distant, dazzling city of stars, or perhaps to the entire vast, war-torn ninja world: "Ninja clans stand in great numbers, the five great nations are locked in a power struggle, and smaller nations are on the verge of collapse. Hatred is like a plague, passed down through generations in killing and betrayal, without end."
Every brief period of peace is merely the prelude to the next, larger-scale war.
His tone carried a vision far ahead of his time: "I want to break all of this. To make the ninja world have only one country, one unified will. To make all ninjas belong to one ninja village, and act under one system. To reduce those pointless hatreds and wars caused by region, clan, and country to a minimum."
He paused, his gaze growing even more profound, as if piercing through the bustling night scene before him:
"Then, we will concentrate all of humanity's power and wisdom, no longer wasting our time killing each other, but developing together. We will make chakra no longer just a tool for killing, but let ninjutsu serve the survival and prosperity of all humanity."
Kushina listened quietly, her resurrected face filled with shock.
Unify the ninja world?
What an astonishing and extraordinary ambition!
This is even grander and more radical than the original plan established by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, when he founded Konoha and divided the land into Tailed Beasts!
Looking at her son's calm yet incredibly determined profile, she felt for the first time so clearly that the little baby who never cried or fussed had grown into a giant capable of stirring up the entire ninja world.
"This is too much," Kushina couldn't find the right words to describe the shock she felt.
"Incredible?" Menma turned his head, a faint smile playing on his lips, a hint of youthful slyness in his expression. "Want to see for yourself another way the power of the ninja is used in this new era?"
Kushina was still immersed in the overwhelming wave of "unifying the ninja world," and upon hearing this, she subconsciously nodded, her eyes filled with intense curiosity.
A new era application of ninjas?
Her education at the Konoha Ninja Academy and her life experiences of over twenty years left her puzzled.
Besides fighting and missions, what else can ninjas do?
Menma reached out and gently grasped Kushina's cold wrist.
The next moment, the two disappeared into the corridor!
The slight dizziness from the spatial shift subsided, and a biting mountain wind, carrying snowflakes, rushed towards me.
Kushina found herself standing on a steep, hillside platform.
Beneath our feet lies a bottomless, dark canyon, and in our ears comes a deafening roar, like ten thousand horses galloping!
That was the sound of a rushing river roaring and crashing through a narrow channel.
She instinctively pulled her cloak tighter around herself and looked ahead. The sight before her made her hold her breath, her gray eyes widening to their limit in shock!
The Youhe Canyon becomes exceptionally wide here.
The steep mountain walls on both sides, as if cleaved by a giant axe, are now illuminated as bright as day by countless dazzling lights!
The mountainside on their side of the canyon was being massively leveled and reshaped; an unimaginably huge project was underway!
At the entrance to the canyon, a huge metal sign with flashing lights stands: [Star Kingdom First Construction Group - Youhe Dam Project Command].
As far as the eye can see, there is a dense yet orderly flow of people and machinery, like ants!
On a gentle slope near the riverbank, a dozen ninjas dressed in Star Ninja vests were forming a large circle.
They pressed their hands to the ground, their chakra surging throughout their bodies, and chanted in unison, "Earth Release: Earth Tremor Core!"
Rumble!
With a dull, loud thud, the large swathes of rock ahead seemed to be manipulated by an invisible giant hand, and began to rise, sink, and be shaped in a regular manner!
Hard rock, under their combined efforts, became as soft as mud, and was shaped into the solid foundation and diversion channel required for the huge dam!
Another team of Water Release ninjas stood on a makeshift platform, forming hand seals facing the surging current of the Nether River below: "Water Release: Water Wall Technique!"
Instead of aggressive water attacks, several massive water walls were precisely guided and diverted!
The raging river was forcibly restrained and tamed, flowing into two wide artificial waterways that had just been dug and reinforced by earth-elemental ninjas, according to the planned route, thus freeing up valuable dry land for the main dam construction area!
The massive crane boom groaned as it precisely lifted a house-sized precast reinforced concrete component into its designated position.
Wearing orange reflective vests and hard hats, the workers moved like worker ants among the steel skeletons and concrete jungles, and the welding sparks twinkled like stars in the night.
The deafening sounds of pile driving, the roar of machinery, the whistles of the commanders, and the commands from the loudspeakers intertwined to form a breathtaking "construction symphony"!
What Kushina found even more incredible was that ninjas and ordinary people were not separated here, but worked closely together!
An experienced engineer, holding blueprints, was explaining the mechanical requirements for the next stage of bedrock reinforcement to a young ninja who had just finished using Earth Release and was sweating profusely.
The ninja listened attentively, nodding occasionally, and offered suggestions for adjusting chakra output.
Several workers pushed carts loaded with building materials, easily transporting the heavy loads to higher ground with the help of a wind-style gust created by a wind-style ninja using "Wind Release: Air Manipulation."
You can even see several medical ninjas moving around the construction site, ready to provide quick treatment to workers who accidentally get hurt.
Here, the extraordinary power of ninjas is no longer a weapon for reaping lives, but a great tool for moving mountains, filling seas, and transforming nature!
It is the core engine driving the project forward at high speed!
"This is the canyon area in the upper reaches of the Youhe River. Winter is the dry season, with the smallest water flow, making it the most suitable time to carry out the foundation construction of such a large-scale water conservancy project." Menma's voice rang in Kushina's ears, drowning out the roar of the canyon.
He pointed to the outline of the massive dam below, brightly lit and rapidly "growing" in the canyon like a steel behemoth, his tone calm yet carrying a sense of power to control the future.
"The direct involvement of Earth Release and Water Release ninjas changed the traditional engineering process that required lengthy blasting and excavation. Their power..."
"It increased the construction speed by more than 300%, or even more." Menma's gaze swept over the ninjas who were altering the terrain amidst the chakra light.
"Once this dam is completed, its generator units will be able to stably supply the electricity needs of a huge city with a population of one million."
Let electricity no longer be the privilege of big cities and a few ninja villages, but a source of light that benefits every ordinary family.
He paused, then pointed to the vast plains slumbering in the night, faintly visible downstream of the canyon:
"More importantly, the dam's enormous reservoir capacity, combined with a sophisticated irrigation system, will provide a stable and abundant supply of agricultural water to thousands of square kilometers of plains downstream. With guaranteed harvests regardless of drought or flood, grain production will be fundamentally guaranteed. Sufficient food supplies will ensure social stability and allow more industries to develop."
Kushina stood blankly in the biting mountain wind, gazing at the magnificent construction site below, brightly lit and bustling with activity.
The deafening roar of machinery and the chakra fluctuations from ninja techniques struck her heart, frozen by the coldness and cruelty of Konoha, like the most powerful drumbeats.
She never imagined that ninjas could be used in this way.
She witnessed firsthand another possibility for the power of ninjas beyond the battlefield: creation, construction, and a power capable of changing the face of the world! A power that benefits all living beings!
This was completely different from what she had known about the ninja career and the accumulated problems of Konoha that she had witnessed!
Menma's words echoed in her mind: "End the war," "Unify the will," "Concentrate strength," and "Develop together."
These concepts, which were originally grand and elusive, have now become incredibly clear and real in the face of this magnificent landscape that moves mountains and tames rivers!
She slowly turned her head, her gray eyes, clouded with grime, gazing intently at her son beside her, whose face was calm yet whose gaze seemed to pierce through to the future.
That young face didn't have Minato's warm, sunny smile, but it possessed a deeper, more resolute confidence that was enough to bear the future of the entire ninja world.
The cold wind in the canyon whipped her red hair and cloak, making them flutter loudly.
In the distance, the outline of the dam, illuminated by countless lights, resembles a giant dragon about to awaken, lying across the Youhe River and between the canyons.
She felt a faint sense of anticipation for the new era of ninjas that Menma had described—a time without war between nations and ninja villages, where everyone lived in harmony.