"Naruto? Yes."
Menma nodded and agreed to his disciple's request. He wouldn't have attacked Naruto in the first place anyway.
After all, he is just a Wood Clone. The so-called Menma is just a false identity.
And, isn't Nine Tails Chakra the only thing that is needed?
It's not a problem at all!
Hearing that Menma had agreed to his request, Sasuke looked happy.
"Thank you Menma-sensei!"
Sasuke bowed respectfully.
He knew that his request would definitely cause trouble for his teacher but Menma had still agreed.
So Sasuke's gratitude was definitely from the heart.
"Anything else?" Menma asked.
Sasuke shook his head.
Those were the only things he cared about.
Now that he had finished speaking, he naturally had nothing else to ask.
"Then go practice. Your strength is far from enough." Menma said.
Seeing that the Akatsuki were preparing to capture the Tailed Beasts ahead of schedule, it was clear that the Fourth Great Ninja War would also come earlier than expected.
At that time, if Sasuke doesn't reach the super Kage-level, he will only be a bystander in such a major battle.
But being the reincarnation of Indra, even if Sasuke himself isn't strong enough, Sage of Six Paths will likely still come to assist him.
But relying on external help is a different matter.
Without true strength, even if he gets a boost, he might not be as strong as in the original timeline.
Not to mention, Naruto has been working tirelessly to improve his strength.
In terms of comparison, Naruto is no worse than Sasuke.
Menma didn't want Naruto to completely surpass Sasuke in strength. Otherwise, his reputation as a teacher would lose all its luster.
...
Sunagakure
Ever since Ryosuke had brought a massive Wood Golem around the village gates, Sunagakure has been holding its breath.
The enthusiasm for training in the entire village was at an all-time high. So, in just over a year, many talented ninjas had emerged in Sunagakure.
The most dazzling among them were the three children of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.
More than a year ago, Temari and Kankuro's strength barely reached the Chūnin level.
But today, over a year later—
Both Temari and Kankuro had reached the level of a full-fledged Jōnin.
Especially Temari.
For over a year, she had trained relentlessly every day.
Her strength even surpassed Kankuro's and could rival some Elite Jōnin, making her stronger than most standard Jōnin.
But compared to them, Gaara's improvement was even more astounding.
Since his defeat in Konoha and the terrifying encounter with Ryosuke's Super Wood Golem, Shukaku had become much more obedient.
He even began cooperating with Gaara to help him grow stronger.
Not out of kindness, but simply to ensure Gaara could escape faster if he ever encountered such a terrifying enemy again.
After all, Shukaku had no interest in dying alongside Gaara.
Because of this, in just over a year, Gaara had reached the strength of an Elite Jōnin under normal circumstances.
And once he taps into the Tailed Beast's power, entering Tailed Beast mode, his strength could even rival Kage-level.
It could be said that Gaara was now the only Kage-level powerhouse in all of Sunagakure.
After all, Chiyo, the previous Kage-level fighter, had been killed by Ryosuke, leaving Sunagakure without a true top-tier guardian.
Fortunately, they still had Gaara.
Although Gaara's personality remained difficult, having him in the village at least ensured that Sunagakure wouldn't be completely helpless against powerful threats.
For over a year, Sunagakure's leadership were worried that their village's status might be overtaken by smaller ninja villages that they once looked down upon.
Although those smaller villages weren't individually stronger, what if they united?
Luckily, they had Gaara.
Because of this, Gaara's status in the village had risen significantly over the past year.
Even though he hadn't undergone Naruto's infamous "talk-no-jutsu" transformation, people in the village no longer feared him like before.
Some even greeted him with a smile from time to time.
This made Gaara feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Somewhere in Sunagakure
"Wind release: Whirlwind Drop!"
In an open space, a massive tornado roared across, sweeping up a group of training dummies into the air before crushing them with its force.
Seeing this, Temari, the one who had unleashed the technique, smiled in satisfaction.
"Not bad. I have finally perfected this move!"
Temari grinned.
For more than a year, she had dedicated herself to intense training to improve her strength.
She never wanted to feel that sense of helplessness ever again, like she had over a year ago.
And now, her strength had vastly improved compared to back then.
If danger came again, Temari believed she could finally contribute in battle.
But as she recalled that fateful day over a year ago, the smile on her face quickly disappeared.
"Ryosuke..."
She muttered the name that had haunted her thoughts for more than a year.
Then, shaking her head, she pushed those unnecessary thoughts aside.
"Back to training!"
Temari refocused and prepared to continue her practice.
But at this moment—
Bang!!!
A sudden loud noise came from the direction of the village entrance.
"What happened?!"
Temari looked towards the entrance of the village, with a surprised expression on her face.
"Is there an enemy invasion?"
Temari thought again of the scene from more than a year ago.
Involuntarily, her expression changed.
Following that, she quickly ran towards the entrance of the village.
At this time
The village entrance of Sunagakure
A large number of Suna ninjas had gathered here.
They looked at the two figures approaching in the distance with solemn expressions.
A windbreaker with a black background and a red cloud, and a bamboo hat on the head.
A crisp bell sound echoed in the wind.
But at this moment, no one was in the mood to appreciate the crisp sound of the bell.
Everyone looked solemnly at the big hole in front of them.
At the bottom of the pit, there were several mutilated corpses.
All of them were Suna ninjas!
Just now, the Suna ninjas who were patrolling near the entrance of the village had found these two ninjas of unknown origin.
So they had stepped forward to question them, but they were killed on the spot just after they spoke a few words.
They were killed right at the door of Sunagakure.
At the same time, the huge movement from the explosion attracted the attention of the ninjas in Sunagakure.
So there was this scene in front of them.
"Ahh~! Menma-senpai intends to directly enter openly?"
Tobi looked curiously at the group of Suna ninjas in front of him and said.
Menma said, "It's just some Suna ninjas. Is it necessary to sneak in secretly?"
It was obvious that Sunagakure was not taken seriously at all.
"As expected of Menma-senpai!"
Tobi looked admiringly.
The two, who had arrived in Sunagakure were Menma and Tobi.
They had accepted Pain's mission and come to Sunagakure to capture One-Tail Shukaku.
It had been two days since the Akatsuki meeting.
They had been on the road for the past two days.
It was not until today that they had arrived at Sunagakure in the Land of Wind.
"What's the matter? Is there an intruder?"
When Temari rushed to the entrance of the village, she found that a large number of Suna ninjas had gathered here.
So she pulled a girl she knew and asked.
"Temari-sama!"
The female ninja, who was just a Chūnin, quickly replied respectfully, "There are two unidentified ninjas. Murakami and the others were killed."
Unidentified ninja?
Temari was about to go over to check on the situation.
At this time, Kankuro also ran over from not far away.
Kankuro asked, "Temari, what's going on? Is there an intruder?"
Kankuro looked eager to throw some hands.
Temari looked at her younger brother helplessly and said, "That's right, let's go ahead and have a look."
Hearing this, Kankuro nodded and secretly prepared the brand-new puppet that he had carefully crafted during this period of time.
Today, he will not lose the courage to act like he had done more than a year ago.
Kankuro swore...
Outside the village entrance
Menma stopped and glanced indifferently at the group of Suna ninjas in front of him.
"Go away." He said lightly.
"Bastards! Who the hell are you guys?"
"He's too arrogant! Get rid of them!"
"Damn it! Do they think we, Sunagakure, are easy to bully?"
"We're one of the Five Great Hidden Villages, not some small village!"
A group of Suna ninjas cursed angrily.
If the higher-ups of the village had not arrived yet, they would have already charged forward.
At this time!
Temari and Kankuro walked from the rear to the front of the village entrance.
"It's Temari-sama and Kankuro-sama!"
"Great! Temari-sama, hurry up and give us the order. These two intruders are too arrogant."
"Let's get rid of them. We, Sunagakure, are not easy to bully."
The ninjas present shouted angrily.
Just when Temari was about to speak...
Menma, who was too lazy to talk nonsense, waved his hand.
In an instant, the surrounding area was covered with sand.
The sand covered half of the sky like a canopy.
He looked at the Suna ninjas in front of him coldly and said, "You're just ants. Isn't it better to be obedient?"
Then, Menma controlled the sand in the sky to turn into countless sand shurikens and attacked the group of Suna ninjas in front of him.
"What?!"
"The ability to manipulate sand? This is..."
"This is Lord Gaara's technique!"
"How is this possible?!"
The Suna ninjas looked at this scene in amazement and exclaimed in disbelief.
Seeing the sand shurikens attacking, Temari gritted her teeth.
She took out the huge fan on her back, unleashing the Tornado Hurricane she had just used on the training ground, trying to block the sand shurikens that darkened the sky.
"Wind release: Whirlwind Drop!"
Temari shot with all her strength, and the huge tornado swept away a lot of sand shurikens.
At the same time, all the Suna ninjas on the scene also launched their attacks, with some directly targeting Menma.
"Your efforts are useless."
Menma glanced lightly. Then, he lightly flicked his fingers.
At this moment!
The sand in the sky surged like a huge tsunami, rushing toward the entrance of Sunagakure.
"What?!"
When the Suna ninjas who had rushed forward saw this, their faces turned pale with fright, and they turned to flee.
But how could they run faster than the sand?
These Suna ninjas were about to be swallowed up by the tsunami of sand.
At this moment—
"Sand Shield!"
A soft shout echoed.
Then, a huge sand shield suddenly rose from the ground, blocking the sand tsunami.
Boom!!!
A huge collision sound resounded through the sky and the earth.
Layers of sand shields shattered, but more shields formed in front of them.
Finally, the sand tsunami stopped.
The Suna ninjas who were saved looked at the devastated area in front of them with lingering fear.
They had truly thought they were going to die here today.
Fortunately, Gaara arrived just in time.
The Suna ninjas looked to the sky.
On a floating ball of sand, a figure carrying a huge gourd stood atop it.
Gaara looked at the two intruders in front of him coldly.
"Sunagakure is not a place where you can do whatever you want." He said coldly.
Swish!
Boom!
A figure flashed.
Gaara, who had just finished speaking, only caught a glimpse of an afterimage flashing in his vision.
Then, he felt a burst of pain.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying in a deep pit.
The sand armor on his body was completely destroyed.
There were multiple fractures on his body, making it difficult to even get up.
Gaara: "..."
He had just arrived.
The Suna ninjas, who had been excited about Gaara's arrival, had their smiles freeze on their faces.
Their stiff necks turned little by little toward the deep pit.
Lord Gaara, he—