40 powerstones = a bonus chapter O_o
.....
Chapter 9: Treasures That Could Change the Future
"I pulled an epic?!"
Naruto's eyes went wide as he stared at the selection box before him—exactly like those choice rewards from mobile games. And the options inside lived up to their name, all special items from various Naruto movies!
Naruto's gaze locked onto the second option.
[Uzumaki Menma (Template Experience Card ×3)]
[Usage Description: Upon activation, gain all abilities and power of BOSS Uzumaki Menma from "Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja." Duration: 1 hour, usable 3 times]
Uzumaki Menma...!
Naruto was intimately familiar with this character—the "dark version of Uzumaki Naruto" from the Limited Tsukuyomi world. Menma's personality and experiences were completely opposite to his own, but what truly made his heart race was that terrifying level of power.
Kyuumen Subako... Cho Oodama Rasen Rinne...
In his memories, Menma's summoning technique "Kyuumen Subako" could call forth nine different types of summons, while his ultimate move "Cho Oodama Rasen Rinne" possessed destructive power capable of leveling all of Konoha. Plus, with the Nine-Tails sealed within him as well, Menma could perfectly control complete Bijuu transformation.
His strength absolutely surpassed ordinary Kage level.
Based on the anime's portrayal, Menma's power was at least on par with his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode self, or Mangekyou Sharingan Sasuke—possibly even stronger!
Rather than calling this a template experience card, it was more like an ultimate trump card prepared for his current weak self. Most importantly, using it carried none of the risks of Nine-Tails chakra leakage or going berserk—completely side-effect free.
As for the other two options?
Naruto frowned as he tried to recall. That so-called "Zero-Tails Dark Chakra" seemed to be from the artificial Bijuu that guy Shinnō had created in the movie "Bonds." Though it sounded impressive, for someone like him it wouldn't be adding wings to a tiger—it would be drawing legs on a snake.
Dark chakra that supposedly triggered negative emotions? Give me a break! He had the strongest Bijuu, the Nine-Tails, sealed inside him!
Ignoring the premium tsundere fox in his own body to mess around with some artificial Bijuu's dark chakra? That was like having a top-spec gaming computer at home but choosing to play on some ancient machine at a retro arcade instead.
The final option left Naruto even more speechless.
A jackal? Wasn't that some throwaway summon from "Inheritors of the Will of Fire"?
Naruto even suspected the system was just padding the options—this thing wasn't even the main summon of the movie's final boss Hiruko, just some synthetic beast belonging to one of his minions.
Moreover... if he chose Uzumaki Menma's experience card, Naruto might be able to accomplish things that would normally be impossible. For someone who'd lived an utterly ordinary previous life, this was undoubtedly a chance to change certain tragedies.
Hizashi's death.
The thought flashed through his mind. This event would likely occur soon—definitely within the year. Hyuuga Neji's father, Hyuuga Hizashi, the most tragic of all the Konoha Twelve's parents in the original series, was about to meet his end.
The Third Shinobi War had recently concluded, and Kumogakure would soon send an envoy under the pretense of "signing a peace treaty," while secretly plotting to steal the Hyuuga clan's Byakugan.
They would even target three-year-old Hyuuga Hinata, attempting to kidnap her. Hyuuga Hiashi, the clan head, would discover and kill the kidnapper in time.
However, the most infuriating part was what followed—Kumogakure would have the audacity to turn the tables, threatening war over "Konoha shinobi murdering an envoy." They would demand the surrender of Hiashi, the one who killed their kidnapper. At that time, Konoha, having just suffered the Nine-Tails attack and the Third War, would be severely weakened. The leadership would ultimately choose to compromise.
To prevent the Byakugan's secrets from being revealed, the Hyuuga main family would propose letting Hiashi's twin brother Hizashi serve as a substitute sacrifice. And Hizashi would actually accept this fate, even saying things like "I'm dying to protect my brother," beautifying his sacrifice as a heroic act of "defying destiny's shackles."
No justice, no righteousness. A living person would simply be devoured completely by this world. Young Neji would lose his father forever.
As for those high-sounding excuses about "the greater good" and "preventing war"? Those calculations and machinations of the leadership?
Naruto didn't want to try understanding them. He only knew one thing—he didn't want to watch helplessly as a living person got swallowed alive by this world. That was all.
Not to mention Neji's own tragic ending later on...
With this in mind, would Kumogakure actually start a war? If he saved Hizashi and the Raikage dared to suspect Konoha of staging the whole thing...
Naruto wouldn't mind using another experience card to have a little chat with the Raikage.
"System, I choose the Uzumaki Menma experience card."
[Congratulations, Host! Obtained: Uzumaki Menma (Template Experience Card ×3)!]
This was a precious tool that could temporarily elevate him to peak Kage-level strength! Naruto couldn't wait to see it. With a thought, a card radiating purple light slowly materialized before his eyes.
He reached out to catch the card, carefully examining the image on it—wasn't this just Menma's character art from the movie?!
With another thought, the card transformed into flowing light that disappeared into his palm, returning to his system space.
Now he had the power to potentially change the future. Three chances to become someone strong enough to stand against the injustices of this world. Three opportunities to save lives that the original timeline had carelessly thrown away.
'Hizashi-san,' Naruto thought, clenching his small fist, 'I won't let you die for someone else's cowardice. Not on my watch.'
The purple glow faded from his system interface, but the determination burning in his chest only grew brighter. Tomorrow he would begin training in earnest. Soon, he would need to prepare for the events that would shake Konoha to its core.
But tonight, he was content to sit in his small apartment, planning how to save a man who didn't even know he needed saving yet.
The Bond System hummed quietly in the background, already calculating the massive point rewards that would come from preventing a canonical tragedy.
This was going to be interesting.
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