Chapter 47: Consequences of Over-Promotion
"It hurts so much! Isn't it healed yet?! Hurry up, you in front!"
Sharp urging mixed with pained groans echoed through Kusagakure's hospital corridors. The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood and disinfectant.
"Hurry up! There are still many wounded behind us!"
A Kusa-nin impatiently shoved the person in front, his eyes showing no compassion, only urgency. They scrambled desperately toward that "medical tool" that could instantly restore them.
"Damn it! Doesn't this woman have a daughter too? Why not bring her along?!"
Someone cursed under their breath, voice full of greed. After all, one more "tool" meant faster treatment efficiency and less waiting time.
Ever since Kusagakure obtained this mother-daughter pair, the shinobi had become increasingly reckless during missions. After all, if they got injured, they could be instantly healed—why be cautious?
"Ugh...!"
Inside the room, Uzumaki Misaki bit down hard on her lip, yet still couldn't suppress her agonized whimpers. Her arms were covered with fresh bite marks, some wounds not even fully healed before being torn open again.
Was this the price?
She had once thought that as long as she could provide her daughter a safe environment to grow up in, she could sacrifice anything. But she never imagined Kusagakure's "protection" would be such cruel exploitation.
She didn't dare let her daughter see her in this state. After each treatment session, she would force herself to wipe away the blood, straighten her clothes, then put on a gentle smile before going home.
But could she really hide it? In this shinobi world where everyone matured early, Karin was a clever child.
Uzumaki Misaki didn't know, but even so, what could she do? Resist? Escape?
Under Kusagakure's surveillance, they had no way to flee. Even if they escaped, where could they go? Continue living as fugitives?
Who will... save me...
Through countless sessions of being bitten and drained, Uzumaki Misaki had grown accustomed to silently crying for help in her heart, but to whom was she praying?
The gods? They had long abandoned them.
Companions? The Uzumaki clan members from Uzushiogakure were basically all dead.
She didn't know. She just instinctively, desperately grasped at the last thread of illusory hope in the darkness as her life force continuously drained away.
But then—
"BOOM—!!!"
The sudden explosion shattered the hospital's silence. The entire building shook violently, and the Kusa-nin who had been lowering his head to bite suddenly looked up, terror flashing in his eyes.
Enemy attack?!
But this place was full of wounded—there was no way to provide support. The Kusa chunin in charge quickly reacted, shouting sternly:
"Everyone! Evacuate to the shelter immediately! We'll continue treatment after it's safe!"
He turned to glare at the trembling Uzumaki Misaki, impatiently barking: "Hey! Don't just stand there! Follow us! Your work isn't finished!"
Misaki tremblingly struggled to her feet, while the wounded had already begun frantically covering their injuries. Just as they prepared to evacuate—
Bang!
The door was violently kicked open as a Kusa-nin roughly dragged in a small girl.
"...Karin?!"
Seeing the little girl, Misaki's heart nearly stopped. Why... why bring Karin here?! The original agreement was that only she would become the "medical kit"—Kusagakure had promised not to touch her daughter!
"Mama!!!"
Karin's crying voice rang out as she finally witnessed the truth about her mother's condition—those densely packed, overlapping old and new bite marks, like the remains of something gnawed by wild beasts.
However, the Kusa-nin who brought her had no time for the mother and daughter's emotions, only shouting with a pale face:
"Quick! Bring that woman here!"
His voice carried unprecedented fear.
"That guy is here! If we delay any longer, the entire Kusagakure will be finished!"
---
Time rewound to a few minutes earlier.
At Kusagakure's main gate—the one standing there now wasn't "Naruto."
Chakra waves distorted the light as the youthful figure gradually grew taller after the transformation jutsu. When the final fox mask covered his face, that existence which made the entire shinobi world tremble with fear had descended.
"Menma."
Without unnecessary words, he slowly raised his arm. Black chakra gathered in his palm, collapsed, and finally formed an ominous sphere—
"Rasengan."
Destructive brilliance suddenly bloomed.
BOOM—!!!
In the deafening explosion, Kusagakure's main gate along with the surrounding walls instantly turned to dust. The violent shockwave launched rubble and dirt high into the sky, only to be torn apart by the twisted gravitational field in the next second.
Without Kyuubi's chakra, this attack was far from the world-destroying power that had once intimidated the Raikage, but it was enough to make all of Kusagakure tremble.
Aside from lacking the Nine-Faced Subaku, even without the experience card, Naruto's base strength could be considered a severely downgraded Menma.
As smoke slowly dispersed, the figure wearing the fox mask stepped through the ruins. The Kusa-nin who had rushed to respond were already assembled, yet none dared approach.
Their hands holding kunai trembled, cold sweat beading on their foreheads as they froze like prey facing a natural predator.
The fox mask.
Seeing this characteristic feature, the leading jounin's pupils contracted sharply. He could barely believe his own eyes.
This feature struck his nerves like a heavy hammer. Those terrifying rumors circulating among the nations instantly flooded his mind.
The calamity that tears through dimensions, the nightmare that transcends all shinobi—the master of the [Ember] organization, the shinobi world's darkest ruler.
In the name of false peace, he transformed suffering into plague, sweeping across every inch of land. All who witnessed his true form became lost souls; all who heard his name fell into despair.
Under his command lurked the [Nine-Faced Beasts]—monsters no human could resist, incarnations of natural disaster, manifestations of destruction.
Fear was their sustenance, slaughter their feast.
Wherever the Nine-Faced Beasts went, lives were lost and civilizations crumbled. Where Ember passed, all things fell silent, leaving only ashes.
Blazing karmic fire burned through ruins, and before even wails could fade, they were devoured by raging flames.
His minions lurked in shadows, whispering his will—when you realize it, death has already grasped your throat.
He hunted "Kages" as prey, offered nations as sacrifices.
Beneath the fox mask lay unfathomable depths. Merely invoking his name would plunge entire countries into eternal night, turning them into silent graveyards.
Now he lurked in dimensional rifts like a viper, silently awaiting the final bell.
When the last shackles shattered, all things would return to nothingness in his hands.
His name was—Menma.
(The above content is completely fabricated nonsense spread by Kumogakure)
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