"I got a purple?!"
Naruto's eyes shot wide open. The self-select treasure chest before him was exactly like the choice-based rewards in a game, and true to its name, all the options were special items from the Naruto movies!
Naruto's gaze locked onto the second option.
[Menma Uzumaki (Template Trial Card x3)]
[Instructions: Upon activation, you will gain all the strength and abilities of the boss Menma Uzumaki from Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie. Duration: 1 hour. Uses: 3.]
Menma Uzumaki...!
Naruto was very familiar with this character—the "dark version" of Naruto from the Limited Tsukuyomi world. Menma's personality and experiences were the complete opposite of his own. But what was most tantalizing was his terrifying power.
The Nine Masked Beasts... the Great Spiralling Ring...
From memory, Menma's summoning jutsu, the "Nine Masked Beasts," could summon nine different creatures, and his ultimate jutsu, the "Great Spiralling Ring," possessed enough destructive force to annihilate the entire village of Konoha. Furthermore, he also had the Nine-Tails sealed within him and could perfectly control its full Tailed Beast Mode.
His power was definitely far beyond that of a typical Kage.
Based on his performance in the movie, Menma's strength was at least on par with Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode or Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan—perhaps even stronger!
This wasn't just a template trial card; it was the ultimate trump card for his not-yet-grown self. Most importantly, using it carried none of the risks of going berserk like when the Nine-Tails' chakra leaked out. There were no side effects.
As for the other two options?
Naruto frowned, trying to recall. The so-called "Zero-Tails' Dark Chakra" seemed to be from the movie Bonds, created by some guy named Shinno as an artificial tailed beast. While it sounded powerful, for him, it would be completely redundant.
Dark Chakra... I remember it causes negative emotions, right? Are you kidding me? I have the strongest of the Tailed Beasts living inside me!
Why would he ignore the perfectly good, grumpy giant fox in his own body and mess with some artificial dark chakra? That would be like...
Ignoring the high-end gaming PC at home to go play on an old clunker at a retro arcade.
And the last option was even more laughable.
A Jackal? Wasn't that just a fodder summoning beast from Inheritors of the Will of Fire?
Naruto even suspected the system was just adding filler—that thing wasn't even the main summon of the final boss, Hiruko. It was just a chimera beast used by one of his underlings.
Besides... if he chose the Menma Uzumaki trial card, Naruto might be able to do things that were previously impossible. For someone who had lived an ordinary life in his past world, this was undoubtedly an opportunity to prevent certain tragedies.
The death of Hizashi Hyuga.
The thought flashed through his mind. This event was likely to happen soon—definitely within the year. Neji Hyuga's father, Hizashi Hyuga, one of the most tragic fathers of the Konoha 12, was about to meet his end.
Because the Third Great Ninja War had just ended, the Hidden Cloud Village sent an envoy to Konoha under the guise of "signing a peace treaty," but their true motive was to steal the Hyuga clan's Byakugan.
They even stooped so low as to try and kidnap a three-year-old Hinata Hyuga. The clan head, Hiashi Hyuga, discovered them in time and killed the kidnapper.
However, the most infuriating part was what followed. The Hidden Cloud Village shamelessly turned the tables, threatening to start another war over the "murder of their envoy." They demanded that Hiashi, the killer, be handed over. Konoha, still recovering from the Nine-Tails Rampage and the Third War, was severely weakened, and the village elders ultimately chose to compromise.
To prevent the secrets of the Byakugan from being leaked...
The Hyuga main family proposed that Hiashi's twin brother, Hizashi, take his place as a scapegoat. And Hizashi... actually accepted this fate, even saying, "I am dying to protect my brother," glorifying his sacrifice as a heroic act of "defying the chains of fate."
...There was no justice, no fairness. A living person was simply devoured by this world. And young Neji lost his father forever.
As for the sanctimonious excuses of "for the greater good" and "to avoid war"? The calculations and trade-offs of the village elders?
Naruto didn't want to try and understand. He only knew one thing: he didn't want to watch a living, breathing person be eaten alive by this world. That was all.
Not to mention Neji's own tragic end later on...
Thinking about it, would the Hidden Cloud Village really start a war? If he saved Hizashi, and that Raikage guy dared to suspect it was a setup by Konoha...
Naruto wouldn't mind using another trial card to have a little "chat" with the Raikage.
"System, I choose the Menma Uzumaki trial card."
[Congratulations, Host! You have received: Menma Uzumaki (Template Trial Card x3)!]
This was a precious item that could temporarily boost him to the peak of the Kage level! Naruto couldn't wait to see it. With a thought, a card glowing with purple light slowly materialized before him.
He reached out and caught it, examining the art—Hey, isn't this just the character portrait from the mobile game?!
With another thought, the card dissolved into light and returned to his system storage.
-------
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