Cough, cough—
Terumi Rin's consciousness gradually clawed its way out of the chaos. Her entire body felt limp and powerless. As she slowly pried her eyes open, she was met by a sterile white ceiling and the rhythmic, cold glint of medical instruments. A transparent medicinal fluid was slowly being fed into her veins through an IV drip.
'Was I... saved?' After her faint, Rin's memories were a jumble. It took a few moments for the terror at the cliffside to resurface—Captain Kisame's blade descending to end her life. Why was she still alive? Who had intervened?
Rin tried to prop herself up, but she found it a struggle even to lift a single finger.
"You're awake."
The door slid open, and a medical ninja dressed in a white lab coat and a surgical mask stepped inside.
"Who are you? Where is this?" Rin noticed immediately that the person lacked a Kirigakure forehead protector. Her survival instincts flared into a sharp state of alert.
As the person turned around, Rin spotted a number printed on the back of the white coat: 81. She had no idea what it signified.
"You can call me Number 81," the medical ninja said tonelessly, walking over to a monitor to check her vitals. "That is my designation in this experimental zone. It seems you've recovered more than I thought, considering you can talk so much."
"By the way, a word of advice: this facility is under total lockdown. If you try to escape without permission, the patrol ninjas might just kill you." Number 81—a shadow clone—raised a finger to his mask, making a silencing gesture.
That voice... Rin's pupils constricted. It felt hauntingly familiar.
"You're... Shura?" Rin's voice tightened as she recalled the low tone she heard before losing consciousness. Her eyes went wide. "Captain Kisame... what happened to him?"
"Still worried about Kisame Hoshigaki, are we?" Shadow Clone 81 let out a snort, a playful glint appearing in his dark eyes.
Kisame's appearance was, to put it mildly, terrifying to most. He hadn't expected a beautiful young kunoichi to be so genuinely concerned for him.
By contrast...
The clone clicked his tongue. "Rest easy. He's busy investigating Fuguki Suikazan for selling out the village. The next time you see him, he might very well be a rogue ninja of the Mist."
"Fuguki Suikazan?" Rin gasped.
She didn't know that Fuguki was the Commander of the ANBU, but the name was legendary. He was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—one of the three who had survived or been promoted after the Third Great Ninja War.
A hero of the village... selling secrets?
"Focus on your recovery. Don't think about fleeing." 81 changed her IV bag. As he prepared to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, what's your name?"
He realized the main body hadn't actually bothered to mention the girl's name.
"Terumi... Rin," she whispered, the gloom between her brows refusing to lift.
"A ninja of the Terumi Clan?" 81 raised an eyebrow. The main body had actually managed to kidnap a Kekkei Genkai user.
Inside the Hoshigakure Base.
After delivering Terumi Rin to the medical department, Menma felt as though he had forgotten something vital.
"Strange. What could it be?" Menma walked toward the residential compound, arms crossed, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
The closer he got to the compound, the stronger the sense of unease became.
"Big Brother Menma!" Karin's cheerful voice broke his train of thought.
The once-emaciated little girl was now healthy, her cheeks rounded and rosy. She was carrying a vegetable basket, looking up at him with a wide smile.
"Hey there, little Karin. Where have you been?" Menma leaned down and scooped her up.
After six months of a worry-free life, the girl who used to be as thin as a bamboo pole had developed a bit of baby fat. Menma couldn't resist giving her cheek a playful pinch.
"Karin was helping Mommy buy groceries," she said with a mock pout, though she didn't struggle against his antics. "Big Brother Menma, come eat with us! Today a new sister arrived, and Mommy is making a feast to welcome her."
"Sister?" Menma froze. Suddenly, the lightbulb went off. He remembered exactly what he had forgotten!
When he stepped into the Uzumaki courtyard, he looked up to see Uzumaki Kasane sitting on the veranda. She was cradling a child in a beautiful kimono, gently combing their hair.
The child was dressed in exquisite silk, looking as delicate and perfect as a porcelain doll. They sat obediently in Kasane's lap, soaking in the quiet warmth of the moment.
Wait... Hah?!!
Menma's internal alarm bells went off. That child, who looked like a girl in every conceivable way... was surely...
"Ah, Lord Shura is back." Uzumaki Kasane noticed him, setting her comb down and letting the child stand up.
"My Lord," the adorable child said, bowing politely to Menma.
Karin took the opportunity to hop off Menma's shoulder, grabbing the 'sister's' hand and circling them with excitement.
Sssss... Hearing that voice, Menma's suspicion was confirmed with one hundred percent certainty.
He slapped his forehead and looked at Kasane. "Did I... forget to mention that Haku is actually a boy?"
"Eh?" Kasane tilted her head, comb still in hand. She looked at Haku standing on the veranda, her brain struggling to process the information.
"Ma'am... I am a boy," Haku said softly, his timid voice shattering Kasane's last bit of denial.
"A... B-B-Boy?!!" Kasane's voice hit a high note. She stared at Haku, who was wearing a girl's kimono and looked more graceful and ladylike than her own daughter.
If Menma hadn't been standing right there, she might have actually reached out to check for herself.
Karin stared blankly at Haku. She took off her glasses, wiped them frantically, and put them back on. Her little head couldn't fathom how the beautiful older sister had suddenly turned into a brother.
"Then... why didn't you refuse these clothes?!" Kasane pointed frantically at Haku's outfit.
Earlier, she had some administrative tasks to handle, so she had told Haku to bathe and left out some of the new clothes she had bought for Karin but hadn't used yet. When she came back, Haku was already dressed and sitting obediently on the porch.
The child's pitiful, delicate appearance had instantly triggered Kasane's maternal instincts, leading her to grab a comb and pamper "her."
"Because... I liked them..." Haku looked down, tears welling in his eyes. He didn't dare look at her.
He wanted to say that since his parents died, no one had been this kind to him. For a year, he had been a stray, wandering from the north of the Land of Water to the south. He had scavenged from trash cans, drank dew from leaves, and fought off stray dogs for scraps.
Though he had awakened the Ice Release, the trauma of killing his father and the villagers haunted him. He could use his power against dogs, but against people, he was paralyzed by fear.
"There, there. It's alright." Kasane, having suffered her own share of tragedies, softened instantly. She knelt and pulled Haku into a hug.
"Tomorrow, I'll take you to the market and buy you some proper boy's clothes," she said with a warm smile. "I've always wanted a son. If you don't mind, you can live here with us."
She then turned to Menma. "Please let me adopt this child, Lord Shura."
Menma didn't mind. Unlike Kimimaro, whose Shikotsumyaku required constant medical supervision, Haku was healthy. Given a stable environment, he would reach Jonin level—likely elite Jonin—within a few years.
"Of course," Menma nodded. He looked at Karin, who was still buffering, and gave her a light tap on the head.
"Ow!" Karin rubbed her head, looking at Menma with teary eyes. "Brother... my sister is gone..."
Menma burst into laughter. Even Kasane couldn't help but giggle.
That evening, Menma stayed for dinner. Kasane had outdone herself with a table full of dishes.
At the table, Kasane watched Haku eat with elegant, small bites, then looked at Karin, who was shoving food into her mouth like a starving wolf. She sighed inwardly. 'If only Haku were a girl, I'd have two perfect daughters.'
'Not that boys are bad, but... Haku is so pretty, it's almost a waste...' The more she looked, the more she mourned the loss of a potential daughter.
After dinner, Kasane got busy. She had to wash dishes and clear out a room for Haku. She had originally planned to have Haku and Karin share a room so they'd have company, but knowing Haku was a boy changed things. She cleared out a storage room to serve as his bedroom.
Seeing how busy she was, Menma took his leave to avoid adding to the chaos.
In the underground labs of the Medical Building, Menma's clones were hard at work. The facility was located between the experimental zone and the residential area. Since medical ninjutsu research was still in its infancy here, progress was slow; Menma knew the basics, but he wasn't a specialist. He desperately needed to recruit dedicated researchers.
"You're here," said Clone 11, raising a hand.
"Have you finished processing Orochimaru's data?" Menma walked over to a computer. Though the machines looked a bit dated, their processing power was formidable.
"I have to hand it to Lord Snake. He's already produced results from that White Zetsu we gave him." 11 hit a switch.
A large screen flickered to life, displaying detailed data and anatomical charts.
"The Iburi Clan worships the forest. They lived in hollow trees for generations. Their bodies contain Earth and Water nature chakra, which serves as the perfect soil for Wood Release," Clone 11 explained.
"Orochimaru used the God Tree genes extracted from the White Zetsu as a 'seed' and used Hashirama cells to incubate it. This achieved a neutralizing effect. He extracted the most stable cells and grafted them into Iburi skin tissue, successfully stabilizing their genetic structure."
"However," 11 turned to Menma, "to go any further, we need live human trials."
"Human trials..." Menma frowned behind his mask. Even in this 'Limited Tsukuyomi' world, he held a line against using innocent people as lab rats.
"Gotta has already volunteered," 11 said, pressing an intercom. "Send Gotta up."
A moment later, Gotta, the patriarch of the Iburi Clan, walked in with a solemn expression. Seeing the three-eyed fox mask, he dropped to one knee. "My Lord, let me be the subject."
"The mortality rate for initial testing is extremely high," Menma's voice was low.
"My Lord, I am twenty-three years old," Gotta looked up with unwavering resolve. "My time is already running out."
Menma remembered Gotta's words from their first meeting: Because of our unstable Kekkei Genkai, members of the Iburi Clan rarely live past twenty-five.
It was its own kind of bloodline disease. Gotta's life was on a countdown. If a solution wasn't found within two years, he would simply turn into smoke and drift away. He was offering his life not just out of loyalty, but to pave a way for his people.
Menma nodded. "Are you prepared for the worst?"
"My wife is pregnant," Gotta replied solemnly. "With the other women in the clan, we expect five children next year. I wish for the title of Patriarch to pass to Yukimi, according to our traditions—provided you allow it."
"Oh?" Menma tilted his head. Yukimi was only fourteen or fifteen. "Why her? There are older members."
"Our lives are short," Gotta explained. "Every Patriarch appoints a youth to succeed them when they feel their own end approaching. This ensures an eight or nine-year period of stability for the clan."
In the shinobi world, children grew up fast. In the Iburi Clan, the role of Patriarch was a heavy burden that rarely lasted a decade.
"Very well. Prepare yourself," Menma said.
"I have already said my goodbyes!" Gotta rose and took a blue-and-white striped hospital gown from a technician.
As Gotta changed, Menma walked over to a glass observation window of a different room. Inside, Kimimaro lay on a bed, his body trembling slightly. He was hooked up to various tubes delivering sedatives and nutrient fluids. Several clones were monitoring his condition.
"What's the status of Kimimaro's treatment plan?" Menma asked Clone 12.
"The Shikotsumyaku issue stems from a Yang Release imbalance," Clone 12 reported, handing over a file. "Fortunately, we didn't rush into using God Tree genes or Hashirama cells. That would have been catastrophic."
Yang Release governed vitality and physical energy—giving life to form. It was the root of the Akimichi's Multi-Size Technique and the Uzumaki's immense vitality. Its counterpart was Yin Release, which governed spiritual energy and creating form from nothing—like the Nara's shadows or the Uchiha's Sharingan.
"Our proposal is to transplant a Sharingan or a Byakugan into Kimimaro," 12 explained. "We need to see if Yin Release chakra can neutralize his Yang imbalance."
"An eye transplant?" Menma mused.
Technically, it wasn't hard; eyes in this world were practically 'plug-and-play' USB devices.
"The Kaguya clan are distant relatives of the Hyuga, right?" Menma thought. A Byakugan might actually be the most compatible.
"Correct," 12 nodded. "The Hyuga, the Kaguya, and the Otsutsuki on the moon all descend from Hamura. The Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki descend from Hagoromo."
'A Byakugan...' Menma thought. He had two different Sharingan in his possession, but no Byakugan.
Acquiring one was tricky. The 'Caged Bird' seal would destroy the eye the moment it left the body. While Menma had a 'Caged Seal' of his own that could temporarily suppress it, it wasn't a permanent solution.
The only Byakugan not restricted by the seal belonged to the Hyuga Main House or Ao of the Hidden Mist.
But Ao's eye needed to stay where it was to cause trouble for Obito later.
It seemed he would have to find a way to make a move on the Hyuga Main House in Konoha.