Chapter 54: A Tiny Whirlpool, Sharaku

The Uchiha's Sharingan is actually Yin Release; under the intense stimulation of emotion, it undergoes extreme transformations.

Although what he had scavenged from Orochimaru was merely a two-tomoe Sharingan, Menma combined it with his research on Bloodline Limits within the "Tsukuyomi World." By using Yin Release chakra to stimulate it, it indeed evolved into a three-tomoe Sharingan.

Even though this Sharingan was nowhere near the level of a Mangekyō Sharingan, with this eye, Menma could perform many genjutsu unique to the Sharingan, even Izanagi!

As for dynamic motion capture, such as slowing down an enemy's movements within the Sharingan, for Menma—whose strength already surpassed that of an average Kage-level shinobi—this was actually the least significant improvement.

After transplanting the eye and evolving it into a three-tomoe Sharingan, Menma had a blissful sleep.

Early the next morning, upon waking, Menma left a Flying Thunder God kunai in the stone chamber of the Uzumaki Whirlpool Village ruins. His main body then performed a long-distance teleportation via a Flying Thunder God marker set in a certain cave within the Land of Fields.

Such a massive teleportation spanning more than half of the Land of Fire could only be sustained by someone with Menma's immense chakra reserves.

——————

The Land of Grass, true to its name, consisted mostly of vast grasslands, with only a few forests located in the border regions.

The Grass Ninja Village was situated in the center of a boundless prairie in the middle of the Land of Grass.

On a small hill covered in lush green grass, Uzumaki Karin was gathering medicinal herbs with her companions.

Compared to the other laughing and talking children of the Grass Village, three-year-old Uzumaki Karin was always excluded by her peers.

Even the Genin leading them would gently teach the other children how to identify herbs.

But when their gaze shifted to Karin, there was only deep solemnity and wariness.

The young Karin did not understand why everyone treated her this way, or why everyone always looked at her and her mother with such complex emotions.

Every time they went out to gather herbs or forage for livestock feed, Karin would maintain a certain distance from the others, but if she drifted too far, she would be scolded by the leading Genin.

The sunlight was a bit scorching today. Karin had been pushed to the side facing the sun, and she lowered her head to gather herbs, letting the fierce sun beat down on her small, suffering body.

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the piercing sunlight for her.

Karin thought the leading Genin had come to scold her, so she looked up timidly.

Instead, she saw a mysterious man wearing a white, three-eyed fox mask standing quietly before her.

This mysterious man in black brought a small patch of shade to Karin. A gentle breeze blew across the prairie, allowing Karin to feel a long-lost coolness.

"Karin! Get away from him!" a sharp shout came from behind her.

A woman wearing a Grass Village forehead protector stood nervously on the high slope, her expression grim. She pulled several shuriken from her ninja tool pouch and threw them toward the mysterious man and Karin.

Whether by accident or design, one shuriken flew toward Karin.

The shuriken grew larger in Karin's eyes.

At the critical moment, a large hand caught it.

The masked man used Body Flicker to appear in front of Karin, catching the three incoming shuriken with his bare hands, and then—

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

The three shuriken were thrown back by the masked man with even more ferocious technique.

The Grass Genin tried to dodge, only to find in horror that the man's shuriken had completely blocked her retreat.

*Clang—*

One of the shuriken struck the woman's thigh, causing blood to spray instantly.

"Ah!" Enduring the pain, the female Genin pulled a signal flare from her pouch and ignited it toward the sky.

*Whiz—*

A signal flare ascended into the sky, visible for ten kilometers across the wide prairie.

"Your name is Karin, right?" While Karin was still staring blankly at the flare in the sky, a gentle greeting reached her ears.

Behind her glasses, a pair of red pupils trembled slightly. She nodded timidly and asked, "Who... are you..."

"I am one of your clansmen." Menma reached out and stroked little Karin's head.

This shock of red hair reminded him of Kushina.

"Let's go. We'll pick up your mother, and then I'll take you both away from here." Menma tried to make his voice gentler, fearing he might frighten this sensitive little girl who was like a small rabbit.

"Clansman?" Little Karin did not yet understand the meaning of the word, but she instinctively felt a sense of closeness.

She felt a growing sense of goodwill and an inexplicable reliance on this older brother.

Menma took Karin's small hand and walked toward the hilltop.

On the hill, the female Genin had already lost her ability to move, while the other Grass Village children on the far side of the hill had long since fled in panic.

The female Genin held a kunai in front of her chest, her whole body trembling, tears streaming from her eyes.

Menma turned his head slightly. Through the eye slits of his mask, a crimson Sharingan glanced at her.

With just a single glance, the Genin fell into a genjutsu and used her kunai to end her own life.

Crossing the hilltop, the village's defensive perimeter came into view.

It was a defensive structure made of a large number of wooden stakes driven into the ground; compared to the high walls of Konoha, it looked as primitive as a tribal settlement.

Menma led Karin, the two figures—one large and one small—gradually approaching the Grass Village.

By this time, the Grass Village had seen the rising signal flare outside and immediately dispatched a team consisting of one Jonin and three Chunin to investigate.

The two parties met at the village entrance.

"Who goes there!" Seeing a mysterious masked man leading Karin by the hand, the Grass Jonin drew his short sword without a word and rushed forward, attempting to kill the intruder!

The other three Chunin also drew their kunai and entered combat stances, attacking from three different directions.

However, in the next instant!

The moment the Jonin made eye contact with the eye inside the mysterious man's mask, he froze instantly in place.

After a moment of rigidity, the Jonin's short sword suddenly swung toward his own teammate.

Caught off guard, two Chunin were cut down instantly.

The remaining Chunin scrambled to create distance, shouting in terror, "Captain Kozo! What are you doing!"

However, the only answer he received was Captain Kozo's vacant eyes and his bloodied short sword.

If it were a Jonin from one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, they wouldn't be controlled by a three-tomoe Sharingan's genjutsu for this long.

But the Grass Village was merely a small village; even if they were called Jonin, they were at most only at the level of a Special Jonin from a Great Nation.

After dealing with the Genin, the Grass Jonin named Kozo also turned his blade upon himself.

As the short sword fell, blood sprayed from Captain Kozo's neck.

Faced with the bloody scene, little Karin was unnaturally calm; in this small, war-torn village, death was a common sight.

For a village like this, war perhaps never truly stopped.

Menma patted Karin's head, temporarily letting go of her small hand, and began forming hand seals.

Tiger Seal!

"Nine-Faced Supona!"