Chapter 13: The Nine-Faced Supavaha

The sunlight lazily spread across the grass, where the children of the Konoha Orphanage were laughing and playing under the watchful eyes of the caregivers.

Although Yakushi Kabuto had only left the day before, they were, after all, just a group of children; they soon recovered their lively and active nature, and the sounds of joy and laughter quickly echoed through the orphanage once more.

Yakushi Nonō leaned against the window of her office, watching the children playing outside, and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

How she wished this moment could last forever.

"Director, are you really leaving?" Behind her, an older caregiver walked over, clutching the edge of her apron, her face full of worry.

That night, when Danzo came knocking, she had been present as the director's deputy.

"Yuna, I leave the children in your care after I go," Yakushi Nonō said, turning around with a perfectly measured smile.

The caregiver named Yuna sighed, "And we worked so hard to get the orphanage to where it is now."

Much of the orphanage's funding had been raised by Yakushi Nonō herself, consisting of both her own mission rewards and the pay she received for taking A-Qi and Kabuto to the front lines to provide medical aid to the ninjas.

After all, as ninjas, they couldn't really think of any other way to make money besides taking on missions.

Yakushi Nonō smiled gently at Yuna, comforting her, "Don't worry, it will only be two or three years, and then I'll be back."

"Also, as for that child Kabuto, I will find a way to bring him back." Yakushi Nonō still kept that intelligent child in her thoughts.

After Yuna left, Yakushi Nonō turned back to stand by the window, watching the children playing outside.

The sunlight shone on her face, as warm as her smile.

Suddenly, Yakushi Nonō noticed a lonely child under a large tree in the distance, leaning against the trunk and holding something in his hands.

"Menma?" Yakushi Nonō felt a deep affection for this special child. For some reason, as the time for her departure drew near, she felt a faint sense of unease.

She stood up, climbed through the window, and slowly walked toward Menma.

Under the shadow of the large tree, Menma’s solitary figure looked out of place compared to the children playing in the distance.

"Menma, come and play with us!" a caregiver called out to him, hands on her hips.

"I don't want to play," Menma replied flatly, then continued fiddling with the object in his hands.

Seeing Menma refuse repeatedly, the caregiver sighed; she really had no way to deal with this child.

She decided to just let him play by himself, as long as he didn't disappear from her sight.

Yakushi Nonō walked slowly up to Menma and finally saw clearly that he was holding a small, dark-red fox. However, the fox's head seemed to be wrapped in some kind of cloth, and it was wearing a fox mask.

"Menma likes this kind of doll? Did you give it a name?" Yakushi Nonō didn't press for the origin of the doll; the orphanage often received donations from villagers, and it was normal to have some broken toys.

Most of the time, the caregivers were the ones who repaired these dolls.

"Mm." Menma held the little fox up with both hands to show his foster mother, Yakushi Nonō.

He said earnestly, "Nine-Masked Fox, Tama."

Yakushi Nonō looked at the strange doll in bewilderment. Its four feet were black, the tip of its tail was black, and its head looked like it was wrapped in cloth, with a white fox mask featuring the character 'Tama' (Jewel) on it.

Yakushi Nonō simply assumed the caregivers had stitched it together from two different dolls, so she didn't use her chakra to sense or investigate it.

"Na na," Yakushi Nonō crouched down and asked Menma gently, "Does Menma have a dream?"

On the eve of her departure, she realized she knew the least about Menma, the youngest child, and had never heard him speak of any dreams.

"A dream?" Menma pulled back the Nine-Masked Fox and lowered his head to ponder for a moment.

In the past, he had wanted to return to the real world.

To that end, he had not hesitated to incite the Fourth Shinobi World War, bringing pain to the ninja world of the 'Limited Tsukuyomi World' in exchange for the world's rejection.

Now that he had returned, he had become a character who did not exist in the original main world.

If there was any pressure, it was perhaps the sense of oppression from above the firmament.

With the Dark Nine-Tails inside him, and having now developed the 'Nine-Masked Fox: Tama,' he possessed a summon at the level of an elite Jonin; ordinary Kage-level ninjas were no longer his match.

Only Uchiha Madara, Nagato in his prime, and Uchiha Itachi still posed any threat to him.

Then there was Otsutsuki Kaguya, sealed within the moon.

And the Otsutsuki clan, who might descend in twenty years.

Menma looked up at Yakushi Nonō, his small face serious. "I want a peaceful world without war."

Only without war could the power of the ninja world be unified for development.

Or perhaps, the wars on the ground were no longer enough to satisfy Uzumaki Menma; the enemies he had to face came from above the dome!

"A peaceful world without war..." Yakushi Nonō murmured to herself.

She used to think Kabuto was the most precocious of these children, but now it seemed that Menma might be the most mature of them all.

——————

Late at night, after Yakushi Nonō packed her belongings, she said goodbye to the caregivers she had worked with for many years.

They were all kind-hearted women; some were war orphans themselves, while others had families in Konoha and only came by occasionally to volunteer.

But they held deep respect for Director Yakushi Nonō.

Watched by them, Yakushi Nonō walked out of the orphanage through the side gate. As she passed the dormitory where the children were sleeping, she glanced through the window at the sleeping children inside.

Then, she disappeared into the night.

She didn't know how long it would be before she could return.

What Yakushi Nonō didn't notice was that above the orphanage, Menma, wearing a white three-eyed fox mask, was hovering in the starry sky, quietly watching Yakushi Nonō’s departure.

Floating beside Menma was a female summon wearing robes and a fox mask, holding a tiny Nine-Tails in her arms, drifting silently as her ribbons rippled in the night wind.

This was the 'Nine-Masked Svaha: Tennyo' (Celestial Maiden) that Menma had developed using the Dark Nine-Tails' chakra.

It possessed the ability to fly and could fight using its ribbons.

Its true form was the 'Nine-Masked Fox: Tama.'

As Uzumaki Menma's signature ninjutsu, the Nine-Masked Svaha could only be developed in conjunction with Nine-Tails chakra.

The code names of the Nine-Masked Beasts were arranged in the order of 'Blue, White, Vermilion, Black, Void, South, North, Death, Jewel.'

They corresponded to the 'Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Golden Snake, South Dipper Immortal, North Dipper Immortal, Reaper, and Celestial Maiden.'

The code names of the Nine-Masked Beasts were similar to the organization Akatsuki; each possessed special abilities, and their individual combat power was comparable to an elite Jonin. When the Nine-Masked Beasts fought together, they could erupt with combat power rivaling that of a Kage.

"It's time for me to take action as well." Menma’s murmur dissipated into the night wind.

Watching Yakushi Nonō disappear into the darkness, he turned and flew toward the towering gates of Konoha.