"Hey! Shikamaru! Chōji! Ino!" Naruto, quick-eyed as ever, spotted them immediately. Forgetting his impatient wait for the red bean soup, he waved his arms vigorously, his voice booming across the street. "Over here! Come quick!"
"It's Naruto and the others!" Ino, hearing the loud greeting, dragged a reluctant Shikamaru and a chip-munching Chōji over.
"Yo. Afternoon, Shikamaru, Chōji, Ino," Menma offered a calm nod. Hinata followed suit, her voice small and nervous. "Afternoon, everyone..."
Shikamaru trudged over, his eyelids drooping with his usual lack of energy. "Yo. What a coincidence." His deep blue shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, revealing a gray undershirt—the very picture of lethargy.
"Is this a new milk tea shop?" Ino asked, eyeing the stylish sign. "I didn't see it when I passed by yesterday."
"Mhm," Menma nodded smoothly. "Today is the grand opening. It's one of the businesses under my family's name."
"Brother Menma! Can your staff make ramen-flavored milk tea?" Naruto leaned over the counter, his blue eyes wide. The staff inside stiffened, their smiles momentarily freezing.
"This is a drink shop, not a ramen stall. If you want ramen, I'll take you to Ichiraku's later," Menma muttered, shooting Naruto a look that promised a knuckle-sandwich. He then turned to the trio. "Since it's opening day, please, have a drink on the house. Give us some feedback."
A sharp-looking manager in a crisp uniform immediately stepped forward, bowing deeply to Menma. "Young Master, what would you and your friends like? This way, please." He guided them to a reserved, quiet seating area.
Free drinks?! Ino and Chōji's eyes lit up.
"I'll have a super-large... double-sugar Pudding Milk Tea! And double the pudding!" Chōji shouted, clutching his chip bag tighter.
Shikamaru watched the "VIP treatment" with a lazy gaze. He noticed the manager's attitude—it wasn't just respect for a boss's son; it was an inexplicable sense of absolute obedience. Troublesome... he thought, but since it meant skipping the line and getting an expensive drink for free, he shrugged. "Lemon tea, then. Thanks, Menma."
Soon, the six were walking down the street, silhouettes stretching in the sunset. Naruto slurped his red bean and mochi specialty; Chōji looked blissful; Ino sipped her colorful fruit tea; and Hinata held a warm red bean milk tea, the sweetness finally easing her nerves.
The group split into three natural pairs as they walked. At the front, Chōji and Naruto were deep in a passionate debate about "Secret Roasted Meat" vs. "Ichiraku Ramen."
In the middle, Menma and Shikamaru walked in a silence that contrasted with the noise ahead. Shikamaru broke it, his voice long and drawn out. "So, Menma... your family's business is quite big, huh?"
Menma glanced at him, his azure eyes deep and calm. "Most of the Gato Group's assets in Konoha are under my name. After all, I am a part of this village."
A perfectly polished answer, Shikamaru noted. He didn't push further.
At the back, Ino teased a beet-red Hinata. "So, you and Menma... are you two...?" she whispered, nudging her.
"No! Ino, don't say that!" Hinata squeaked, her heart thumping as she stole a glance at Menma's back.
"Really?" Ino grinned. "You weren't this shy when you declared you'd slaughter anyone who moved on him."
After seeing the others off and walking Hinata to the Hyūga gate, Menma returned home. "I'm going upstairs," he told the servants.
In his room, he set a box of "Wanxiang" pastries on the desk. A small, furry head popped out from his black spiky hair. A palm-sized Little Kurama, wearing a tiny dark-red kimono, twitched her ears and sniffed the air with her red eyes wide.
"Menma! Menma! Is it for me?" Her nine tails wagged excitedly. She hopped onto the table and bit into a fox-shaped milk cake, purring with delight.
Leaving the fox to her sweets, Menma entered his private training room. He sat cross-legged, closing his eyes. He wasn't refining normal chakra; he was tapping into the primal roots: Yin Release (spiritual energy) and Yang Release (physical energy).
Slowly, the air above his palms began to warp. A tiny speck of black matter, flickering between existence and void, began to stabilize. Sweat beaded on Menma's forehead as he forced the two opposing energies to balance.
Gradually, the matter elongated, forging itself into a thirty-centimeter, pitch-black rod that pulsed with an ominous, cold light.
The Creation of All Things: The Black Receiver.
Menma opened his eyes. This was the threshold of the Six Paths level. With Yin-Yang Release mastered, I can likely trade blows with Nagato in his prime, he mused.
Suddenly, a Shadow Clone he had stationed on the village outskirts dispelled!
A flood of information hit his brain. His Kagura Shinden (Mind's Eye of the Kagura) had captured a final image before the clone vanished: Two strange, ancient, and powerful chakra signatures had appeared outside the barrier—and were heading straight for the Hyūga compound without triggering a single alarm.
The chakra felt cold, celestial, and carried the unmistakable resonance of the Byakugan.
The Moon!
Toneri Ōtsutsuki and his father!
They were here for the "Pure Eye"—they were here for Hinata or Hanabi.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Menma hissed. A clone appeared instantly. "Tail the Ōtsutsuki pair. Locate the passage to the Moon."
"Understood," the clone replied, vanishing into a space-time ripple.
In the training room, the original Menma stood up. He gripped the black rod, and it dissolved into ash. The real game was about to begin.