Lazy sunlight spread gently across the grass as the children of Konoha Orphanage played under the watchful eyes of the caretakers.
Although Yakushi Kabuto had left only two days ago, they were still just children. Their lively nature quickly returned, and laughter once again echoed through the orphanage grounds.
Yakushi Nonō leaned by her office window, watching the children frolic outside with a soft, gentle smile.
How she wished this peaceful moment could last forever.
"Director… are you really leaving?"
Behind her, an older female caretaker stepped forward, gripping the edge of her apron with a worried expression.
She had been present the night Danzo came to the orphanage.
"Yunna," Nonō replied with a warm smile as she turned around, "after I'm gone, I'll be counting on you to take care of the children."
The caretaker sighed. "You worked so hard to build the orphanage into what it is now…"
Much of the orphanage's funding had come from Nonō herself—money earned from missions, as well as payments for providing medical assistance on the battlefield alongside Akashi and Kabuto.
For shinobi like them, earning money through anything other than missions was nearly impossible.
"Don't worry," Nonō reassured her gently. "It'll only be two or three years. I'll come back."
"And Kabuto… I'll find a way to bring that child back as well."
She still worried deeply about that bright, clever boy.
After Yunna left, Nonō turned back to the window and continued watching the children outside.
Sunlight shone across her face, as warm as her expression.
Then, her gaze fell on a lonely figure beneath a distant tree—a small child sitting apart from the others, holding something in his hands.
"Menma?"
She felt a particular fondness for this unusual child. And now, on the verge of leaving, she felt an inexplicable unease whenever she looked at him.
Climbing out through the window, Nonō slowly walked over.
Under the shade of the tree, Menma sat alone, completely out of place compared to the laughing children in the distance.
"Menma, come play with everyone!" one caretaker called out.
"I don't want to," Menma replied flatly, continuing to fiddle with what he held.
Seeing his refusal, the caretaker sighed helplessly and let him be—as long as he remained in sight.
Nonō approached and finally saw what he was holding.
It was a small dark-red fox doll. Its head was wrapped as if in cloth, and it wore a tiny fox mask.
"Menma likes dolls like this?" Nonō asked gently. "Have you given it a name?"
She didn't ask where it came from. The orphanage often received donations, including broken toys that caretakers would repair.
Menma lifted the doll with both hands and showed it to her.
He answered seriously: "Nine-Faced Fox Child—Gyoku."
Nonō blinked in surprise at the odd toy. Its paws and tail tip were black, its head covered, and the white mask bore the single character "Gyoku."
She assumed it had simply been stitched together from different broken toys.
"Menma," she said, crouching beside him, "do you have any dreams?"
With her departure approaching, she realized she knew less about Menma than any other child.
"Dreams?"
Menma lowered the doll and fell into thought.
Once, he had dreamed only of returning to the real world.
To achieve that, he had even started the Fourth Shinobi World War in the Limited Tsukuyomi World—causing endless suffering just to force the world to reject him.
Now he had returned, yet he existed as someone who should not exist in the original timeline.
If he felt any pressure, it came from something far above—the looming threat beyond the sky.
With the Dark Nine-Tails inside him and the newly developed Nine-Faced Fox Child: Gyoku, he already possessed a summon with elite-jōnin level strength.
Ordinary Kage-level ninja were no longer his match.
Only figures like Uchiha Madara, prime Nagato, or Uchiha Itachi posed any real threat.
Beyond them were the sealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki on the moon—and the Ōtsutsuki clan who might descend in twenty years.
Menma looked up at Nonō with a serious expression.
"I want… a peaceful world without war."
Only without war could the shinobi world unite and truly progress.
Or rather—conflicts on the ground were no longer enough for him.
The enemies he would face came from beyond the heavens.
"A peaceful world without war…" Nonō murmured.
She had once thought Kabuto was the most mature of the children.
Now she wondered if Menma had been the most grown-up all along.
———
Late that night, Yakushi Nonō packed her belongings and bid farewell to the caretakers she had worked with for years.
Some were kindhearted women who had also grown up as war orphans; others were volunteers from ordinary families.
All of them deeply respected her.
Under their quiet gazes, Nonō left through the side gate of the orphanage.
Passing by the dormitory, she paused to look through the windows at the sleeping children.
Then she vanished into the darkness.
Who knew how long it would be before she returned?
What Nonō did not realize was that high above the orphanage, Menma floated silently in the night sky, wearing the white three-eyed fox mask, watching her depart.
Beside him hovered a female summon clad in flowing robes, also wearing a fox mask. In her arms she cradled the small Dark Nine-Tails, ribbons fluttering gently in the night wind.
This was the technique Menma had developed using Dark Nine-Tails chakra—
Nine-Faced Subaha: Heavenly Maiden.
A summon capable of flight and combat using ethereal ribbons.
Its true form was the Nine-Faced Fox Child: Gyoku.
As Menma's signature technique, the Nine-Faced Subaha could only be created through the power of Nine-Tails chakra.
The nine beasts were designated in the order: Sei, Byaku, Shu, Gen, Kū, Nan, Hoku, San, Gyoku—
Corresponding to: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Golden Serpent, Southern Dipper Sage, Northern Dipper Sage, Shinigami, and Heavenly Maiden.
Like the structure of the Akatsuki, each of the Nine-Faced Beasts possessed unique abilities. Individually, they rivaled elite jōnin. Fighting together, they could unleash power comparable to a Kage.
"It's time for me to act as well," Menma murmured.
After watching Nonō disappear into the night, he turned and flew toward Konoha's towering gates.
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