I Am Uzumaki Menma

A few minutes later, beside a small flower bed in Konoha's shopping district.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows. Naruto, sitting on the edge of the flower bed, held an ice cream cone in his hand and eagerly took a big bite, oblivious to the cream smeared at the corner of his mouth.

Menma and Hinata sat side by side, savoring their ice cream in small bites.

Shinno watched the children with a kind smile and handed the last ice cream to his apprentice, Amaru.

"Alright, consider this my apology. I hope Amaru can become friends with all of you from now on." Shinno said, patting Amaru's head, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes brimming with warmth.

If Menma didn't know that this man was actually the leader of the Soragakure, traveling across the nations as a wandering doctor to gather intelligence and rebuild his forces for the sake of restoring his homeland, even he might have been fooled by Shinno's unassuming appearance.

"By the way, Uncle, where are you from? Why does your skin look a little dark?" Menma asked deliberately, licking his ice cream.

Of course, Shinno wouldn't suspect a four- or five-year-old kid who likely hadn't even learned Ninjutsu yet. He smiled warmly and replied, "Oh, Amaru and I are civilians from the Land of Rivers. But since the village we were born in is near the coastal rainforest, people from her family tend to have slightly darker skin."

With that, Shinno began recounting how he and Amaru had met and the interesting stories from their travels, his voice carrying the charm of a storyteller.

Naruto and Hinata, who had never left Konoha before, listened to Shinno's tales with rapt attention.

Meanwhile, Menma, deep in thought, visualized the map of the Ninja World in his mind.

The Land of Rivers was sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. To its north was the Land of Rain, while the sea lay to the south, facing the Land of Tea across the waters.

As the name suggested, the country was crisscrossed with rivers, and its rainforests were home to many venomous snakes and wild beasts.

As Shinno continued his stories, Menma recalled some deeper memories.

He vaguely remembered that Amaru's village was deep in the rainforest, close to the ruins of the Soragakure's [Ancor Vantian].

After rescuing Amaru, Shinno had acted as a kind mentor, teaching her some basic Medical Ninjutsu for a while, which made Amaru develop admiration and affection for him.

But in reality, Shinnō was only using Amaru. When the time was right, he sent Soragakure's Ninjas to attack her village and abduct the villagers to serve as nourishment for the Zero-Tails.

Shinno faked his death using the Body Revival Technique, took control of the Zero-Tails, and engaged in a fierce battle with Naruto.

Later, Sasuke, who arrived on the scene, used Chidori Senbon to seal Shinno's Chakra Points, causing the Body Revival Technique to fail and turning him into an old man.

The now-elderly Shinno used the fortress's mechanisms to escape Naruto and Sasuke's pursuit, merged with the Zero-Tails to become its Jinchuriki, and activated the Ancor Vantian's giant cannon, obliterating an entire mountain range with a single shot.

In the end, Naruto used Nine-Tails' Chakra to make the Zero-Tails explode from within, then finished it off with Shadow Clone Technique and his signature [Guts Rasengan].

'By the way, I remember that the Zero-Tails was also something Shinno stole from Konoha!' As more memories surfaced, Menma's frown deepened.

'And the Body Revival Technique and Body Enhancement Technique… weren't those also stolen from Konoha by Shinno?'

'It seems Shinno also had some kind of deal with Orochimaru… I remembered in the Movie, Orochimaru sent Sasuke to track down and capture Shinno.'

'So… is Shinno here in Konoha right now to steal Ninjutsu and the sealing scroll containing Zero-Tails?'

While eating the ice cream that Shinno treated him to, Menma was thinking about how to trick this old man into giving him the base of Soragakure.

If he recalled correctly, Soragakure was made up of exiled Ninjas who lived on ship-like vessels, drifting across the open sea as they gathered strength for revenge.

That was why, after their country and clan were annihilated in the Second Great Ninja War, it took over twenty years for Soragakure to reappear in the world.

And they even launched a direct aerial assault on Konoha, catching the village completely off guard.

Soragakure's warships, flight ninja tools, and kunai launchers are all excellent pieces of technology… not to mention the Ancor Vantian.

Especially the kunai launcher. Though bulky like a light machine gun, it uses magazine-fed ammunition and operates in full-auto mode, making it usable even by ordinary people.

The flight ninja tools could probably be modified into something resembling aircraft.

As for the energy source, he thought he could look into Gelel Stones, which contain vast amounts of Chakra and can even be mass-produced.

Menma now knew where the ruins of Soragakure Ancor Vantian, was located.

Knowing that Amaru was born in the primeval rainforests of southern Land of Rivers, near the border with the Land of Fire, all he had to do was send shadow clones to conduct a large-scale search using Mind's Eye of the Kagura.

…

Half an hour later.

Shinno stood up, brushing the stray leaves off his knees, and said to Menma and the others, "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you all today. I should head to the hospital now to catch up with some old friends."

Though Shinnō was a wandering doctor, he visited Konoha Village frequently and had some connections with Medical-Nin at Konoha Hospital due to his expertise in Medical Ninjutsu.

In the original Movie, when Soragakure's Ninjas launched their aerial assault on Konoha Village, causing massive civilian casualties, Shinno had been lurking in the village all along.

The Medical-Nin at Konoha Hospital were somewhat familiar with him.

"Take care, Uncle! Amaru!" Naruto had a very good impression of this uncle. After all, he was one of the few who showed him no hostility.

Shinno waved back at Naruto with a smile.

Amaru stuck her tongue out at Naruto playfully.

Menma and Hinata also stood up to bid farewell to Shinno and his apprentice, Amaru. Menma also secretly marked their Chakra Signatures.

From now on, as long as they were within a certain range of his Mind's Eye of the Kagura, he could track their movements.

…

Southwest of the Land of Rivers, in the forests bordering the Land of Wind.

The campfire cast flickering shadows on Hikari's pensive face. The half-burnt grilled fish in her hand gave off a charred smell, a far cry from the delicious aroma of Menma's cooking.

"Nanashi-sama!" Five Hoshigakure's Ninjas landed beside the campfire, kneeling on one knee.

Seeing Natsuhi and Hotarubi coming back, Hikari set down the fish and turned her gaze to them: "How is the investigation going?"

"We've confirmed that the Katabami Gold Mine is under the control of the Kurosuki Clan. To avoid alerting them, our team hasn't approached the mine directly but has been gathering intel from nearby villages." Natsuhi reported, lifting her head slightly.

For this mission, Hikari was leading the team, with Natsuhi and Hotarubi each commanding a team of three Chunin who had excelled in training.

Their mission is to take away the Kurosuki Clan headed by Kurosuki Raiga, who were entrenched in the Katabami Gold Mine.

If Raiga proved impossible to bring back, they were permitted to eliminate him… so long as they secured the Lightning Blades: Kiba and some members of Kurosuki Clan.