I Am Uzumaki Menma

By the wooden dock on the banks of the Naka River, Hikari snatched the box from Menma's hands and fiercely bit into a dango skewer.

The pale green mochi ball deformed between her teeth as the girl puffed her cheeks and glared at Menma, looking like a cat guarding its food… she didn't even plan to leave the last dango on the skewer for him.

"Alright, alright, don't be mad." Menma placed his hands on Hikari's shoulders.

The Uchiha clan had a tsundere, feline-like nature deep in their bones, so they needed to be coaxed gently.

Of course, there were other ways, like how Hashirama subdued Madara, or how Naruto won over Sasuke through sheer force.

But right now, Hikari was more like a house cat throwing a tantrum, upset because her owner had petted another cat behind her back.

Menma simply pushed the entire box toward her, watching with amusement as the girl devoured the sweets, her cheeks bulging adorably.

He asked, "Do all Uchiha have such a sweet tooth?"

'Itachi loved soft, sweet treats like dango.'

'Obito loved red bean paste cakes and dango.'

'Sasuke loved tomatoes.'

'And Shisui seemed to like dango too.'

'For some reason, the Uchiha Clan had a strange obsession with dango… even their clan's crest looked like one.'

"No way!" Hikari suddenly turned her head, her puffed-up cheek brushing against Menma's nose. Her eyes brimmed with grievance, making her look like a wronged young wife.

Menma laughed. As long as Hikari was still willing to talk to him, things were manageable.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his embrace, feeling her stiffen at first before gradually relaxing… though the speed at which she chewed the dango slowed noticeably.

Quack, quack, quack-

A few ducks swam past on the water as the sunset's glow draped over the two of them.

"One-two! One-two!"

On the riverbank, Might Guy, who was undergoing extra training, passed by and glanced at the young couple on the dock. He sighed wistfully, "Ah! The scent of youth! How enviable!"

"Tonight, two hundred more push-ups!"

…

"Hey..."

Hikari suddenly spoke up in a muffled voice, swallowing the last bite of dango: "Do you... think I'm too old?"

"After all, I've been sealed for so long, so I'm probably over three hundred years old now."

Even though she was a Kunoichi, she was still a girl. Hikari couldn't help but care about her age and appearance.

The long years of being sealed now felt like a heavy chain around her heart… especially after discovering that Menma's true form was just a kid. The age gap was like a thorn in her side.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Menma was puzzled and pinched her cheeks: "A girl as cute as you staying forever young is perfect, isn't it?"

"Cute?" Hikari suddenly looked up and said with a fierce look in her eyes, "That little girl with the white eyes is also cute."

"Well-" Menma chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his nose, "You are all my wings."

"Hmph." A soft snort mixed with the water droplets kicked up by her feet, scattering into the evening breeze. Hikari didn't press further about how many 'wings' Menma had.

She lightly tapped the water's surface with her toes, sending up a string of ripples, and asked curiously, "Why are you so strong at such a young age? And where does such grand ambition come from?"

"Just like you were sealed for hundreds of years, I might just have a few more decades of life experience than an ordinary kid." Menma spoke vaguely, his fingers unconsciously playing with the loose strands of hair by her temple.

He didn't explain that he was a transmigrator, nor did he mention the years he spent in the Limited Tsukuyomi World. He only gave this ambiguous answer.

Hikari didn't press further. Everyone had their own secrets. For her, the first person she saw when her seal was broken was Menma, and the one who resolved the knots in her heart was also Menma. That alone destined their bond.

If she kept dwelling on it, she might only push him away.

Besides, that little girl with white eyes was only a few years old. Even if she was Menma's childhood friend, Hikari, as the 'newcomer', was confident she could win against her!

"I have killed Kurosuki Raiga." The topic quickly shifted as Hikari reported on the mission Menma had assigned her.

"That guy and his Kurosuki Clan were holed up in Katabami Gold Mine, terrorizing the nearby civilians. He took pleasure in killing people and burying them… completely violating the principles and ethics of Ninja. So I killed him. The rest of the Kurosuki Clan were sent back to the Land of Stars by Hotarubi and Natsuhi."

"Mhm, that guy deserved it anyway." Menma nodded, then tentatively reached out to pat Hikari's head, ruffling her hair.

Seeing that the other party did not resist, he knew this angry little kitten had mostly calmed down.

"By the way, have you heard of the Land of the Sky?" Menma suddenly thought of Shinno and Amaru, whom he had encountered a few days ago. Katabami Gold Mine was also in the southern part of the Land of Rivers, near the coast.

"The Land of the Sky was destroyed, wasn't it?" Hikari searched her memories. During the Warring States Period she lived in, the Land of the Sky had been a fairly large nation with many Ninjas.

And since coming to the Land of Stars, Hikari had been catching up on history from the end of the Warring States Period to the present, so she roughly knew about the Land of the Sky and how it was annihilated by Konoha during the Second Great Ninja War.

"Yeah, the ruins of Soragakure should be in southern Land of Rivers. Some remnants fled to the southern seas and established a mobile Soragakure using ships as their base. There should be a lot of technology in their ruins… we should send people to collect some of it."

Ancor Vantian's Chakra-to-kinetic energy conversion technology, Soragakure's flying warships, their ninja tools, kunai launchers… they had likely already achieved small-scale mass production. That was why, years later, they were almost fully equipped with flight gear and kunai launchers when they invaded Konoha Village.

"By the way, that little girl just now was a pawn I prepared." Menma suddenly remembered Uchiha Izumi and took out the Red Moon Scroll.

"Do you want to take a look together?" Menma handed the book to Hikari.

Hikari curiously placed her hand on the Red Moon Scroll.

faint red light rose from the book, and in an instant, their surroundings changed.

They now stood before the Uchiha Clan's compound.

Hikari activated her Mangekyo Sharingan and realized this was a Genjutsu, but one of an incredibly high level. Even with her Mangekyo Sharingan, she found it difficult to break free.

"What a powerful Genjutsu… It feels completely real." Hikari murmured, turning to see Menma now dressed differently.

"Welcome to my theater!" Menma, clad in a black robe and wearing a white three-eyed fox mask, stood atop a roof and waved at her.

Hikari leaped up to join him, following his gaze into the Uchiha Clan's compound.

There, they saw Izumi, the girl they had just met, collapsed on the ground, watching in horror as Itachi swung his sword at a child no older than three or four. Nearby, two elderly figures lay lifeless in pools of blood.

Looking at Itachi that was slaughtering his own clansmen, Hikari frowned.