"Shadow Clone Technique!" After Menma entered, dozens of clones were created.
The original body looked at the clones and said, "If you find him. Dispel the Shadow Clone Technique immediately."
The clones nodded and scattered in all directions.
Menma himself chose to head for the central tower—the qualifying tower for this round—and had placed numerous Flying Thunder God seals along the route.
Meanwhile, the clones began encountering other participants, gradually eliminating them one by one. The clone near Entrance 6 encountered an obstacle—Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro from the Sand Village!
"Oh? Mind stepping aside?" Menma asked. Since this was the main body's target, the clone didn't want to engage unless necessary.
Temari was about to respond, but Gaara stepped forward. The strange sense of familiarity he had felt vanished.
What was going on?
"Who the hell are you?" Gaara asked. As he finished speaking, the sand in front of him condensed into shuriken and flew toward Menma.
Menma dodged each projectile effortlessly.
Not bad! Gaara was about to follow up with another attack, but in the next second, Menma vanished from his sight.
Where did he go? Gaara and his teammates looked around frantically.
"Here!" Menma reappeared behind Gaara and kicked at him.
Boom!
He didn't land the kick on Gaara directly—it struck a sand wall instead.
The corners of Menma's mouth lifted slightly. "You were originally the main body's prey. But since you attacked first, I'll play with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Menma vanished again, then reappeared in front of Gaara and launched another kick, which was blocked again by the sand.
Menma had expected that and teleported to Gaara's left side, kicked—blocked.
He teleported to the right—kicked—still blocked.
Got it.
"Your sand can't protect you anymore," Menma said, vanishing again.
Gaara was slightly stunned. My sand... can't protect me? Impossible...
Boom!
A solid kick struck Gaara's face. The sand responded too late.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gaara was kicked four times in rapid succession, his sand unable to keep up. How is he so fast? Is this his real speed? Gaara was dumbfounded.
After the final kick, Menma distanced himself from Gaara.
"I'll play with you again next time," he said, walking away. Temari and Kankuro didn't try to stop him—they didn't dare!
Even Gaara was overpowered. As Gaara's older siblings, they knew how strong he was.
In the Sand Village, no peer had ever laid a hand on Gaara—his sand always protected him.
Gaara stared at Menma's retreating figure with wide eyes.
"Temari, Kankuro, did you hear him? He mentioned the main body twice. That means... he was just a clone!"
Kankuro: (ΩДΩ)
Temari: (ΩДΩ)
A... clone?
Elsewhere, Menma was heading toward Entrance 41, where he encountered Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten.
"His aura is really intense," Neji said, glancing at Menma.
"Are you here to steal our scroll?" Tenten asked.
"Let's fight!" Rock Lee pointed at Menma.
Menma: "…"
Menma stated clearly, "I'm not interested in your scrolls. Goodbye." With that, he turned to leave.
"Wait!" Neji called out.
Menma stopped and turned, curious. Didn't I beat him before? Still not convinced?
"Why are you alone?" Neji asked. Whether veteran or newcomer, all examinees were in three-man teams. Why was Menma the exception?
"Duh. I'm strong, obviously," Menma replied, unimpressed. Then he walked away.
Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten exchanged glances, dumbfounded.
Menma soon reached Entrance 27, arriving just in time to see three enemies who had appeared after Shikamaru and the others hid.
Those enemies were foolish enough to overlook the obvious potato chips on the ground.
Menma swiftly knocked out all three, then looked at the bushes and said, "Come out."
Shikamaru's team emerged from hiding.
"Thank you, Brother Menma," Yamanaka Ino said.
"Boss, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked curiously.
"I'm just a clone. I'm searching for someone. Be on the lookout for a person in a long yellow kimono with a purple cane tied at the waist. If you see them, avoid them." Menma warned.
Shikamaru nodded quickly, mentally etching Menma's warning into memory.
"Then I'm off." Menma vanished on the spot.
Shikamaru stared in the direction Menma had gone, deep in thought.
What's got the boss so worked up? But... something tells me it's best to steer clear of whoever he's after.
"I found you! Orochimaru."
One of the clones had finally found the target. Standing before Menma was a strange old woman in a long yellow kimono with a purple cane.
The woman's eyes widened when she heard what Menma said.
In the next second, a giant snake emerged behind Menma and swallowed him whole.
The old woman licked her lips with a long tongue. "Heh… This brat even knows who I am. So Konoha knows I've returned... Tsunade, you're more capable than I thought."
But then her face twisted in shock—it was just a shadow clone!
Orichimaru realized too late that the Menma's clone had transferred its memories to the main body the moment it was destroyed.
At the central tower, the memory returned to the real Menma, who licked his lips in excitement.
"Finally found you, Orochimaru."
"Release!" The remaining clones in the Forest of Death dispersed, returning all their experiences to the main body.
Menma then teleported instantly to Orochimaru, using the Flying Thunder God seal left by the clone.
"Orochimaru. I finally found you," Menma said, eyes gleaming.
"Did Tsunade send you?" Orochimaru asked, suspicious. This must be the real one…
"No, no, no. Tsunade doesn't even know you came back, or that you're pretending to be the Fourth Kazekage, or that you plan to stir up trouble during the Chunin Exams!"
The reason Menma didn't say anything earlier was because he believed in Konoha's current strength.
Come on—this version of the village had the Uchiha Clan, Tsunade, Jiraiya, the Third Hokage, and even a stronger Kakashi. And above all… himself.
The Hidden Sand Village thinks it can take on Konoha?
What a joke.
Besides, if he had told Tsunade, she'd have asked all sorts of questions—and Menma hated that. So he kept it to himself.
Orochimaru: (ω)!
(End Of Chapter)
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