Menma led Kushina into the living room of Naruto's apartment.
A smell, a mix of expired food and profound loneliness, hit them, making Kushina hold her breath instantly.
The living room was cramped and chaotic.
An old wooden table was piled high with empty milk cartons and instant noodle cups. Some cups still contained dried sauce and noodle scraps, attracting a few flies buzzing around them.
A few discarded clothes were scattered in the corner.
The kitchen was even more appalling. The sink was stacked with unwashed dishes, the stovetop was smeared with grease and food residue, and the trash can was overflowing.
Kushina's heart felt like it was being gripped by an icy hand.
She stumbled to the table, picked up an empty milk carton with trembling hands, and turned it to the side. The expiration date had long passed.
She picked up an instant noodle cup. The pungent smell of cheap flavoring packets mixed with the odor of overnight broth made her reincarnated stomach churn.
"Naruto eats this...?" Kushina's voice was hoarse and raspy, thick with the urge to cry.
She couldn't imagine how Naruto lived day after day in this cold, dirty, messy room.
Her gaze fell on the arm of the sofa, where a worn-out red scarf was draped.
The yarn of the scarf was frayed and pilled, the color faded to a pale white, the edges even beginning to unravel.
Kushina walked over and, as if holding a rare treasure, carefully picked up the scarf.
A cold, rough texture met her touch. It seemed to still carry a trace of Naruto's scent.
She hugged the scarf tightly to her chest, her cold cheek pressing against the coarse wool. Her reincarnated body couldn't shed tears, but the heart-wrenching, bone-deep pain made her whole body tremble.
Menma stood silently to the side, his sapphire blue eyes sweeping over the dirty, poor-quality apartment. He offered no comment, but a flash of anger passed deep within his eyes.
…
Meanwhile, at Konoha Park.
The afternoon winter sun offered a false warmth, sparsely illuminating the snow-covered slide and swing set.
There weren't many children in the park. Most were bundled up tightly by their parents, playing together in a sheltered pavilion.
"Menma-nii! Higher! Higher!" Naruto's excited shouts broke the park's quiet chill.
He wore a faded orange jacket, his small face flushed red from the cold, yet radiated pure joy as he sat on a swing, his short legs pumping hard.
Behind him, one of Menma's shadow clones was pushing him at a leisurely pace.
"Be careful. I won't catch you if you fall." Menma's shadow clone said flatly, but the force with which he pushed the swing was just right, sending Naruto soaring higher.
"I won't fall! I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto yelled triumphantly, his blond hair bouncing in the sunlight, "When I become Hokage, I'll make everyone acknowledge me! Menma-nii, I'll treat you to the best Ichiraku Ramen then! A hundred bowls!"
The corner of Menma's shadow clone's mouth seemed to twitch. He didn't acknowledge the 'hundred bowls' claim.
After playing for a while, the shadow clone gradually stopped pushing. He pulled a bag of potato chips from his pocket and handed it over.
"Here."
"Wow! Thanks, Menma-nii!" Naruto cheered, taking it and eagerly tearing it open. He crunched away, his cheeks stuffed full like a happy little squirrel.
Only in front of Menma could he temporarily forget the ever-present cold stares and harsh words.
Just as Naruto was enjoying his snack, a 'woman' in a dark green padded jacket, carrying a simple fruit basket, approached somewhat hesitantly.
Her face was pale with a sickly cast, but her eyes were unusually gentle. She stopped in front of the two boys.
"K-Kids…" Kushina's voice was nervous, trying hard to sound natural, "Would you like to buy some fruit? It's very fresh..." She held the basket forward.
The red apples and bright yellow oranges inside gleamed enticingly, a few plump, juicy peaches particularly standing out.
Seeing a stranger approach, Naruto instinctively flinched, his chewing stopping. A flash of wariness and unease crossed his blue eyes, his small hand unconsciously tightening on the swing chain.
He was used to being shooed away and despised. He felt an instinctive fear towards strangers who approached him proactively.
Menma's shadow clone glanced at the woman, his eyes lingering on the fruit basket for a moment before speaking naturally: "How much for the peaches?"
"Ah? Oh... v-very cheap..." Kushina, caught off guard by the question, flusteredly pointed to the largest peach, "This one... fifty ryo each is fine..."
The price was absurdly low.
"Give me two." Menma's shadow clone pulled out a hundred ryo and handed it over.
Kushina hurriedly took the money, carefully selected the two largest, reddest peaches from the basket, wiped them meticulously with a clean cloth, and then handed them to Menma's shadow clone.
The shadow clone took the peaches, kept one for himself, and directly shoved the other into the hands of the still somewhat dazed Naruto beside him.
"Here, for you."
Naruto stared blankly at the large, red peach in his hand, emitting a fresh, sweet aroma. He looked up at the unfamiliar 'auntie' before him.
She wasn't looking at him with disgust like others did. Instead, her eyes seemed to hold something he couldn't quite understand, but it felt... warm?
And Menma gave him the biggest peach to eat!
The unexpected joy instantly washed away Naruto's wariness and unease.
A brilliantly bright, even slightly silly, smile spread across his small face. His blue eyes sparkled like little lakes filled with sunlight.
"Thank you, Auntie! Thank you, Menma-nii!" He said loudly, his voice brimming with pure happiness.
That 'Thank you, Auntie' was like an arrow with barbs, piercing Kushina's heart.
Her grayish hand clenched tightly beneath the fruit basket. She forced a smile, her voice trembling slightly: "You're welcome... eat up... it's very sweet..."
Naruto nodded vigorously, eagerly hugging the large peach and taking a big bite. Sweet juice immediately filled his mouth. He squinted his eyes in bliss.
Menma's shadow clone glanced at the sky and said to Naruto, "It's getting late. Time to head back."
Though reluctant, Naruto nodded obediently. "Okay! Goodbye, Auntie!"
Holding the partially eaten peach, he hopped and skipped alongside Menma, running off towards the direction of his apartment. His golden hair bounced in the setting sun like a small flame.
Watching Naruto and Menma's retreating figures disappear from the park, Kushina's tightly wound body finally relaxed.
Her grayish base tone and the paper-dust tear tracks at the corners of her eyes reappeared.
She gazed greedily in the direction Naruto and Menma had left, as if wanting to etch that small retreating figure into her soul forever.
The real Menma stepped out silently from behind the park bushes and came to Kushina's side.
"Thank you..." Kushina's voice was terribly hoarse. She turned her head, her gray-white eyes looking deeply at her eldest son beside her, filled with inexpressible gratitude and complex pain: "Thank you for always looking after Naruto... letting him... have at least a little warmth."
Menma's gaze fell on the street corner where Naruto had disappeared: "After all, he is also my brother."
…
Night fell, and Konoha Village was lit by lamps, but it couldn't dispel the coldness and disappointment settled deep in Kushina's heart.
Menma brought her once more to the open area overlooking the Hokage Rock.
The massive stone carvings stood silently in the night. Minato's face seemed somewhat blurred in the shadows.
Kushina tightened her padded jacket, looking up at her husband's statue.
Her reanimated body couldn't feel the cold, but her heart was colder than this winter night.
The Konoha Village she had witnessed firsthand was filled with suspicion, indifference, and poisonous rumors. The cruel neglect of the hero's orphan.
All of this was far removed from the vibrant, largely united village she remembered, despite its conflicts.
'Was this the place Minato had given his life to protect?'
Deep disappointment entwined her soul, followed by a wavering in her past choices.
'Was sacrificing myself and my children for the village truly worth it?'
'If... if there had been another choice back then, would Naruto and Menma not have had to endure all this?'
"Mom, it's time to go back." A hand rested on Kushina's shoulder. Menma's voice sounded beside her.
Kushina took one last, deep look at Minato's statue, as if wanting to carve all her questions and regrets into the stone.
Then, the two of them vanished into Konoha's winter night.
…
Star City, Menma's courtyard.
On the engawa, Kushina dispelled the dark green padded jacket and the disguise, revealing once more her reanimated grayish body and cracked face.
She stood silently by the edge of the engawa, looking out at the night scene so different from Konoha Village's.
The administrative and military districts were situated slightly higher.
From the yard, Kushina could see directly the myriad lights of the distant city, like a river of stars fallen to earth, dazzling and vibrant, full of life and energy.
Rows of lamp posts glowed like luminous ribbons connecting the tall, modern buildings.
Even on a winter night, the streets were still bustling with traffic. The faint, lively sounds from the distant commercial district could still be heard.
An atmosphere of warmth, prosperity, and hope came head-on, forming a stark contrast with the cold, oppressive Konoha Village she had just left.
"Menma..." Kushina's voice broke the quiet of the courtyard, heavy with emotion, "Your ambitions... they must be very grand, right?"
She turned around, her reanimated gray eyes looking directly into the calm, sapphire blue eyes of the young man beside her: "Building a nation like this... gathering such power... What you want to do is certainly not just to live in a secluded corner."
Menma met his mother's gaze without flinching.
He walked to the edge of the engawa and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Kushina, also looking out at this brilliantly lit city that belonged to him.
The night wind stirred his black hair. The young man's handsome profile looked especially profound in the interplay of light and shadow.
"Ambition?" Menma's voice was low and clear, "I just want to end this chaotic era."
He raised his hand, pointing towards the dazzling river of stars that was the city, or perhaps towards the entire war-torn Ninja Continent: "Ninja Clans stand tall, the Five Great Nations scheme against each other, smaller nations live in constant peril... Hatred spreads like a plague, passed down through generations of killing and betrayal, endless."
"Every brief period of peace is merely the incubation period for the next, larger war."
His tone carried an insight far beyond his time: "I will break all of this. Make the Ninja World into one nation, with one unified will. Have all Ninja belong to one village, operate under one system. Reduce the pointless hatred and war born from region, clan, and nation to the absolute minimum."
He paused, his gaze growing even more distant, as if seeing through the prosperous night scene before him.
"And then focus all of humanity's strength and wisdom, no longer wasting it on internal strife and mutual slaughter, but developing together. Make Chakra no longer just a tool for killing. Make Ninjutsu serve the survival and prosperity of all humanity."
Kushina listened quietly, her reanimated face filled with shock.
'Unify the Ninja World?'
'What a world-shaking, monumental aspiration!'
'This was even grander, more radical, than when the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, founded Konoha and distributed the Tailed Beasts!'
She looked at her son's calm profile, which held immense determination, and for the first time, she felt so clearly that the quiet infant who never cried had grown into a titan capable of stirring up the entire Ninja World.
"This... this is too..." Kushina struggled to find the words to describe the shock in her heart.
"Too unbelievable?" Menma turned his head slightly, a faint, almost mischievous smile touching his lips, like that of a clever youth: "Mom, do you want to see for yourself another use for Ninja's power in this new era?"
Kushina was still reeling from the tidal wave of 'unifying the Ninja World'. Hearing this, she nodded instinctively, her eyes filled with intense curiosity.
'A new use for Ninja?'
Her education at the Konoha's Ninja Academy and over twenty years of life experience left her puzzled.
'Besides fighting and missions, what else could Ninja do?'
Menma reached out and gently grasped Kushina's cold wrist.
The next moment, the two vanished from the engawa!
The slight dizziness from the spatial shift faded, replaced by a biting mountain wind carrying snowflakes.
Kushina found herself standing on a steep, half-mountain platform.
Beneath her feet was a bottomless, dark abyss. In her ears roared a deafening, thunderous sound, like ten thousand stampeding horses!
It was the sound of a raging river roaring through a narrow channel.
She instinctively pulled her cloak tighter and looked forward. The sight before she made her hold her breath instantly, her gray eyes widening to their limit in awe!
The Devil's Ravine widened exceptionally here.
The steep mountain walls on both sides looked as if they had been split by a giant ax, yet now they were illuminated as bright as day by countless dazzling lights!
The mountain face on their side of the gorge had been massively flattened and reshaped. A project of unimaginable scale was underway in full swing!
At the entrance to the gorge stood a huge metal sign lit with lights: [Land of Stars' First Construction Group: Devil's Ravine Dam Project Headquarters].
As far as the eye could see, there were dense, yet orderly, streams of people and machinery, like ants!
On a gentle slope near the riverbank, over a dozen Ninjas wearing standard Star Ninja's flak jackets stood in a large circle.
Their hands pressed against the ground, Chakra surging through their bodies, and they chanted in unison: "Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
Boom! Rumble!
With a deep, thunderous roar, vast sections of bedrock ahead began to rise, settle, and shape themselves as if manipulated by invisible giant hands!
The hard rock, under their combined effort, became as soft as clay, molded into the solid foundation and the initial form of the diversion channels needed for the massive dam!
Another team of Water Release Users stood on a temporarily built platform, forming hand seals towards the raging main current of the Devil's Ravine below: "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
But this wasn't an offensive Water Release Ninjutsu. Instead, several massive water walls were precisely guided and diverted!
The savage river water was forcibly restrained and tamed, directed into two newly dug and reinforced artificial channels beside it, clearing precious dry land for the main dam construction area!
Huge cranes groaned heavily, lifting pre-fabricated reinforced concrete components the size of houses and placing them with precision.
Workers in orange reflective vests and hard hats scurried like worker ants through the steel skeletons and concrete jungle. Welding sparks flashed like stars in the night.
The deafening sound of pile-driving, the roar of machinery, the whistles of foremen, and instructions from loudspeakers blended together into a shocking 'symphony of construction'!
What astonished Kushina even more was that Ninja and ordinary people here weren't separate but worked in close collaboration!
An experienced engineer, holding blueprints, was explaining the mechanical requirements for the next phase of bedrock reinforcement to a young Ninja who had just finished using an Earth Release Ninjutsu, sweat beading on his forehead.
The Ninja listened intently, nodding occasionally, suggesting adjustments to Chakra Output.
Several workers pushed carts laden with construction materials. With the aid of a Wind Release User employing [Wind Release: Air Current Wild Dance] to create a tailwind, they effortlessly transported the heavy loads to higher ground.
She could even see several Medical-Nins moving through the site, providing quick treatment to workers who had suffered minor bumps and scrapes.
The superhuman power of Ninja was no longer a weapon for reaping lives here, but a great tool for moving mountains, filling seas, and reshaping nature!
It was the core engine driving the project forward at high speed!
"This is the gorge area upstream on the Devil's Ravine. Winter is the dry season, with the lowest water flow, making it most suitable for foundation work on large-scale hydraulic projects like this." Menma's voice sounded beside Kushina, cutting through the gorge's roar.
He pointed at the brilliantly lit, massive dam structure taking shape rapidly in the gorge below like a steel behemoth. His tone was calm yet carried a sense of power that held the future: "With Earth and Water Release Users directly involved, it changes the traditional engineering process that requires lengthy blasting and excavation. Their power increases construction speed by over 300%, maybe even more." Menma's gaze swept over the Ninja altering the terrain amidst glowing Chakra.
"Once completed, this dam's generator units can stably supply electricity equivalent to the needs of a massive city of one million people, making electricity no longer a privilege of big cities and a few Ninja Villages, but light that benefits every ordinary household."
He paused, pointing towards the vast plains downstream, faintly visible and sleeping in the night: "More importantly, the dam's huge reservoir capacity, combined with a precise irrigation system, will provide stable, abundant agricultural water for thousands of square kilometers of plains downstream. Guaranteeing harvests despite drought or flood, fundamentally securing food production. Only with sufficient food can people's hearts be settled, and more industries develop."
Kushina stood dumbfounded in the biting mountain wind, looking down at the brilliantly lit, bustling, magnificent construction site below.
The deafening roar of machinery and the Chakra Fluctuations from Ninja Jutsus were like powerful drumbeats, striking against the lake of her heart, frozen by Konoha's coldness and cruelty.
She had never imagined Ninja could be used like this.
She had finally witnessed firsthand another possibility for Ninja's power beyond the battlefield… a power of creation, of construction, a mighty force capable of changing the face of the world and benefiting all people!
This was a world of difference from the Ninja life she had known, from the entrenched ills she had seen in Konoha!
Menma's words echoed in her mind: 'End war', 'unified will', 'concentrated power', 'common development'.
These originally grand and elusive concepts now seemed incredibly clear and real before the majestic scene of moving mountains, reclaiming land, and taming rivers at her feet!
She slowly turned her head, her reanimated gray eyes deeply gazing at the son beside her, his face calm, his gaze seemingly able to pierce the future.
That young face didn't have Minato's warm, sunny smile, but it held a deeper, firmer confidence, enough to bear the weight of the entire Ninja World's future.
The gorge's cold wind whipped her red hair and cloak, making them flutter noisily.
In the distance, the dam's silhouette, illuminated by countless lights, resembled a giant dragon awakening, lying across the Devil's Ravine within the gorge.
She began to feel a faint sense of anticipation for the Ninja new era Menma had described… an era without war between nations and villages, where all people lived together in harmony.