Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Menma's Pursuit of Kekkei Genkai
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Menma had an almost obsessive pursuit when it came to researching the kekkei genkai of various ninja clans.
Even in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, he enjoyed collecting all sorts of kekkei genkai from across the shinobi world. He used them to study their genetic makeup, attempting to crack the secrets of the Otsutsuki Clan.
As everyone knew, any family in the shinobi world with special abilities could trace their lineage back to the Sage of Six Paths.
Take the famous Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, or the Dead Bone Pulse of the Kaguya Clan—these kekkei genkai were all diluted versions of Otsutsuki Kaguya's myriad powers.
However, compared to Orochimaru and the other deranged scientists of the shinobi world with their horrific live dissections, Menma held firm to his principles even in the Limited Tsukuyomi world. He never resorted to live experiments.
On one hand, he couldn't stomach the artificial reality of Limited Tsukuyomi. On the other, he refused to let his moral底线 crumble and drive him to insanity.
This internal conflict persisted until Menma launched the Fourth Great Ninja War against the shinobi world's five great nations.
After robbing Orochimaru blind and ransacking several of his secret bases, Menma uncovered experimental data on the Ibuki Clan buried in Orochimaru's research logs.
This jogged his memory of the minor ninja clan from the original anime filler—wiped out after just three episodes.
Their ability to transform into mist was a kekkei genkai Menma had never encountered in the Limited Tsukuyomi World. Naturally, it piqued his collector's interest.
Not in any sinister way, of course. He simply wanted the clan to pledge their service, in exchange for some cellular samples and blood to study their "Mist Transformation" kekkei genkai.
"Lord Asura, these are the historical records of our Ibuki Clan—all of them." Deep in a stone chamber within the underground complex, Gota presented their clan's treasured archives to Menma.
Though Gota claimed he couldn't believe Orochimaru had broken his promise, he had quietly consented to this temporary alliance with Menma while awaiting the snake's arrival.
So when Menma suggested reviewing the Ibuki Clan's history, Gota raised no objections and handed it over directly.
Surveying the handful of scrolls in the chamber, Menma quickly grasped that the Ibuki Clan placed little value on history or tradition. They had few archived scrolls—most knowledge passed down by word of mouth.
Or more accurately, survival was such a struggle for the Ibuki Clan that securing food, medicine, and basic supplies took precedence. Historical scrolls paled in comparison.
Their clansmen's drab, threadbare rags told the same story.
Even clan leader Gota lacked a proper weapon, resorting to a cleaver in his duel with Kakashi.
In the dim stone chamber, Menma's fingertips trailed over dust-caked scrolls.
"I'm not one to owe anyone favors."
Menma then pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Gota behind him.
"This sealing scroll holds enough rations to feed a hundred people for a week."
At the mention of food, Gota caught it reverently with both hands.
"Thank you."
Menma said nothing, simply unrolling a dusty scroll in silence and diving into the Ibuki Clan's historical depths.
To Menma, it was just a standard emergency supply scroll he carried—durable, shelf-stable rations with no frills, purely for crises.
But to the Ibuki Clan, rationed carefully, it could sustain them for a month or two.
As Gota returned to his clansmen with the scroll, he spotted Yamato locked in combat with a masked silver-haired ninja. Nearby clansmen were launching desperate attacks on the intruder.
"Konoha reinforcements?"
Gota instantly dissolved into a plume of smoke and charged into the fray.
In the Kakashi Anbu Arc, Gota's taijutsu paired with his mist transformation proved a match for Anbu operative Kakashi. Kakashi only triumphed by luring him out of the cave, whipping up a gale in the forest that scattered Gota's misty form and sealed his doom.
True to form, once Gota joined as smoke, he unleashed the Smoke Inhalation Technique, slipping into Kakashi's body through his nostrils.