Naruto: Menma Exiting Infinite Tsukuyomi

Chapter 183: Offer Up Your Heart for You

Land of Snow.

Snowflakes drifted down from the dim sky, the world between heaven and earth like a hanging white canopy. Mountains, fields, and villages were all shrouded in the vast white snow.

And on a seemingly unremarkable, snow-covered high mountain,

many bright searchlights continuously swept over the surroundings, and groups of figures patrolled back and forth nearby.

Their entire bodies were covered by heavy, silvery-white armor, each part perfectly joined together without a seam. They also carried a strangely shaped firearm on their backs.

Although their facial expressions were concealed by silvery-white masks, even just standing there ramrod straight, they gave off a cold, grim, and oppressive feeling.

With such thorough and strict surveillance, not even a fly could hope to get in.

But just then,

a black figure slowly walked out from the vast wind and snow.

Upon seeing the suddenly appearing man, the originally vigilant patrolling soldiers instantly stopped in their tracks.

Thump! Thump thump!

They all lowered their heads, placing their left fists behind them at their waists.

Their right fists, meanwhile, were clenched and lightly struck their hearts, emitting a series of muffled thuds.

Seeing this, the pace of Menma's steps also suddenly paused.

A helpless smile appeared under his mask as he grumbled to himself: "Izumi wouldn't teach the soldiers to salute me. It must be Yakumo and Koyuki messing around again."

Although it felt a bit strange, but...

The military salute is also a part of military discipline, an important guarantee for maintaining the army's centralized unity, consolidating and improving combat effectiveness, and completing various tasks.

And even Menma, with his steady state of mind, couldn't help but be moved when facing the salute of these soldiers.

"Heh, this solemn sense of honor and responsibility... it really feels somewhat familiar."

The smile on Menma's lips became wanton as he once again strode towards the deeper parts.

He did not choose to return the salute or greet these soldiers.

What he, as a leader, needed to do was to lead his soldiers to taste the fruits of victory.

This was the best reward for their offered loyalty.

After Menma's figure disappeared from sight,

the soldiers, in unison, lowered their arms and continued to carry out their duties.

Menma walked to a black circular platform at the center of the mountaintop, and the black circular platform also began to slowly move down into the interior of the snowy mountain.

Click, clack, clack.

As the black circular platform continuously descended, the architecture inside the snowy mountain appeared before Menma's eyes.

The walls here were cast from a special semi-transparent material. Absolutely no gaps could be seen between the materials, as if constructed from a single, complete wall.

The thickness and material of this type of wall made it very difficult to break through even with a highly destructive ninjutsu.

To some extent, it was sufficient to withstand a Rasenringu.

This was the first high-end research institute in the field of technology established in the Land of Snow, so Menma named it the "Dawn Research Institute."

The descent from the entrance to the internal passage was about seventeen or eighteen meters high.

After Menma walked out of the passage entrance, a tall figure in a white lab coat followed closely behind him.

It was Shinnō, who had been beaten up by Kuramako not long ago.

However, he was now the second person in charge of the Dawn Research Institute.

This kind of very rare scientific research talent... killing him directly would be a reckless waste of a God-given talent.

So Menma let Kuramako leave him half-dead.

Although Shinnō was nominally the second person in charge of the Dawn Research Institute now, in reality, he was still a convict in a state of semi-imprisonment.

A "seed" had already been planted in his body by Menma; whether to remove the restriction in the future would depend on his performance.

"Sir, please follow me."

Shinnō bowed slightly with a respectful and kind attitude, then immediately walked towards the interior of the research institute.

Menma nodded and followed without a word.

The two walked like this to the front of a fully sealed laboratory and looked inside through the transparent glass wall.

They saw some fully armed research personnel gathered around a giant glass cylinder, discussing something.

Inside the glass cylinder was the Zero-Tails, which had been transferred from that mobile fortress.

The green liquid contained in this container was a special potion Menma had created for the Zero-Tails, which could prevent it from suddenly going berserk and causing unnecessary personnel losses.

As if sensing the familiar chakra on Menma,

the tightly closed pale mask on the Zero-Tails' face suddenly revealed a scarlet slit.

But upon seeing Menma's figure,

The Zero-Tails' giant, pitch-black serpentine body instantly coiled into a ball and became motionless, just like a meticulously made biological specimen, afraid of being noticed by Menma.

"Heh."

Menma sneered upon seeing this: "Looks like this beast's IQ isn't low. It even knows to feign weakness."

Although the Zero-Tails was controlled by the former Land of the Sky and became the core energy engine of the fortress,

the Zero-Tails feeds on human negative emotions like despair and sorrow, converting them into its own power to become incomparably evil dark chakra.

The Zero-Tails' current cowardly appearance was merely a temporary dormancy.

Its current power was not yet comparable to a Tailed Beast's, but it was only a matter of time before it grew successfully.

However, Menma had no intention of letting the Zero-Tails grow without limits.

Menma looked at the Zero-Tails, his tone calm: "Shinnō, have you found a method for the Zero-Tails to provide a stable, long-term energy cycle supply?"

"...My sincerest apologies, sir."

Shinnō fell silent for a moment, his eyes flickering: "To recycle the Zero-Tails' chakra... with current technology, it's not yet possible."

The Land of the Sky had then used decades, with the 'Zero-Tails' as the core, to build a flying fortress of uncanny workmanship.

The Land of the Sky once gathered the power of the entire nation to secretly capture and imprison humans, guiding out their negative emotions like sorrow and despair, and only then did they build that flying fortress with the Zero-Tails as the core energy source.

However, once the Zero-Tails' chakra was consumed, it could not be recycled for secondary use.

Menma's brow furrowed tightly. He clicked his tongue: "This big battery can't be wasted."

The energy required by that mobile fortress was simply too immense.

He couldn't just grab a Tailed Beast to act as a "battery"; that would be too much of a reckless waste.

And the Box of Ultimate Bliss could purify chakra carrying negative emotions into normal chakra.

But the Zero-Tails needed negative chakra to be nourished, so the Box of Ultimate Bliss could not meet this condition.

"If I remember correctly,"

Menma rubbed his chin, thinking to himself: "In the original plot, wasn't there another character who could use dark chakra?"

"Seems it was in Rōran..."

Just as Menma's thoughts were flying,

his body suddenly stiffened, and he subconsciously looked up.

"This feeling of being watched..."

(End of Chapter)

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