To be reasonable, Menma genuinely hadn't intended to provoke Minato initially. Although some Naruto fans in his previous life argued that Minato didn't have to die and chose to die with Kushina out of love—making him a responsible Hokage and a good husband, but definitely not a good father...
In Menma's view, this was looking at things through a filter.
Menma felt that Minato shouldn't be that kind of person. Death was definitely not his active choice, but an inevitable result under the circumstances of that time.
Therefore, neither Minato nor Kushina...
Actually needed to bear responsibility for the plight of Naruto in the original story or Menma in this life. Moreover, from the couple's perspective, their son would definitely be treated as a hero of the village.
After all, he became the vessel of the Nine-Tails for the sake of the village, and he was the son of the Hokage. Plus, Minato and Kushina felt even more strongly that the Third Hokage, Kakashi, and others would take good care of their child—especially Teacher Jiraiya!
Not just Naruto—Menma's name in this life also came from Jiraiya. But what the couple absolutely never expected was that the Third Hokage would choose that way to "take care" of Menma, and Kakashi, under the high pressure of the Third Hokage—or more accurately, the collective high-ranking officials of the Hidden Leaf—would choose to turn a blind eye.
Jiraiya, the teacher whom Minato and Kushina once respected and trusted immensely, also chose not to care about Menma's life.
All of this exceeded the couple's imagination.
Menma actually knew this himself, but he still couldn't quite suppress the resentment in his heart.
That kind of subconscious resentment towards parents that children are naturally prone to develop.
Ultimately, Menma still acknowledged Minato and Kushina as his parents in this life.
He didn't borrow a corpse to resurrect his soul, nor did he transmigrate and seize a body.
Instead, he was truly conceived from the bloodlines of Minato and Kushina. He was their child. Even without any emotional bond from living together, Menma would still acknowledge this kindness of giving life.
Therefore, the previous anger vented out quite naturally.
But only a few seconds later.
Before Minato could say anything...
Menma reacted himself.
Making these low-level mistakes again. What's the point of being stubborn...
He let out a long breath internally, shaking his head with some self-mockery.
"Menma, you have anger, you have resentment. I can understand all of this. Back then, I indeed miscalculated. I thought Lord Third would take good care of you. I thought the things I left for you could make you a hero of the village. All of this going against my wishes is the result of my irresponsibility. I don't know if your leaving the Leaf is wrong or right, but I respect your choice. Menma, you are you. You only need to be responsible for yourself. I won't force anything on you, nor am I qualified to make demands. I just want to say one sentence: Menma, don't let hatred blind you. I don't want my child to walk a path of endless revenge. Besides, some people are ultimately innocent, Menma."
Minato quickly sorted out his emotions, looking at Menma with a pleading expression and speaking softly.
The question of right and wrong.
Actually, Minato was clear in his heart.
The Leaf owed no kindness to his child. Could one say the past 12 years constituted kindness in upbringing? That would be laughable. Menma wasn't an orphan adopted from outside the village, but the genuine orphan of the Hokage, bearing the responsibility of the Leaf's supreme "nuclear weapon." From this point alone, the Leaf had the obligation and responsibility to take good care of Menma.
This wasn't kindness.
It was duty!
But the Leaf failed to fulfill this duty.
Therefore, even if Minato looked at it solely from the identity of the Hokage, he couldn't reprimand Menma, not to mention he had a more important identity: Menma's father.
Whether he approved or not was hard to say.
But he respected his child's choice.
People must live for themselves first.
But on this basis, Minato didn't want to see his child walk a completely twisted and crazy path.
Especially when facing the Leaf.
Minato at least hoped Menma wouldn't fall completely into darkness and slaughter innocent people.
This stemmed from both Minato's responsibility as Hokage and his expectations as an ordinary father.
And Menma could naturally read the meaning in Minato's words.
"Relax. I haven't stooped so low as to massacre those people. They are ultimately just foolish commoners. As long as that group doesn't continue to be foolish enough to stand in my way, I have no interest in them at all. The people I want to take revenge on have always been just those specific few guys."
Menma looked at Minato calmly and said.
Were those civilians of the Leaf hateful?
Of course they were.
Enjoying the peace bought by Minato's sacrifice yet treating Menma so cruelly—such behavior was certainly hateful.
But everything has two sides. These civilians ultimately had friends and family who died in the Nine-Tails' attack, and their homes were destroyed by the Nine-Tails. Coupled with the deliberate concealment by Hiruzen Sarutobi and other high-ranking officials, and guided by Danzo's intentional spreading of rumors, these ordinary people who had no idea of the truth naturally found it easy to direct their anger at Menma.
This is human nature.
There's nothing much to blame.
Of course, the most important reason Menma could let it go so lightly was that these civilians hadn't truly harmed him physically.
Distinguishing clearly between love and hate was Menma's nature.
He could kill any true enemy ruthlessly.
But he wouldn't demand someone's life just because they insulted him or slapped him once.
That's not decisiveness in killing, nor is it gratifying revenge.
It's purely being a mentally twisted criminal.
Even though he chose to integrate into this world, Menma still had his own psychological baseline. One could say Menma was pretentious or hypocritical, but this was Menma's choice.
Of course, if someone really lacked eyes and insisted on holding high their banner of Leaf righteousness, choosing to block his way, Menma would also fulfill their righteousness. Didn't they want to "die generously for a just cause"?
This request.
Menma would definitely satisfy it!
Meeting his son's still-calm gaze.
Hearing these words...
Minato's suspended heart finally relaxed a tiny bit.
"In that case, that's good, that's good."
Minato didn't know what kind of expression he should show.
But at least this wasn't the worst outcome, was it? Remember, Minato was very worried that Menma would seek crazy revenge on the entire Hidden Leaf Village regardless of everything, committing acts like the bloody massacre of ordinary civilians. That was absolutely not what Minato wanted to see.
He still hoped his child could walk a normal path.
Even if this seemed a bit like a distant, extravagant hope.
But in his heart, he still hoped for it.
Menma, seeing Minato seemingly accept his departure from the Leaf and his choice to take revenge on the Leaf so easily, felt somewhat unaccustomed to it. In Menma's estimation, he had thought this father of his would try his best to persuade him not to turn against the Leaf, and even advise him to forgive the Third Hokage and the others, then return to the Leaf.
Minato's overly calm demeanor...
Was truly not in Menma's prediction.
In fact, this counted as Menma's over-speculation. Did Minato love the Leaf? That was an answer beyond doubt. Even someone as pathological as Danzo loved this ninja village deeply; it was just that his desire for power and obsession with the Hokage position reached an incredibly exaggerated level.
If Danzo was like that, there was no need to doubt Minato.
It was just that now, what Minato had to face wasn't some ordinary ninja of the village, nor an enemy from another ninja village, but the crystallization of love between him and his beloved, his own son.
Feeling he had wronged his son in the first place, and then with the village making mistakes...
How could Minato truly be "shameless" enough to force his own son!?
Of course.
There was another more important reason here: Minato felt that he was ultimately a dead person. It was most appropriate for the dead not to interfere easily in the living world. Moreover, everything he did while alive was already worthy of the Leaf.
Whether it was his death in battle or considering the village by making his newborn son the new vessel for the Nine-Tails.
His actions were worthy of the identity of Hokage.
He had fulfilled his duty.
Now, he should view problems more from his son's standpoint. Even the request he just made was also out of consideration for Menma.
"Also, there's the matter of your brother Naruto. Menma, neither I nor your mother want to see you brothers fighting each other. I hope you can..."
Minato raised his eyes again, hope flowing in his pupils.
"This doesn't depend solely on me, Father. It depends even more on Naruto. I can only say I'll try my best not to kill him."
Before the sentence was finished.
It was interrupted by Menma.
Naruto.
This was indeed the person the current Menma was most unwilling to face. Originally, at the Valley of the End, Menma had hardened his heart, intending to end it all directly.
But in the end, he was dissuaded by that figure.
This was an opportunity he had given up himself.
However, Menma didn't feel regret. This didn't mean Menma cared about Naruto like before, but rather that he chose to do it for the sake of his parents in this life.
Hearing Menma's answer...
The big stone hanging over Minato's heart was instantly put down.
As a father, his biggest worry was such a scene. Whether Naruto killed Menma or Menma killed Naruto, Minato couldn't possibly accept it.
Both the palm and the back of the hand were flesh!
"Just that is enough. Menma, thank you!"
Minato looked straight at his son, whose face bore some resemblance to his own but possessed Kushina's beautiful red hair.
His right hand reached out directly toward the top of Menma's head.
Menma, who subconsciously wanted to resist and dodge, ultimately forced himself to suppress the urge.
He let Minato stroke his head gently.
Seeing that Menma didn't dodge his action...
The look in Minato's eyes became even softer. The depths of his pupils were woven with guilt and regret.
Unlike in the original story, seeing Naruto tough it out completely on his own, truly not hating anyone in the village at all, and later becoming the village hero... Minato might have just comforted himself, ignoring all the unfair treatment, since his son didn't care, right?
But in this life, Menma laid out all the bloody reality right in front of him. Minato not only couldn't ignore it but had to face such a reality directly.
How could Minato bear this?
Even with a personality like Minato's, he would feel dissatisfaction and anger.
But ultimately, he was still the Hokage of the Leaf. Even if it was in the past tense, and he was now just a chakra imprint, with Minato's character, he couldn't say he truly supported Menma's attitude and actions infinitely, endorsing Menma's revenge on the Leaf.
He could only advise Menma within a limited scope. For the rest, he could only watch silently as Menma did what he wanted and had to do.
"By the way, Menma, there's another very critical matter. That masked man from back then... that guy possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, could control the Nine-Tails, knew space-time ninjutsu, and entered the Leaf freely, ignoring the Leaf's barrier and all defensive measures. Although he called himself Madara Uchiha, I always felt that guy was..."
This rare, heartwarming moment that could be called father-and-son bonding...
Sensing that his remaining chakra was about to be depleted...
Minato thought of a more critical issue and spoke directly.
"Obito Uchiha. That's the guy who claimed to be Madara Uchiha and invaded when Mother was giving birth. That is, your subordinate rumored to have died in battle, Father. Moreover, behind him is a relatively large organization named 'Akatsuki.' The leader is that disciple with the Rinnegan whom Jiraiya adopted in the Land of Rain back then. Their goal is to collect the nine Tailed Beasts scattered across the various ninja villages."
Before he could finish...
Menma looked up at Minato with a very calm expression and spoke in a flat tone.
While Minato was stunned...
On the other side, the Nine-Tails' fox eyes also revealed a crimson light with special meaning.
"Obito? Menma, this is?"
The amount of intelligence was too great. Even for Minato, this situation was hard to react to immediately. After standing dazed for several seconds, Minato's eyes gradually widened, and a look of disbelief appeared clearly on his face.
"Yes, it's Obito Uchiha, Father. You don't need to doubt this intelligence at all. I can confirm it one hundred percent. Including the issue of that organization, they solidly exist."
Menma maintained that flat expression.
A style completely mismatched with the content he was speaking.
Minato revealed a bitter smile.
He increasingly felt that this child of his deviated greatly from his imagination.
Intelligence that sounded incredibly absurd...
But in this moment, looking at Menma's expression, Minato knew clearly that his child wasn't lying.