Kushina was acutely aware of this. Leaving aside her perfect Uzumaki bloodline and her past as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, just by her pure instinct as a mother, she could clearly sense her child's state of mind.
Naruto's deep longing for her was crystal clear.
But equally clear was Menma's alienation and the emotional wall he had built.
Kushina could see it perfectly.
This distance of less than ten paces... felt as vast as the ends of the earth.
So far away it felt like they couldn't even see each other.
Kushina gently lifted her gaze, looking at Menma standing a short distance away. Her beautiful eyes held a deep mix of sorrow and guilt.
She and her husband had left a trace of their chakra inside both of their boys. While they couldn't know absolutely everything happening in the outside world—their chakra was limited and couldn't be wasted—they were still able to piece together some critical information.
Originally, they just wanted to occasionally peek in and watch their two boys grow up together. Then, after they reached adulthood—preferably when they had found their significant others—they would make one final appearance to see them.
Kushina had genuinely been looking forward to meeting her daughters-in-law.
However.
Everything had wildly exceeded Minato and Kushina's expectations.
The brothers had been separated. Worse, one of them had been forced to bear the identity of the "Demon Fox," enduring the isolation and rejection of the entire village. How could Kushina possibly accept that?
Don't be fooled by the fact that in the original story, Kushina didn't say much about Naruto's tragic childhood. That was because Naruto never left the Leaf. He had relied on his own sheer will and hard work to win the village's acknowledgment. Naruto wanted to stay. As a mother, Kushina naturally wouldn't ruin the moment with harsh words.
But in this life?
Menma's childhood suffering.
And his decisive defection.
It completely broke Kushina's heart.
This was her child too. He even inherited her hair color, even if his face favored Minato.
How could she not be furious?
Minato might have chosen to stay silent out of a sense of duty as the Hokage, but Kushina's heart was burning with absolute rage toward Hiruzen Sarutobi!
She was even fiercely disappointed in Jiraiya.
That man was her husband's mentor, a figure like a father to Minato. Yet he completely failed to fulfill his responsibilities and obligations.
He had actually let her two boys reach the point of fighting each other to the death.
How was Kushina supposed to stomach that?
She had carried them for ten months and brought them into this world through grueling pain.
Now, standing so physically close, she felt Menma was impossibly far away.
It felt like her heart was shattering.
"Menma..."
Her soft, trembling call immediately snapped Naruto out of the warm embrace. He instinctively pulled back.
He turned his gaze, looking over at Menma's calm face standing a short distance away. In that moment, a strange emotion swelled in Naruto's chest.
Though not as emotionally perceptive as Kushina, Naruto could still feel it. Between the three of them—mother and sons—in this incredibly short distance, it felt as though a massive, invisible wall separated them.
"Mother."
Menma acted as if he didn't feel a thing. Like an older brother politely giving his younger sibling the first moment with their mother, he only stepped forward after she called him, walking smoothly until he stood in front of her.
His face was entirely calm. The word he called out...
Made Kushina's heart spasm again.
He had walked right up to her, yet she didn't feel like the distance between them had closed at all. Instead, it felt even more distant, even colder.
Especially that word: "Mother."
That was absolutely not the word she wanted to hear.
She wanted him to call her "Mom," just like Naruto did.
But the words died in her throat. She felt she had absolutely no right to make demands of her child.
She owed him.
She gently raised her right hand, her fingers trembling slightly. She wanted to touch his cheek, but in the end, she slowly lowered her hand.
At a time like this...
Kushina actually wished Menma would blame her, scream at her, or even look at her with burning hatred.
Because if he did, it would mean he still cared about her. It would mean he still cared that she was his mother.
But his calm, completely indifferent demeanor...
It flooded her soul with an infinite sadness. It made her feel like she had lost this child forever.
That agonizing pain, that suffocating ache in her chest...
It robbed her of all courage to speak.
She didn't know what to say or what to do.
Everything about him felt so utterly cold, completely devoid of warmth.
To be completely honest, if she hadn't seen Menma about to literally kill Naruto (at least, that was what it looked like from her perspective), she never would have manifested right now. She still hadn't figured out how to face this child.
Any words between them seemed pale and utterly powerless.
Naruto seemed to see through the bizarre tension beneath the calm surface. He glanced between the two of them.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak...
"Are you worried about Naruto, Mother? Relax. I already promised Father—I won't kill him, no matter what happens," Menma exhaled slowly, speaking first. "There might not be much emotion left between us, but he is still my brother. If only for the sake of our bloodline, and for you and Father, I won't strike a killing blow against him. I just want him to stay out of my way. I'm simply going to imprison him. He won't be free until I succeed... or until I die."
His tone was perfectly flat.
When Kushina heard the first half of his sentence, her beautiful eyes lit up. Truly, the last thing she ever wanted to see was her two boys killing each other. That was her deepest agony. In this entire world, she only cared about Menma and Naruto.
In the past, as the Hokage's wife and a Leaf shinobi, she had fulfilled her duties. Now, she just wanted to be a mother and watch her children grow.
What happened to the village? What happened to the world?
What did any of that have to do with her?
Kushina didn't share Minato's self-sacrificing nature.
But Menma's totally emotionless tone, and the second half of his statement, made her eyes dim once again.
Why did this child have to say such heartbreaking things?
"Menma, I..." Kushina opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
"You don't need to say anything, Mother. Like I told Father: neither of you did anything wrong. You just did what you had to do. There is no question of who owes who. As for this idiot... I'll keep him locked down. I can promise you that."
Menma stared directly at Kushina, his tone dead serious.
This was Menma's way of repaying the debt of life his parents had given him. Since they didn't want to see their children slaughter each other, he would do his best to accommodate them.
Even if it made things difficult, he would make it happen.
But exactly as he said: it wasn't about who owed who. It was just what Menma had decided to do.
It was the only choice that gave him peace of mind.
Following his own convictions.
That was Menma's absolute rule for living.
"What? You weren't going to kill me? Huh? You're going to imprison me?! What? You—!"
Naruto finally snapped out of his daze. He stared at Menma with wide eyes, yelling as the realization hit him.
"Kill you? What reason do I have to kill you? Did you really think I was completely blinded by hatred, just indiscriminately slaughtering anyone in my way? Naruto, when I called you an idiot, I really wasn't exaggerating," Menma said, glancing at him flatly.
"Then... if that's true, why go to such brutal extremes? Menma, I really think we can still—"
"If you're about to start spouting nonsense about people understanding each other and talking things out, shut your mouth, Naruto," Menma cut him off, waving a hand dismissively. His tone dropped several degrees. "I'm not going to try to make you agree with my methods, but I don't want to hear your garbage either. I'm sparing your life solely out of respect for Father and Mother. I have absolutely zero feelings for you. I hope you understand that. 'Brothers'? It's just a laughable label. The only thing you can do is use your power, carry the resolve to kill me, and try to stop me. You failed. So play the role of the loser quietly."
It was Menma's final mercy, and his way of definitively settling his feelings toward the anime protagonist he had once admired in his past life.
Whether others agreed with his methods or not didn't matter. As long as Menma could live with himself, that was enough.
He couldn't kill him, but he couldn't let him go either.
When all other possibilities were eliminated, the remaining option was the only correct answer.
Meeting Menma's freezing gaze...
Naruto's heart twinged painfully.
Beside them, Kushina secretly sighed in her heart. But compared to her initial panic, her tense nerves had relaxed slightly. At least the absolute worst-case scenario had been avoided, right?
She could only comfort herself with that thought.
"Menma... whatever happened in the past is in the past. I won't tell you how to view things or what you should do," Kushina said, looking at Menma with profound tenderness. "You have the absolute right to choose your own future. As long as you are doing exactly what you want to do, and you won't regret it... that's enough for me."
"Mom, what...?"
Naruto instinctively assumed Kushina was going to help him talk Menma down. But the more he listened, the more wrong it sounded.
Do what he wants and not regret it?
That's not right.
Mom, aren't you supposed to tell him to stop and come back to the village?
Naruto stared at Menma and Kushina, utterly bewildered, his mouth hanging open.
"Naruto, everyone has the right to make their own choices. No one can force anyone else. Even me, as your mother," Kushina said gently, shaking her head to cut Naruto off. Her expression was deadly serious. "Especially since I never fulfilled my duties as a mother to either of you. My only request... is that neither of you ever regrets the choices you make today. That is enough for me."
She was already dead.
She didn't want to meddle in things that no longer concerned her.
Her only tether to this world was her two thirteen-year-old boys. Looking at them now, Naruto still seemed a bit naive.
He was certainly impressive for his age.
But she still worried about him.
Menma, on the other hand, seemed to be walking a "path of no return."
Yet for some reason, Kushina felt that her eldest son—born just moments before Naruto—was inexplicably mature and reliable. If she absolutely had to choose...
Kushina would actually stand behind Menma.
At least from what she could see, everything Menma did was methodical. He was already building something real, wasn't he?
Right now, Kushina just needed to determine if her eldest son was acting purely out of emotion and blind rage.
If he was, even if she couldn't physically do much, she wanted to try and talk him out of it.
That was the only duty she felt she could still fulfill as his mother.
Hearing Kushina's words, Menma froze. The impression of her from the original story had been burned deep into his mind.
So deep that he assumed both Minato and Kushina would, at best, simply not blame him, while secretly siding with the Leaf. Minato was the Hokage, obviously. And Kushina had dreamed of becoming the Hokage when she was young.
Their reunion with Naruto in the original timeline had only cemented his "bias."
But looking at her now... whatever Minato's stance was, Kushina wasn't at all what he had expected.
"Menma, right now, I don't hold any titles or allegiances. I am purely standing here as your mom. So, Menma... can you tell Mom what you truly want?"
As if making up her mind...
Kushina stepped forward firmly.
Stopping right in front of Menma, she reached out and gently cupped his cheek. With a warm, loving smile, she whispered the question softly into his ear.