If things had followed the original story, Menma would have been the hidden antagonist, moved by a mysterious force. He would have reconciled with Naruto, becoming the catalyst for his growth. Or perhaps he would have been a stepping stone, dying at the hands of a powerful enemy later.
But Menma wasn't a character from the original story. He was a demon from another world.
Thinking this, Menma's calm expression turned playful as he looked down, staring intently at Naruto.
"Since you feel so guilty and think you can't do anything right, why not hand your body over to me?" Menma's voice was like a whisper from a devil, causing Naruto's expression to shift constantly. "I'll become the primary personality, providing shelter and protection. You'll become my dark personality, supporting me. I'll protect your companions outside, ensuring they won't be harmed by your rampage like today. I can even become Hokage, fulfilling your dream, becoming someone everyone acknowledges. That way, you won't have to work so hard. You won't have to exhaust yourself. You can easily achieve everything..."
"I..."
Just as Menma said, Naruto felt completely unable to control the Nine-Tails' power, a power imbued with hatred. If it weren't for Menma's special training, which had hardened him against the villagers' curses, he wouldn't have retained any rationality just now. Everyone he encountered would have been killed.
Although something felt wrong, Naruto thought for a moment and then solemnly nodded.
"Okay!"
"Just like an older brother sheltering his younger brother from the wind and rain," Naruto said. "Menma, I'm entrusting my body to you from now on. But when you're free, you have to let me out for some fresh air. And you have to let me out when we're eating Ichiraku Ramen!"
He actually agreed?
Menma frowned, clearly sensing that Naruto had become much more difficult to deal with. Before, Naruto would have resisted fiercely, then emotionally begged him to give up his body. Now, he was acting like a stubborn mule. What was going on?
Thinking this, Menma focused his attention on the System Panel in his mind. Sure enough, there was no system message indicating an increase in trust or dependency points.
He glanced down at Naruto's dejected expression. Menma's playful expression vanished, replaced by a gentle smile—just like an older brother facing his mischievous younger brother.
"You little idiot, I was just joking with you," Menma said softly. "Even if I were to become the dominant personality, it would be when you no longer want to be it, not like this. Besides, what you just did wasn't wrong. Like you said, it's understandable for a foolish younger brother to rely on a powerful older brother. What I said before was just to help you grow, to help you understand some things."
At this point, Menma's expression became serious and solemn. "Because the darkness and pain you experienced have always been borne by me, surrounding me, and reminding me. That's why I spare no effort to eliminate any possible threats. This helps you, helps me, and adds camouflage to this body. One must have the heart of a Buddha, but also the methods of a thunderbolt. Your gentleness and kindness are useless here. I have to be ruthless and cruel, revealing my ferocious claws. Only this way will others not dare to bully us orphans, and they will fear us, even respect us. Like the Root members who no longer dare to lay a hand on us, the ANBU who respect us, and the villagers who are now forbidden even to speak ill of us."
Listening to Menma's explanation, Naruto suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.
"So it's always been like this..."
He felt that Menma's words made a lot of sense. But there was an inexplicable force that made him vaguely disapprove of the methods Menma used. However, thinking of the pain Menma had endured over the years, and the protection he had given him, those disapprovals were temporarily suppressed by the emotions brought on by his wet eyes.
Looking at Menma, who was the same age as him but wore a serious expression, forced to be strong and ruthless...
Naruto stood up, wanting to hug him, but hesitated in mid-air, afraid of being rejected.
Seeing this, Menma's face softened with a gentle smile. With an expression that said, You understand, I spoil you, right? he gently patted Naruto's head.
Naruto stopped hesitating and threw himself into Menma's arms, bursting into tears.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I misunderstood you before. Sob sob sob..."
As Naruto cried, the system message arrived as expected.
[Corruption Points +5000]
[Current Corruption Points: 16,000]
[Trust Percentage: 72% (60% Minimum)]
As expected, Naruto only verbally agreed before, but didn't truly agree in his heart. Now, he had spoken according to Naruto's inner thoughts and expectations. The effect was immediate! Including the recent acquisition of the Nine-Tails' power and the fight against Manda, the Corruption Points increased by a total of 5,000. The trust value, which could be dropped, only increased by 5% this time, but the non-droppable value increased by 10%.
Clearly, the closer to 80%, the smaller and more difficult the increase will be. Menma had a premonition that this 80% threshold—from primary to dark, and from dark to primary—would be a major hurdle. At that time, a more violent and direct emotional impact would definitely be needed to break through.
Just as Menma was enjoying a heartwarming moment with Naruto, the Nine-Tails, who had been silent all along, finally couldn't hold back anymore. It burst out laughing.
"Oh dear, this old man can't take it anymore, hahaha..."
The Nine-Tails lay on the ground of the sealed space like a silly dog, laughing so hard its limbs were in the air. If it were truly a touching scene of brotherly harmony, it would naturally pretend to be invisible. But Menma clearly had ill intentions, yet Naruto was actually moved to tears, making the Nine-Tails feel like it couldn't laugh anymore.
After slightly altering its story and coaxing him a bit, Naruto completely believed him. To be honest, the Nine-Tails was now somewhat regretful about not approaching Naruto sooner and tricking him into letting it go.
"Is it that funny?" Menma's indifferent voice rang out. "I remember dogs like to eat excrement, so foxes, being canines too, shouldn't mind, right? The newly built septic tank in my Hidden Void Village is perfect for that shadow clone linked to your chakra to sample."
"Cough cough cough..." The Nine-Tails' laughter abruptly stopped. Because of the sudden stop, it coughed, its breath ragged. Then it opened its blood-red maw, roaring furiously.
"You brat, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're handsome and strong! You're allowed to forgive and forget, but I'm not allowed to applaud your relationship?! Hmph, I won't just laugh while crawling, I'll laugh while kneeling!"
The defiant and unconvinced Nine-Tails immediately performed a scene for Menma, a lamb kneeling to suckle with its paws tucked in!
Menma: "..."
---
---
I value every Power Stone and review you leave, as they help this story reach new readers.
If you are caught up and eager for more, please visit [email protected]/Rogue_Soul. For a $5 subscription, you can access more than 100 advance chapters and support the ongoing translation of this book.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the latest chapters in the comments.