Chapter 98: Death and I, For You, Death is More Merciful
"Are you sure you want me to release you now?"
Although Menma asked this, his hands didn't slow down.
Before little Nine-Tails could even sense something was amiss,
Click clack clack! Snap!
With a series of crisp sounds, the seal on the cage completely opened.
Namikaze Minato merely watched with a complex expression, not speaking to stop it.
"Oh ho ho! Here I come!!"
Little Nine-Tails joyfully transferred its consciousness to its main body. The Nine-Tails lying in the cage slowly opened its eyes.
An unconcealable look of joy flashed in its eyes.
"ROAR!! I... Oof!"
Under the excitement of regaining freedom, the Nine-Tails couldn't help but throw its head back and howl long.
But before it could react,
Clatter clatter!
A crisp sound suddenly echoed within the seal space.
Under Menma's playful gaze, the Nine-Tails was directly bound securely by five chains.
Its mouth, especially, received preferential treatment.
"...Adamantine Sealing Chains?"
Naruto froze upon seeing this, then followed the chains to their source.
He saw a woman with flowing red hair, who had appeared in the seal space at some unknown time.
It was the golden chains extending from behind her that bound the Nine-Tails.
"Kushina..."
Namikaze Minato sighed, a headache coming on.
Naruto is the apple of Kushina's eye, yet he was bullied so badly by Konoha.
"If Kushina knew, she'd probably want to overturn all of Konoha."
Nearby, Naruto, upon seeing the red-haired woman, felt a tremor in his heart from the familiarity deep within his memories.
Nine-Tails: "Mmph mmph mph?!"
Menma looked at the Nine-Tails' wretched state and couldn't help but chuckle.
The red-haired woman, sensing the strange gazes of the few people, scratched her head somewhat puzzledly: "Areh? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Didn't the Nine-Tails just open its mouth to use a Tailed Beast Bomb?"
Namikaze Minato had finished absorbing Menma's chakra. He trotted over to his wife's side, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"It's like this..."
Watching the conversing couple, Naruto also twitched his lip.
"So this is my mother, Uzumaki Kushina?"
She was somewhat different from the mother he imagined; she seemed a bit rash and hot-tempered.
And just then.
"What?! That old geezer Third actually dared to treat Naruto like that?!!"
Kushina, having roughly heard about Naruto's childhood, had veins popping on her forehead, her red hair flying about.
Those guys actually only cared if the Jinchūriki was obedient, only cared if the Jinchūriki was stable, only cared if the Jinchūriki would rebel against Konoha!
That's her child!
"Yeah, I also didn't expect them to..."
Before Minato could finish his lament, he felt a chill on his scalp.
The next second, small, bun-sized fists hammered down on his head.
Thump!
"Ow!!"
Minato cried out in pain, then immediately covered his head and squatted down in a defensive posture, a visible large bump already swelling on his head.
He could have easily dodged that punch just now.
But he didn't dodge, because he knew he deserved it.
Back then, Kushina intended to die alone with the Nine-Tails.
But Namikaze Minato, without discussion, used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
At that time, Kushina had questioned him: "If we both die, what about Naruto?"
And his answer then...
"If you die with the Nine-Tails, then until the Nine-Tails revives, Konoha will have no Jinchūriki, and the balance of Tailed Beasts will be broken."
"Abandoning your country, forsaking your village, is no different from abandoning your child. Your country was destroyed; you should understand this feeling well."
Thinking back on the words he spoke then, Minato wanted to give himself a few good slaps.
"Wuwuwu!"
Kushina, after angrily punching Minato,
Her figure moved directly, embracing the unresponsive Naruto.
She said tearfully: "Wuwuwu, it's all mommy and daddy's fault for being so terrible, leaving you alone in the village to suffer such treatment."
Naruto, hit by this direct approach, was at a loss. His first reaction was to push Kushina away.
But feeling the warm embrace, he couldn't bear to push her away, instead freezing there for a moment.
"I..."
Naruto opened his dry mouth, hesitating for a moment before saying: "I'm fine. I'm used to it."
But this "used to it" made Kushina's breath catch, intense anger and guilt intertwining in her heart.
Minato nearby also felt his heart ache more and more, blaming himself.
If he had chosen to listen to Kushina back then,
Let Kushina seal the Nine-Tails, while he stayed behind to accompany Naruto's growth,
Then Naruto's childhood wouldn't have been filled with so much suffering.
"Naruto."
Minato hesitated for a moment, then finally asked: "Do you... want to take revenge on Konoha?"
He asked this question not because he still held hope for Konoha.
He just didn't want Naruto to become an enemy of Konoha, the number one ninja village.
Fighting an entire ninja village single-handedly – that was simply too difficult.
Naruto heard this and looked towards Menma.
Seeing him smile and nod, only then did he turn back to Minato.
Naruto shook his head, saying calmly: "We need to remove the decaying branches and roots from the great tree."
"Repaying injury with justice" is certainly not wrong.
But there's another saying: "Every injustice has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor."
He would take revenge on the Konoha higher-ups, and those villagers who once bullied him.
But if he chose to vent his anger on innocent people, then he would be no different from the terrorists in the books.
As for Konoha...
"The very existence of ninja villages is a mistake. I will become a flame, ignite Konoha, and illuminate a new future."
The education Naruto received made it impossible for him to acknowledge this decadent and backward ninja village.
He wanted more to see with his own eyes the world Menma-nii spoke of!
Control Konoha, implement reforms?
Looking at Naruto's resolute eyes, although Minato wanted to say more, he opened his mouth, then just sighed with a bitter smile.
Ultimately, he too was a man who had fought his way out of a Shinobi World War; his hands were long stained with enemy blood.
Even some innocent enemy civilians – he had unintentionally harmed them before...
Ninja... don't show mercy to enemies.
And now, Konoha was rotten from top to bottom.
The Will of Fire that Konoha believed in had, moreover, degenerated into a tool for the Konoha higher-ups to manipulate people's hearts.
As long as Naruto didn't overconfidently try to fight the entire village now, he wouldn't have any objections.
Anyway, he was already a dead man; he couldn't manage that much.
"Ah? Little Naruto, whatever you do, Mommy supports you!"
After hearing the conversation between Minato and Naruto, Kushina also reacted, quickly chiming in.
If not for Minato's existence, she felt no sense of belonging to Konoha at all.
Now, never mind Naruto wanting to ignite Konoha,
Even if he became an enemy of the entire ninja world, she would unconditionally support all her son's choices!
"Fourth, you should be glad Naruto didn't become an idealist like Senju Hashirama."
Menma suddenly smiled, saying meaningfully: "Idealists are incurable. If he is cast out of his paradise, he will create an ideal hell in its place."
"Before long, you will personally witness the hell created by an idealist's own hands."
"The hell created by an idealist's own hands?"
Namikaze Minato frowned upon hearing this.
Although he didn't know what Menma was referring to, he knew from the sound of it that it wasn't anything good.
Meanwhile.
Naruto looked at Kushina, still weeping. He tried to struggle a bit, but ended up being hugged even tighter.
Sighing helplessly inwardly, after hesitating for a moment, he still patted her shoulder.
"Alright, I'm fine... Mother."
Hearing the word "Mother", Kushina's teary eyes widened, instantly freezing on the spot.
Snapping back, joy surged in her heart.
But thinking that Naruto had always been alone, Kushina burst into tears again.
She at least had Grandma Mito, but Naruto had nothing.
"Nar-Naruto... wuwuwu!"
Feeling his lapel getting soaked, and the embrace tightening further, Naruto gave a wry smile and completely gave up struggling.
He then naturally began to enjoy his mother's warmth.
He already roughly understood the process and experiences of the Nine-Tails Rampage back then.
His mother wasn't at fault; on the contrary, she had always loved him deeply.
So, naturally, there was no need for him to keep holding onto it.
Naruto gave Kushina a big smile: "Don't worry, Mother. I've already grown up. I can take care of myself. And many girls like me."
Many girls?
Kushina's eyes instantly lit up, nodding her head repeatedly like a chick pecking rice.
With so many girls liking Naruto, then there's no need to worry about Naruto coming into contact with that pervert Jiraiya!
Next, Menma proactively left, leaving space for Naruto's family.
Oh right, and a certain pitiful fat fox.
...
After leaving the seal space, Menma returned to his underground laboratory.
Simultaneously, he walked straight towards Uchiha Shin on the operating table.
"If you don't open your eyes now, then never open them again."
As soon as these words were spoken, Uchiha Shin, originally "unconscious", decisively opened his eyes.
One two-tomoe, one three-tomoe – they looked quite intimidating.
This was also the source of Shin's pride and confidence.
But the next second, the arrogance on his face instantly froze.
Darkness, scarlet, occupied Shin's entire vision.
Drip~
The sound of a water drop broke the calm surface of a lake, also startling Shin from his daze.
"This is... what..."
He saw upon a mountain of corpses formed from countless bones,
A figure whose face couldn't be seen clearly sat casually.
Just as Uchiha Shin looked up, wanting to observe his face more carefully,
"Hmm?"
The figure snorted lightly, its voice cold: "Trash. Who gave you the courage to look directly at me?"
As its voice fell,
The originally calm scarlet sea of blood actually began to surge.
Under Uchiha Shin's astonished gaze, it gradually climbed up from his ankles to his calves, thighs, and then his entire lower body.
Crack!
Crack crack!!
Wherever the sea of blood reached, it was like juicing and meat grinding, completely crushing Shin's flesh and blood, bones.
"Ah!!"
Under this immense pain, Uchiha Shin screamed miserably and collapsed kneeling on the ground.
After the sea of blood spread to his upper body, he writhed on the ground like an insect in even greater pain.
"Why! Why, what is this?!"
The sea of blood spread madly. A putrid, bloody wind blew on Shin's face, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
Seeing the sea of blood already reaching his neck, about to engulf his head, Uchiha Shin's heart filled with even greater despair.
But just then.
Crack!
Shin vaguely heard something shatter.
Immediately, the scene before his eyes began to twist and deform. Finally, a dissatisfied voice reached his ears.
"How boring."
Thump!
The next moment, Shin abruptly opened his eyes, his chest heaving violently, gasping frantically.
He looked around in terror, still shaken.
Seeing the empty laboratory, and the restraints on his body, Shin finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Brat."
A low voice suddenly sounded beside him, making Uchiha Shin's heart involuntarily tremble.
He lowered his eyelids and looked over.
He saw a figure wearing a three-eyed fox mask standing beside him, looking down at him condescendingly.
"I can only praise your courage as commendable."
Hearing this, Shin quickly calmed down, remaining silent for a moment before speaking: "You didn't kill me. Then what do you want me to do?"
He had woken up two hours ago.
He had just been pretending to be unconscious, wanting to try and counterattack with Sharingan genjutsu.
What happened just now must have been the genjutsu backlash...
"Hehe, it's not what I want you to do."
Menma sneered: "But rather, what you are willing to offer to live, for power. If your answer doesn't satisfy me..."
Menma's tone suddenly turned sinister: "Then death and I mean the same thing to you. Perhaps, death would even be more merciful."
This guy Uchiha Shin was arrogant, reckless, and foolish by nature – a standard incompetent teammate.
From the Boruto ("Unburnable Thing") original story, his idolizing Uchiha Itachi, and then confronting Rinnegan Sasuke after awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan – it showed he was rotten wood.
Even after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, he couldn't even use hidden abilities like Susanoo.
So Menma didn't plan to waste too much time on this idiot, unlike with Naruto or Yakumo.
However, his value as experimental material still needed to be fully exploited.
"..."
Hearing the masked man's cold tone, although Uchiha Shin was furious, under duress, he had to bow his head.
He remained silent for a moment, then said: "I understand. I can offer everything except my life, but I need Sharingan."
To him, Sharingan was power.
Possessing more Sharingan, he could possess greater power.
"Hmph, Sharingan, hmm..."
Menma sneered coldly: "Viewing the power of the Sharingan as truth... what a pathetic fellow. However, possessing such obsession does make for good experimental material."
This Uchiha Shin fellow, with his "spiritual Uchiha" will and resolve, was probably well-suited to awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Since this guy idolizes the Uchiha so much, then let him witness the Uchiha clan's destruction with his own eyes.
"You..."
Uchiha Shin hesitated for a moment, then finally asked: "Your eyes... are they three-tomoe Sharingan?"
Just one look, and he, possessing three-tomoe Sharingan, was powerless to resist falling into that genjutsu.
Such eyes, such pupil power... can three-tomoe really achieve that?
(End of Chapter)
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