Naruto.
In another life, he had been more than just a protagonist on a page.
He was a symbol.
Passion. Justice. Relentless perseverance.
Menma had admired him once admired the boy who challenged fate itself. The fight against Neji Hyūga during the Chūnin Exams. The moment he arrived in Sage Mode during Pain's invasion of Konoha. Those scenes were etched into memory so deeply they felt instinctual.
They had shaped him.
Perhaps that was why, when he first arrived in this world, Menma had felt something unusual toward Naruto.
A sense of familiarity.
Even warmth.
But that was also why
After reality stripped away illusion
The contrast became unbearable.
Naruto's ideals felt naïve. His optimism, suffocating.
Not because they were evil.
But because they were incompatible with the world as it truly was.
Ideals shattered on contact with blood.
And Menma had seen enough blood.
He looked down at Naruto, pinned beneath his foot.
This was different from facing Kakashi.
Different from crushing ANBU.
For the first time in this battle
Menma hesitated.
Killing Naruto would not be difficult.
He was already injured.
His chakra was unstable.
One precise thrust of a kunai would end it.
And yet
Menma's fingers tightened, but did not move.
Could he do it?
For one second
Just one
The hesitation existed.
Then it vanished.
Resolve hardened in his eyes.
Once a path was chosen, doubt became poison.
And poison killed shinobi.
At this distance, Naruto could feel it.
The killing intent was real.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
'Menma… you're going to kill me…?'
Naruto's pupils trembled. Shock gave way to grief.
His own brother.
Negative emotions surged violently within him rage, sorrow, betrayal. For a split instant, the Nine-Tails' chakra inside him flickered in response, reacting to that emotional spike.
Menma's kunai flashed into view.
The angle was clean.
Downward.
Lethal.
"No, Menma!"
The voice rang out.
It did not originate from any visible direction yet it was unmistakably present.
Warm.
Urgent.
Familiar.
Time seemed to falter.
A figure of long red hair flickered across their perception like a mirage formed from memory and chakra.
Naruto froze.
Menma's hand paused mid-motion.
'…Mother?'
The word surfaced in both their minds almost simultaneously.
It was not an auditory hallucination, nor a fully manifested entity like the chakra imprint Minato had left within Naruto's seal. It was closer to an echo residual chakra resonance stirred by proximity, by shared blood, by Nine-Tails chakra reacting under emotional stress.
But it was enough.
That single heartbeat of hesitation changed everything.
"Naruto!"
From the flank
Akimichi Choza reappeared in a blur of motion.
His chakra spiked violently.
Without hesitation, Chōza swallowed one of the Akimichi clan's secret Three Colored Pills.
The surge was immediate.
His body expanded explosively, muscles swelling as chakra output multiplied beyond standard jōnin thresholds approaching Kage-tier force in raw physical strength.
He struck.
"Boom!"
Menma raised both arms to guard.
The impact detonated outward like a shockwave.
This time, the force was different.
The vibration tore through Menma's guard, forcing him backward.
His three-tailed cloak flared wildly as he was blasted off Naruto.
Mid-air, Menma adjusted instantly, rotating to disperse the impact through his shoulders before landing several meters away.
His breathing remained controlled.
But his eyes sharpened.
Chōza stood protectively before Naruto.
"Naruto, can you stand?"
Naruto coughed, pushing himself up with visible strain.
"I'm… fine… Uncle Chōza…"
Blood stained his lips, but he steadied himself.
His gaze lifted again toward Menma.
There was no longer denial there.
Only the painful clarity of what he had felt moments earlier.
Menma had intended to kill him.
If not for that interruption
He might already be dead.
Yet beneath that realization lingered something else.
That voice.
That warmth.
'I've never heard it before… but…'
'Mom… was that you?'
Menma observed the battlefield in silence.
ANBU were repositioning in a widening perimeter.
Neji and Shino, both visibly fatigued, regrouped at mid-range. Sasuke, still bearing the markings of the Curse Mark Level 2 transformation, had been pressing them steadily.
Within Menma's sensory range, additional chakra signatures were approaching from the northeast.
Reinforcements.
He exhaled slowly.
"Sasuke."
Sasuke glanced over.
Without argument, he disengaged from Neji and Shino, body flickering back beside Menma. The Curse Mark receded, black sclera and purple markings withdrawing as he suppressed the transformation.
Tayuya reappeared as well, chakra settling behind them.
Neji's Rotation (Kaiten) and Shino's kikaichū defense had barely held against Sasuke's enhanced state. Prolonged engagement would have ended poorly for them.
"Enough," Menma said calmly. "There's no need to waste time here. Opportunities will come again."
Sasuke gave a quiet scoff.
"Hn. Fine."
Menma formed a rapid series of hand seals.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive surge of water erupted outward, flooding the terrain in an instant. The torrent spread across the battlefield, swallowing ANBU formations and forcing immediate defensive reactions.
Visibility collapsed.
Terrain shifted.
The battlefield became a temporary aquatic domain.
Using the cover
Menma, Sasuke, and Tayuya vanished in synchronized body flickers, leaping toward the Fire Country border.
ANBU attempted pursuit
"Stop."
Chōza's voice was firm.
"The border is ahead. Pursuing recklessly will split our formation."
The ANBU halted.
Water receded gradually.
In the distance, the three figures were already gone.
The battlefield fell silent save for the labored breathing of the wounded.
And Naruto stood there, staring at the place where his brother had disappeared.
The echo of that voice still lingering in his heart.
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