Inside the Arena, there were two people lying on the ground. They were covered in bruises but they weren't heavily injured.
It just seems like they were exhausted.
"Menma, I don't know what should I do anymore." Naruto's voice sounded quite conflicted. He looked lost as he looked at the blue sky.
For a moment, Menma was surprised because this kind of tone wasn't something Naruto would use most often.
So, he had to think about the reason why Naruto was speaking like this. He thought of one reason and asked.
"So, did you find out about them?"
"Yes, I did." Naruto replied with a sad tone.
"You won't hurt innocent, would you?" Menma asked.
"Who did remain innocent?" Naruto couldn't help but ask with confusion flashing in his eyes. He didn't understand.
Even Menma was silent upon hearing this question.
Yes, who was innocent in this village?
No one!
Do you think no one has seen Fourth Hokage and his wife?
Uzumaki! It was the surname of only one person who lived in Konoha. Uzumaki had red hair. And, Fourth Hokage's wife was Uzumaki.
It would be hard for a child to figure it out but should it be hard for adults?
Kushina walked on the street of Konoha with a pregnant body.
No one in this village was innocent at least excluding those children.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I can't help you with this one." Menma apologized.
"Don't say that, Menma!" Naruto suddenly teared up as he continued.
"You are the only one in this entire world who accepted me without a second thought. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even have some of my current friends."
"But, right now, I don't know what I should do. I am afraid, Menma. I am afraid I would do something I would regret later on."
At this moment, Menma clenched his fist and spoke.
"Naruto, I will stop you. I will stop you from doing anything wrong. I will never let you regret anything. Not only you are my best friend but also my rival."
Slowly, Naruto raised his hand and covered his face, crying for a long time. Only after a long cry, he managed to recover a bit. He wiped away his tears and asked.
"Menma, will it be bad if I deny my all-time dream?"
"Nope!" Menma smiled and answered.
Hearing his words, Naruto finally put on a smile and said.
"Menma, I am not sure what I exactly want to do anymore. But, I know one thing. I will not take out my anger in Konoha nor would I sacrifice myself for it anymore."
"I will only protect those who have truly accepted me."
Hearing his words, Menma also smiled and said.
"That's good! Naruto, do you know that when I found the truth how angry I was? I even thought you were controlled by illusions that made you so bright and happy all the time."
"But, I found that I was wrong. It wasn't because of illusion or any other external factors. You were good just because you were."
"You didn't have the Sharingan that would change your mind instantly nor did you have the parents that were extremely bad. Of course, you had a reason to turn bad."
"But, you didn't. And, I believe it's because you were Naruto Uzumaki. And, it seems like I was right."
Hearing his words, Naruto felt a wave of happiness. He was glad that he turned out to be exactly what his best friend thought of him.
And, he was also happy because he was recognized by Menma.
"That being said, you can't live with others looking at you with hatred all the time. I plan to change it in the future. But, I still need you to do something important now."
"Sand Village should've attacked Konoha together with Orochimaru. I need you to fight that Gaara who is the Jinchuriki of Sand Village."
"Naruto, he is just like you except his father is an extremely bad person. So, he turned his son into a killing machine. Gaara didn't want to become a killing person but now he can't change anything."
"So, I want you to change him. I believe you can do it."
Hearing his words, Naruto asked.
"But I have almost emptied my Chakra and strength. It will take a while to recover."
"Hehe! Did you forget I am Medical Ninja?"
Menma chuckled and slowly stood up. His lost Chakra was slowly recovering. He had almost recovered. He walked up to Naruto and started healing him.
As for Chakra, Naruto didn't need to care about it.
"By the way, how did you find out about your parents?" Menma asked.
"When I was in Mount Myoboku, Pervy Sage tried to help me control the fifth tail but I couldn't do it without the help of Hinata. I almost lost myself and reached up to the seventh tail."
"The negative emotions kept flashing in my mind and I was almost this close to removing the seal. Fortunately, Dad appeared in time and stopped me. After all, he also told me that he chose me to stop a masked man."
Naruto answered.
Hearing his words, Menma nodded his head.
"Don't blame your father and mother. In fact, they were also very helpless. In this world, it is almost impossible to become strong without a powerful bloodline."
"I was only able to defy that because of my talent in Ninjutsu but even I won't be able to reach much further without my next plan. Although you had the talent of your parents, it wouldn't be enough to face off against that man."
"So, your father wanted to help you get stronger by making you Jinchuriki. He had encountered B of the Village Hidden in the Cloud who has made a friendship with his Tailed Beast."
"He believed that his son will be able to do the same. So, he left half of Nine Tails inside you."
Hearing his words, Naruto couldn't help but feel amazed. Yes, his dad did tell him that but he didn't explain it properly.
Now even Menma had told him this, he had no reason but to accept it.
"The other half is inside the Shinigami's belly. After you truly become one with Nine Tails, I will ask Orochimaru to get it out of Shinigami Belly."
"What? Isn't Orochimaru our enemy?" Naruto was shocked as he asked.
"What? This brat knows how to unlock the soul from Shinigami?" Nine Tails' voice was full of disbelief.
"Orochimaru is a villain but not our enemy. He has done a lot of wrong things but he also has a great reason to live. With him, I will be able o change this cursed world."
"Naruto, I want to stop all wars and completely erase the existence of Ninjas. I want to make a world where different countries need each other to survive."
"And, to do so, I need to start with the death of Third Hokage. So, in my eyes, Orochimaru isn't a villain. In fact, he is doing this for the greater good of Konoha."
Hearing his words, Naruto was full of disbelief. Although he no longer liked Third Hokage after finding out his identity, he still had a lot of respect for him.
Seeing his disbelief, Menma explained.
"Naruto, if the roots of the tree are rotten, that tree will eventually fall down. To keep that tree study, we must find out the problem behind those rotten roots and cure those roots."
"Orochimaru knew that the problem is Hokage. So, for the sake of his village, he will kill Hokage. But, at the same time, he also has some personal vendetta against him."
Naruto caught his head and shook.
"I don't understand. I can't understand anything."
Menma sighed.
"There are a lot of things that you don't understand, Naruto. This world is cursed. Someone is working from the shadows and slowly manipulating everyone."
"This manipulation triggered the demise of First Hokage's family. It also triggered the annihilation of the Uchiha Family. It also killed off many bloodline families of Village Hidden in the Mist."
"Not only that, but it also made that the village that has remained couldn't get stronger like Hyuga. This is a planning of thousands of years. Some is pulling the strings constantly to weaken the Ninja world so that it won't be able to fight off against someone really powerful."
"We can't change the past. But, we can make our own future. I want to make a future where people don't have to fight to death just because of someone's order."
"I want to make a world where all conspiracies will be open to the world. I want to make a world where leaders can be replaced easily by the people. But to do so, I need a strong position in this village."
"After the death of Third Hokage, I need you to find my teacher and make her come back. Only you will be able to do it. Once she returns, I will be able to gain a high rank and start a revolution in this cursed world."
"So, will you help me Naruto?"