---
"Why? You ask me why?" Menma's voice was ice cold as he glared down at Naruto. "You, of all people, have no right to ask me that. Because of you, I've seen the true darkness of this village even clearer. And it's made me hate Konoha even more!"
Naruto recoiled at the venom in Menma's words. The hostility was palpable, radiating from his former friend. This wasn't the Menma he once knew—this was someone entirely different.
"Menma? What are you talking about? Darkness? Hatred? We're comrades!" Naruto's confusion was apparent. Moments ago, they had been on the same side, fighting together. Now Menma was treating him like an enemy.
Menma's eyes narrowed, disdain twisting his features. "Comrades? How naïve can you be, Naruto? War is tearing the world apart, and you're still clinging to your childish ideals? This village you love so much is rotten to the core. And you're just too blind to see it."
"Uzumaki Menma! What's the meaning of this? Are you betraying Konoha?" Genma Shiranui barked as he landed beside Naruto, kunai at the ready. He had just fended off Temari and Kankurō, but now the sight of Menma attacking Naruto left him in disbelief. "This is treason!"
Temari and Kankurō, now a safe distance away, exchanged confused looks. Why was this Konoha shinobi, someone who should've been Naruto's ally, fighting to protect Gaara?
Kakashi Hatake, still locked in battle with Baki, saw Baki retreat to Gaara's side and quickly disengaged. His gaze shifted to the commotion between Naruto and Menma. "Menma, stop this! It's not too late. You can still come back to us!"
"Come back?" Menma scoffed. "You talk about things getting 'better,' but all you're standing on is a pile of lies. Kakashi, Genma, you both know the truth about me, and yet you said nothing! Hypocrites, all of you."
Kakashi's expression turned grim, and Genma stiffened at Menma's accusatory tone.
"Truth? What truth, Menma?" Naruto shouted, looking to Kakashi for answers, his voice filled with desperation. "What is he talking about? Why does any of this matter?"
Kakashi hesitated, the weight of Menma's words sinking in. "Naruto... this is..."
"You're pathetic, Naruto," Menma interrupted, his voice cutting like a blade. "Do you really believe the Third Hokage was just a kindly old man? That Kakashi and Genma are truly on your side? You're the Fourth Hokage's son, and you don't even know the truth about yourself."
Naruto flinched, feeling the sting of Menma's words. "What are you talking about?"
"Tell me, Naruto," Menma continued, voice dripping with mockery. "Do you even know your mother's name? Do you have a single memory of her? A picture, maybe?"
Naruto froze. "My mother... her name was Kushina. She was just a kunoichi, right?" He turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, what did my mother look like?"
Kakashi's expression darkened, his usual calm demeanor cracking under the weight of the conversation. Naruto could feel his heart pounding.
Menma's laugh was bitter, cold. "Isn't it tragic that you don't even know? Her name was Kushina Uzumaki, and she had the same red hair as me. Now, do you understand, 'Lord Naruto'?"
Naruto's eyes widened as the realization began to sink in. "You... you're my brother?"
Menma's grin was twisted, full of anger. "Now you're finally catching on! Yes, Naruto, I am your brother—Uzumaki Menma. But unlike you, I was treated like a monster. Twelve years, Naruto. Twelve years of hatred and disgust, while you basked in the glory of being the Hokage's son. Why? Why do you get the admiration, and I get nothing but fear and contempt? What makes you so different from me?"
Menma's voice rose, fury leaking into every word. Kakashi and Genma exchanged pained glances, knowing that Menma's bitterness had deep roots, ones they had long avoided confronting.
"Menma, please," Kakashi said softly, trying to reach the boy he had once known. "Whatever has happened, we can make it right. You don't have to go down this path."
"Make it right?" Menma's eyes burned with rage. "Can you erase twelve years of being called a monster? Can you make the villagers forget how they looked at me, how they whispered behind my back? No, Kakashi, there's no fixing this. Konoha has to pay. They need to see the truth—to feel the pain they inflicted on me."
Around them, shinobi like Asuma, Kurenai, and Sasuke watched in stunned silence. They had never known the depth of Menma's pain, the hatred simmering beneath the surface.
"Menma... is Naruto's brother?" Sasuke muttered, his Sharingan spinning as he processed the revelation.
"How could we not know?" Sakura whispered, the shock still fresh.
Menma's fury struck a chord with everyone present. It was a truth they had overlooked, a darkness hidden behind Konoha's walls.
Naruto stood trembling, the weight of Menma's revelation crashing down on him. His brother—his own flesh and blood—stood before him, filled with resentment. And for the first time in his life, Naruto felt utterly lost.
---
Menma's roar echoed through the stadium, his chakra flaring wildly, fueled by his anger. The questions he hurled pierced the air like kunai, too sharp to ignore.
No one had an answer.
Not Kakashi, not Genma, and certainly not Naruto.
"I... I don't understand..." Naruto's voice shook, his hands trembling as he stared at Menma. The revelation tore at his heart, twisting everything he thought he knew. His brother? Menma was his brother? The sense of familiarity between them now made painful sense.
But why?
Why had their lives been so different? Why had no one told him the truth about his own family? His mother? His brother? Naruto's mind swirled with confusion, unable to comprehend the weight of it all.
"Naruto, there's more to this than you know," Kakashi said urgently. "It's complicated. The Third Hokage... Jiraiya... we'll explain everything, but right now, we need to stop Menma. Help us subdue him—then we'll talk."
Kakashi's voice was steady, but his eyes reflected urgency. The village was under siege, and they couldn't afford division—not now.
Naruto's gaze darted between Kakashi and Menma, the turmoil in his heart only growing stronger. Everything he had believed in—his dreams of being Hokage, his faith in Konoha—now felt like it was built on lies.
Kakashi stepped forward, his tone softer now. "Menma, your parents—Minato and Kushina—they gave their lives to protect this village. As their son, you shouldn't be standing against it. You're better than this. Come back. It's not too late."
Kakashi's words carried a deep sincerity, but Menma's laugh was cold and full of scorn. "Hahaha! You really think that justifies everything? My parents may have sacrificed themselves, but what else did they sacrifice? Me. Their own son. I was just a vessel—a container for the Nine-Tails. And for what? For this village's so-called peace?"
Menma's chakra surged, distorting the air around him with heat and fury. "You talk about duty, Kakashi, but do you know what it's like to have your parents' blood on your hands? To be abandoned for the sake of Konoha? You think you can lecture me about standing against the village?"
Kakashi's face fell, his heart heavy. Menma's pain wasn't something he could dismiss. The hypocrisy of the village, the secrecy—it had all come crashing down.
"Menma, I—" Kakashi started, but his voice faltered. How could he possibly make up for what Menma had suffered? No words could justify it.
Nearby, Genma clenched his teeth, guilt clear on his face. As one of the Fourth Hokage's trusted guards, he knew the truth of Menma's words. And he had failed to protect the son of his former leader.
Menma's gaze swept over them, cold and unforgiving. "Save your breath, Kakashi. And you, Genma. You're nothing but Konoha's lapdogs, hiding behind your missions, pretending to care. You're not my family—you never were. This village... it needs to feel what I felt. It needs to hurt."
His eyes flickered toward the giant sand sphere that had been forming at the center of the arena, sensing the overwhelming chakra building inside. Menma's words had served their purpose, but the real threat was about to emerge.
The air grew heavier as cracks spider-webbed across the surface of the sphere. A pulse of violent chakra throbbed from within.
Boom!
The sand sphere trembled violently, expanding and contracting before finally shattering apart. A monstrous roar echoed through the stadium as a massive clawed hand burst out, shaking the very ground.
"What is that!?" Genma shouted, his eyes wide with horror.
"Everyone, fall back!" Kakashi ordered, sensing the immense, malevolent chakra. His face paled. He knew this power all too well.
From the cracked sand sphere, Shukaku—the One-Tail—emerged in its terrifying glory. The enormous tanuki-like creature loomed over the stadium, its wild eyes gleaming with malice, and a cruel grin spread across its face.
"Kankurō, Temari, get out of there!" Baki yelled, retreating as the two Suna siblings scrambled away from the beast's form.
The air crackled with raw power, Shukaku's presence overwhelming everyone in the vicinity. Its roar shook the arena, sending debris raining down from the trembling stands.
"Shukaku... here?!" Kakashi whispered, dread sinking in. A Tailed Beast in the heart of Konoha turned the invasion into a nightmare. If they didn't act quickly, the destruction would be unimaginable.
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