Naruto stood frozen, his expression conflicted.
"I don't know…" he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Menma frowned, puzzled. "No? But weren't you furious before? You looked like you were ready to kill someone!"
If I hadn't stopped him then, he might have lost control on the spot, Menma thought. And now he says he doesn't know what to do?
Naruto lowered his head, his fingers curling into fists. "I… I feel that what I did to Konohamaru before wasn't right. He's just a kid—he doesn't know anything."
Menma's frown deepened. "What about the Third Hokage?" he pressed. "If we confirm that he took everything your parents left behind—even the scarf your mother knitted for you—what will you do then?"
Naruto hesitated, his voice wavering. "T-That… That can't be right. Grandpa Third Hokage wouldn't do something like that. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding."
Hearing this, Menma exchanged glances with Kuro Kakashi. Both of them could see the frustration in each other's eyes. The situation was obvious—Naruto's belief in the Third Hokage was still intact. The lingering influence of Ashura's will within him was holding him back.
"Naruto," Menma stepped closer, his voice sharp but controlled. "You are the son of the Fourth Hokage. Sarutobi Konohamaru is the grandson of the Third Hokage. Do I even need to explain the difference between your lives?"
Naruto remained silent, his head bowed.
"Have you never heard how people talk about you?" Menma continued, his voice tinged with disdain. "They call you a demon fox. A monster. Haven't you noticed?"
"T-That doesn't have anything to do with Konohamaru!" Naruto protested, shaking his head.
Menma scoffed. "I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about the Third Hokage! Why does he allow the village to treat you—the son of a hero—like this?"
"But… the Third Hokage has always been good to me…" Naruto mumbled.
Both Menma and Kuro Kakashi were speechless.
"Good to you?" Kuro Kakashi asked, his tone turning serious. "Naruto, do you even understand what that means? Your father, the Fourth Hokage, was a legend—a hero known as the Yellow Flash. Your mother was the last Uzumaki in Konoha. After their deaths, do you really believe they left nothing behind for you?"
Naruto's fingers twitched slightly, but he remained quiet.
Kuro Kakashi's voice grew sharper. "Why was the scarf your mother knitted for you in Sarutobi Hiruzen's house? Do you think that's all he took?"
The realization began to dawn on Naruto, but he clung to his beliefs. "But… Third Hokage gave me my living expenses every month… He took care of me!"
Menma laughed coldly. "And you think that's kindness?"
Kuro Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, think carefully. The Third Hokage is a busy man. He has plenty of duties. Why would he personally deliver money to you every month? Why not have someone else do it? Why only you?"
Naruto's breath hitched. "Because… because my father was the Fourth Hokage?"
Kuro Kakashi shook his head. "If Sarutobi Hiruzen really cared about you as the son of a hero, why did he only give you just enough to survive? Even if your parents truly left nothing behind, why didn't Konoha support you better?"
Naruto's eyes widened slightly.
All his life, he had been grateful for the money the Third Hokage gave him—because he thought of himself as a poor orphan. But now, knowing that he was the Fourth Hokage's son, the pieces weren't adding up.
Why had he suffered so much? Why did the villagers hate him? Why did no one ever acknowledge his parents?
"But… why?" Naruto's voice cracked. "Why would Third Hokage treat me like this?"
Menma's gaze darkened. "Naruto, do you remember your other identity?" He pointed to Naruto's stomach. "To Konoha, you are not the son of a hero—you are the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
Naruto turned pale.
Jinchūriki… A living weapon of the village.
"So that's it…" Sakura murmured in shock. "The Hokage only kept Naruto close because he needed to control him?"
Her heart pounded. If this was true, it shattered everything she had believed about the village.
Up until now, she had debated whether to report these outsiders. After all, they were foreign threats. But if Konoha's Hokage was really capable of something like this… Could she still blindly trust him?
"Impossible!" Naruto suddenly shouted, his face contorted in pain. "You're lying! Third Hokage would never do that! He's always protected me!"
Menma sighed. "Naruto, think carefully. The Third Hokage issued an order forbidding people from talking about you. Do you know what that means?"
Naruto hesitated.
"At first glance, it looks like he was protecting you," Menma explained. "But think about it: if someone is explicitly told not to talk about something, what does that make them think?"
Naruto clenched his fists.
Haruno Sakura was the first to understand, and her face paled. "It's confirmation…" she whispered. "If there was a ban on talking about Naruto, it just reinforced the idea that there was something wrong with him… That he really was a demon fox…"
"Exactly," Kuro Kakashi said grimly. "Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't protect Naruto—he ensured that everyone would see him as an outcast."
"No…" Naruto shook his head violently. "That's not true! Grandpa Hokage wouldn't—!"
Menma folded his arms. "Are you still so naïve?" His voice turned cold. "Sarutobi Hiruzen was Hokage for more than thirty years—longer than half of Konoha's history. Do you really believe he accidentally made that mistake?"
Naruto froze.
Thirty years. A leader with such experience… Wouldn't make such a simple oversight.
"But then why?" Naruto gasped. "Why would he do this to me?"
Kuro Kakashi's voice dropped to a near-whisper. "Because after the Nine-Tails attack, the villagers were filled with fear and hatred. That hatred needed a place to go. And Sarutobi Hiruzen…" He gestured toward Naruto. "He made sure they had a target."
Naruto's breathing grew ragged.
"And there's more," Menma continued. "Your identity as the son of the Fourth Hokage was hidden, but your identity as the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was revealed. Why? If they were truly trying to protect you, shouldn't it have been the other way around?"
Naruto felt like the ground beneath him was crumbling.
"They made you suffer," Kuro Kakashi said, "isolated you, so that the only person you could rely on was Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Naruto clutched his head, trembling.
It all made sense. Too much sense.
Everything he had believed—was a lie.
His vision blurred as sweat dripped from his forehead.
"No… No, this isn't true…"
But deep down, a part of him had already accepted it.
Everything he had once trusted was falling apart.
And Menma knew.
This was just the beginning.
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