"You guys wait for me here."
Menma didn't bother checking the system options immediately. He just gave the order and vanished, needing a quiet spot to figure out what was going on.
Seeing him disappear like that, Nagato and the others exchanged confused looks. Finally, they turned to Kushina and Minato.
Kushina ignored their stares, her face tight with worry as she looked in the direction Menma had vanished. His serious expression meant something was wrong. Had something happened to Naruto?
"Don't worry," Minato reassured her gently. "Menma will handle it."
He turned back to the crowd. "Everyone, please be patient and wait. While we're here, I'll bring you up to speed on the situation in our Four-Star Village..."
Menma found a secluded spot where no one would disturb him. He sat cross-legged, sinking his mind deep into his mental realm. He pulled up the system options.
[Alternate Personality (Naruto) Handling Option One: Decomposition]
Complete decomposition of Naruto (soul) and Ashura (soul) for final Corruption Points.
System estimate: 500,000 - 1,000,000 Corruption Points.
[Alternate Personality (Naruto) Handling Plan Two: Domestication]
Remove Naruto's (soul) from the body. Use Corruption Points to create a controllable new container for continuous point generation.
Fixed 500 points daily, max 5,000 per day. Amount depends on the alternate personality's (Naruto's) emotions.
Note: The separated alternate personality's soul is extremely fragile. A hard limit has been set for the host. Exceeding this limit will likely cause the alternate personality's soul to collapse. After collapse, the alternate personality will vanish completely and no longer provide Corruption Points.
"Two plans. Long-term farming or a one-off deal?" Menma thought it over.
A one-off deal guaranteed points. Long-term farming offered high returns but carried serious risks.
But none of that mattered. The truth was, the reincarnation was fake. A parasite crawled on Naruto's soul—like a horsehair worm puppeteering a mantis, driving it to water so it could reproduce. It was just like the endless, violent cycle between Ashura and Indra.
Menma closed the system panel and appeared before Naruto deep within his mindscape.
Naruto looked the same as before: eyes closed, huddled on the ground, hugging his knees. But the energy radiating from him was terrifying.
Sprouting from behind him were a different face and limbs. Steam rose from his body, forming two twisted humanoid figures—Ashura and Indra—intertwined and swirling above him.
"So this is Ashura, the youngest son of the Sage of Six Paths," Menma mused, walking up behind Naruto. The small braids hanging down the temples were a dead giveaway.
"And look at Naruto. Completely resigned."
It made sense. Naruto had taken Menma and Nagato's peace plan to heart. He'd seen his mother, Kushina, and a living Sasuke. He had no last wishes left. He was ready to die.
Sensing Naruto's thoughts for a moment, Menma understood. Why had Naruto's trust level maxed out so quickly? Because Naruto had accepted his fate. After listening to Menma and Nagato talk, Naruto had decided Menma was the true child of prophecy Jiraiya spoke of—not the Naruto who lacked a plan. Plus, his wish to see his mother was fulfilled, and his parents seemed to prefer helping Menma in secret over him.
Naruto felt relieved but heartbroken. He believed it was better for him to disappear completely, leaving no loose ends for Menma. He remembered Menma saying he was the original primary personality, forced to retreat by Hiruzen Sarutobi's threats. Returning the body to Menma was the right choice. Sasuke surviving was just a bonus, proving Menma could do even better.
Menma wasn't surprised by Naruto's acceptance.
"Long-term deal or a one-off?" Menma stroked his chin, a mature smile forming.
His right hand slowly contracted into a half-clench.
"Only naive locals make choices. As a despicable outsider, I want it all."
Preserve Naruto's soul for long-term cultivation. Decompose Ashura's soul for a windfall, while stopping the Sage of Six Paths from spying.
"System, this is my choice."
[System Notification: Host's choice detected. System is changing…]
[Choice successfully changed!]
[Separating Naruto (soul) and Ashura (soul) requires 20,000 Corruption Points.]
[Creating a related container (customizable by the host) requires 10,000 Corruption Points.]
[Decomposing Ashura (soul) (bearing all negative emotions, resulting in incompleteness) is estimated to yield 0-300,000 Corruption Points.]
[Host, confirm the above options?]
"So you actually dumped all your negative emotions onto Ashura?" Menma smirked. "As expected of you, you dog system."
[Everything is for the host's service. The system is generated based on the host's personality.]
"Uh... no need to explain that."
"Getting 300,000 points isn't bad. Execute."
Menma, confident he'd get the max reward, confirmed without hesitation.
[System executing...]
[Soul separation in progress... Corruption Points -20,000]
[Soul decomposition in progress... Corruption Points +200,000]
[Container creation in progress... Corruption Points -10,000]
Just as the Corruption Points dropped by 10,000, a 3D character interface appeared in Menma's mind. It looked like the character creation screens from his old life, full of adjustable parameters.
The 3D figure currently looked like Menma himself, wearing a red cloud robe.
"This kind of character creation..." Menma felt a headache coming on. He wasn't good at this.
I was originally planning to turn Naruto into a little girl for a fresh start, but a younger brother might be better. It doesn't matter if he's a little ugly.
He thought of the 'Naruto's little sister' memes he'd seen online and felt a twinge of disappointment. A younger sister would be easier to manage than a mischievous little brother. Plus, he didn't want Naruto—without Ashura's chakra—to get consumed by grief over his dead 'white moonlight' and turn into an Obito clone screaming "Sakura! Sakura!" It would be better to strangle him first. Removing the Pure Root was the best option.
But those thoughts barely crossed his mind before the 3D figure in his head instantly transformed into the image he'd just imagined.
Menma was stunned. He hadn't expected that.
So he imagined a dress.
The 3D figure immediately changed into the dress.
He imagined a leg ring.
A beautiful leg ring appeared on the 3D figure's right leg.
He imagined...
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