The instant Nine-Tails chakra manifested in Menma's mindscape, the Eight Trigrams Sealed space within his navel stirred.
Deep in the darkness, a pair of narrow fox eyes snapped open.
"This familiar aura… is my chakra?"
Confusion twisted Kurama's fox face. It hadn't felt any of its power leave the seal.
"Could it be my Yin Release?" Because of the seal, Kurama couldn't accurately sense the attribute of the chakra outside. When Minato had sealed it, the beast was split in two. The Yang half remained here, while the Yin half, along with Minato's soul, was dragged into the Shinigami's stomach.
"Did someone release my Yin half?"
Kurama narrowed its eyes, carefully sensing the chakra outside the seal. It was weak—far too little.
"Was it released, only to be captured again? Just like me, forced to provide power to someone else?"
Kurama figured that had to be it. Otherwise, there was no way it could possess such pitiful reserves, lacking the majesty of a Tailed Beast.
"What a waste," it growled, the sound vibrating through the seal. "Escaped and captured again." It had originally hoped its Yin half might help break the Eight Trigrams Seal. Now, it seemed impossible. It was better to go back to sleep.
Thinking this, Kurama closed its eyes, ignoring the sensation.
It never dreamed that this chakra wasn't its Yin half at all. It was a completely new Nine-Tails, created by the system.
Outside, in the Hokage's Office, tension hung heavy in the air.
"This heart-pounding feeling…" Hiruzen Sarutobi muttered, his eyes wide. "It really is Kurama's chakra."
"Good! Good! Good!"
A fleeting look of greed crossed the Third Hokage's face, quickly replaced by excitement and exhilaration. The Nine-Tails' power was immense, but one had to be alive to control it.
He took one last reluctant look at the crimson chakra surrounding Menma.
Menma gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a look—a cold, flat gaze as if looking at a dead man. Then, expressionless, he withdrew the Nine-Tails chakra. At the same time, he relinquished control of the body.
In an instant, the atmosphere shifted. The cold aura vanished, replaced by a familiar, boisterous presence.
Naruto took control, wearing a proud expression. "Third Grandpa, I told you so, didn't I? Menma is amazing!"
Naruto beamed, puffing out his chest.
Meanwhile, a system message rang out in Menma's mind.
[Current Primary Personality Trust Level: 35%]
Seeing Naruto's expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi offered a reminder. "That's really impressive, Naruto, but you have to keep it up. As the primary personality, you can't fall too far behind Menma's capabilities. You have to keep pace."
Although Menma was currently restrained by Naruto's dominance, if the dark personality's strength became too overwhelming, things could easily flip.
Naruto nodded obediently. "I'll do my best!"
"Besides," Naruto continued, "Menma told me this is all potential inherent in my body. As long as I work hard, I'll be as strong as him soon!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a wave of relief. Compared to Menma, who didn't care for him, Naruto was much easier to control.
"Alright, that's enough for today. I'm relieved to see you're alright."
Having obtained the information he wanted, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't intend to linger. He stood up and pulled a pre-prepared envelope from his pocket.
"This is two months' living expenses. Consider it a congratulatory gift from Grandpa for your early graduation."
"Thank you, Third Hokage!"
Taking the noticeably thicker envelope, Naruto beamed. Looks like I can enjoy Ichiraku Ramen to my heart's content this month!
Hiruzen Sarutobi put on his Hokage hat and walked toward the door. "According to village rules, once you graduate and become a genin, the village will no longer provide living expenses. From now on, you'll have to earn your own money by completing missions and earning bounties. But don't be afraid—you genin will have a mentor who will guide you step-by-step."
Hearing about missions and bounties, Naruto became excited again. The ninja life he had longed for was finally here!
"I understand! I'll try my best to complete missions and earn bounties!"
"It's good that you understand. The village has its own difficulties," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, closing the door behind him.
After seeing the Third Hokage off, Naruto eagerly opened the envelope in his hand.
"Lucky! There really is 2000 ryo!"
"That much money is enough for me to eat thirty bowls of ramen!" Just thinking about Ichiraku Ramen with narutomaki made Naruto's mouth water. He carefully took out the frog wallet Hinata had given him, stuffed all the money inside, and finally relaxed, lying down on the bed.
At the same time, he remembered what Menma had said about having a way to make money.
He immediately asked in his mind, "Menma, what was that way of making money you mentioned before?"
Hearing Naruto mention it, Menma remembered. In the ninja world, money was still very important. He needed some for emergencies, and some of his plans required financial support.
After a moment's thought, Menma spoke.
"Prepare some paper and pen for me, then give me control of this body. I want to write novels to make money."
As a transmigrator, plagiarism was naturally the easiest way to earn money. Besides, Menma was a copywriter before his transmigration, and his death had been sudden, occurring while writing a movie review.
"Write novels to make money?" Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief. "You can write novels?"
He hadn't read many books; how could Menma possibly write novels?
"We'll see if it works or not after we try," Menma replied dryly.
Menma knew about Jiraiya's wildly popular Make-Out Paradise. This meant novels were popular and sold well in this world. Moreover, the novel he planned to plagiarize was of the same genre, so he could ride its coattails.
Seeing Menma's confidence, Naruto immediately found paper and pen. He wanted to see what kind of story Menma could write. He was also prepared to loudly mock him if he failed.
Having taken control of the body, Menma recalled the plot in his mind and wrote down the title of the novel.
"Young Aming." (Menma mentally crossed out the original name).
"Chapter One: The Landlady."
"Kenichi's grades at the ninja academy weren't ideal..."
Accompanied by the sound of a pencil scratching against paper, Menma wrote. About two hours later, he had written ten chapters, totaling 20,000 words.
He stopped writing, intending to finish the rest after the manuscript was approved.
He stopped, but Naruto, who was engrossed in the exciting part, became unhappy.
"Why did you stop writing? Write faster!" Naruto urged, leaning over Menma's shoulder. "I want to see how he gets his cousin! I want to see—uh—Kenichi!"
Even Naruto, a master of the Sexy Jutsu, was captivated, which pleased Menma greatly.
"We'll talk about it after the manuscript is approved tomorrow," Menma said.
With that, Menma voluntarily stepped back. He planned to have Naruto go to Teuchi's daughter, Ayame, tomorrow to help him submit the novel. After all, there were only a few people who were good to Naruto; he had no choice. If Naruto had to submit it himself, he probably wouldn't even get through the door.