Kushina's barrage of questions finally broke through Minato's defenses. His expression darkened, the light fading from his eyes until he looked completely dazed.
"Why… why did it happen like this… Jiraiya, Kakashi…"
"Why could you watch my child starve? Watch him scavenge for food in the garbage? Let everyone curse him…"
"Hiruzen Sarutobi… didn't you say you'd sacrifice yourself to illuminate future generations…?"
"Aren't my descendants also the sprouts of Konoha…?"
"What… what was I even protecting…?"
As he questioned himself, Minato's figure began to blur. The chakra making up his body started to rapidly dissipate.
"Using death to evade responsibility? You're truly cowardly to the point of disgusting me."
With that, Menma appeared before them. He placed his hand on Minato's chest, channeling pure Yang Release chakra into the Fourth Hokage's fading body. The ethereal form quickly solidified.
"No, it's not like that. I was just lost in thought for a moment."
Hearing Menma say he hated him, Minato quickly tried to explain. Then he stared blankly at the boy, regret creeping onto his face. "Actually… I was wrong from the very beginning."
"I shouldn't have left such a heavy burden on you, expecting you to be the children of prophecy, trying to make you deal with that masked man."
"I imposed my unfulfilled expectations on the next generation—especially on a generation without parents. I'm truly a negligent father."
"I'm so sorry. If you have to blame someone, blame me entirely. It was all my own decision; it has nothing to do with your mother."
Minato's monologue and self-reproach also awakened Kushina from her immersion in those painful memories. She understood that blaming each other or regretting it now was useless. The important thing was what Menma planned to do, and how they could make amends.
Thinking this, Kushina grasped Minato's hand again. His other hand reached for Menma but stopped in mid-air.
"Minato, it's not just you. I was wrong too. We were all foolish enough to believe Hiruzen Sarutobi's lies."
"He clearly said he would treat our child as a hero of the village, giving him the treatment of a hero."
"But in the end, it was all just deception."
"Now I understand. From the moment you became the Fourth Hokage, you were Hiruzen Sarutobi's puppet."
"He retreated behind the scenes, firmly controlling the ANBU, while you only had a few personal guards. You even had to report to him and get his approval before doing anything."
"At the time, I thought he was worried about your youth, afraid you'd make mistakes."
"Now it seems he was just unwilling to give up power and a useful puppet."
"And after we died, he treated our child exactly the same way—treating him as the next useful puppet."
Even without Kushina saying it, Minato had already realized it. But because he'd been brainwashed by the Will of Fire for so long, he'd been pretending to be stupid and holding onto hope for Hiruzen Sarutobi. But in the end, his feigned stupidity had become genuine.
Kurama, previously sealed within Kushina, knew all about Minato's time as Hokage. It immediately gloated, "I knew back then you'd be played to death by that Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"After all, one was an idiot, and the other was brainwashed by that Will of Fire."
"Shut up!" Kushina angrily grabbed Minato's ear, ignoring Kurama's mockery.
Minato's face contorted in pain, but he didn't cry out or resist, letting Kushina vent her anger. Only when he felt the pressure on his ear loosen did he immediately change the subject.
"Menma, is there anything we need to do next?"
"Don't worry. The girl who lived for the village is dead. Now only a father named Minato Namikaze remains."
"Me too!" Kushina immediately echoed. "Even if you asked me to destroy Konoha, I wouldn't blink an eye!"
Having experienced that suffocating darkness, Kushina harbored no goodwill toward the village. That was a normal human reaction—unlike Naruto, who was abnormally influenced by Ashura's chakra.
"I do need you to do some things, but not now. Just follow my instructions."
Menma planned to send them to the Hidden Void Village later to prepare for future revenge against Konoha. Of course, this revenge was never simply about killing. Death was easy, but living a life worse than death wasn't. Only by making the lives of Konoha's people worse than death could the painful memories of those ten years be alleviated.
"I understand." Minato nodded, then remembered something and asked, "Who is the primary personality, you or Naruto Uzumaki? And what did you mean by what you said to Kurama earlier?"
Kushina, standing beside him, also looked on with curiosity, listening intently for Menma's answer.
"The 'date' means exactly what it sounds like. I am the primary personality."
Menma spoke without blinking, appearing completely certain.
Kurama, standing nearby, smacked its lips in agreement. "With Menma's terrifying talent, he truly is the primary personality who perfectly inherited the talents of both of you. The one outside? Honestly, if it weren't for his personality being somewhat similar to yours, he'd really seem like an imposter."
Minato nodded thoughtfully. "Since you are the primary personality, why can't you control your body? Why are you restricted?"
"Because I handed over my body when I was young, then hid myself and bore all the pain."
Menma had already prepared this explanation—the same one he planned to use on Naruto Uzumaki later.
"You've all experienced those memories, so you know how much I hated those people when I was a child. But no matter how much I hated them, there was nothing I could do. Plus, because of the village, that hatred was extremely detrimental to my survival."
"So I deliberately created a naive, innocent personality to lull Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and the others into a false sense of security. And I alone bore all the pain, biding my time until I was strong enough to protect this body."
Hearing Menma's calm narration, Minato and Kushina both fell silent. Just as Menma said, if it weren't for Naruto Uzumaki's optimistic and kind personality, Hiruzen Sarutobi might not have relied solely on the Will of Fire to brainwash him—he might have used other methods of control.
"Could we call Naruto Uzumaki in from outside and tell him everything? With your current strength, you have absolutely no need to fear Hiruzen Sarutobi or Danzo Shimura."
Whether it was the primary or secondary personality, they were ultimately their child. Especially for Kushina—even if she couldn't hug Menma, being able to hug Naruto Uzumaki would be great.
"It's not the right time yet. Besides, there are some special things affecting Naruto Uzumaki's personality. I'm working on removing them; you don't need to worry about that."
Menma certainly wouldn't bring Naruto Uzumaki in. Then he'd give him three huge power-ups, making him independent! Even if Naruto Uzumaki wanted to know, it would have to wait until the trust and dependence level reached 80%, after he became the master.
Suddenly, Kushina, who had been focusing her attention on the outside, exclaimed in surprise.
"Naruto Uzumaki is actually with that pervert Jiraiya! And that pervert Jiraiya seems to be seriously injured—he's passed out!"