Kurama and Minato looked at the pair of children lying down and sleeping, after exhaustion and drowsiness finally caught up with Menma.
Minato was smiling slightly. Menma had found himself a new bond and was trying to change the world for the better, despite the ugliness he had seen so far. He was fighting not for himself, but for the well being of the world and that made him proud of his son.
"Why are you happy, Fourth Hokage?! You should be scared!"
Suddenly, Kurama's voice cut through Minato's thoughts. Minato was confused. What was there to be afraid of?
"That girl is now as important as that cat. Tell me, what happened the last time this kid thought he had lost his cat?"
Minato understood immediately what Kurama was implying and for a moment his smile faded. Menma was unstable, and they both knew it. Once something triggers him, it's only up to luck what happens next. Especially for this girl, if something were to happen to her, because alongside anger and pain, there would be guilt. A combination that could make his actions completely unpredictable and too chaotic.
He might literally decide to erase all of humanity because of it.
But just a moment later, thinking about Menma, his journey and his choices so far, Minato smiled again.
Looking up at the frowning Kurama, who was a big pessimistic fox, he spoke with quiet confidence and pride.
"I believe Menma will protect them just fine. And he's strong enough to make it through those kinds of pain. He may lose himself momentarily… but he'll embrace the light again. That's just how his heart works."
What he didn't say out loud and kept in his heart was:
"Just like Kushina… always strong and kind."
Kurama raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected the Fourth to have such confidence in his child. But he liked it. The fact that his chosen one had earned the approval of someone as strong as Minato, so soon was quite a feet not many were capable of.
Kurama thought about the boy who had studied so hard since age one and couldn't help but smile. And then, he remembered that the brat had skipped today's class.
Cursing under his breath, Kurama laid back down and closed his eyes, thinking about how to punish him in next class.
---
"Hey! It's time to wake up. Wake up my precious children! Even if you're dreaming about doing bad things together, you'll have to wake up and try it in reality to really enjoy it."
An annoying voice kept ringing in Menma's ears, disrupting his dreams of eating tuna with snow. He opened his eyes impatiently, full of irritation, turning toward the broken cock, crying nonstop.
Looking up, he saw Murakami squatting behind the bars, a food tray placed inside the cage. Obviously, he was here to deliver breakfast. Menma's belly growled the moment he saw and smelled the food.
He couldn't help but salivate a little. After all, ever since stepping onto this ship, he hadn't eaten a full meal even once.
He really wanted to try Ichiraku ramen…
Sarah, also awakened by the noise, sat up with a different aura and different hairstyle, like a completely different person compared to yesterday. Murakami, seeing this, raised an eyebrow. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened here yesterday to change her so drastically.
Sarah, seeing the food tray, moved forward with indifference and took it before Murakami could say anything. Now, Murakami was truly shocked.
How in the world had Menma changed this girl's emotions from rooted fear to indifference toward him in the span of 24 hours?
If things kept going like this, wouldn't she try to attack him next time?! He had to find a solution, but not now.
"Well, eat it, my darling. Let me see you devour the entire meal yourself. Come on."
He wanted to keep Menma hungry for a while longer. It would weaken him more.
But this time, Sarah didn't listen. She placed the food tray in front of Menma and crossed her arms, not daring to stare back at Murakami but her action were clearly to say, "Come inside if you dare."
Both Menma and Murakami were surprised by her action.
Murakami, seeing this rebellious display, turned red with anger immediately but he didn't say anything. He just kept staring, wanting to see whether the girl would really dare to defy him completely.
Menma, on the other hand, understood. Even thought Sarah's change was entirely because of yesterday and she had just agreed to face the world alongside him, she was already doing her best even facing her biggest fears right now.
Smiling brightly at both of them, he extended his hand toward the tray and picked up the familiar poison bottle. He opened its cap under Murakami's interested gaze, while Sarah looked on in quiet confusion.
Just like the day before, Menma drank the entire poison in one go, cleanly, without leaving a single drop. Then he tossed the empty bottle onto the tray and picked up the water, drinking a quarter of it in one breath.
Putting the cup back down and pushing the tray toward Sarah, he smiled brightly at the two watching him and said in a calm voice:
"Sarah, you should eat."
Saying that, Menma leaned back against the bars and closed his eyes, slowly entering a state of meditation, cutting himself off from the world, admits the laughters of Murakami.
"Hahaha! What a sensible boy!
Sarah, my child, I might not really dare to walk inside, not when he hasn't had enough poison but, I can cut your food and water supply until you're on the verge of death. So if it weren't for him, we'd both be losing a lot of things. You would loss waight and I, money. Hehehe…"
Saying that, Murakami stood up and turned to leave, not caring if the children shared the food.
Menma's action told him enough. The boy had no intention of resisting, at least before they reached any land. That was all he needed to know when dealing with someone as dangerous as him.
---
Sarah remained silent, staring at Menma, unable to understand why he did that when he was so strong.
He didn't even take a small bite; not one touch of food, and even after Murakami had left, he still sat with his eyes closed, completely indifferent to the meal in front of him.
She wanted to reach out, to ask him to eat and the reason for his actions but her hand hesitated each time she tried to raise it.
While she was stuck in that hesitation, Snow slowly emerged from the hay, holding a small bottle in her mouth.
She stepped forward, placed the bottle beside Menma, and then walked over to the food tray.
With a cute chomp, she bit into a big piece of meat and walked back to Menma's side, laying down beside him and nibbling on it. She, too, was hungry.
Seeing Snow eat so unceremoniously and comfortably, while still purring, Sarah also began eating in small bites.
From time to time, she shared with Snow, letting her nibble at bits of meat and even drink from the water.
After they finished, Sarah gently pushed the tray close to the gate and returned to sit next to snow, who was playing with the small bottle she'd brought out earlier and watched Menma with a soft, expecting eyes.
Meanwhile…
Menma, who hadn't meditated for quite a while, was now looking deeply inside his own body.
There were a lot of changes since the last night at Konoha, and they intrigued him.
His chakra…
It had darkened and become denser than before.
That likely explained why his chakra pulses were so destructive. Perhaps even his ninjutsu would become far more powerful than average… but the trade-off was steep: controlling chakra now required a higher level of precision. His chakra pathways were filled with a thicker current, meaning even the smallest misstep could cause a technique to go wild or out of control.
Speaking of chakra pathways,
They had widened and also hardened, even more than he had expected.
It was equivalent to the result of one full year of his hot spring training method. In fact, it had doubled his previous results. With this, opening the Fifth Gate should now be easy, without putting much stress on the pathways.
Only his body and cells would have to endure the pressure and those very cells he was talking about had changed and evolved more than anything else, producing more chakra, practically begging for a relief.
He was honestly worried.
Once he started moving again, would he even be able to stop?
The more he moved, the more chakra would be produced and it had to be released, or he'd risk exploding from the inside out.
And this was while he was still hungry.
If he ate a full meal? He'd probably end up screaming, "I still can keep going!" even after hours of intense combat.
Poor Murakami…
Menma had every intention of eating a full feast the day of the transaction, ready to sabotage his games completely.
Taking a look at the Eight Gates, his trump card, which allowed him to fight a bloody battle in konoha, he gasped for a moment
The first five were ready to open with the slightest movement.
The Sixth and Seventh were also close, almost usable.
Only the Eighth Gate remained sealed tightly, still far beyond his current grasp. You should be aware that before, anything above the third gate was in red zone!
However… now last three gates were his danger zone
Menma felt confident he had now understood the Eight Gates far better then anyone, even his teacher Guy as he had said before the limited he was capable of was sixth gate, only if he push himself hard.
If he had the chance one day, he'd love to test this, standing side-by-side with his teacher, Guy, just to see how better he truly was.
After experimenting a little more, and then silently refining his chakra control inside his body, Menma was finally satisfied.
He finished his meditation and slowly opened his eyes.
What he saw made him smile.
Sarah and Snow were playing together, with Sarah laughing softly, giggling from time to time.
It reminded him of Kakashi and Snow… or Yoruusagi with Snow, playing back in the old days.
He missed them, if he was honest. He truly did.
But reality was too cruel for him to have all of them in one frame, smiling and laughing together.
His mood wavered.
From happiness, to remorse, and back to sadness.
He imagined that future, one where they were all together again.
It was a beautiful dream… but one he couldn't afford to chase.
Because the price of that future would be giving up on his goals, on his responsibilities.
And Menma… couldn't do that.
He couldn't seek personal happiness while knowing he had the power to ease the suffering of others.
That just wasn't who he was.
Taking a slow breath, Menma calmed his restless heart.
He had a goal.
And he would walk toward that goal no matter what.
Even if it cost him his life, even if it meant giving up happiness.
He would do it.
So that mankind might one day achieve true peace and prosperity.
So that the world would be united under one sky.
Snow, slightly tired from playing around, noticed that Menma had opened his eyes.
Immediately, she abandoned Sarah and, with two quick hops, jumped into his arms.
Holding his little queen, Menma patted her lovingly and played with her gently.
Sarah also moved to his side and sat down on her knees.
"Thank you for your kindness, Sarah. You were very brave when you ignored him and shared the food with me. But we shouldn't oppose him just yet, or things might move in a darker direction."
Menma acknowledged Sarah's courage while extending his hand and giving her thin, small fingers a gentle squeeze.
She had been incredibly brave to stand up to someone she once feared so deeply.
Sarah blushed slightly but nodded.
Aside from her mother, no one had ever praised her before.
Snow, watching the two quietly, suddenly bit Menma's arm just as he was patting her head.
"Aw!"
Menma yelped in pain and looked down at his jealous little queen, smiling helplessly.
It seemed he'd be doing a lot of screaming in the future.
Snow ignored Menma's exasperated look and jumped out of his arms.
At first, he tried to hold her, but from the way she moved, he could tell she wasn't running away, he was getting something.
Snow padded over to the side of the cage and pulled a small bottle out from beneath the hay.
Seeing what she held, Menma's eyes lit up, and he scooped her into his arms immediately.
Snow released the bottle, letting it drop into his waiting palm.
Sarah leaned forward curiously to see what it was.
Menma shook the bottle slightly, and the sound of pills tapping the inside made him smile brightly.
He wouldn't have to go hungry anymore.
"Thank you, my girl! I completely forgot about them! Hahaha! When Murakami finds out his starvation plan failed so miserably, he's going to cry!"
"Muah! Muah, muah!"
Meow!
Menma showered Snow with loud, exaggerated kisses until she was a fluffy mess with a darkening mood.
Finally losing patience, she let out a loud meow, her first vocal complaint since boarding the ship.
Menma froze.
The meow had been too loud. What if someone who shouldn't know about her had heard it?
Panicked, he pursed his lips into a ring and, just as Sarah and Snow watched, stunned, he shouted:
"Meow! Meow! Meow! Meeeoow!"
Sarah blinked.
Then froze.
And suddenly burst into laughter.
Perfectly covering for Snow, it now looked like Menma was just trying to cheer Sarah up by pretending to be a cat.
Menma sighed in relief.
Watching Sarah laugh loudly, truly laugh so loud from her heart, for the first time since they met, brought a soft smile to his face.
Things were heading in the right direction for her, and that made him happy.
After a while, Sarah calmed down and coughed in embarrassment.
Once silence returned, her eyes drifted to the bottle. She clearly wanted to know what it was.
Menma didn't hesitate.
Opening the bottle, he pulled out a single pill and handed it to her.
"This bottle contains food pills. They're used by shinobi during wartime to fill their stomachs.
Each pill contains high levels of energy, vitamins, and nutrients. One pill is enough to keep me full for half a day.
If I eat two, I won't feel hungry at all.
And I happen to have more than fourteen pills، so our food problem is officially solved."
Sarah's eyes widened in amazement.
She looked down at the small pill in her hand, stunned at how convenient it sounded.
Menma watched with a mischievous smile as Sarah brought the pill to her nose to sniff it curiously but immediately recoiled as the pungent odor hit her like a hammer.
Her head snapped back, eyes watering from the scent.
"Hahaha!
Even though they're convenient, the taste and smell of these things are universally hated by every ninja."
Menma laughed as he grabbed the pill Sarah was holding with a disgusted look and popped the pill into his mouth and chewed.
He didn't even flinch.
Sarah kept watching, expecting him to gag or grimace, but… nothing.
Menma's face didn't change at all.
Disappointed, she pouted a little.
Apparently, Menma was too used to eating things far worse to care about this pill's taste.
After finishing the pill, Menma extended his open palm toward Sarah, looking at her hand.
Sarah was confused at first, but she placed her hand inside his with trust and curiosity.
Menma gently held her hand and then placed two fingers from his other hand over her wrist, searching for chakra nodes and pathways in her palm, ready to change this girl's future, allowing her to decide for herself from then on, forward.