The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

Ichiraku Ramen.

As the most famous food in the original work, Menma naturally came to eat it after arriving in this world. Of course, this was also because he knew that the owner of Ichiraku Ramen did not hate and reject Menma like ordinary people. He treated Menma like an ordinary child, just like other customers.

Mianma naturally prefers to come to this store.

This was the only place Mianma could eat out in the 12 years before graduating. Of course, she could only go in when there were no other customers, and she always ate very quickly. As soon as she sensed that someone else was coming, Mianma would leave immediately, regardless of whether she was grateful or not.

They just treat themselves normally.

In a ninja village like this, the owner's actions are quite commendable and very kind.

It's definitely not to the point of being touching.

But deep down, they certainly don't want to affect other people's business because of themselves.

The owner of Ichiraku Ramen naturally knew Menma. He felt somewhat sorry for Menma's plight and situation, and also felt that some of the other people were being a bit too much. Menma was just a child, but he could understand his neighbors. He knew that in the chaos 12 years ago, countless people lost their relatives and friends, and such hatred was hard to suppress.

Not to mention that the boss is just an ordinary person.

It's impossible for them to have any say or ability in this matter; at most, they can only secretly add a little extra portion for Mianma when she comes to eat.

This can be considered a form of care from him.

"Yes, two more servings of char siu, Jiraiya-sama. Please wait a moment."

After bowing again, the owner immediately turned around to prepare three servings of ramen.

Not long after.

Three steaming bowls of ramen, clearly much larger than usual, were placed in front of the three of them.

"I'm starting!"

Naruto, sitting in the middle, immediately lit up with excitement. After saying those words, he began to wolf down his food.

It seems that for Naruto, no food in the world can compare to a bowl of fragrant Ichiraku Ramen.

In just a few minutes.

This bowl of ramen, which most ordinary people would not be able to finish, ended up entirely in Naruto's stomach.

The noodles on the side were equally impressive.

He already had a considerable appetite, and today he had been practicing his diet all day, finishing a bowl of ramen in the blink of an eye.

Jiraiya, watching Naruto and Menma eat in almost perfect unison, couldn't help but feel a touch of reminiscence in the depths of his eyes.

Same red hair, same blonde hair.

His face bore a resemblance to Minato's, and his appearance was somewhat similar to Kushina's.

at that moment.

Jiraiya felt as if he had returned to a time more than ten years ago, to the time when he dined with one of his disciples at his home.

'Has it been 12 years already?'

Jiraiya couldn't help but think to himself.

It all seems like it happened just yesterday.

Twelve years ago, when he received the news of his disciple and his wife's deaths in battle, Jiraiya simply couldn't believe his ears. In his mind, his exceptionally talented disciple was supposed to lead Konoha for at least another twenty or thirty years, right? How could he have died so easily?

He didn't believe it, or rather, he didn't want to believe it.

But when he returned to Konoha, he saw the completely cold and stiff corpses of Minato and Kushina, as well as their two newborn brothers, Naruto and Menma, who were still in swaddling clothes.

At that moment, Jiraiya's heart was undoubtedly filled with sadness, and looking at the young Menma and Naruto brothers, Jiraiya was filled with pity.

It would be a lie to say that Jiraiya never considered returning to Konoha to personally take care of Naruto and Menma.

Ultimately, however, he chose to leave Konoha again for some reason. It might have been because of the ridiculous prophecy of the 'Child of Prophecy' from Mount Myōboku, or it might have been because of a series of words spoken by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But no matter what, Jiraiya ultimately shirked his responsibilities.

That's right, it's responsibility.

A different identity from others.

Jiraiya was truly Minato's mentor.

Even in the world of Naruto, such a master-disciple relationship is almost like that of a father and son.

Just like how Naruto addresses Jiraiya in this life, Jiraiya is Menma's, Naruto's, 'grandfather' in a real sense!

But what about Jiraiya? In the past 12 years, has he fulfilled his duties and responsibilities as a grandfather?

Oh, I mean in terms of dough.

After all, Naruto is known as the son of the Fourth Hokage.

In the past 12 years, Jiraiya has occasionally returned to Konoha, but he only ever went to see Naruto and never visited Menma.

Therefore, Jiraiya felt a great deal of guilt towards Masa.

But as some fans have said in the past, if Jiraiya knew about Naruto's childhood experiences but didn't take care of him, then Jiraiya would be bad. If he didn't know about Naruto's childhood experiences at all, then he would be stupid, and hopelessly stupid.

Regardless of which possibility it is.

Jiraiya's responsibilities are inescapable.

Menma was naturally unaware of Jiraiya's inner thoughts at that moment, and even if she did, she would only scoff at it.

Guilt?

This kind of emotion is always the most luxurious and the most useless.

To paraphrase a line from Mianma's previous life.

'If apologies were enough, what would be the point of having police?'

Menma is no longer the person she was when she first came into this world.

That ridiculous past life filter has long been abandoned by Menma.

Now, he judges everyone in this world by only one criterion: whether they are his own people who are willing to walk alongside him or his enemies who stand in his way.

Therefore, Menma views Jiraiya the same way he views Kakashi and the others—as a stranger. His future attitude will depend on their choices.

Of course, this was basically foreseeable.

"Mianma, you just came from the mountains west of the village, right? What were you doing there?"

After eating and drinking to one's heart's content.

Stepping out of the store.

Naruto patted his belly contentedly, letting out a burp, then tilted his head and looked at Menma with a curious expression, asking...

"Ah, that's where I trained. There's still some time before the third round of the main competition. I want to become as strong as possible."

Mianma replied with a smile.

"Oh! Training, huh? Sasuke, that guy, was also taken away by Kakashi to do some training. I was also planning to have Jiraiya guide me in my training. Hey, Menma, why don't you come along too, okay? Jiraiya-sama!?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 107 Laughable Each Other

Naruto nodded knowingly, then, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly turned to look at Jiraiya, who had just finished paying the bill and stepped out, and asked loudly.

"Hehe, of course there's no problem. Guiding the two of you is no problem at all."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, then nodded with a loud laugh without hesitation.

Menma is also Minato and Kushina's child. They couldn't take care of him before for various reasons, but now it's time.

It's impossible for Menma to never know who her parents are, right?

However, what Jiraiya didn't know was that Menma already knew this.

When Menma heard Naruto's words, his expression froze for a moment, and he couldn't help but recall the interactions between Jiraiya and Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, in the original story.

When I watched it before, I thought it was so heartwarming and touching.

When Jiraiya died in battle.

At that time, I was a very young person in my past life, and I felt the same sadness as Naruto on screen.

But in this life, he is different.

He has a swirling, pockmarked face.

He had no affection for Jiraiya whatsoever.

Because of the 12-year gap and the 12 years of responsibility, it cannot be made up for by so-called companionship later on.

Even if a nail is pulled out of the wall after it has been nailed in, the nail hole will still remain in the wall.

He is Menma Uzumaki, not Naruto Uzumaki.

It's impossible to have the compassion of a saint to forget all unfair treatment, to forget all hatred, and then to be grateful for those so-called favors.

Therefore, Menma smiled and shook his head, saying, "Then I don't need to trouble Jiraiya-sama, because I've been focusing on basic training lately."

"Basic cultivation?"

Naruto looked puzzled.

"Yes, it's about kunai throwing and taijutsu training. I think ninjas should focus more on basic training. This will help solidify our strength, and once the foundation is solid, the improvement in strength will become more obvious."

Mianma replied softly.

This is certainly not something Mianma is making up.

Ninjas are inherently required to focus on training their fundamental skills.

A prime example is Matt Kay.

He has consistently adhered to the most basic cultivation practices for countless years.

"Huh? Is it true?"

Upon hearing that he could become stronger, Naruto's eyes immediately lit up.

"Menma makes a lot of sense. A ninja isn't necessarily strong just because he learns a lot of ninjutsu. Of course, you have to learn ninjutsu, but you have to learn the ones that suit you. And you absolutely can't neglect the basics. That's the true path to mastery."