To Kill Oneself for the Benefit of All Under Heaven

"So, Kurama, what path of development did you choose?"

Inside the Sealing Space, the Nine Tails fell silent for quite a while upon hearing Menma's question.

In a daze, it seemed to hear Old Man of the Six Paths's voice again.

"Even if you are separated across the ends of the earth, you will always be together. And one day, you will become one again, carrying your respective names, in a manner utterly different from before."

"Unlike when you were inside me, you will receive proper guidance."

"At that time, you will understand what true power is..."

True power...

Old man, even now, I still don't understand.

Coming back to its senses, the Nine Tails said in a deep voice, "Over the long centuries of our lives, all nine of us Tailed Beasts have been pondering what true power is."

"The other Tailed Beasts all possess unique physical structures and their own Chakra Natures, but I do not."

"So if I wanted to gain strength, I could only develop my own chakra."

Menma raised a brow, instantly intrigued.

Was that the reason the chakra within Kurama was so pure, vast, and concentrated?

There was a certain elegance in its simplicity.

"Kurama, it seems you stumbled onto the right path by accident."

Compared to Menma's interest, the Nine Tails simply slumped inside its cage as though it had given up on life.

"Forget it!"

Perhaps because it had spoken of its past, it no longer bothered keeping up appearances. Its face was full of utter despair.

"If I faced ordinary shinobi like Hiruzen Sarutobi or Tobirama Senju, I could still crush them by firing off Tailed Beast Balls repeatedly. But if I faced Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha..."

Those two freaks barely seemed human.

They could catch a Tailed Beast Ball barehanded and shove it right back into its mouth.

One glare, and it would lose consciousness immediately.

No matter how much chakra it had, it was not enough to withstand a single grip from that idiot Hashirama Senju, nor a single glare from Madara Uchiha.

The Nine Tails had nothing to say.

But Menma was not disappointed. Instead, he scoffed. "That is because you do not know how to use your own chakra."

"I don't? Could it be that you—"

The Nine Tails had been about to refute him, but the rest of its words caught in its throat.

That was right. This guy really did seem better at using chakra than it was.

Whether it was that Nine-Faced Suporaka or the Spiraling Ring, their principles were both related to Tailed Beast Chakra.

With that thought, the Nine Tails fell completely silent.

Its expression became even more lifeless. Its entire body slumped limply through the cage like liquid, utterly transformed into a useless fox.

"A quantitative change leads to a qualitative change. Just like Asura, through cultivation, you awakened the potential of the chakra within your body."

Menma took a strand of Nine Tails fur from a test tube beside him and examined it closely before his eyes. "What you lack now is a key—a key to unlock that potential!"

Every perfect Jinchuriki could use Tailed Beast Chakra Mode.

But only Nine Tails Chakra Mode was pure gold, its level of strength surpassing that of every other Tailed Beast.

Then there was Kurama Mode, achieved through unity of heart and mind with the Tailed Beast, and Sage Fox Mode, formed by combining it with Sage Mode...

The Nine Tails' potential was far greater than this!

"...What is the key?"

Hearing the seriousness in Menma's voice, which did not seem feigned, the Nine Tails straightened its attitude somewhat as well.

"A host capable of withstanding the power of a powerful Tailed Beast, or..."

Menma's gaze deepened, and his tone carried a hidden meaning. "Learn Sage Mode."

Deidara could capture the wild Three-Tails with a single move. The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, could control the wild One-Tail. The Third Raikage could fight the Eight-Tails in hand-to-hand combat for three days and three nights.

This showed that, relying on their enormous chakra reserves, massive bodies, and special abilities, wild Tailed Beasts could possess strength comparable to Elite Jonin. The Nine Tails and Eight-Tails could rival the strongest Hokage and Raikage.

But that was their limit.

With the Tailed Beasts' physical structures, they could not fully bring out all their potential.

There was a vast difference in strength between Tailed Beasts with Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts without them.

"Chakra is the foundation of this world. The path you chose is absolutely correct."

No matter the world, the power of science and truth was indispensable.

But science also had to adapt and change according to its environment.

And in the Shinobi World, the core of science was undoubtedly chakra.

In this world where Chakra was truth, even science could not escape the framework of Chakra.

"Yin-Yang Release is still too far beyond my reach. Perhaps I can start developing the power of the Tailed Beasts ahead of time."

Once Naruto entered the Ninja School, he could have him look through the books in the Ninja School library.

If the Leaf Village had any relevant research theories or projects, they could at least provide him with a direction for research and some inspiration.

That would be far better than feeling his way across the river alone.

Menma's thoughts wandered as he comforted him, "Once I forge a body with enough potential, I'll let you see your true power."

"Wait! Forget about that for now!"

The Nine-Tails wanted to say something else, but seeing Little Naruto below scratching at his head in frustration, he twitched his lips and said, "If you don't go back soon, that brat Naruto is going to scratch his own scalp bloody!"

"Hm? I don't remember giving him any difficult problems."

Menma frowned slightly. After putting everything away, he also dispelled his Shadow Clone.

His intangible soul body followed the guidance of the Crimson Moon Book and flew into the distance.

When Menma returned to Naruto's residence, he happened to see Little Naruto lying on the bed, brow furrowed as he muttered nonstop to himself.

"That stubborn, one-track-minded brat."

Menma laughed and cursed softly as his soul body entered Naruto's Sealing Space once more.

Inside the Sealing Space.

The Nine-Tails covered his ears, looking helplessly at Naruto as he frantically shouted and raved.

Just what kind of question had that scheming bastard given him?

Why did it feel like this brat Naruto had completely lost his mind?!

Just as the Nine-Tails was grumbling inwardly, a figure slowly appeared within the Sealing Space.

At the sight, the Nine-Tails immediately revealed a look of relieved delight.

"Men—"

Just as he was about to speak, Menma raised a finger to his lips.

"Shh!"

Once Kurama quieted down, Menma silently moved behind Little Naruto.

Naruto's academic level had, in some respects, already reached the level of a middle school student from Menma's previous life.

He also possessed the most basic ability to think independently, capable of integrating different kinds of knowledge and applying them flexibly.

There were fewer and fewer questions that could stump him.

"There aren't any difficult questions on this test, though?"

Puzzled, Menma bent down to take a look.

The entire test paper was neat and orderly, with answers filled in for almost every question. The accuracy rate was also very high.

Yet one very simple short-answer question remained blank, standing out conspicuously.

"In Mozi's Da Qu: 'Killing one person to preserve the world is not killing one person for the benefit of the world; killing oneself to preserve the world is killing oneself for the benefit of the world.' Explain the meaning of this statement."

When he saw the question, Menma was briefly stunned.

How could such a simple question be impossible to answer?

Killing someone other than oneself to preserve everyone in the world did not mean that killing that person benefited everyone in the world. But killing oneself to preserve everyone in the world—that was killing oneself for the benefit of everyone in the world.

But after only three seconds, he understood, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

Clearly, Little Naruto had overcomplicated this interpretation question.

"Menma-nii!!"

At that moment, Little Naruto also noticed Menma behind him.

He looked up, delight first appearing on his face before instantly fading. With a miserable expression, he asked, "This... how am I supposed to explain this sentence?"

"Naruto, this kind of question involves multiple fields of knowledge, such as ethics and political science. It isn't something you should be dealing with yet."

After saying that, Menma looked into Little Naruto's watery eyes and was immediately at a loss for words.

The kid was growing up. He was getting harder to handle.

"Fine. Then I'll ask you a trolley problem similar to this statement."