Three years later.
Konoha Orphanage.
"Menma, here's your dinner for tonight. Don't be picky, okay?" Nono was distributing food to the children one by one, assisted by a few older kids, including the bespectacled Kabuto.
"Mm." The three-year-old Menma, wearing slightly oversized clothes, accepted the plate with an expressionless face.
"You kid, remember to say thank you! You must be polite!" Nono scolded him gently, her tone still warm despite her annoyance.
"Thank you, Director." Menma sighed and bowed slightly to Nono.
After all, she was his foster mother who fed and housed him. Though her nagging was tiresome, Menma still felt a faint warmth in his heart.
Kabuto, who was helping nearby, also said with a smile, "Go eat, Menma."
Three years had passed since Menma emerged from the Limited Tsukuyomi World, and he still hadn't fully adjusted, constantly fearing that this world might also be an illusion.
This lingering trauma continued to torment him.
Staring at Kabuto, who was now acting so kindly toward the younger orphans, Menma couldn't help but feel a stark contrast with the cold, scheming spy Kabuto from his memories.
'I spent fifteen years in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, and many of my memories of the original work have faded. When exactly was Yakushi Kabuto taken by Danzo? When did Yakushi Nono die?'
To Menma, those fifteen years didn't feel like a dream but rather like real, lived experiences… so much so that he now found himself overthinking everything.
On the other side, Kabuto felt slightly unnerved by Menma's intense gaze, unsure what his usually quiet younger brother was pondering this time.
Compared to the other orphans, Menma had always been reserved. Even as a baby, he rarely cried or fussed. While other children were still wetting their beds, Menma was already helping take care of them.
His only quirk was his reclusive nature and the strange way he looked at everyone.
Menma carried his plate to a random table and sat down. When the other orphans around saw Menma coming, they instinctively shifted slightly away.
It wasn't that they were ostracizing him… it was just that being around Menma made them feel uneasy. In the past, some kids had tried to play with him, only to be rejected. After enough attempts, they simply stopped trying.
Menma had long grown accustomed to solitude. Even in the Limited Tsukuyomi World, his instinctive detachment had created a barrier between him and his peers… even his parents in that world.
Moreover, Menma knew that Nono and Kabuto would soon be recruited by Root. Danzo might even select some orphans from the facility to undergo Root's brutal training… or worse, human experiments.
Therefore, he has to get stronger as soon as possible!
He had no intention of being chosen by Danzo, the Blame Kage, to join the Root.
"Menma." Just as he was deep in thought, a soft voice called out to him side.
Menma didn't need to turn his head to know it was Kabuto.
Carrying his own plate, Kabuto sat down beside Menma, effortlessly slipping into the role of an older brother. He picked up a piece of meat from his own plate and placed it onto Menma's.
"Huh?" Menma turned to him in surprise.
"You always finish your food so quickly. Are you growing and getting hungrier? Here, I'll share some with you." Adjusting his glasses, Kabuto mimicked Nono's gentle tone and demeanor as he spoke to Menma.
Then, he transferred half of the meat from his plate to Menma's.
Looking at the extra pieces of meat now on his plate, Menma felt an odd sense of unreality.
When he watched [Naruto] in his previous life, Kabuto was already the [Spy], Yakushi Kabuto, who was good at disguise, cold and insidious.
However, in the [Limited Tsukuyomi World], he hadn't encountered Kabuto at all, nor had he ever heard Nono's name.
If the [Limited Tsukuyomi World] was truly a parallel dimension, as many online theories suggested, then both should have existed there.
But there was another theory that the [Limited Tsukuyomi World] was constructed based on the caster's and the target's perceptions, meaning it wouldn't include anything beyond their knowledge.
This is also the reason why Menma suffered a mental breakdown in that world.
Knowing that he was in the fake [Limited Tsukuyomi World].
The gentle family life with Kushina and Minato, the reversed personalities of Konoha 12… every sense in his body screamed that this world is real.
But with no Uchiha Madara, no Sage of Six Paths, it meant this false world had no past or future!
Uzumaki Menma couldn't tell, he truly couldn't tell!
"Why are you so kind to me?" Menma lowered his head, his voice trembling.
He was terrified that this world might also be a false world.
In his memories, Kabuto should have been a cunning, deceitful, and cold-hearted enemy.
But now, he acted like an older brother, caring for his physical growth.
"We're brothers, aren't we? Helping each other is only natural." Kabuto's childish voice carried a hint of confusion.
In the orphanage, everyone was family, and they were supposed to support one another… that was the philosophy Nono had always instilled in them.
"If I were in trouble, Menma will help me too, right?" Kabuto smiled at Menma, his eyes narrowing.
Under the influence of Nono, Kabuto cared deeply for the children in the orphanage, because this is his home.
'Is it difficult...' Menma thought of the future and fate of Nono and Kabuto.
In this world, he had lost his family and was abandoned by Obito at the orphanage. Nono and the children here had become his new family.
For three years, no one had come to investigate the extra orphan from the night of the Nine-Tails Rampage, which likely meant the Third Hokage didn't know Kushina had given birth to twins.
He had maintained a distant and solitary demeanor, keeping others at arm's length, all to avoid altering the development of the original work.
However, this cautious mindset, so fearful of causing a butterfly effect, began to waver under Kabuto's kindness.
'At worst, I'll just treat this as a second fake world.' Menma relaxed his mind and looked up at Kabuto with determination: "I'll help solve any trouble you face."
Having spent these three years in the orphanage, Menma wasn't entirely sure about the state of the outside world.
But for the kindness Nono had shown him by taking him in, and for this meal Kabuto had shared with him, he didn't mind changing the future of Nono and Kabuto.
Kabuto was momentarily taken aback by Menma's seriousness but soon smiled again.
"Director, Danzo-sama is here to see you." A woman from the orphanage suddenly approached Nono, who had been watching the children eat.
When she heard this name, the gentle smile on Nono's face instantly stiffened.
"Ah, please watch the children. Make sure they go to bed early after dinner," Nono instructed before turning to leave the dining hall.
The dozens of other children who were eating did not notice anything unusual, only Kabuto and Menma sensed something was wrong.
Kabuto set down his plate and quietly followed.
Menma watched Kabuto's small figure disappear from the dining hall, then picked up his chopsticks and devoured the remaining pieces of meat in large bites.
He is still growing, and to refine more Chakra, his energy consumption was enormous.
Because Menma felt something was draining the Chakra he worked so hard to produce, rendering his efforts futile all these years.
Menma had a vague suspicion.
It seemed he had brought something out from the [Limited Tsukuyomi World].