Chapter 3: The Mask
After a spiral appeared in the Akatsuki hideout, Tobi and Zetsu returned from their mission carrying Menma's unconscious body still wrapped in tree roots. Tobi was exhausted from using in Sharingan so much in a short time that he fell down to one knee.
"Are you all right, Madara?"
"Yes, I only used more chakra than I expected when we crossed to our dimension. Traveling between worlds requires a lot of concentration to open the gate and send us back. Luckily, we shouldn't have any problems with the people of that place here as there is no way for them to create a gate"
"You are right. So, what do we do with the kid?"
"Release his arms and chained him to the wall. He should wake up soon and I need some time to recover before I bring back our ally. I expect no mistakes from you, do you understand, Zetsu?"
"Yes, sir".
Menma started to regain consciousness and the first thing he noticed was that he was in some kind of operation room. His ankles and wrists were chained to the wall. He could feel the Nine Tails' chakra his body and he tried to use it to broke. However, something was blocking the flow of the fox's chakra to go his arms and legs.
"What's going on, dattebayo!?"
"It seems that you finally wake up. Before anything, let me welcome you to my world".
"Your world? How you do bring me here!?" said Menma trying to move without getting results.
"Stop trying to escape, you will hurt yourself. Soon you will work for me, so I can tell you: All this is possible thanks to the power of my Sharingan.
"Wait a second, Sharingan? That belongs to the Uchiha Clan. I know what Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke can do with it, and they are not able to cross across dimensions or vanish like a ghost".
"Every Sharingan is different and those two that you mentioned are not really talented shinobis.
"I hate to say it but Sasuke spent more time trying to make every girl of the village to fall into his arms than practicing his ninja skills. However, Kakashi-sensei is always training…".
"Now that you know it, it's time to bring back the Masked Man" said Madara approaching until he was face to face with Menma, then he activated the Tsukuyomi of his right eye. It didn't take a lot of time for Madara's Sharingan to paralyze and to knock out Menma.
When Menma opened his eyes again, he was in a completely different place. He was in a black and white world with red sky and dark clouds. Behind him was the Kyuubi's prison. He had saw that place in multiple occasion when he came to bargain for his chakra for some risky missions.
"Kyuubi, do you understand what is happening here?"
"Not sure, kiddo. There is something familiar ARGGHHHH"screamed the tailed beast in pain, moving his head side to side.
"What is happening?"
"Someone is trying to control my mind, like when…AHHH" groaned the fox in pain as he continued fighting. However, the Kyuubi sounded more like a savage beast as a dark aura began to cover the Nine Tails Fox.
"Taming this Kyuubi is easier than the other one as he didn't face mine or Itachi's Sharingan before. I already released the darkness of the Kyuubi's chakra. It's your turn to accept you own darkness so my power can bring back the Masked Man.
Menma wanted to attack Tobi, but some chains that came out of nowhere wrapped his body and dragged him to giant rock with the shape of a T. When his back hit the hard rock, four shackles imprisoned his wrists and ankles forcing to look straight into the Akatsuki leader.
"How did you this?"
"Tsukuyomi. I'm the master of this universe, I control everything here as this is the perfect genjustu. But don't worry, you will not die. But I can guarantee you that the pain you are about to feel would be very real."
Tobi approached slowly to Menma, who tried to escape with all of his force, but it was worthless. Tobi raised his right hand bringing it closer to Menma's chest. Then with a quick movement, he impaled his hand near his heart making Menma to scream at the top of his lungs.
Several images appeared in front of Menma's eyes. Those were his memories when he was the Masked Man: When he destroyed Konoha with his masked beasts, how he easily defeated anyone who dared to cross paths with him.
"Remember that power. You can take it back. You will have the strength to defeat everyone and claim the Hokage position for yourself. All your enemies will tremble the moment they hear your name."
Menma could feel that power in his hands as the Kyuubi's chakra under his control and something more. However, something in his mind was pushing him to reject Madara's offer. A series of memories appeared in front of his eyes in that moment.
His parents. He remembered his birthday party when he blew the candles of his cake with his mom and dad at each sit while his godfather took the photo. When his mother took him for the first time to Ichiraku Ramen, and when she had the talk about girls some years later in the restaurant. Kushina told him that as she was woman, she wasn't sure what to say. So her advice to his boy was just to try not to pick a weird one and try to find someone like his mother.
After that, it came some memories of his dad like when Minato taught him the Rasengan and gave him a better conversation about girls to his son. But besides his family, a large part of those memories involved a certain pink-haired girl.
Sakura was all around those memories: When they met as little kids and became friends. Those days when they played on the park, when Menma became Sakura's support when she lost her parents, the missions and adventures that they had together with their friends. Seeing Sakura and his parents gave Menma enough willpower to resist Tobi's influence, something that the Akatsuki leader couldn't believe.
Alone in a forest near the border of the Fire Country, Sasuke was planning his vengeance against Konoha for what they did to his brother and family. Then out of nowhere, Zetsu came out of the ground. Sasuke didn't even flinch with the sudden appearance of the Akatsuki, he just limited himself to replay in a cold tone:
"What do you want?"
"Madara-sama needs your presence for huge attack against Konoha"
"If he wants to eliminate that village, he would been here in person or give me more information. I'm not his pet like you, so tell me what are you hiding" said Sasuke activating his Sharingan to threaten the Akatsuki.
"Madara doesn't want you act or try to do something stupid by yourself. He just wants you to meet the most recent member of Akatsuki. You would find his personality more akin to yours, so he can be a better teammate than the rest of Taka. We will need to lure Konoha into our trap and create fear in the village before they met their end."
"You talked a lot about an unknown ninja that I haven't heard before"
"When he is ready, you will see him, let's say, like a childhood friend. Just go to the west until you find a small village. You would not waste your time. Just a small request from Madara: Leave Karin and the rest out of this mission for now." Sasuke just nodded so Zetsu disappeared again.
What Zetsu didn't tell Sasuke was that there was a big ANBU team nearby. They for sure will see and track down Sasuke and notify the Hokage about his destination.
Back in the Tsukuyomi world, Menma was using all his willpower to fight Tobi's influence. The bond with his family and Sakura was so strong that it was protecting Menma's soul of falling back into Akatsuki's claws. Tobi was getting weaker with each second and if this continues, he will have to release the jutsu.
He thought about stealing Menma's fox instead of Naruto as a replacement. However, there were a couple of issues with his plan. First, even if the Menma's fox was the double of Naruto's, their foxes weren't created by the same Six Path Sage. If he introduced that chakra into the statue, there was a chance that it won't work. The other issue was that Naruto Uzumaki would be still alive with the power of his tailed beast. In the scenario that Naruto would be able to fully control the power of the Kyuubi, he would become a huge threat for his plans. He needed to get rid of the jinchuriki to eliminate any nuisances. And there was a third reason: It won't be bad to have a powerful ally by his side.
"Just surrender Menma and take my offer"
"Never. I won't be your puppet again. You won't hurt my love ones again"
After hearing the blond ninja, Tobi discovered his weak point. It was the only option to tumble his mental barriers and crumble his iron will. He needed to use a memory of his own, something that he had buried in the deeps of this mind a long time ago.
"You really think that you can fight against me. Do you think that I'm the real threat for the ones you care?"
"Yes, you are. I will protect them for sure, dattebayo"
"Menma, I'm not the real enemy. My goal is to make a better world for everyone. I could be a threat in your eyes, but tell me…there are enemies or wicked people in your home world?" Menma just nodded, so Tobi continued.
"Orochimaru or someone more dangerous than me could come in your future. You can be stronger than all the Hokages together, but in the end…you can't save everyone, right?"
After Madara finished, the Tsukuyomi world turned all black and Menma wasn't able to see anything. After a second, the light returned and everything seems to be normal. It was like if he just woke up from a bad nightmare.
The landscape was completely different as it was an empty field and Menma was free of his chains. He could hear the voices of all his friends approaching with smiles on their faces. However, when they touched him, they turned into dust. The empty field changed and it turned into a graveyard and at his feet where the saw graves of all his friends with their names on them: Sasuke, Ino, Sai, Rock Lee, Kakashi-sensei…
Menma fell to his knees, but he didn't have time to process as he heard the scream of a beast getting closer. Before he could get up, the huge claw of a beast appeared in front of him ready to kill him. Menma didn't have to react or do anything, but nothing happen to him.
Kushina and Minato appeared and used their bodies to protected their son. However, the nightmare for Menma continued. The beast stabbed Kushina and Minato with its claw causing a lethal injury as the claw pierced through their bodies. The blond ninja was broken as he saw his parents' life extinguish while they were saying goodbye with a smile on their face and affection of their eyes. He wanted to hug them when they said how much they loved him and how proud they were of his son, but his body didn't answer and now he was only able to watch them die in front of him.
Tobi knew that Menma was broken, he was near his breaking point. Menma just needed the final push. Tobi had to show Menma how cruel and evil the world was, he had to felt the same pain that he experienced that night. He had to know that not even the purest human being can't survive in this world, not in its current state.
"My goal is to create eternal peace through the Infinite Tsukuyomi"
Menma appeared now in the middle of forest. It was raining and he was surrounded by the death bodies of several ninjas. A red full moon bathed with this light the area where a young lady laid down. As Menma approached her, he discovered who she was. It was probably his worst nightmare.
In the ground, it laid a female body with a mortal injury that has penetrated her heart. Menma knew immediately who she was. It was his best friend, the woman that, without knowing, he truly loved, the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage: Sakura Haruno. When he was next to her body, he couldn't control himself anymore. He ran and he fell to his knees. Menma held Sakura's body close to him, her skin was cold as ice and he tried to wake her up.
"Please Sakura-chan, open your eyes…Not you, not now. Don't let me alone. I beg you, don't. no no NOOOOO" Menma cried loudly in pain.
Giving the boy a second to suffer, Tobi appeared behind him to mention a phrase that has been engraved in his mind for many years
"This world is entirely worthless. There is nothing left in it but misery. We are living in Hell, Menma. A Hell where you can win a war, but in the end, you can't keep save the ones you love. This is not the way to achieve true peace. This happen because the world is evil and it can't be saved. Only through the Infinite Tsukuyomi we can do it. If we do it, we can prevent this destiny for your friends, parents and the girl you love. So, what would be your answer now, Menma?"
Menma was focused on Sakura's face. He put a hand in her cheek and hugged her in pain before saying the words that Tobi has been waiting to hear.
Tobi returned to reality exhausted to the point that he has to put a hand on the wall. His Tsukuyomi wasn't as strong as Itachi's, additionally it took him a lot to break the kind. He didn't consider that he had to use that memory to do it. Tobi approached Menma to release him from his chains and helping to sit in the ground.
When Menma woke up, he raised from the ground and he went for Tobi. The Uchiha knew that he won't attack him, instead he gave him the object that Menma was looking for.
His kitsune mask, a dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar, and a tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with the emblem of the Masked Man.
Menma put the clothing in a table next to him and kept the mask in his hands. He looked at it for a seconds before put it. As the mask was getting closer to his face, his blond hair darkened until it was full black.
Tobi was finally satisfied as he has obtained what he has been looking for: The Masked Man was back and he was ready to fight.
Thanks for all the support to the story. Hope you liked this chapter and the references that I used when Tobi broke Menma until he accepted his power. Now the Masked Man is back in action and Sasuke is on the run. We will see what happen in the next chapter. If you enjoy the story, please leave a review, follow or fave as it motivates me to continue working on this version of the story.
