Reborn as Naruto's older brother

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***

When the memories of the Clone that my brother had accidentally dispelled came to me, I wanted to rush straight to Naruto, but I remembered that the Clone... or rather Ryoshi had come with Hiruzen, who, despite his stealth, could see me, and had put up a barrier that I couldn't get through. So I'll have to visit Naruto tomorrow when they leave. It was strange that Ryoshi had dared to show me to Naruto without any caution. Did he really believe in himself that much, or had he just become strong enough to threaten all of Konoha? I'd have to check out his powers, I wondered what he'd achieved in such a short time and with such resources. That chakra surge, has his reserve really gone up that much?

- Pha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! - Fox suddenly laughed.

- Why are you laughing?! - I was outraged by his wild laugh, apparently addressed to me.

- Oh, nothing. You'll find out soon enough. Ha-ha-ha.

- I'll know? What are you talking about?

-...

- Hey! Answer me if you're interested!!! Don't sleep!

-Hrrrr.

- Come on!

Forgetting the situation, I looked out the window at the full moon, which seemed so close in this world compared to my previous world, and went to bed.

- Okay, good night.

- Night.

***

I wanted to go to Naruto's place the next morning, but when I saw the group of ANBU at the shelter, I decided not to risk it. Naruto would be living with me soon anyway, so we could make up for lost time, but for now we could wait a day or two. If I could wait six years, it wouldn't be that hard, though I'd still have to apologise to him for scaring him so much. The whole day went by as usual, but it seemed unusually LONG to me!!!! Although that may be self-inflicted. I trained with Daruma all day, though I rather trained with him half the time, and the other half I trained Shadow Techniques, giving Kenshi a couple of tasks to train him. I was training a certain technique that I was struggling with, by the way, namely Shadow Strangulation, which Shikaku-sensei had demonstrated to me. Speaking of which...

***

3 years ago.

One afternoon when I was visiting Sensei's house, he and I were playing Shogi on the terrace behind his house.

- Hmm. Nice move, Menma. - Shikaku sat cross-legged and stared thoughtfully at the board, resting a finger on his chin.

- *Snore-snore-snore* - little Shikamaru was snoring peacefully, lying on the pillow next to me.

- Yeah, no matter how many times I come round, he's always either asleep or lying there doing nothing. Though maybe it's the same thing..." I stroked his head and shifted my gaze back to the board.

- Let him enjoy it while he can. When he grows up enough, Yoshino won't let him get lazy like that. Then then...

- That's when he'll pick up the habit of saying 'tense' from you, Shikaku-sensei. - I continued my teacher's thought, but from my own point of view.

- It hasn't escaped you either, my dear Apprentice. - Nara smiled at me and made another move. - You lost, you shouldn't have been distracted.

- А?! How so?!

- Just like that.

- Shit, Sensei! You never let me win.

- Huh? Brother Menma?

- Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up, Shikamaru? I'm sorry. - Shikamaru carefully shifted his gaze to the board and stared at it for a moment, while Master and I froze in anticipation of something surprising.

- It's not because of the distraction at all, Brother Menma.

- What? Really? - I was surprised and even relieved, thinking that I hadn't made such a stupid mistake that caused me to lose.

- Yeah, you had no chance of winning in the middle of the game. Dad was just teasing you, giving you false hope.

- ... - I froze in shock and felt three spears being thrown at me at once, hitting me exactly in the head.

- Pha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! - Shikaku grabbed his stomach and fell to the floor and openly started laughing while wiping his tears.

- Senseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...!!!! - I was angry at my teacher, but in the next moment, my perception gave me a danger sign and I saw a frying pan flying into Sensei's face! My Sharingan activated at the same moment, and I saw the frying pan slowly slam into Shikaku's face, which was frozen in surprise, and he flew a decent distance away from us, especially considering what hit him.

- STOP LAUGHING ABOUT BEATING A KID! YOU'D BETTER GET BUSY!!! - Shikamaru and I clung to each other in fear, hugging each other, trying to keep a low profile.

-"Yoshino-san is scary when she's angry," I thought, and I swallowed in sync with Shikamaru. I could tell from his face that he was thinking the same thing.

- Lazy bastard! - Yoshino-san muttered one last time and went back to the kitchen, while Shikaku didn't move, but I could tell from his heartbeat that he was conscious and only pretending.

- Ha-ah-ah. - Also in sync, Shikamaru and I sighed and pulled away from each other.

- Is she gone? - Shikaku asked, opening one eye on the side that didn't have a bruise.

- Gee, Shikaku-sensei. You love your wife very much.

- I don't know how else. - Shikaku said and started walking towards the terrace, picking up the scattered board and pieces along the way.

- Another game?

- Why not? - We started to lay out the pieces and sat back down, but Shikamaru had already sat down in front of me and leaned back to watch the game. Well, Shikamaru is a bit of a maverick. He's considered a genius even among his Clan. I realised this clearly when even with the Nara Clan gene, it was a bit difficult for me to beat him in this game, and he's only four years old... well, almost... well, almost. 

- Listen, Menma. - Nara Sr. came to me.

- Yes? What's wrong, Sensei?

- Nothing, I was just wondering how far you've come in mastering Shadow Manipulation. - I opened my eyes wide in surprise and froze in mute shock.

- S-sensei, how did you...?

- How did I know that? The examiner from the First Stage told me. - Damn it! How could I screw up so badly?! I thought he didn't notice since he didn't fine me!

- That's it.

- Relax. I'm not going to interrogate you about how you learnt my Clan's techniques if you don't want to tell me. When you do, you can tell me, but I won't tell anyone.

- S-sensei, aren't you surprised?

- Why should I be surprised? If you have a good affinity with the Darkness, the possibility of you mastering these techniques is quite high. So there's nothing surprising about it. It would take a long time to learn these Techniques if you don't have a Master, or have scrolls detailing the training. I don't think you would be able to steal them from our Warehouse....

- I would never! - Certainly never from his Warehouse.

- Don't worry about it. I just wanted to see how far you've come. If you want, I could help you get up to speed.

- REALLY?! - I jumped up sharply, causing Shikamaru to fall forward face first onto the shogi board. - Oh! Shikamaru, I'm sorry! - I hurriedly picked him up and laid him on the pillow, looking at me with a disgruntled expression.

- Brother Menma, where do you get all this energy from?

- I'm sorry, I'll buy you another pillow..." he was still looking at me unhappily, so I continued. -...your choice. - and then he gave a little nod and plopped down on the pillow.

- Boys, dinner's ready. Go wash your hands. - A woman's voice came from the kitchen and Shikaku slowly began to put the pieces together.

- Sensei, thank you. - He only smiled and picked up the board and got up and walked into the house. - Well, Shikamaru, shall we go eat?

-He didn't react, to which I shrugged and picked him up with a pillow and ran into the house.

***

Just like that, somehow I stopped hiding Nara Techniques. Manipulating Shadow on the surface was much easier, as was the Shadow Needle Technique, but Manipulating it in the air and grabbing an opponent's body with a lot of force was still a challenge. I also practised manipulating Shadow in motion. It was also difficult, but with Shikaku's instruction, I was somehow starting to get the hang of it. At the end of the day, I sat on the Hokage Mountain and did chakrochannels for my eyes, which were still at the Three-Tome Sharingan stage. There was supposed to be a Clan Heads Council going on right now, which I had learnt from Shikaku-sensei, but he didn't divulge what it would be about, saying he didn't know himself. I could guess why they were calling it so urgently, though. Various thoughts came into my head about possible decisions at this council. What if Ryoshi wasn't given a clan or decided to kill him? I wonder if he would be able to escape in that case? And who were the two who were walking with him? Their faces were hooded, and I couldn't move away from Clone's return, so I didn't think to look at their faces with the Byakugan. Thoughts came one after another, but I decided not to bother. I'd find out tomorrow anyway. So I went home and after scattering the Clones in the backyard and at the training ground where they were practising Nara Techniques, I had dinner and went to bed.

***

As he ate breakfast the next morning, he felt someone breaking through the Barrier. Mina can pass through the Barrier by herself, but Daruma with Misa and Asami usually don't try to pass through it, but wait quietly nearby. My Tail in the form of ANBU Chunin has long since fallen away, so it's someone else. Walking calmly out the door, I saw an ANBU, oddly enough. Why the hell is he here? He looks like he's the president of the country who was made to wait for two hours at a bus stop. No, I haven't seen situations like that, but I'm sure a hapless president would have the same look as this kid.

- Uzumaki Menma. - and the voice is just as squeamish. I can't believe there are still those who try to shit on me in any way. Well, it's a small thing, so let them. And I'm used to such speech with strangers, but it's just a bit annoying in the morning.

- Yes. I tried to answer in the most indifferent tone possible.

- Hokage-sama wants to see you. It's urgent.

- Understood. You may go. - And without waiting for his outrage, he left with Shunshin himself. Huh, looks like something fun is about to happen!

***

When I entered the Hokage's office, I saw that he was having a nice conversation with my Clone about me.

- Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me? - I said, and both of them turned their heads in my direction.

- Yes, Menma. Come, sit down. - I obediently sat down, waiting for something to happen, and looked at Clone with interest. - Menma, I'd like you to meet him. This is Ryoshi Uzumaki. He's a fellow Clone of yours and recently came to the Village, becoming one of Konoha's Shinobi. - The third nodded towards my adult, gaunt, pale-skinned, smarmy copy, and Ryoshi smiled the Bisyonen Smile. How does he manage to use it without the Skill?!

- Hello, Menma-kun. Nice to meet you. - Ryoshi extended his hand to me, to which I extended my hand in return, and we shook hands quietly.

- Nice to meet you too, Ryoshi-san. - I smiled a happy smile. Well, what else could it be? It was the first time I'd met a fellow clanmate who had the same colour hair as me. Now I will definitely not be considered the only red-haired one. After all, I had been bullied by kids my age and older, mostly boys, just like my mother, but against the background of the general hatred of Demon, it didn't really stand out.

- Oh, good. I'm glad you two are friendly towards each other. After all, Menma, Ryoshi Uzumaki is now appointed the Head of the Uzumaki Clan and you are automatically transferred to his clan. - After Hiruzen's words, I made the most shocked face possible, slowly turning into an evil grin.

- WHAT?! I've been asking you for so many years to appoint me as the Head of MY Clan, which was left to me by MY mother!!!! And you just gave that title to the first Uzumaki to come to Uzumaki Village?!

- Calm down Menma, it's...

- Calm down?! Why did you make him the Head of the Village?! He hasn't even been in the village for a week! I saw him arrive two days ago! I've been here since birth! My parents have lived here all my life and I am the heir to the Clan!!! So why did you decide to make him Head of the Clan?!

- It was approved by the Council of Clan Heads. So take it for granted. As I said before, you're too young for that title. It would be better if Ryoshi-san took over and looked after you and the other members of your Clan.

- I don't need any guardian!!! I've already become Tokubetsu-Jonin, and I'm well on my way to becoming Clan Head!!! The Head of the Clan is the strongest member of the Clan and a member of the Main Family! My mother created this Clan and was the Head of the Clan! And I am her son and direct heir!!! I don't care what you Clan Heads decide! I will not give my mother's legacy to this scrawny stranger who's come to make himself available!

- Menma! This is unacceptable behaviour in the Hokage Cabinet! - Sarutobi said rudely and looked at me with displeasure. The clone, however, sat silently watching with a slight smile on his face as I shouted and argued with Hiruzen.

- Calm down, Menma-kun. - I sensed the wild danger coming from Ryoshi, and looked at his calm smile with horror. He had definitely pressed me with the YAKI, and in a showy way that Hiruzen would appreciate. But the force of his pressure was really palpable! At that moment, I realised how much superior he was to me in strength, and in a one-on-one fight, I would definitely lose. Wow, the Clone has evolved! I wonder what will happen when we lose?! I'm soooo curious! But it's better not to show this interest on my face, but to pretend to be a frightened boy, which turned out to be quite easy, because I really got scared!!!! Even though I know that the Clone won't kill me, even though no one can kill me in this world, the pressure and the feeling of danger was very strong in my mind. - I'm not going to take Kushina-san's inheritance from you. It will pass to you completely. Nor will I touch your property or your personal accounts. I've got quite a few myself, so I'm not interested in yours. Even though you are strong, you still need care, so I will look after you as the Head of the Clan. I'll watch your development and help you train. There's still a lot you don't know about your Clan and you're not training properly. I will help you with that.

- I don't need your help! You're not much stronger than me and you're telling me you can teach me something?!

- Menma, he-" Hiruzen wanted to say something, but Ryoshi held up his palm, letting him know it was okay.

- If you want, you can try to defeat me.

- I'm ready! - *Click*. With a snap of his fingers, the Clone stood up and I saw a small sized Barrier form around us. We were both in it, and Sarutobi just put his chin on his intertwined fingers and watched with interest.

- You may begin. - Clone said softly, after which I immediately folded the seal and said....

- Shadow Paralysis. - The distance between us was small and the shadow quickly reached him and immobilised him. - Huh, I won.

- You did? Hmm, Nara Clan Technique. Not bad, but weak. - After saying that, Ryoshi covered his body with chakra and Naked Power moved, interrupting my technique.

- What?! - I stared at him in astonishment. No, I was expecting him to be able to get out, but a simple Naked Power!!!!

- You shouldn't be so relaxed. Come on, show me what you can do. - Even after his rather strong footsteps, the floor wasn't damaged in any way and seemed to be covered by a barrier. It was probably not dome-shaped, but semicircular. Apparently, this is the place to really show what I can do.

- The First Gate: The Gate of Beginnings. Open! - After opening the gate, I used Body Flicker and rushed towards the Clone, who was still staring at me calmly. When I reached him, I tried to hit him, but he dodged easily and sent me flying back with a single leg kick! I flew off, feeling pain in the chest area and crashed into the Barrier wall behind me. - Kha. "Quick!"

- Come on. - I stood up and looked at him.

- "Byakugan, Sharingan, Metamorphism." Lightning Shroud! - I rushed over to him and clashed with him in Taijutsu, and this time I fought him on equal terms, and even outclassed him at some points. I caught a glimpse of Hiruzen frowning at me. Had I overdone it and shouldn't have put in so much effort? After twenty seconds of continuous fighting, we bounced off each other and I saw that Ryoshi had received a couple of bruises on his arms and legs. Hmm, his clothes were torn too, and they look expensive, maybe I overdid it? Without thinking about it I was about to dash back to him, but I flinched! When I saw my hands, I stared in shock at the seals on them, which had never been there before. They were different, but they were... all over the places he'd hit. What is that?! - What is that?!

- Heh, I think I'll call it a day. You're pretty fast, Menma-kun. But you see, I'm not a fighter. I'm an assassin. - When I looked at the rest of my body, I was even more shocked! I had one seal on my chest where he hit me the first time, and there were similar seals in other places in a slightly different pattern. - Do you know what they say about me? There's something written in blood red in the Book of Bingo about me that makes everyone think I'm good at close combat and that's my main advantage. Well, they're not entirely wrong. I'm not bad at close combat, but not at a level that would make them say that about me. Simply put, it's not my strength or speed that gets me into melee combat. It's because of this. - He slowly raised his hand and snapped it. In an instant, I felt a sharp pain throughout my body and realised that I was on fire! The fire spread right from where the first seal was and enveloped my body.

- Aah! - *click* and my body was enveloped in water and I was in a water bubble. Then I felt a sharp jab of electricity and realised that my cover and the water around me was not a good combination, because I started to be electrocuted continuously! I stopped the technique and felt the water bubble lose its shape and I fell to the ground. Then I felt warmth all over my body and saw it glowing green. My wounds started to heal and I slowly started to recover and after a couple of seconds, was able to stand up. Raising my head I looked at my opponent with surprise.

- You got that right. There are techniques hidden in all the seals on your body. Even in the seal on your neck. - When I heard that, I sharply touched my neck and looked at it with my Byakugan and realised that he wasn't lying. - What kind of Technique do you think she's wearing?

- ...! - In the blink of an eye, I imagined all sorts of water and wind elemental techniques that could blow my head off and felt sweat running down my forehead. The clone only smiled, slowly ran a finger down his throat and laughed.

- ''Ha ha ha, don't be afraid, Menma-kun. I wouldn't kill a member of my Clan unless of course he deserved it. - *click* and I saw a red Barrier form around me and the seal around my neck disappear. - All the other seals are barrier seals too, you have nothing to worry about. - Yeah, well, that was sadistic of me. Ugh, that was really scary. *click* and the Barrier around me and the first Barrier slept, and Ryoshi calmly walked over to me and touched my shoulder. I then watched as all the seals on my body smoothly transferred to his arm and hid in his clothes. - If you want, I can teach you this Technique and many more, Menma-kun.

- I don't need anything from you! I will never recognise you as Clan Head!!! - Throwing his hand aside when he was done, I ran out of the Cabinet. I have to play this game to the end, now that I've started. It would be a small conspiracy.

- I suspected it would be like this. Ryoshi-san, understand the boy. His parents' inheritance is very important to him.

- I understand, Mr Hiruzen. He and I will get along, don't doubt it. - Ryoshi smiled and sat back in his chair.

I ran out of the Residence, or rather, I ran out of the office, and then Shunshin took off, I headed towards the Hokage Mountain by the upper paths, thinking about what had happened. So that's why they don't get into close combat with him! A really powerful Technique! Although, I thought he was using poisons and that's why.... but that's not the case. But it's also possible that he just didn't use poisons on me. In general, the environment was more suited to him. Even though I'd been trained in melee combat, that Barrier was a big advantage for an assassin like him. After all, I couldn't use my large-scale variations of Rasengan with elemental jutsu, but it was also possible that he had similar Techniques as well. Heh, there's a lot I don't know about him. When we're alone together, I'll definitely ask him about it and make him teach me. That would be stupid, though. I need to develop in different directions from him, but it's still worth it to be trained in Resistance Techniques.

Sitting on my father's head, I switched on my eyes and started to watch what was happening in the office. And there was a lot to see. There were much more people in the study now than before. The Third, Ryoshi, and, as I realised, the heads of the other Clans. Hiruzen was introducing My Clone to everyone, and they were shaking hands, saying they'd heard of him, wanted to work with him, etc. etc. I had no desire to read their lips to see what they were talking about. It was boring, so I just watched the whole office.

But at some point the need to just watch went away. After some phrase from Hiruzen, Hiashi stepped forward and volunteered for something. To that, the Clone only smiled at him and replied....

- Well then, let's go.

Everyone present followed them out, and together they arrived at one of the training grounds near the Mountain, and I approached them using Invisibility Cloak. I sat down a little further away and watched as Hiashi and Ryoshi stood across from each other in battle readiness and Hyuga activated the Byakugan. After giving the Hokage permission to start the fight, they both rushed towards each other and a super speedy melee ensued!!!! Honestly, I could only follow them thanks to my Hardened Eyes! Hiashi used all of Juken's potential and threw punches at top speed, each of which Ryoshi parried and threw his own punches that were already parried by Hyuga. Neither of them was inferior to the other in close combat and that was despite the fact that Clone didn't use Dojutsu! Although, he may have still used the Sharingan. Its inclusion is not outwardly apparent, unlike Byakugan, which makes the veins around his eyes bulge. But how much he had pumped the Sharingan, really...!!!!!

- Eight Heavenly Strikes! - While I was thinking about it, the Hyuga techniques that Hiashi had a decent grasp of came into play. Ryoshi flew backwards, but did a somersault and landed on his feet, albeit a little bruised.

- Water Element: Water Cannon! - The clone had already started using Techniques. They were mostly Water Element Techniques, and they were unrealistically powerful! The Water Cannon alone is worth it! My Technique is many times inferior to his, and I mean that! The Hyuga Head was getting pummeled by the Jutsu being used, but he held on, using...

- The Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Wall! - The technicians collided and stopped each other.

- Water Element: Water Dragon! - surprisingly, Clone didn't use water from the river or any other water source that wasn't here. He released this Dragon right out of his mouth!!! Where does he get all that Water Element chakra from?! He can't have that much affinity?!

- Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Rotation! - The dragon collided directly with the small rotating chakra dome and shattered, but at the same time, Hiashi was completely drenched and fell to the ground. After that, with a distinctive *Poof* sound it fluttered away, and a whole Hyuga ran up to Ryoshi from behind and hit the Uzumaki with a Penetrating Blow right in the back.

- Kha! - The clone flew off, and his restless opponent headed after him.

- Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms of Heaven!

- Water Element: Water Pillar! - As Hiashi was about to strike, Clone did a backflip, kicking him in the face and raising the Water Pillar right under the long-haired man's feet. Hyuga flew upwards, feeling the pain of the water pressure, but Ryoshi jumped up and, doing a somersault forward, delivered a crushing blow to the proud Clan Head's stomach. Hyuga flew straight down, tearing the water column with his body, which made the fall even more painful, and slammed into the ground.

- Khaaaa! - he spat out blood and leaned on his arm, barely able to stand up. - Я... I can still... I can still fight!

- Haaaaah, and I... give up. - The clone exhaled heavily and raised his hands in the air.

- What?!" everyone shouted except Hiashi. He only looked at his opponent who had just dealt him a crushing blow in surprise, he didn't believe he could fight after that, but the pride of the Clan made him stand up and fight to the end.

- What do you mean by that, Ryoshi-san? - Hiruzen asked calmly.

- Are you saying you don't want to fight me anymore! I can still fight! And I won't tolerate pity and such treatment from you!

- You must have misunderstood me, Hiashi-san. I really can't go on any longer. I'm out of chakra. Remember, I'm not a fighter, I'm an assassin, and I'm not used to fighting to exhaustion. I have mostly Water Element Techniques in my arsenal, and since there were no water sources here, I had to spend my own chakra to replenish the necessary amount of water for my Techniques. So now, even though I'm a member of the Uzumaki Clan, I'm completely exhausted and can't use Ninjutsu. So I'm giving up. - Hiashi stared at him and couldn't say a word. Hiruzen only glimpsed at Ryoshi and decided to discuss the matter later.

- Alright, since Ryoshi-san can no longer continue, the victorious Head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi....

- Wait a moment. - Hiashi himself slowly stood up and walked over to Ryoshi. Then, he did the unexpected to everyone. - I can't continue the fight either and surrender. Let's agree to a draw this time. What do you think, Ryoshi-san? - he held his hand out to Clone.

- Of course. - The red-haired man only smiled and shook the hand of the Hyuga Head. Later, they talked amongst themselves for a bit and as they all headed back, Sarutobi walked over to Clone and addressed him.

- Ryoshi-san. I don't believe that Three-Tailed Jinchuriki could run out of chakra because of Water Element techniques. And you didn't use what you demonstrated in the fight with Menma. Why did you do that?

- Hiruzen-san, I don't want to antagonise Hiashi-san, much less lower his face in front of the other Heads. I want a peaceful relationship with them, and I think one of my new Clanmates is interested in the female members of the Hyuga Clan. - Ryoshi smiled pleasantly and signalled that the conversation was over.

- I see...