Movie
Description
Menma, also known as Menma Uzumaki, is an original character created for the film Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie. He serves as the main antagonist and is fundamentally defined as the "Naruto Uzumaki" of an alternate reality, specifically a world created by the Limited Tsukuyomi genjutsu. Unlike Naruto, Menma grew up in a stable and loving home with both of his parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, who are alive and well in his world. At some point, the black-colored Nine-Tailed Fox, a counterpart to the one known in the primary timeline, was sealed within him, making him its jinchuriki.
Physically, Menma initially appears as a mysterious figure known only as the "Masked Man," wearing a white kitsune mask and a dark cloak. When his identity is revealed, he looks almost identical to Naruto but with significant, sinister alterations. His hair has turned from blonde to a shaggy black, he possesses darker and more feral-looking whisker marks on his cheeks, and he has dark circles under his eyes, all of which reflect his corruption by hatred and power.
In terms of personality, Menma is the dark reflection of everything Naruto represents. While he is implied to have once been cheerful and sociable, by the time of the story, he has become a power-hungry, callous, and world-threatening S-rank missing-nin. He is driven by a desire for strength, having spent over a year kidnapping shinobi with rare abilities and killing several, including an attempt on the life of his world's Jiraiya. Menma is mistrustful of others, vengeful, and spiteful, showing no remorse when he destroys a large portion of Konohagakure with his ultimate technique. He feels an intense hatred and disgust upon meeting Naruto, which fuels his desire to destroy him.
Menma's role in the story is that of a formidable enemy who has allied with the primary reality's Tobi (Obito Uchiha). He attacks Konoha to retrieve the Red Moon Scroll, a powerful artifact, and kidnaps Sakura Haruno to use as a bargaining chip. This sets him on a direct collision course with Naruto, who has been living in Menma's world and experiencing the family life he never had. The climax of the film features a direct confrontation between the two counterparts, where Naruto must ultimately defeat this corrupted version of himself.
Key relationships in Menma's life are also inverted. His parents, Minato and Kushina, are alive and well, though in this world, Minato is not the Fourth Hokage but a respected tokubetsu jounin. They are loving and supportive, though they do not initially realize the Naruto living with them is not their son. The alternate version of Hinata Hyuga is also shown to have a boisterous and open crush on him, a stark contrast to her primary counterpart's shy demeanor. His relationship with Sakura's alternate self is also implied to be close by his parents and friends.
Menma undergoes a form of development at the film's conclusion. After being defeated by Naruto in a final clash, his unconscious body is possessed by Tobi, who uses it to try and extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto. Once Naruto and Sakura break this control, Menma is freed from both Tobi's influence and the hatred that had consumed him. His hair reverts to its original blonde, and he is last seen peacefully in the care of his parents, suggesting a return to his true, uncorrupted self.
Menma's abilities are extraordinarily powerful, placing him on the level of an S-rank criminal. They are essentially dark mirrors of Naruto's own techniques but are executed with greater ease and control. He can perform a version of the Rasengan called the Spiralling Ring, which is a dark purple orb ringed with orbiting bands of chakra. His most devastating attack, the Great Spiralling Ring, is an immensely powerful version of this technique that he used to annihilate a large portion of Konoha with a single strike, an act comparable in scale to Pain's assault on the village. He is also highly skilled in taijutsu, capable of effortlessly defeating Naruto even when Naruto is empowered by Sage Mode.
One of his most unique abilities is the Nine Masked Beasts (Nine Masked Svaha), a powerful summoning technique. By forming a hand seal and chanting, Menma summons nine masked creatures, each with distinct powers including dragons, tigers, a reaper-like specter that drains chakra, and sages who can create barriers. When defeated, these beasts revert to small, one-tailed fox kits that can recombine with Menma to fully summon the Black Nine-Tails. As the jinchuriki of the Black Nine-Tails, Menma has vast reserves of potent, negative chakra and can command the full power of the fox, using it in battle as a massive and destructive summon.
Physically, Menma initially appears as a mysterious figure known only as the "Masked Man," wearing a white kitsune mask and a dark cloak. When his identity is revealed, he looks almost identical to Naruto but with significant, sinister alterations. His hair has turned from blonde to a shaggy black, he possesses darker and more feral-looking whisker marks on his cheeks, and he has dark circles under his eyes, all of which reflect his corruption by hatred and power.
In terms of personality, Menma is the dark reflection of everything Naruto represents. While he is implied to have once been cheerful and sociable, by the time of the story, he has become a power-hungry, callous, and world-threatening S-rank missing-nin. He is driven by a desire for strength, having spent over a year kidnapping shinobi with rare abilities and killing several, including an attempt on the life of his world's Jiraiya. Menma is mistrustful of others, vengeful, and spiteful, showing no remorse when he destroys a large portion of Konohagakure with his ultimate technique. He feels an intense hatred and disgust upon meeting Naruto, which fuels his desire to destroy him.
Menma's role in the story is that of a formidable enemy who has allied with the primary reality's Tobi (Obito Uchiha). He attacks Konoha to retrieve the Red Moon Scroll, a powerful artifact, and kidnaps Sakura Haruno to use as a bargaining chip. This sets him on a direct collision course with Naruto, who has been living in Menma's world and experiencing the family life he never had. The climax of the film features a direct confrontation between the two counterparts, where Naruto must ultimately defeat this corrupted version of himself.
Key relationships in Menma's life are also inverted. His parents, Minato and Kushina, are alive and well, though in this world, Minato is not the Fourth Hokage but a respected tokubetsu jounin. They are loving and supportive, though they do not initially realize the Naruto living with them is not their son. The alternate version of Hinata Hyuga is also shown to have a boisterous and open crush on him, a stark contrast to her primary counterpart's shy demeanor. His relationship with Sakura's alternate self is also implied to be close by his parents and friends.
Menma undergoes a form of development at the film's conclusion. After being defeated by Naruto in a final clash, his unconscious body is possessed by Tobi, who uses it to try and extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto. Once Naruto and Sakura break this control, Menma is freed from both Tobi's influence and the hatred that had consumed him. His hair reverts to its original blonde, and he is last seen peacefully in the care of his parents, suggesting a return to his true, uncorrupted self.
Menma's abilities are extraordinarily powerful, placing him on the level of an S-rank criminal. They are essentially dark mirrors of Naruto's own techniques but are executed with greater ease and control. He can perform a version of the Rasengan called the Spiralling Ring, which is a dark purple orb ringed with orbiting bands of chakra. His most devastating attack, the Great Spiralling Ring, is an immensely powerful version of this technique that he used to annihilate a large portion of Konoha with a single strike, an act comparable in scale to Pain's assault on the village. He is also highly skilled in taijutsu, capable of effortlessly defeating Naruto even when Naruto is empowered by Sage Mode.
One of his most unique abilities is the Nine Masked Beasts (Nine Masked Svaha), a powerful summoning technique. By forming a hand seal and chanting, Menma summons nine masked creatures, each with distinct powers including dragons, tigers, a reaper-like specter that drains chakra, and sages who can create barriers. When defeated, these beasts revert to small, one-tailed fox kits that can recombine with Menma to fully summon the Black Nine-Tails. As the jinchuriki of the Black Nine-Tails, Menma has vast reserves of potent, negative chakra and can command the full power of the fox, using it in battle as a massive and destructive summon.