Menma (anime)

was a former member of a group of bandits originating from the Land of Rice Fields. His real name is unknown. 
== Background ==
Menma lost his parents when he was little and was adopted by the Shiin clan. Around the time Otogakure was founded, the majority of his clan's skilled members defected to the village, and the country's daimyō stopped hiring them. Needing a way to support his clan, Shiin had their eyes set on a goldmine near a small, demilitarised village on the border led by Nan. Upon arrival, the villagers resisted and the clan members began attacking and killing them. 
== Personality ==
Despite the hardships he's been through, Menma was a kind-hearted and helpful person. He hated hurting others, though he was not above hurting members of his clan to keep innocent people safe. Menma was very courageous, even though he was suffering from the return of his memories, he decided to save an infant in the burning Konoha hospital and later, sacrifice his life to save the very village his clan attacked. 
== Appearance ==
Menma had tousled shoulder-length, blond hair and grey eyes. He wore a lavender long-sleeved shirt with a green scarf along with dark pants and shoes. His shirt was later destroyed so a wound on his back could be operated on. The mark of Shiin's clan appeared on his right shoulder when he perspired.
== Abilities ==
Menma was capable of using ninjutsu through his ocarina. By playing it, he could perform various techniques such as releasing genjutsu, erasing another's memories and enhancing another's chakra, causing them to gain an increase in speed and strength. Menma was quite fast, being able to surpass Neji Hyūga's top speed, and even save him from a fall mid-movement.
== Part I ==
=== Menma Memory Search Mission ===
Menma left his clan after the members attacked and killed the majority of a small village for access to a goldmine. After saving a girl from a member of the clan, the boy acquires a case of amnesia as a result of falling off a cliff (it was later revealed to be a "memory blocking technique"). Naruto soon rescues the boy while gathering bamboo for his ramen and takes him back to Konoha to recover. Naruto gave him the nickname Menma (which means fermented bamboo). 
When the hospital that he is staying at catches on fire, Menma's memory returned while he was saving an infant, much to his dismay. After being permitted to stay, Menma builds a good reputation with the village elders, along with Naruto, by performing various odd jobs. While they are cleaning the Stone faces, a bandit, who is later identified as Shiin, attacks one of Konoha's shinobi. Naruto chases after him to battle him. Eventually, Menma follows along and starts playing his ocarina, revealed to enhance one's chakra. Naruto, with increased speed, catches up to Shiin and throws a kunai at him. Unfortunately, he gets away after using the Body Replacement Technique. Tsunade assigns a mission to Naruto, Neji, Tenten, and Menma, in which they are to enter the Land of Rice Fields in search of Menma's "lost memories". By chance, they come across the village Menma attacked on the orders of his clan's leader, Shiin, with the rest of the bandits. However, Menma doesn't mention anything he remembers to the Konoha ninja.
It is revealed that there is a war currently taking place between the Land of the Rice Fields and other nations, mainly due to the actions of Orochimaru. As a result, the area that the raided village is in is a demilitarised zone, ruled by no one, but with a gold mine on the mountain nearby. Bandits sought the mine, and raided the village to get to the mine. Menma was one of those bandits. The Konoha ninja are told that the bandits will attack again for the mine. Menma decides to help the village to make up for what he had done, but disguises his true intentions by saying he wants to help protect the village. He and Naruto make a wall around the village. Soon they are joined by Tenten, Neji and the rest of the villagers. They all prepare for their face-off with the enemy.
Eventually, Shiin attacks the village. Having difficulty with getting past the wall and defeating the Konoha ninja, he resorts to using music to paralyse the Konoha ninja, but Menma counters the technique with his own music ninjutsu. This allows Naruto to break Shiin's flute, and Tenten and Neji to defeat the raiders. Shiin, realising the battle to be lost, retreats to the dam at the river. Menma quickly realises his plan, having been trained by Shiin and knowing all his plans for the raids. Shiin planned to flood the village to drown the villagers. The gold mine would be left unharmed. Menma informs Naruto and they quickly race to the gold mine to collect the exploding tags.
While at the mine, Menma confesses everything to Naruto. He tells Naruto that he had raided the village and felt terrible for it. As a result, when he fell off the cliff, he erased his own memory to forget his sinister past. But it was only temporary. He tells Naruto that he plans to make the mine collapse, stopping the flood. Thanking Naruto, he pushes him off the mountain, away from harm. He eventually sacrifices himself in order to set off an explosion to prevent the bandits from flooding the village, thus saving the village. This was his way of giving back to the village he helped plunder, while on the raid with the bandits. Menma's death noticeably affected Naruto, who kept Menma's ocarina as a memento. Naruto also ate ramen with pickled shinachiku root to remember Menma by.
== Trivia ==
* "Menma" is the name of a Japanese condiment which is also found in ramen.
* The music that Menma plays on his ocarina is a song from the Naruto Soundtrack called "Loneliness".
* There was one point when Menma was covered in sweat and the mark did not appear.
== Quotes ==
* (To Naruto) "I just want to live a proper life. I don't want to regret anymore."
* (To Naruto, Neji, and Tenten) "I sometimes think about it. I wonder what kind of person I was. If I was an evil person, what should I do?"
* (To Naruto) "This is goodbye…. Thanks to you, my life has gained some meaning."
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