Night was like thick ink splashed across the rows of rooftops.
Menma stood at the third-floor windowsill of his own small courtyard, hands resting on the windowsill, his gaze calm as he looked out at the tranquil night.
This was a three-story detached villa located in a relatively quiet residential area of Konoha, facing the Hyuga Clan's compound.
The architectural style blended traditional Japanese design with modern elements. The exterior walls were plain off-white, the roof covered with dark gray tiles. The courtyard had several cherry blossom trees and carefully trimmed shrubs.
The night wind blew through the open window, carrying the faint lingering scent of fallen cherry blossoms.
Menma wore dark-colored loungewear, his short black hair stirring slightly in the breeze.
His gaze seemed to casually sweep over the streets, rooftops, and tree shadows outside the window.
But deep within those calm eyes was reflected a scene ordinary people couldn't see.
Mind's Eye of Kagura silently expanded, compressed to within the range of Konoha's village barrier.
With him as the center, the Chakra Fluctuations within a radius of several dozen kilometers appeared clearly in his perception, like stars twinkling in the night sky.
Ordinary villagers were asleep, their Chakra weak and steady, like slumbering fireflies.
Ninja were different. The on-duty Anbu's Chakra was sharp and vigilant, patrolling Chunin's Chakra was steady and rhythmic, and occasionally, a few Jonin-level Chakra signatures lay quietly hidden at key locations in the village.
But tonight was unusual.
"It's quite lively tonight," Menma's brow furrowed slightly.
In his perception, at least twenty Chakra Signatures belonging to Anbu elites were moving at high speed throughout Konoha.
Their movement patterns were chaotic and urgent, as if searching for something or responding to some sudden situation.
These Anbu's concealment skills were extremely high, and ordinary Ninja would find it hard to detect their movements. But before Menma's Mind's Eye of Kagura, their Chakra was as conspicuous as torches in the dark.
Swoosh—
A black shadow flashed past the rooftop of the Hyuga Clan's compound opposite, so fast it left only an afterimage.
Then two more, three more...
Menma's gaze followed those fleeting shadows, further expanding the range of his Mind's Eye of Kagura while increasing its precision.
He filtered out the stable, rhythmic Chakra Fluctuations, focusing on searching for abnormal, urgent, or familiar Chakra Signatures.
Soon, he found it.
In the forest direction at the western edge of the village, Naruto's familiar Chakra was fluctuating violently.
More crucially, near Naruto was another Chakra, full of malice and greed.
'That Chakra...'
Menma quickly searched his memories, soon locking onto the target.
Mizuki.
That greenish-medium-haired academy teacher, usually putting on a gentle, amiable front, but Menma had long noticed the hidden ambition and discontent deep in his eyes.
'That bastard Mizuki...' Menma slowly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within. '...still tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals?'
The plot from the original work had still occurred in this altered timeline.
But Menma quickly realized a problem.
In the original, Mizuki was tempted by Orochimaru to use Naruto to steal the Scroll of Seals, attempting to obtain Forbidden Techniques.
But in this world, Orochimaru had been 'subdued' by him years ago and was now conducting research in the Land of Stars' laboratory. Although he still maintained his own Otogakure and ambitions, he shouldn't have reason to tempt Mizuki.
'So, who was behind Mizuki?'
Menma turned away from the windowsill, walking to the desk in the center of the room.
The desk was neatly arranged with several Ninjutsu scrolls, some business documents, and a few oddly shaped small devices… the latest research results from the Land of Stars' Science Department.
Menma picked up one of the black metal devices, about the size of a little finger.
The device had a simple shape, no buttons or ports on the surface, only a faintly glowing pale blue crystal embedded in the center.
This was an ultra-long-range communicator developed using Chakra Network's principles, capable of real-time communication across thousands of kilometers. Moreover, the signal was multi-layered encrypted, and with current technology in the Ninja World's nations, it was almost impossible to intercept or crack.
Most importantly, it solved a practical problem for Menma: his shadow clones couldn't communicate in real-time.
Only when a shadow clone dispelled would its memories return to the main body, creating a communication lag.
This communicator allowed him to contact his shadow clones distributed worldwide in real-time.
Menma inserted the communicator into his ear. It automatically adhered to the inner wall of his ear canal, completely invisible from the outside, only activated by specific Chakra Frequencies.
As Chakra was infused, the crystal lit up, emitting a faint hum.
A few seconds later, the communication connected.
"This is Star City's Science Testing Area, Shadow Clone Number 007," A voice identical to Menma's but calmer and steadier came from the communicator.
"There's a situation in Konoha," Menma's main body said succinctly. "Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals. Anbu are deployed en masse now. Check if Mizuki is being directed by Orochimaru."
"Understood. Will report back shortly."
The communication ended.
Menma walked to the wardrobe, opened it, and took out a black tracksuit, quickly changing into it.
After changing, Menma picked up the Konoha's forehead protector from the desk and expertly tied it around his head.
The mirror reflected a boy who looked only twelve, but whose eyes held a maturity far beyond his years.
A few minutes later.
The communicator hummed again.
Menma activated it with Chakra. "Speak."
"Already inquired with Orochimaru," The shadow clone's voice reported. "He denies directing Mizuki, but revealed a piece of information: a few years ago when he was still in Akatsuki, he traded several 'sleeper agents' in Konoha as bargaining chips in exchange for some of Akatsuki's technology and resources. Mizuki was one of them."
"Akatsuki..." Menma's eyes turned cold.
The Akatsuki led by Nagato and Konan had followed a slightly different development trajectory in this timeline due to his intervention.
But the core goal seemed unchanged.
Collect the Tailed Beasts, create the Ten-Tails, achieve 'world peace' through extreme means.
"Orochimaru also mentioned something else," The shadow clone continued reporting. "Akatsuki's collection of Tailed Beast intel has entered the intelligence-gathering stage. Mizuki being activated likely means Akatsuki has started targeting the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki."
"Understood," Menma replied briefly. "Notify Hikari to increase alert levels along the Land of Stars' borders and important facilities."
Since Akatsuki had started gathering intel about Tailed Beast, they'd likely also try to gather intel on the Land of Stars' One-Tail's Jinchuriki, Gaara.
He just didn't know if there would have another incident with Yagura.
"Understood." The shadow clone ended the communication.
Menma walked to the window, glanced at Konoha in the night, then his figure vanished from the window as if melting into the shadows.
Konoha's streets were especially empty late at night.
Occasionally, overt patrol Ninja passed by, their faint footsteps echoing in the district before disappearing around street corners.
Menma moved soundlessly between rooftops, like a flowing shadow in the night.
His goal was clear: find Naruto, deal with Mizuki, while concealing his true strength as much as possible.
But before that, he needed to find someone.
A 'witness' and 'assistant' who could reasonably explain why he was at the scene.
Mind's Eye of Kagura remained active, soon locking onto the target.
Menma calculated the route and timing, stopping in the shadows near an intersection.
A few seconds later, Iruka's figure appeared on the surrounding rooftops, leaping swiftly.
His face was etched with anxiety, fine sweat beads on his forehead from running. The scar under his forehead protector looked especially clear in the moonlight.
Menma waited until Iruka reached the center of the intersection before slowly stepping out of the shadows.
"Iruka-sensei?"
His voice carried just the right amount of confusion and vigilance, like an ordinary student encountering his teacher late at night.
Iruka stopped abruptly on a telephone pole, turning toward the source of the voice.
When he saw it was Menma, he was first stunned, then relieved, but immediately grew tense again. "Menma? It's so late. Why are you outside?"
Menma stepped into the light, fully exposing himself to Iruka's view.
He put on an appropriately worried expression. "I heard noises outside. Seems like a lot of Ninja... Did something happen?"
The question was asked naturally.
The Anbu's large-scale nighttime operations, while undetectable to ordinary people, would be sensed as abnormal by a 'top graduate genius' like Menma, whose skills were already comparable to a Chunin's.
Iruka hesitated.
In principle, such matters shouldn't be told to a freshly graduated student.
But considering Menma's relationship with Naruto, Menma's usual steadiness and reliability, and most importantly, his own urgent need for any possible clue to find Naruto...
"It's Naruto," Iruka finally said, his voice filled with anxiety and bewilderment. "He... for some reason, stole the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Building. Now he's gone somewhere, all the Anbu are looking for him!"
Menma appropriately showed surprise. "The Scroll of Seals? Why would Naru—"
He paused, as if suddenly remembering something, lowering his voice slightly. "Come to think of it... Iruka-sensei, when I parted with Naruto earlier, I think I saw Mizuki-sensei go to him."
"Mizuki?" Iruka froze.
'That always gently smiling, patiently teaching Mizuki?'
But immediately, another incident from years ago flashed in Iruka's mind… the Rokusho Aoi defection incident!
Back then, Aoi was also a teacher in Konoha's Ninja Academy, presenting a gentle, amiable image, yet he had encouraged a student to steal the Second Hokage's Sword of Thunder God before defecting.
And Naruto's identity was too special.
The Fourth Hokage's son.
The Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.
'If Mizuki really targeted Naruto, the consequences...'
Iruka's face instantly turned pale.
"Menma!" He landed before Menma, grabbing his shoulders, his voice urgent. "Do you know any 'secret bases' Naruto usually has? Places only he knows, or only you few friends know?"
Kids this age often had a few secret spots of their own… maybe a tree hollow, a small riverside cave, a corner of an abandoned training ground.
Iruka hoped to find clues from such places.
Menma pretended to think, though through Mind's Eye of Kagura's continuous monitoring, he had already pinpointed Naruto and Mizuki's exact location.
But saying it directly would be too suspicious.
He needed to give Iruka a few wrong directions to send him off, then head to the real battlefield himself.
"Let me think..." Menma counted on his fingers. "There's a small waterfall downstream of the Naka River, with a cave behind it. Naruto took me there once. Also, east of the village at Training Ground 7, there's a particularly large tree with a small treehouse he built. And... at the edge of the Forest of Death, there's an abandoned watchtower we found once while exploring."
These were all real places Naruto had indeed visited.
But right now, Naruto wasn't in any of them.
Iruka carefully noted these locations, then patted Menma's shoulder. "Thanks, Menma. You're a big help. I'll go check these places now. You should head home too. It's not safe outside."
"Iruka-sensei!" Menma called out to the departing Iruka, his face showing concern. "Let me help search too. More people means more chances. And... I'm worried about that idiot Naruto being deceived."
Iruka looked into Menma's earnest eyes, warmth rising in his heart.
He knew how deep the bond between Menma and Naruto was.
These two children… one an orphan without parents, the other bearing the stigma of the 'demon fox', the Fourth Hokage's son… had become each other's most important friends from a very young age.
"Alright," Iruka finally nodded. "But be careful. If you find Naruto, or encounter any danger, fire a signal flare immediately. Understand?"
"Understood."
The two separated at the intersection.
Iruka headed toward the first wrong direction Menma provided… downstream of the Naka River.
Menma, after confirming Iruka had left, turned and sped off in the completely opposite direction… toward the forest at the western edge of the village, the real location of Naruto and Mizuki.
His speed suddenly increased. His figure vanished into the night after a few leaps between rooftops.