After watching Mizuki's figure gradually vanish into the thick of the night, disappearing completely from his perception range, a trace of sarcasm flickered in Menma's eyes—only to vanish a heartbeat later.
On the surface, Menma still looked "thrilled," still wore the mask of "excitement."
Mizuki didn't know.
Didn't Menma know that the Anbu surveillance around him had never once been lifted? Almost a few minutes after Mizuki appeared, Menma felt it again—that faint sense of being watched.
There was no doubt.
This was Sarutobi Hiruzen's surveillance, fixed firmly on him.
With that special crystal ball technique, as long as Menma remained within the range of Konohagakure, as long as his chakra was present, Hiruzen could watch him.
Now was the critical moment. The stage had been set.
Menma could not laugh.
Suppressing the bubbling urge to break into wild laughter, he calmly studied the details of the mission written in the "Assessment Task Scroll."
Afterward, he returned to his house, changed clothes, equipped himself with standard shinobi tools, and slipped silently into the night.
With one leap, Menma departed.
His destination: the residence of Sarutobi Hiruzen—the Hokage himself.
On the way, none of the Anbu trailing him made a move to stop him. The fact alone confirmed everything Menma suspected. His heart, taut as a bowstring, relaxed slightly.
Hiruzen was aware of his actions.
And yet he did nothing to prevent them.
That attitude spoke volumes.
Without hesitation, Menma advanced straight to the Hokage's mansion. He vaulted the outer wall effortlessly, landing within the compound's interior.
Still no interference.
Menma exhaled quietly. The last of his doubts dissolved.
Just as in the original events, Hiruzen deliberately allowed him to take the forbidden scroll.
Bold now, Menma pressed deeper into the mansion. Following Mizuki's instructions, he entered the study room of the Hokage—a detail Mizuki shouldn't realistically have known. Menma didn't care.
He slipped into the room without resistance.
And there it was: a massive scroll, resting almost carelessly in the corner.
"Truly effortless… You leave it out like this, just for me to take?"
Menma smirked inwardly.
He hoisted the giant scroll onto his back and, with a light step, leapt away, flying into the night toward the rendezvous point agreed upon with Mizuki.
The performance had begun. The curtain would not fall until he decided.
After all, Hiruzen's gaze was still fixed firmly upon him.
Hokage's Office – Hokage Building
From his office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat before the crystal ball. His aged eyes tracked Menma's every move, from the theft of the scroll to his rapid flight through the village. A faint smile creased his weathered face.
Decades of leading the village had made him cautious, but also calculating. Mizuki's betrayal was obvious the moment he approached Menma. A simple-minded Chūnin would never evade his attention—especially not while plotting around someone as significant as Menma, the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
If the Hokage didn't know such movements, then he was unworthy of the title.
"This will serve as a small compensation…" Hiruzen thought, watching Menma streak through the trees.
But another thought lingered unspoken: This is also the boy's test.
For a while, he let Menma go. Only after several minutes did Hiruzen summon a number of idle shinobi—academy instructors included, among them Iruka Umino—and ordered them to begin a search.
The order was theater.
The true Anbu, his handpicked operatives, trailed Menma silently from a distance.
Every one of them was elite. Even the weakest among them surpassed the average chūnin. Mizuki was nothing compared to them.
Yet Hiruzen restrained them.
The scroll was deliberate bait. Mizuki's treachery was deliberate bait. Both served as Menma's crucible.
Hiruzen understood better than anyone: true strength was forged only in blood and fire.
And Mizuki, with his meager skill, was the perfect first opponent for Menma's awakening.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expectations for Menma were high.
He was the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
A child of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
Hiruzen was certain of his potential. Certain he could one day stand as the hero of Konoha, as his parents once had.
It wasn't wishful thinking. For twelve years, Menma had shown resilience, sharpness, and cunning that even exceeded his peers.
In the original course of events, Uzumaki Naruto had become exactly that—a hero.
But this was not Naruto.
This was Menma.
And Menma would never tread the same path.
Recognition from Konoha? Acceptance from the very villagers who had shunned him? Forgiving the enemies responsible for his parents' deaths? Seeking a world of understanding through his own justice?
Ridiculous.
Such dreams belonged to hot-blooded fools.
Not him.
Menma's only goal was survival. Survival, and living freely.
And that choice would place him forever in opposition to the Hokage's expectations.
Hiruzen could not yet see it, but Menma's destiny was already diverging.
Konoha Streets
Groups of shinobi split off in pairs, their faces grim as they moved through the streets, hunting Mizuki and Menma.
Iruka was among them.
He had not been told the full truth. Anxiety gnawed at his chest.
"The Book of Seals? Why would Menma steal something like that? What did Mizuki say to him?"
Six years of knowing the boy had convinced Iruka that Menma, though cold and distant on the surface, carried warmth beneath. His resentment toward the village was understandable, even justified. Rejection, isolation, outright disgust from others—how could such treatment not breed bitterness?
But deep down, Iruka believed in him.
He believed Menma was a good child.
And now… this.
Stealing the most forbidden scroll in the village. Acting in open betrayal.
In Iruka's eyes, it was outrageous.