"It's boring." Ever since Naruto left the village to go on missions, Menma had been staying home like a salted fish. But after a while, it got boring.
As for the other person in the house—Jiraiya—he hadn't been home for three days. Menma was already used to it.
These days, Jiraiya didn't dare come home for fear of being caught by Tsunade.
Even when he did come back, he'd sneak in late at night, take a shower, sleep, then leave early in the morning. And how did Menma know all of this so clearly? Naturally, it was Kurama, who kept watch at night, and told him everything.
But having Kurama stand night watch wasn't free—it cost Menma a novel per month.
Originally, Kurama had wanted five novels, but Menma flatly refused.
He stuck to his bottom line: no more than one book. At the same time, he said, "If you don't agree, just pretend I never said anything. I've got shadow clones anyway! They can stand watch and still read novels—entertainment and security, killing two birds with one stone."
Hearing that, Kurama instantly agreed. "Right, why am I being so dumb? I don't need to sleep. Night watch is easy, and I get a new novel? It's a win-win!"
Menma grinned. Kurama, Kurama… you're still too young.
But his smirk didn't last even half a second before Kurama booted him out of the room.
Pain. ┭┮﹏┭┮┭┮﹏┭┮┭┮﹏┭┮
"Let's go hang out with Itachi and Izumi." Menma immediately leapt off the sofa, walked out of the house, and headed to the Uchiha compound.
He didn't even have to guess—Itachi and Izumi were bound to be at home. As the clan head, Itachi had tons of things to deal with, especially with some of the more radical elders constantly pressuring him to go for the Hokage seat.
Every time he heard that, Itachi would sigh internally: A bunch of lunatics.
He'd been around Menma long enough to be pulled back from the edge. Menma had brought him back to normal. He fully agreed with what Menma once said: If you want to overthrow the current Hokage, you better be sure you can do better.
Even if an Uchiha became Hokage, Itachi didn't believe he could outperform Lady Tsunade.
But now that Tsunade was in power, she made extensive use of the Uchiha clan. At the same time, she deliberately exaggerated their nature to the village—aloof, proud, distant, arrogant—but also fiercely loyal to those they recognized as friends.
Through heavy publicity, public perception of the Uchiha clan in Konoha had shifted significantly. At the Ninja Academy, many children aspired to be acknowledged by the Uchiha, and the Uchiha children, in turn, formed bonds with their peers.
Itachi once discussed this with Menma, and Menma had just smiled and said, "Itachi, if you really can't stop them, then I'll step in."
"It's okay, Menma…" Before Itachi could finish, Menma interrupted, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill them. I'll 'influence' them in my own way."
He wouldn't allow anyone to disrupt the peace in Konoha—not in this village where Naruto had grown up.
Ever since the fall of the old leadership, Tsunade had joined forces with Shikaku Nara, Fugaku Uchiha, Hiashi Hyuga, and Jiraiya to lead Konoha efficiently. Without internal strife, the village had quickly risen to new heights—though not quite at the level of the First Hokage's era. Back then, the First Hokage stood at the pinnacle of power.
Still, Konoha wasn't the kind of place any random enemy could just mess with anymore. Other villages couldn't even sneak spies in, because Kurama would immediately detect anything strange, and Menma would instantly report it to Tsunade.
Tsunade trusted Menma's intel 100%. Every time she sent the Anbu to check, the person turned out to be an undercover agent. Every single time. This only made Tsunade value Menma more… to the point where she wanted to "devour" him.
If Menma ever found out what Tsunade was thinking, he'd probably yell, "Pervert!"
Then again, Jiraiya probably wouldn't mind the idea.
Menma reached the entrance of the Uchiha compound and swaggered right in.
The guards didn't move at all. They all knew Menma was a close friend of Patriarch Itachi—and they also knew they couldn't beat him.
There was that one time Menma had come looking for Itachi and got stopped. Without saying a word, Menma beat the guards half to death. Do you know how to spell "death"?
The commotion drew in a crowd of Uchiha, including Itachi himself. The moment he arrived and saw the mess, he facepalmed. Why is Menma like this...?
"Hey, Itachi! Helped you teach your guards a little lesson. I'll cover the medical bills," Menma said casually, not a shred of guilt in his voice.
Itachi wanted to stop things there, but one of the elders insisted on handling Menma himself.
Menma's interest was piqued. After one bout, the two clashed again.
"Not bad, son of the Fourth Hokage," said the Third Elder, activating his Sharingan—three tomoe.
Three tomoe? Menma lost all interest immediately.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four clones appeared and swarmed the elder.
The other elders were stunned. He can't even handle four clones?! What's going on?! All eyes turned to Itachi.
Itachi gave a bitter smile. Menma just got me into a mess again.
"Menma, give me some face and stop," Itachi called out.
"Alright, come back," Menma said. Of course, he'd listen to Itachi. The four clones immediately stopped pummeling the elder and dispelled. At this point, the elder's clothes were torn and his condition looked rough.
The Third Elder gritted his teeth and glared at Menma like he wanted to eat him alive.
Menma just smirked. One of the clones suddenly reappeared right in front of the elder.
The elder's pupils shrank, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. So fast?!
The Great Elder seemed to realize something and looked at Menma in disbelief.
The clone remerged into the main body.
Menma turned to the Uchiha elders and introduced himself: "Hello. I'm Menma Uzumaki, son of the Fourth Hokage, and Itachi's friend."
Itachi looked at Menma, gratitude in his eyes. He understood exactly why Menma had done all of this.
A sentence from long ago resurfaced in Itachi's mind—something Menma had once told him:
The strong are respected.
Thank you, Menma!
Menma raised his eyebrows and gave Itachi a smirk.
(End Of Chapter)
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