Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Over the past month, the Hidden Leaf Village had reached its most bustling and noisy period. High-ranking nobles and dignitaries from the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and other surrounding smaller nations had flooded in, making Konoha's commercial sector incredibly prosperous.
Everywhere you looked, there was a sea of people.
The shopkeepers in Konoha wore smiles on their faces every day. During this time, they were making money hand over fist. These wealthy nobles and officials were essentially walking treasure chests.
There was absolutely no need to worry about their spending power.
As Menma walked casually through the streets of Konoha, he could clearly see the happiness and joy radiating from the faces of the villagers.
No one anticipated the disaster that was coming.
Of course, for the common folk, this was the most logical way to live. They could only see what was right in front of them—partly due to their environment, but mostly due to their status. How could ordinary people have the power or opportunity to control their own destiny?
Drifting with the current, struggling in the long river of life... if they were lucky, they could swim to their own finish line and put a somewhat satisfactory period on their lives. If they were unlucky, they would sink straight into the abyss. That was the fate of ordinary people.
What Menma wanted to do was break free from such a fate. His life in this world had to be held firmly in his own hands.
Living a suffocating, suppressed life was definitely not the future Menma wanted.
So, even if a bottomless abyss lay ahead, he would jump without hesitation. That was Menma's choice.
He walked lightly to a street on the far east side of the village.
Turning right, he stepped down the path.
In the flow of people coming and going, someone seemingly inadvertently bumped Menma's shoulder.
Menma paused briefly, then resumed walking. After turning the next corner, he headed straight back home.
He waited until night fell and the entire village was shrouded in a dim camouflage.
Menma gently pushed open his door.
His immense sensory perception spread out.
Once he was 100% certain there wasn't a single ninja nearby...
Whoosh.
With a light tap of his toes, Menma flashed away towards the northwest.
His figure merged with the night.
Moving silently all the way.
Relying on his massive sensory range, Menma completely avoided all crowds and headed straight for an extremely remote, rarely visited residential area in the northwest corner of the Hidden Leaf.
There, two figures were already waiting for him.
The one on the right was naturally Kabuto, who had been responsible for contacting Menma during this time. The other figure was Baki, the most trusted subordinate of the Fourth Kazekage and currently the strongest Jonin of the Hidden Sand.
The moment Baki sensed Menma's chakra, he instinctively went on guard.
He looked at Kabuto with eyes full of suspicion.
"Kabuto Yakushi? What is the meaning of this?"
After all, they were allies brought together solely by profit; there was no trust to speak of. Konoha and Sand had been allies for years, yet here they were, ready to stab each other in the back. At the level of nations and ninja villages, talking about trust was a joke.
"Heh, don't be hasty, Baki-san. This is what I told you about before—our other ally. He is one of the most critical supports in our plan this time," Kabuto said with his usual smile, completely unfazed by Baki's wariness.
Just as Kabuto finished speaking...
Menma sped into the clearing.
Seeing Menma's appearance and the forehead protector he wore, Baki froze for a moment. Then, looking at Kabuto with anger, he said, "Critical support? Are you joking? A Konoha brat who's barely ten years old?"
"Heh, isn't Gaara-kun also just ten years old?" Kabuto replied cheerfully.
Menma remained expressionless.
"Can Gaara be compared to him? Gaara is our village's... Wait!?"
Baki started to scoff, but halfway through his sentence, a spark went off in his brain. He whipped his head around, staring at Menma again with utter disbelief.
"It is exactly the 'Wait' you're thinking of, Baki-san," Kabuto continued.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. You can't mean this guy is Konoha's..." Baki waved his hand, still looking completely incredulous.
But a second later...
Boom!
A surge of incredibly potent chakra erupted from Menma's body. It was clearly a controlled amount of red chakra swirling around him, but it was enough to change Menma's pupils into vertical slits.
Baki's words cut off abruptly.
It was as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.
"Can we end the nonsense? We don't have that much time to waste. There are only three days left until the plan executes. I told you, Kabuto—if your plan doesn't satisfy me, I won't act. Please make sure you remember that," Menma said, looking at Kabuto and Baki with cold eyes.
Today was the day the plan would be finalized.
A month was too long. Long enough for any number of accidents to happen, forcing changes to the plan.
Jiraiya's return to the village was the biggest unforeseen factor.
Menma had initially been reluctant to get too involved, but on second thought, knowing more about the plan formulated by Orochimaru and the Sand would help him make better choices and arrangements for himself.
Risk, of course, existed.
At this critical juncture, whatever choice Menma made would have pros and cons. It all depended on how he navigated them.
The chakra flare had only lasted for a fleeting moment.
But Baki was almost questioning reality.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!
Although he couldn't be absolutely certain—after all, Konoha had never deployed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki on the battlefield before.
But the pressure just now...
That sensation that made his soul tremble...
Combined with the intelligence they had gathered...
Baki had no choice but to believe that the red-haired boy in front of him was indeed the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of the Hidden Leaf.
Yet, Baki still felt a sense of unreality.
You really couldn't blame Baki for losing his composure.
The situation in front of him was just too surreal.
Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki... standing on their side? Joining the "Konoha Crush" plan?
Listen to that. Does that sound sane? Isn't that just total nonsense?