The morning air was crisp. I felt nothing.
The Genin evaluation was underwhelming.
Short obstacle runs. Basic hand seals. Dodging practice projectiles. Predictable. Clean. Controlled.
Becoming a Genin did not feel like an achievement. Not when I knew what was coming.
I stood before the Third Hokage and bowed.
Hiruzen studied me carefully. Kakashi lingered nearby, unreadable as ever.
"Hokage-sama," I said evenly, "I need access. Training. Resources. A proper mentor. You know why. You know who my father is."
Hiruzen's eyes shifted slightly.
"Minato Namikaze," I continued. "You have hidden it from me long enough. I am not here to question your reasons. I am here to make sure I can protect this village when the time comes."
Silence.
"Menma…" he began carefully. "Your father's identity was not something I believed appropriate to reveal so early. He was the Fourth Hokage. You carry his blood. That knowledge carries weight."
"It carries responsibility," I replied. "I am not asking for praise. I am asking for preparation. Without proper guidance, I become a liability. With it, I become an asset."
Kakashi's visible eye flicked toward me.
"I want Shisui to be my jonin instructor," I said. "And eventually access to the Scroll of Seals."
Hiruzen leaned back slightly. "You use your father as leverage."
"I use the truth," I said calmly. "And the fact that it was withheld. My loyalty is not in question. My skill is demonstrable. Is it not worth investing in the son of the Fourth before things are too late?"
Another long pause.
"Very well," he said finally. "Shisui will remain assigned to your development. Access to the Scroll will be conditional. Do not disappoint me."
I bowed again. The Genin rank meant nothing.
The path forward did. I still had months to plan.
As if hearing my thoughts the calm shattered minutes later. Shouting.
Smoke rising above rooftops. The sound of something breaking.
Orders rang through the streets. Evacuate. Move. Protect the children. Root had already moved.
I ran. Something was wrong this isn't how this should've happened.
Kurama's chakra hummed beneath my skin. My heart matched the rhythm of panic in the streets. Civilians stumbled through smoke. Children cried.
Naruto barreled past me, dragging two terrified villagers toward cover.
"I can carry them!" he shouted.
His grin was wide. His eyes were not.
I didn't slow down.
Danzō had moved sooner than I anticipated.
At the Uchiha compound, chaos had already taken shape.
Fugaku Uchiha held the main gate, Sharingan blazing as he deflected coordinated attacks. Shisui Uchiha flickered through the battlefield, precise and lethal.
Inside, Mikoto Uchiha shielded Sasuke with her body.
Sasuke Uchiha looked small. Too small.
I intercepted a Root operative before he reached them. Steel clashed. I pivoted, redirected, struck again. Every movement was reactive. No time to think.
My arms burned. My lungs felt tight.
Naruto dropped in beside me, chakra bursting outward in wild surges that knocked attackers off balance. He overextended twice. I compensated without speaking.
Then it happened. A blade meant for Sasuke. Mikoto stepped into it. The impact was sickening.
She dropped to her knees. Blood spread quickly.
"Live…" she whispered to Sasuke. "For your brother. For your father."
Sasuke screamed.
I moved instinctively, shielding him as more blades cut through the smoke. Kurama's chakra surged, reinforcing my limbs, sharpening my senses. But I could not fix that. Her hand touched Sasuke's cheek. Then it fell.
Sasuke's eyes shifted. Red.
The Sharingan awakened in shock and grief.
I stayed close. He did not know how to control it yet.
Itachi cut through attackers like a ghost. Fugaku barked orders, repositioning survivors. Shisui eliminated high-priority targets with terrifying efficiency.
We were not winning. We were surviving.
Then Danzō stepped into the courtyard.
Danzo Shimura moved calmly through smoke and flame, his remaining eye steady.
I launched forward, shuriken infused with wind chakra slicing through the air.
"Left flank!" I shouted.
Fugaku pivoted mid-strike, fire erupting from his hands. Root operatives adapted immediately.
Danzō closed distance with frightening speed.
Fugaku met him head-on.
Fire clashed against steel and bone. Shockwaves rippled through the courtyard.
I formed seals mid-motion and unleashed lightning bursts to intercept attackers circling behind Fugaku.
"Keep moving!" I shouted.
Danzō's voice cut through the chaos.
"You cannot protect everyone. You move children like pieces and think no one notices?"
He struck a wall. Debris exploded toward me. I rolled, countered with wind and fire in combination, blowing the Debris back with a Fireball.
Fugaku pressed the advantage. Then reality twisted. I felt it before I understood it.
Izanagi.
My fireball vanished midair. Fugaku's strike passed through Danzō harmlessly.
For a heartbeat, existence bent in his favor.
Then he countered. Aiming an attack at me.
The strike was meant for my throat
I could redirect it. If I—
A shadow moved.
Warm blood splashed across my face.
"Run… Child…" he rasped.
I skidded to his side, Kuramas chakra flooding my hands, trying to stabilize him. Too much blood. Too little time. He went still.
Something inside me went cold.
Danzō straightened, raising his hand toward me.
"The Uchiha became… hopeful. That was your doing."
I moved. Too slow. As the realization of what his words meant hit me. Then the battlefield shook.
Naruto roared.
His first cloak erupted around him, chakra burning bright and violent. He slammed into Danzō from the side, raw force driving him backward.
Sasuke attacked from the opposite angle, Sharingan guiding his strike with terrifying precision. A concentrated fireball collided with the same arm Naruto struck.
The combined force tore through flesh and prosthetics.
Danzō's arm separated from his body.
He staggered back, howling, balance broken.
Shisui and Kakashi closed in from the perimeter, forcing him further off balance.
Under pressure, wounded and outnumbered, Danzō retreated. Before he left his parting words chilled me to my core.
"You forced my hand."
Smoke swallowed him. He escaped. Alive.
I dropped to my knees. Fugaku lay motionless.
The compound burned in fragments. Root operatives were dead or retreating. Survivors huddled behind shattered walls.
You forced my hand
Naruto's cloak faded. He stood there panting, eyes wide. Sasuke trembled beside him, Sharingan still active.
You forced my hand
"Menma!" Naruto shouted.
You forced my hand
I could barely hear him. Fugaku was gone.
The Uchiha forces were reduced to a fraction of what they had been.
Danzō had lost an arm. But he was alive.
Kurama's chakra simmered, matching the anger coiling in my chest. He would come back.
For the first time, I was not sure preparation would be enough.