The arrival was none other than Itachi Uchiha, who had been in a tense standoff with Menma just a few hours prior before choosing to retreat. Clearly, this meeting was entirely intentional.
Watching Itachi drift down, Menma instinctively narrowed his eyes.
If Menma used to hold a deep-seated wariness toward Itachi, the current Menma practically looked down on him.
It wasn't out of arrogance or a bloated ego. It was purely born from absolute confidence in his own strength.
The Mangekyo Sharingan undeniably possessed an extremely high level of suppression against the Tailed Beasts. But first, Menma housed the Nine-Tails, not just any ordinary beast. Second, a standard Mangekyo Sharingan had glaringly obvious limitations.
The most direct limitation was the massive drain on ocular power.
Why was Obito able to effortlessly summon and control the Nine-Tails? And with only a single eye, at that?
It was because Obito's Mangekyo was no longer ordinary. While it hadn't undergone a qualitative evolution to the Eternal tier, his body was fused with half of White Zetsu's mass, perfectly neutralizing the strain. Being highly compatible with Wood Style cells meant Obito's Mangekyo was fundamentally a tier above a standard one.
Most importantly, Obito never had to worry about ocular power depletion. As long as his chakra didn't run dry, his Mangekyo Sharingan would never go blind.
Another critical factor: Obito could summon the Nine-Tails because Madara had paved the way. The Nine-Tails used to be Madara's personal 'summoning beast'! Madara was intimately familiar with controlling the fox, and he had left the necessary contingencies behind.
The combination of all these factors was exactly why Obito could summon and control the Nine-Tails so soon after awakening his eyes.
Itachi Uchiha was undeniably a rare genius, not just within his clan, but across the entire ninja world. But compared to Obito, who was absolutely stacked with advantages, the gap was glaringly obvious.
Not to mention, Menma currently possessed a vast arsenal of techniques and housed the chakra of four other Tailed Beasts.
Itachi Uchiha? Menma couldn't guarantee a flawless victory, but barring any massive unforeseen variables, he was highly confident he could strike Itachi down.
Therefore, standing before Itachi, Menma naturally held the psychological high ground.
"I almost thought I'd misread the cue. If you'd been a little later, Itachi-san, I would have just left," Menma offered a light chuckle, looking at the deadpan Uchiha.
Itachi maintained his signature apathetic expression, his cold gaze locked onto Menma. Even though Menma initiated the conversation, Itachi remained silent, as if carefully brewing his next words.
Menma, in no rush himself, simply arched an eyebrow. Clasping his hands casually behind his back, he waited calmly for Itachi to speak.
The guy had invited him here. If the host wasn't in a hurry, why should he be?
Furthermore, this man was an important chess piece in Menma's grand design. Faced with this sudden meeting, Menma needed a moment to decide exactly what attitude to adopt.
Fortunately, the silence only lasted a minute or two.
Itachi had always been a man of profound composure.
While Menma lacked extensive real-world ninja experience, the miniature society of his past life's college days, the petty politics of university clubs, and twelve full years of operating undercover in the Hidden Leaf had given him more than enough mental fortitude.
He wouldn't make a move until he saw a genuine opening.
Patience? That was one thing Menma had in spades.
The reason Itachi stayed silent for so long was twofold. First, he wanted to observe Menma and probe the boy's true nature. Second, he was carefully weighing how to begin.
He had a lot of questions for Menma. Questions about the boy himself. Questions about the Hidden Leaf.
But mostly, questions about his little brother—Sasuke Uchiha.
Judging by Itachi's actions in the original timeline, his little brother undeniably held a higher place in his heart than the Hidden Leaf. Perhaps that was slightly absolute, but Sasuke was at least on equal footing with the village.
Meaning, Itachi would never sacrifice his brother for the sake of the Leaf.
Everything he did after his defection was solely to ensure his brother could become a hero of the village, surrounded and loved by its people. Giving Shisui's eye to Naruto was the ultimate proof of that.
If he constantly worried about his brother's choices and future in the original timeline, it went without saying how anxious he was in this one, especially with Menma acting as a massive rogue variable.
"Menma Uzumaki. Can you tell me why you insisted on defecting from the Hidden Leaf?" Itachi finally exhaled softly, his calm gaze fixed on Menma. His voice was low. "Was it truly just because of the ostracization and hostility you faced over the past twelve years? Knowing your true identity, you had to have known there were better ways to handle it, didn't you?"
Hearing the question, Menma froze for a split second.
In his mind, shouldn't Itachi's first question have been about Sasuke? That was his beloved little brother! Based on Menma's understanding, it made zero sense for Itachi not to ask about Sasuke right off the bat.
But the moment the thought surfaced, clarity washed over Menma.
Oh, right. From Itachi's perspective, I'm just a kid who doesn't know the dark truth. Why would I know how much he cares about Sasuke? Not asking about Sasuke immediately was the normal play. It perfectly aligned with the persona Itachi was trying to maintain.
"A better way? Heh. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't. I simply followed my heart," Menma replied with a light chuckle, meeting Itachi's deadly serious gaze with a breezy tone.
"I won't deny that the village's hostility and rejection played a part. But mostly? I was just thoroughly disappointed with that village. Aren't you exactly the same, Itachi-san? Why else would you slaughter your own clan and abandon the Leaf? There are a million reasons to leave, but disappointment surely makes up a large chunk of it—regardless of who was disappointed in whom."
"Disappointment? That is indeed a reason, but it sounds incredibly hollow..." Itachi murmured, a strange light flickering in his eyes.
The doubt and condescension in Itachi's gaze caused Menma's expression to turn ice-cold.
Who the hell do you think you are, Itachi Uchiha?!
"What? As an S-rank missing-nin, are you seriously trying to interrogate me on behalf of the Hidden Leaf?" Menma fired back instinctively. "Or could it be... you had some other hidden motive for leaving the village, Itachi-san?"
"!"
Hearing that, Itachi's face visibly shifted. A flash of shock and suspicion tore through his dark eyes.
The moment the words left his mouth, Menma felt a tiny twinge of regret. He had been a little too impulsive. However, he kept his face completely neutral. He hadn't actually said anything concrete. At best, it sounded like a blind, probing taunt.
As long as he didn't show weakness, he was fine.
In reality, that was exactly what Itachi assumed. After the initial spike of panic, a similar suspicion settled in his mind.
There was no way Menma knew the truth. Across the entire ninja world, you could count the number of people who knew what really happened that night on one hand. The Leaf's elder council and that man calling himself Madara.
None of those five would ever tell Menma. Even Orochimaru only knew fragmented rumors. Danzo would never let that secret leak; the Leaf still cared about its public image. Not to mention, keeping that secret was Danzo's primary method of controlling Itachi.
Therefore, Menma couldn't possibly know. He was absolutely just fishing for a reaction!
Itachi instantly smoothed out his internal panic, analyzing the situation perfectly.
"No, I'm simply curious," Itachi said slowly, waving a hand dismissively. "You clearly had better options, yet you acted with such absolute finality, leaving yourself no way out. At the end of the day, I was once a member of the Leaf. I had the privilege of witnessing the Fourth Hokage's brilliance once. I just find it a bit... tragic."
He carefully kept any deeper meaning out of his words.
Under normal circumstances, Menma wouldn't have grasped Itachi's true intent. From a regular perspective, it just looked like two rogue Leaf ninja cautiously feeling each other out. Now that Menma was the leader of a major faction, wasn't it completely normal for a terrorist organization member like Itachi to probe him for potential leverage or alternative options?
That was the most logical deduction. And, as Menma knew perfectly well, it was one hundred percent wrong.
Itachi had sought him out intentionally for exactly two reasons. First, to gauge Menma's genuine stance on the Hidden Leaf. Second, to verify the current status of his little brother, Sasuke.
Armed with meta-knowledge of the original plot, it was child's play for Menma to connect the dots.
Even if that wasn't Itachi's entire plan, it was damn close. And Itachi could never possibly fathom that this seemingly inexperienced teenager could read him like an open book.
That was the ultimate advantage of basically having 'wallhacks' for the plot.
However, there was no need to pierce that veil just yet.
People like Itachi Uchiha were too deeply abnormal. Menma simply couldn't comprehend Itachi's thought process. Slaughtering your entire clan—including your own parents—for the sake of the village's 'peace'?
What kind of twisted logic was that?
Menma, frankly, could neither understand nor accept it.
From Menma's perspective, Itachi Uchiha was mentally deranged. He was the type of person who completely immersed himself in a twisted fairy tale of his own making. In the original timeline, right before he died, he supposedly showed a tiny shred of remorse toward Sasuke. Putting aside how heavily that remorse actually weighed, from a purely logical standpoint, it was absolutely worthless.
While Menma wasn't afraid of Itachi—and was confident he could crush him—he had no desire to provoke a 'lunatic' unless absolutely necessary.
Yes. To Menma, Itachi was a literal psychopath.
Ironically, Menma could actually understand Obito's mindset far better. 'The love of my life is dead, what the hell do you expect me to do?' Obito's reaction, while extreme, at least followed the basic emotional logic of a 'normal' human being.
Itachi? There was no comparison.
Furthermore, there was the whole Sasuke situation. Menma didn't want to meddle too much with Itachi. Itachi's ultimate fate belonged to Sasuke, and no one else had the right to interfere.
"Tragic? That's hilarious. If anyone else said that, I might accept it. But you? Itachi Uchiha, you should probably remember your own place," Menma sneered deliberately, looking at Itachi with profound disdain.
"I originally thought you tracked me down because we shared the title of Leaf missing-nin. If that's not the case, stop wasting my time. I have zero interest in people like you. Besides, you're Sasuke's prey. Watch yourself, and don't piss me off!"
Hearing Menma's rant, Itachi frowned.
Logically speaking, this was exactly how an impulsive teenager should react. That kind of emotional outburst made perfect sense. Based on the intelligence they had gathered, Menma was known to be fairly direct and blatant with his emotions in many situations.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason... Itachi felt a subtle, deeply unsettling sense of dissonance.
For a split second, it felt as though the person standing before him wasn't a teenager at all, but a terrifyingly shrewd adult.
He felt a distinct, threatening sensation—as if he was the one being completely seen through. It instantly pulled Itachi's nerves taut.
"You're right. That doesn't concern me," Itachi took a deep breath, dropping the pretense entirely. His eyes sharpened to lethal points as he stared at Menma. "But this next question does. Is Sasuke still with Orochimaru? Or... is he with you, Menma-kun?"
"What if he's with Orochimaru? What if he's with me?" Menma snorted, replying with flippant indifference.
"If he's with Orochimaru, it's fine. But if he is with you, Menma-kun... I want to give you a piece of advice," Itachi's voice dropped to a freezing temperature. "Do not interfere in Uchiha clan business. This is strictly a matter between brothers. It holds absolutely zero value or meaning to you. It will only bring you unnecessary trouble."
Itachi stared coldly at Menma, projecting a suffocating, icy aura. The threat hanging in the air was entirely naked and unapologetic.