Chapter 190: The Fourth Hokage Would Be Thrilled To Know
On Sunday in Konohagakure, the sky presented a nearly transparent azure blue.
The sunlight was warm and clear, sprinkling over the rooftops and streets of Konohagakure in a picturesque arrangement, plating the ninja village with a layer of soft golden glow.
The massive rock statues of the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Third Hokage majestically overlooked the village, while beside them, the young face of the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze also bathed in this sunlight.
At this moment, on the observation platform at the top of Hokage Rock, Menma was leisurely leaning against the cold railing.
He had an orange lollipop in his mouth, its sweetness spreading on the tip of his tongue, as he slightly leaned forward, gazing downward, with a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
Below, a conspicuous golden figure was busy having the time of his life.
Naruto had a thick rope tied around his waist, like a clumsy Spider-Man, carefully descending along the steep rock wall, finally hovering at the forehead position of the Fourth Hokage’s rock statue.
He tightly gripped a large paint bucket in one hand, while waving a wide brush in the other, his face beaming with the excited grin of a successful prank.
Orange paint was roughly smeared on the handsome face of the Fourth Hokage’s statue, drawing exaggerated whiskers, with the forehead painted into a crooked “dead last” label, and even a big cross on the cheek.
Menma’s Mind’s Eye was like an invisible radar, already capturing several deliberately hidden chakra fluctuations nearby.
Those were Konoha’s Anbu ninjas, who had clearly discovered Naruto’s “artistic creation.”
Menma clearly “saw” these chakra fluctuations rapidly moving toward the Hokage Building, undoubtedly to report to the Third Hokage.
Sure enough, when Naruto finally completed his “masterpiece,” panting heavily as he climbed back to the observation platform along the rope, before he could even boast to Menma about his “great achievements,” a familiar figure had already rushed onto the platform with suppressed rage.
“Naruto!!!” Iruka-sensei’s voice boomed like thunder, echoing over the observation platform.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his face flushed red, clearly furious to the extreme.
He charged in a few steps to Naruto, who was still basking in his smugness, and without a word, raised high his fist full of anger and helplessness.
Smack!
A powerful chop landed precisely on top of Naruto’s head!
“Ow—!!!” Naruto instantly let out a shrill wail, clutching his head tightly, tears nearly spurting out.
A visible, bright red lump swelled up at an astonishing speed under his golden hair, like a little hill.
“You idiot! Moron!!” Iruka pointed at the defaced Fourth Hokage statue below, so angry his finger trembled.
“Do you know what you’ve done?! Those are the stone statues of the previous Hokages! And you… you actually painted it like this! It’s simply… simply outrageous!” Iruka scolded him relentlessly, spittle nearly spraying onto Naruto’s face.
Naruto hugged his head, grimacing in pain, and facing Iruka’s rage, muttered softly: “But… but it’s cool like this… and that spot was empty anyway…”
“You still dare to talk back!” Iruka raised his hand again in anger, scaring Naruto into ducking his head.
Iruka took several deep breaths, suppressing the urge to give Naruto another chop, and turned his gaze to Menma, who was still sucking on his lollipop on the side, as if staying out of it.
His tone carried obvious dissatisfaction and confusion: “Menma! You’ve been here the whole time, right? Why didn’t you stop this idiot?! Just watching him fool around like this?!”
Menma slowly straightened up from the railing, taking the lollipop stick out of his mouth and fiddling with it in his hand.
He shrugged, his tone flat as if stating the most ordinary little thing: “This kid’s energy is overflowing like a perpetual motion machine. Better to redirect than block it. Anyway, he painted it himself.”
Menma glanced at the hideous statue below: “Just make him clean it up himself. Perfectly gives him something to do, so his excess energy doesn’t lead to other destruction. Kills two birds with one stone.”
Iruka was choked by Menma’s nearly indifferent “rational analysis” and couldn’t speak for a moment, only helplessly holding his forehead and letting out a long, deep sigh.
“Besides, maybe the Fourth Hokage would be happy to see it,” Menma dangled the lollipop in his hand.
To be honest, ever since obtaining the Reanimation Jutsu from Orochimaru, Menma hadn’t figured out how to greet his parents.
Iruka, however, felt his blood pressure rising again.
“You… you two guys…” He waved his hand feebly: “Alright, alright! Enough talk! Right now, immediately, at once! Clean up the statue! Restore it to original!”
He pointed to the cleaning tools piled in the corner of the observation platform—bucket, rag, scraper, cleaner—clearly prepared in advance.
Thus, under Iruka’s strict supervision, a grueling “restoration project” began on the observation platform at the top of Hokage Rock.
Naruto, with that conspicuous lump on his head, pulled a long face, holding the dripping wet rag and scraper, carefully lowered again by the rope, starting to erase his “masterpiece” bit by bit.
Menma, though his expression remained lazily nonchalant, rolled up his sleeves and handled the graffiti near the top with clean, efficient movements.
His actions carried a peculiar rhythm, crisp and neat, as if containing some unique taijutsu technique, far more efficient than the clumsy Naruto.
He knew Naruto’s pranks were just to attract attention, like in his previous life’s school days, when those puberty-struck little boys would tug at girls’ hair ribbons.
Iruka stood at the edge of the observation platform, arms crossed, watching the two busy figures below.
The autumn sun’s warm rays fell on him, also illuminating the Fourth Hokage statue below, which was being gradually cleaned spotless.
As the young, handsome face with a warm, sunlight-like smile on the statue gradually reemerged, Iruka’s gaze grew somewhat complex.
He recalled the scene when Third Hokage Lord Hiruzen Sarutobi had spoken to him alone.
The Hokage Lord’s tone was gentle yet weighty: “Iruka, that child Naruto… he has the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, that’s a fact. Many villagers fear him for it, alienate him, even resent him, thinking he caused the Fourth Hokage couple’s death… I understand these emotions.”
The Third Hokage took a puff from his pipe, his eyes profound amid the swirling smoke: “But the child is innocent. Naruto… he lost his parents young, grew up branded as the ‘demon fox,’ enduring white eyes and isolation. His loneliness and pain may be deeper than we imagine.”
“I hope you can try to set aside the pain from your parents’ sacrifice, and truly… understand him, teach him, guide him toward the light. Treat him as a student in need of care, not a monster to be guarded against.”
Iruka’s heart had struggled back then.
He couldn’t forget the sight of his parents’ gruesome deaths in the Nine-Tails Attack, that heart-wrenching agony and hatred from losing loved ones had once filled him with rejection toward Naruto, who had the Nine-Tails sealed inside.
But the Third Hokage’s words, and later what he witnessed with his own eyes—Naruto living alone in an empty apartment, eating instant noodles with expired milk, shunned by all the kids, only seeking a pittance of attention through pranks…
All that reminded Iruka of his own years after losing his parents, equally lonely and craving recognition.
He looked down at Naruto, who was vigorously scraping paint and occasionally wobbling from losing balance, then at Menma, whose movements were steady and highly efficient.
Iruka’s taut lips relaxed slightly.
At least… at least Naruto wasn’t completely alone.
This kid named Menma, though somewhat cold and distant in personality, unpredictable in actions, was indeed by Naruto’s side, accompanying him in a peculiar way.
Moreover, lately Naruto had gotten close to Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, and the others, seeming to have really made friends.
Time quietly slipped away in the tedious cleaning work.
When the sunset’s afterglow dyed the horizon a warm orange-red, enveloping Hokage Rock and all of Konohagakure in a soft halo, Naruto and Menma finally finished the cleanup.
The Fourth Hokage’s statue was restored to its original majesty and cleanliness, as if that absurd graffiti had never happened.
Naruto collapsed exhausted on the observation platform’s ground, gasping heavily, his golden hair soaked with sweat, strands sticking to his forehead, his face still smeared with dried paint streaks that cracked into fine lines with his exaggerated breathing.
Iruka looked at the restored statue, then at his two thoroughly worn-out students, his tense face all afternoon finally easing, even carrying a faint, barely perceptible smile.
“Good work.” His voice had also softened: “As a reward… though mostly to punish Naruto, but Menma worked hard too… Teacher will treat you to Ichiraku Ramen.”
“Ichiraku Ramen?!” Naruto, who had been sprawled on the ground like a dead fish the second before, instantly perked up like he’d been injected with adrenaline upon hearing those words.
He sprang up from the ground, eyes bulging round, emitting dazzling light, the cracked paint on his face crumbling down with his exaggerated grin: “For real? Iruka-sensei! You’re the best! I want the super large bowl! With double narutomaki!”
Watching Naruto instantly revive full of energy, dancing about, Iruka smiled helplessly and shook his head.
However, at that moment, on the back of the hand of Menma, standing beside Naruto, a red engraving pattern surfaced, suddenly transmitting a faint but clear burning sensation.
An intangible stream of information, like an encrypted radio wave, instantly transmitted to his consciousness through the “chakra network.”
It was a message from Kado.
Menma’s expression remained calm; he casually tossed the cleaning tools back to the corner and patted the dust and paint specks off his clothes.
In a natural tone, he said to the still-excited Naruto planning how many bowls of ramen to eat and to Iruka: “I’m all sweaty and sticky, feels gross. I’ll head home first for a quick shower and change. Be fast. See you at Ichiraku Ramen Shop in half an hour.”
His reason was perfectly reasonable, his actions casual and natural.
“Huh? Hurry up, Menma! Don’t make me wait too long!” Naruto waved his hand and shouted, completely immersed in ramen anticipation, without any suspicion.
“Got it, be quick.” Menma replied, then turned crisply, took a few steps to build speed, lightly vaulted over the observation platform’s railing, and leaped toward his home below.
His figure traced a smooth arc in the twilight light, like an agile cheetah, bounding a few times, using protruding rocks and rooftops as footholds, swiftly vanishing into the dense building complex below, movements clean and sharp.
Iruka watched the direction where Menma quickly disappeared, then at Naruto bouncing excitedly beside him, only thinking the kid was clean-freakish, not dwelling on it.
He patted Naruto’s shoulder: “Let’s go, we should head down too. Remember, if you fool around again next time, no more ramen!”
He said half-threatening, half-admonishing, leading Naruto toward the steps down the mountain.
Feeling Iruka-sensei’s care, Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning happily.
The sunset stretched their shadows long.
