Naruto successfully lured Hiruzen Sarutobi out of the office and brought him to the lobby of the Hokage Building.
Everyone in the lobby respectfully greeted Hiruzen Sarutobi when they saw him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi warmly responded to each of them.
This saved Naruto a lot of trouble. After all, although he had said he wanted to show Hiruzen Sarutobi something, he had not yet decided what exactly to show him.
Meanwhile, Uzumaki Menma and the others, who had been waiting for their chance in the shadows, slipped into the Hokage Office the moment they saw Naruto lead Hiruzen Sarutobi away.
As soon as they entered the office, Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, and Choji began rummaging through drawers and cabinets.
Choji was about to lift a flowerpot to check underneath it when Shikamaru reminded him, "Choji, there's no need to check the flowerpots. Lord Hokage probably wouldn't put it there. The Crystal Ball should be somewhere like a cabinet or a drawer."
"Huh? Oh." Choji put down the flowerpot and began searching through the cabinets.
Hinata was dumbfounded as she watched Uzumaki Menma and the others rummage around so roughly.
"Um..."
Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, and Choji stopped what they were doing and looked at Hinata. "What is it, Hinata?"
Hinata pointed at the scattered books and documents on the floor and reminded them, "Um... aren't we here to steal the Crystal Ball? If we search like this, won't it be obvious at a glance that someone stole something?"
Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, and Choji spoke in unison. "You're right!"
After saying that, they lowered their heads and continued searching. Their movements became even rougher than before, and the books and documents on the floor became even more of a mess.
Hinata was speechless. If she was right, why were they still doing this?
Shouldn't stealing things mean handling them gently so no one noticed?
Shikamaru thoughtfully explained to Hinata, "It's already too messy here to put everything back. So we can only make it even messier. That way, Lord Hokage might not realize what's missing."
Hinata tilted her head. That actually seemed to make some sense.
Watching the three of them search with such enthusiasm, Hinata began looking through the things nearest to her as well.
Since she was already on the ship, getting off was no longer an option. She might as well join them.
In the short time she had spent with Uzumaki Menma and the other four, Hinata had experienced a feeling she had never felt before.
It was happiness!
After searching for a while...
"Found it!"
Uzumaki Menma found a Crystal Ball in a drawer of the desk.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Hinata gathered around to inspect the Crystal Ball in Uzumaki Menma's hands.
Choji reached out and poked the Crystal Ball with a finger. "Is this the Crystal Ball Naruto mentioned, the one that can supposedly see everywhere in Konoha? It looks like jelly. It looks delicious."
Shikamaru complained, "Idiot, Choji. How could you eat this? Still, since this Crystal Ball was kept in the desk drawer, it's probably the one. Now that we have it, let's get out of here."
The Crystal Ball was quite large and would not fit in a pocket, so Uzumaki Menma stuffed it inside the shirt over his stomach. Holding the ball through his shirt with both hands, he said, "Let's go!"
Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, Choji, and Hinata left the Hokage Office, politely closing the door behind them.
Naruto, who had been keeping Hiruzen Sarutobi occupied on the first floor, could not hold out any longer.
Because Hiruzen Sarutobi had already asked Naruto what he wanted to show him.
Naruto thought for a long time but could not figure out how to fool Hiruzen Sarutobi.
At last, his saviors arrived.
Naruto saw Uzumaki Menma and the other four coming down from the second floor, and Uzumaki Menma gave him a gesture that said, "Success."
Naruto immediately said to Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Hokage Grandpa, I forgot to bring what I wanted to show you today. I'll bring it next time! Goodbye, Hokage Grandpa!"
After saying that, Naruto took off running.
After watching Naruto leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his office.
Seeing the office in complete disarray, Hiruzen Sarutobi helplessly smiled and shook his head.
He had noticed Uzumaki Menma and the other four hiding in the shadows from the very beginning, and he understood that this was Naruto's scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi had still pretended not to know and left the office with Naruto.
There was no particular reason. Since Naruto and the others wanted to play, it did no harm to indulge them.
"Ah, what an energetic bunch of little ones. Cleaning this up will be a real hassle. Still, I didn't expect Hiashi's eldest daughter to join Naruto's little group too. That's nice."
After cleaning up, Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered that his Crystal Ball was missing. He muttered in puzzlement, "It seems this prank was Naruto's idea. After all, only Naruto knows that the Crystal Ball exists. But without the accompanying technique, this Crystal Ball is no different from an ordinary one."
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, took out his pipe, and began smoking. The smile on his face could not be suppressed at all.
"Having Danzo adopt Menma really was a good idea. Danzo's personality has changed so much, and it's all thanks to that grandson of his, Menma. Now Naruto and Menma have more and more friends too. Everything is moving in a better direction."
At a secluded, abandoned training ground.
The five of them sat in a circle, studying how to use the Crystal Ball.
Uzumaki Menma asked, "Naruto, you're the only one who has seen Lord Hokage use this Crystal Ball. Do you know how it works?"
Naruto scratched his head. "I don't know either. When I went to see Hokage Grandpa, I happened to see him holding the Crystal Ball and looking at it. Hokage Grandpa was covering his nose, and his eyes were practically popping out of his head. But when he saw me arrive, he hurriedly covered the Crystal Ball with a cloth.
Back then, I said I wanted to see it too, but Hokage Grandpa said he was using the Crystal Ball to observe Konoha's public safety. No matter how much I begged, Hokage Grandpa wouldn't let me look."
Seeing that Naruto did not know how to use the Crystal Ball either, Hinata guessed, "Um... could there be some kind of mechanism?"
Uzumaki Menma examined the Crystal Ball from every angle, but it did not look like it had any mechanism at all. It was a transparent Crystal Ball, after all. If there were a mechanism, it should have been easy to spot.
The clever Shikamaru guessed, "Maybe the Crystal Ball needs to be used with a ninjutsu. Perhaps only after using a specific technique can it display an image."
Choji dejectedly lay down on the ground. "What the heck? We worked so hard for nothing."
Shikamaru lay down as well, enjoying the warm sunlight shining on him.
This feels so good~ After all that work, it would've been better to just come here and bask in the sun.
Uzumaki Menma tossed the Crystal Ball aside, sighed, and lay down like Choji and Shikamaru. He had originally wanted to use it to see what the women's bathhouse looked like.
Seeing Uzumaki Menma, Shikamaru, and Choji so dispirited, Naruto felt that he had to say something!
Naruto began his impassioned speech, "Why did we go steal the Crystal Ball? To have fun! What matters isn't the result of stealing the Crystal Ball, but the process! We should be happy! Because we already succeeded!"
Hinata looked at Naruto as though her eyes were filled with stars.
So cool!
Before you continue