From Zero to Charred in 60 Seconds

Drizzle, drizzle.

The light rain outside the mountain gradually turned into a heavy downpour.

"Itachi-san, it's still raining heavily outside. Going out now might not be good for your health," Kisame said, standing inside a mountain cave, as he watched Uchiha Itachi walk outside alone into the rain. He offered a well-intentioned reminder.

Kisame felt a mix of camaraderie, respect, and curiosity towards this ruthless man who had annihilated his own clan.

*Did Itachi-san shed any tears after killing his entire clan?*

But, surely, someone as cold-blooded as Itachi-san wouldn't possess something like tears.

"Rather than that, we should hurry and investigate the whereabouts of the Nine Tails."

Standing in the rain, Uchiha Itachi looked up at the overcast sky and slightly tightened his grip on a slip of paper in his hand.

Flap, flap...

A crow, equally soaked, flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder.

The Third Hokage's letter was a genuine surprise.

But now, was there even a possibility for him, a sinner who had murdered his entire clan, to return to the Village?

He had already decided on his fate. Once his younger brother, Sasuke, grew strong enough, he would willingly die by his brother's hand, allowing Sasuke to become Konoha's great hero, raising the Uchiha clan's reputation in Konoha once more.

As for returning to the Village now and rejoining Anbu?

Uchiha Itachi thought Sarutobi Hiruzen must have something wrong with his head.

But, after all, Sasuke was still in the Village, and there was also a member of his clan who had unexpectedly survived…

These were all things to consider, and furthermore—

It had been so many years since he had returned to Konoha. Uchiha Itachi really did want to take another look.

"So eager? Seems like Itachi-san still has some ties to his hometown."

The Akatsuki leader had assigned them a mission to investigate the Nine Tails.

But this kind of mission, which could be done or not, didn't need to be rushed.

Did Itachi have other ideas?

As a double agent for Akatsuki, Kisame's responsibilities included monitoring Uchiha Itachi in addition to regular missions.

"No, not at all."

*Caw, caw.*

With a few crow calls, Itachi's figure in the rain transformed into a large flock of crows and disappeared.

"Understood, understood. Hang in there."

Seeing that his teammate had already left, Kisame had no choice but to stop the idle chatter.

He could only carry his Samehada and follow behind.

"Itachi-san seems particularly motivated today."

----

"What do we do, Boss? Why did two Konoha Ninja suddenly appear?"

As a group of Rogue Ninja operating on the borders of the Land of Fire, they usually just robbed merchants and occasionally raided villagers.

That was how they unexpectedly encountered Konoha's "regular army." Although there were only two children, their guilt was unavoidable.

If Konoha set its sights on them, their group would most likely become an insignificant B-rank mission for Konoha Village.

Of course, it would be insignificant to Konoha, but it would be a matter of life and death for them.

"Don't panic. First, see if there are only these two Konoha Ninja!"

The Rogue Ninja Leader was also a little nervous, but when he thought that he hadn't "started doing bad things" yet, he quickly forced himself to calm down.

"It seems to be just those two Little Kids."

The bandits had all been "driven away." So much time had passed, and no one else had appeared. There were no signs of anyone lying in ambush nearby.

Now, it was just them and these two Konoha genin standing in silence, along with the groaning, injured, and dying members of the merchant caravan around them.

"Then let's finish this job! Kill all these people, and then we'll go to Whirlpool Country to avoid the wind!"

Just two Konoha Little Kids; they had the numbers advantage.

Besides, if they could find any ninjutsu or ninja tools on these two Little Kids, they would strike it rich.

They initially became Rogue Ninja by finding ninjutsu and the method of extracting Chakra on a ninja corpse.

Thinking of this, the Rogue Ninja, their hearts burning with greed, immediately had the idea of killing everyone here and making a fortune.

"Yes, Boss!"

Actually, they didn't even need the Boss to say it. These Ninja, who had taken advantage of the chaos to kill many members of the merchant caravan, had long since become bloodthirsty.

Besides, these two Konoha Ninja had injured so many of their bandit partners earlier.

So what if they were Konoha Ninja? This was the border of the Land of Fire. They could run out of the Land of Fire at any time. Who could control them then?

"Attack!"

With the Leader's order, besides the few Rogue Ninja surrounding Hinata and Shino, the bandits who had "escaped" earlier also surged back from the Hill, attacking with great momentum.

----

"Hinata, be careful! They seem to be enemies too!"

Seeing the bandits rushing back like a tsunami, and the six strange Ninja gradually surrounding them, Aburame Shino's expression became increasingly serious.

However, he also knew that besides him and Hinata, Uchiha Kage and Yuhi Kurenai were in the shadows, so there was no need to panic too much.

"Yes!"

Hinata also knew that Uchiha Kage and Yuhi Kurenai were behind them, but what she worried about was—

With so many enemies, what if they couldn't hold out later?

Would, would they die?

No, no… If Kage-san died, then he wouldn't be able to achieve Revitalizing the Uchiha Clan.

I, I absolutely cannot lose to these bandits!

"Amazing, that they are clearly just two Little Kids who haven't even grown their hair..."

Watching his subordinates being easily knocked away by the girl in front of him, the Rogue Ninja Leader's fanaticism quickly cooled down.

And that Little Kid's insects were also quite troublesome.

But—

"Little Kids are Little Kids after all. It looks like they haven't even seen blood."

Seeing that these two Konoha Ninja had knocked away or subdued his subordinates, but hadn't killed a single one, the Rogue Ninja Leader laughed wildly again.

*Pfft!*

Casually picking up a merchant caravan member who was trembling on the ground, he ruthlessly snapped the other party's neck with his bare hands. Then, with a forceful snap, he threw the head and hot blood as projectiles towards Hinata and Shino, who were bravely fighting in the encirclement.

"Ah!"

Carelessly splattered with blood on her face, and then seeing the head falling from the sky, Hinata subconsciously screamed.

Even the relatively calm Aburame Shino was disrupted by this head, and even his hands were shaking.

These Ninja were too cruel…

"Hmph, as expected, they are just Little Kids out for training. They're scared by this little scene."

Seeing that the two Konoha Ninja were frightened by the blood he had created, the Rogue Ninja Leader's face showed a disdainful smile.

At the same time, he took advantage of these two people's daze and used his most proud Ninjutsu.

Fire Release: Flame Bullet!

After a brief series of hand seals, small fireballs spewed out of his mouth, shooting towards Hinata and Shino like arrows.

"Crap…"

Coming back to her senses, Hinata realized that she had nowhere to avoid.

She could only try to protect her body with her hands.

"Damn it, the insects can't keep up either."

Shino, who was next to her, didn't have time to attack. In the previous battle, most of his Chakra had been used up.

"Teacher, go save Shino."

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

At this critical moment, Uchiha Kage flashed in front of Hinata.

At the same time, he used just one Great Fireball Technique to engulf the incoming Flame Bullets.

"I told you not to order the Teacher around!"

On the other side, Yuhi Kurenai also grabbed Shino's shoulder and took him away from the Battle Formation.

"There are actually reinforcements…"

Looking at the two newly appeared Konoha Ninja, the Rogue Ninja immediately felt that something was wrong.

But there was no turning back now.

"Shoot arrows, shoot them to death for me!"

The only way ordinary people could threaten ninja was with bows and arrows.

The Rogue Ninja Leader decided to gamble again, relying on the advantage of numbers.

The bandits standing on the Hill took out their bows and arrows and aimed them at the Konoha Ninja below.

"Kage, Kage-san…"

Crap, so many arrows. If only I knew the Hyuga clan's Secret Technique, Heavenly Spin.

Unfortunately, I haven't even fully learned Eight Trigrams Palm yet… How can I block so many arrows for Kage-san?

Hinata looked at the figure of the boy standing in front of her, her eyes filled with both gratitude and worry, as well as self-blame for her uselessness.

"The reason why Ninja are called Ninja is because of the vast difference in strength between them and ordinary people."

Looking at the flying arrows, Uchiha Kage had a calm expression.

In Senju Tobirama's era, this scene would have been child's play.

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

*Boom!*

The flames that spewed out of Uchiha Kage's mouth instantly converged into a sea of fire.

In an instant, even the heavens and the earth were illuminated by this fire.

And those flying arrows were swallowed by the tide of flames while they were still in the air, turning into charcoal along with the masters who shot them.

"What, what did you do!?"

It was just a Fire Release Ninjutsu. This vast mountain range, whether it was flowers, plants, trees, or those subordinates who shot arrows, were all gone in an instant.

Only the remaining bonfire was still burning.

This scene terrified the few surviving Rogue Ninja into silence.

The Fire Release Ninjutsu they knew were as small as a speck of dust in front of this young Ninja.

"I have seen many people like you. I originally thought that with the development of Shinobi Village, you would all eventually be wiped out one day, but I didn't expect…"

The ninja world has always been this way.

Powerful ninja are endlessly greedy, and the weak struggled to survive.

This man-eat-man world had never changed from beginning to end.

Since that was the case, then I will—

I, the one designated as evil, will rule this world!

"W-what are you going to do?"

"D-don't, don't come over!"

The Rogue Ninja, terrified, found their legs weak as they tried to escape.

Uchiha Kage just glared at them, and they all lost their ability to fight.

Illusionary Technique: Hell Viewing Technique!

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"

Without the Sharingan, even the most ordinary Illusionary Technique could instantly knock down these third-rate Rogue Ninja.

Looking at the Rogue Ninja who were screaming and wailing while curled up in a ball because they had seen terror in the Illusionary Technique, Uchiha Kage coldly took out a Kunai.

"Wait."

Just as Uchiha Kage was planning to finish off these Ninja, Yuhi Kurenai suddenly reached out and grabbed Uchiha Kage's wrist.

"Teacher?"

"I'm not going to let these villains go, but, let's wait for the Teacher to use Torture on them with Illusionary Technique first."

This little guy has a lot of killing intent on him. Although it's a good thing for a Ninja to have this level of killing intent, but…

Yuhi Kurenai still felt that it would be better if her Disciple was more adorable.

"However, the Teacher is really amazed by you. You even know such a high-level Ninjutsu as a B-rank Ninjutsu."

And he used it so well.

Looking at the bare Hill that had been burned, Yuhi Kurenai couldn't help but gasp.

And the Illusionary Technique that she had just taught him not long ago, he had mastered it so quickly.

Is this a genius?

Although she really wanted to see what Uchiha Kage really looked like when he took action, after seeing that this Disciple's strength and performance far exceeded her expectations… This also made her, the Teacher, feel a little uneasy.

If this continues, if this guy grows too fast, what if she, the Teacher, can't beat her Disciple?

And what did he mean by saying that he had seen many… What does that mean? Hasn't he always been in the Village?

"This is just a very ordinary Ninjutsu. As long as you have enough Chakra, you can use it."

Compared to Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Kage felt that his Great Fire Annihilation just now was just a small fireball.

However, recently, after absorbing a lot of Naruto and Sasuke fragments, his Chakra had indeed improved a lot.

Moreover, with the current situation, the strength he had revealed was just right. He could be considered an 'ordinary genius.'

He hoped that with this, he wouldn't be easily used as cannon fodder by someone in Anbu in the Future.

"S-so amazing. As expected of Kage-san."

Hinata's previous worries had now all turned into shock at Uchiha Kage's strength and deep admiration for him.

As expected, when we were at the Ninja Academy before, the reason why Kage-san lost to me was definitely because he was holding back.

"Indeed, with this kind of gap, I don't even have the confidence to fight you."

Aburame Shino was also full of shock at the Great Fire Annihilation just now.

Of course, what was even more surprising was the other party's attitude of not hesitating to kill.

Was it because of the Uchiha clan's blood feud?

They had clearly graduated from the same school, but he never expected the gap to be so big.

"Don't say that. Your insects are still quite useful. We'll rely on you to keep watch tonight."

The surrounding sky gradually became dim, and the setting sun only left the last ray of light on the horizon.

It was almost dark.

Uchiha Kage looked at the merchant caravan, where not a single bandit or ninja was left alive because of the earlier events, and then looked at the Rogue Ninja who had been tortured for information and then executed one by one by Yuhi Kurenai.

He didn't know why, but he had a strange premonition that this seemingly peaceful C-rank treasure hunt mission might be a little dangerous, just like Kakashi's mission in the Land of Waves.

----

"Itachi-san, was that firelight over there just now?"

"Yes, it seems like there are powerful Ninja fighting there."

Uchiha Itachi expressionlessly glanced with his Sharingan at the distant Hill where the firelight appeared.

"Should we go take a look? Maybe it's Konoha Ninja. This should already be considered the territory of the Land of Fire, right?"

"Don't create unnecessary trouble. If we alert the snake, it will be difficult for us to infiltrate Konoha Village."

Faced with Kisame's malicious suggestion, Uchiha Itachi naturally refused outright.

"Is that so? I hope it's not because Itachi-san is worried about running into acquaintances, so he's unwilling to take action."

Kisame seemed to be bored, so he casually found a topic to test the other party.

"Do you think I would still have 'acquaintances' in Konoha?"

Uchiha Itachi coldly replied.

"Sorry, I misspoke."

Seeing that Uchiha Itachi seemed a little angry, Kisame immediately shut his mouth.

But not long after, he couldn't help but open his mouth again.

"However, I seem to have heard… that there seems to be something fun happening at the nearby Whirlpool Country Ruins. I heard that there's something about a God of Death, forbidden techniques, and buried treasure."

"Don't do anything unnecessary, Kisame."

"Yes, yes, yes. We'll go to Konoha Village. We won't go anywhere else."

*** Entering Translator's Territory (Handle with Care! 😉) ***

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