A Truly Born-Evil Uchiha Brat

"Ah!"

"Why!?"

As the sound of a blade piercing flesh and a wail rang out, the Uzumaki Couple's bodies slumped to the ground. The Konoha merchant leading the group expressionlessly pulled out his kunai and flicked it lightly, shaking the blood from the blade.

"Captain, just as you said!"

The Land of Fire merchant with a scar on his face—no, the Konoha Ninja hiding their identities—had found several bags of refined sugar in the kitchen. He set them on the table. "This all came from the Land of Fang's Sugar Refinery. It was supposed to be tribute for our Konoha! Now it's all in the homes of these Rain Country civilians. That shows just how much of our sugar they've been secretly taking!"

"Hmph. So it really was this bunch from the Land of Rain who attacked our port!"

The captain grabbed a bag of white sugar and glanced inside, then angrily kicked the bodies of the couple on the ground.

"Ha! They talk about peace, about civilians—bah! I say they're all thieves in hiding! These people deserve to die!"

"Take this chance to rest, Captain."

The scar-faced ninja advised him, "If you're right, then this village... no, the entire Land of Rain is already preparing to start a war. We have to get this information back to the village. We absolutely can't let Konoha fall behind in the war, or else..."

"I know."

The captain nodded and sat down. He took a Military Ration Pill from his clothes and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing hard. The dry pill quickly released its energy, replenishing his exhausted body after their long flight.

"...There's a child in this family, too. He just went out to play."

The captain called the scar-faced ninja by name. "Shota, be ready. The moment he comes back, kill him. We traveled all this way, sneaking here from the Land of Fang, just to investigate the truth behind the attack on the Land of Fang. Now that we've finally found something, we have to be careful. We mustn't let all our efforts go to waste!"

"Understood."

Shota cautiously went to the door and looked outside. The night was deep, and not a soul was in sight. "Captain, get some rest. As soon as that child comes back, we'll kill him!"

"Mm!"

The two nodded.

But they never noticed that Nagato, who had gone out earlier, was now huddled in a corner by the doorway, in a blind spot they couldn't see. His small body was full of tears and hatred.

And more terrifying still, beneath the moonlight, the shadow of young Nagato crouched behind him like a human face, wearing a chilling grin.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!"

Flames roared again and again inside the Sugar Refinery. Scorching waves of heat accompanied the writhing fire dragons as they devoured everything in sight.

Uchiha Sakuya lowered his hand, his expressionless gaze fixed on the scene before him.

Furious flames danced as searing heat washed over the area. The buildings that had once stood inside the Sugar Refinery were swallowed the moment they touched his fire, as if they had never existed. All that remained were twisted, charred outlines, barely clinging to existence in the firelight.

"Hey, Uchiha, don't you think you've gone a bit too far?"

Tsunade, following behind him, was still shaken by the Fire Release Sakuya had just unleashed. "This is a sugar refinery, after all. It supplies us with essential goods. You just destroyed the whole place?"

She frowned. "This Sugar Refinery technically belongs to the Land of Fang. Killing people is one thing, but destroying this place... isn't that a waste? Maybe it could be rebuilt someday. Besides, what if the Land of Fang makes a fuss about this later?"

"We can talk about rebuilding later. My Fire Release is powerful to begin with, and these wooden buildings were bound to catch fire with the slightest touch. How could I hold back? As for your worry that the Land of Fang will make a fuss later..."

"They're bound to, aren't they? Building a sugar refinery must cost a lot of money."

Tsunade counted on her fingers.

At current prices, building a sugar refinery would cost at least five hundred thousand ryo. That was as much as a major ninja village could earn from several high-level A-rank missions after a great deal of time and effort!

"Don't worry. The Land of Fang won't make a fuss."

Seeing that the surrounding enemies had been cleared for now, Sakuya stopped setting fires and explained to Tsunade, "In fact, the higher-ups in the Land of Fang might even be grateful to us for burning down this Sugar Refinery."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Tsunade was utterly confused.

Was there really something wrong with this Uchiha's head? They'd destroyed another country's important facility, and its people wouldn't just let it go—they'd thank them?

Second Grandpa hadn't been wrong. The Uchiha Clan really were—

"Don't get it? Then take a look at this."

Sakuya crouched down, lifted the hem of the skirt on the rogue ninja's corpse beside him, and pointed to the pattern on the inside. "What do you think this is?"

"This style..."

Tsunade took a look and jolted. "It's not from the Land of Fang. Could it be..."

"These rogue ninja were probably sent by a country hostile to Konoha."

Sakuya narrowed his eyes. "This Sugar Refinery is close to the Land of Fire and has always been heavily guarded. How could ninjas from another country get here without anyone noticing, attack the refinery, and destroy the port? Unless..."

"Unless there are traitors among the higher-ups in the Land of Fang who've sided with another country!"

Tsunade said.

"As expected of Princess Tsunade—you catch on quickly."

Sakuya didn't care about the glare Tsunade shot him. He stood up and said, "Our arrival here is bound to make the higher-ups in the Land of Fang who've sided with another country nervous. But by destroying this Sugar Refinery, I've actually put them at ease—because I've covered their tracks for them."

He smiled faintly. "With an ally as considerate as me, how could they stand by and let us be held responsible?"

Seeing Tsunade fall into thought, Sakuya paused, then continued, "Besides, the first people to jump out later will certainly be those connected to the Sugar Refinery! I'm drawing the snake out of its hole."

"But have you thought about this?"

Tsunade shook her head. "You've destroyed the Sugar Refinery now, haven't you also indirectly destroyed the evidence? Even if we do catch the traitor who betrayed the Land of Fang—and us—just as you say, how are we supposed to..."

"You're wrong."

Sakuya shook his head. "The rogue ninja occupied the Sugar Refinery for nearly a week. Even if there was evidence, it would have been destroyed long ago. From the very start, you shouldn't have expected to find any evidence."

"Then what..."

"Dummy."

His lips curled into a mischievous grin as he looked at Tsunade. "We've destroyed the Sugar Refinery, haven't we? It might look like destruction on the surface, but later we can just pull out whatever we like and call it evidence. Who could argue with us?"

"You..."

Tsunade stared blankly at Sakuya, astonished.

Had he planned this from the very beginning?

Had he already worked out all sorts of schemes before they even started attacking the Sugar Refinery?

This guy... his mind was way too dark.

A truly born-evil Uchiha brat. Second Grandpa hadn't been wrong!

But... having a teammate who thought of everything was pretty nice.