Konoha Spark's Methods

"Talk. Why did you infiltrate the Leaf Village? How much do you know?"

Uchiha Lan's voice was cold and stern, his gaze carrying an unquestionable authority.

The Sand Village spy's eyes had already taken on the shape of the Sharingan. Panting heavily, he said with difficulty:

"We... we were only ordered to search for the Third Kazekage's whereabouts."

"He has been missing for seven days. The Sand Village higher-ups suspect he may have been ambushed by another ninja village, so they activated me to investigate this matter."

"The Third Kazekage has disappeared?"

Uchiha Lan frowned slightly, then immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

Wasn't the trigger for the Third Shinobi World War the Third Kazekage's disappearance, compounded by Sand Village's internal conflicts?

To divert those conflicts and expand their living space, they brazenly gathered forces to attack Konoha, thus opening the curtain on the Third Shinobi World War.

Uchiha Lan was secretly alarmed. He had not expected to touch upon such a crucial event of the Third Shinobi World War so soon.

If the timeline was correct, in a few months, the Sand Village, no longer able to hold back, would launch a war under the pretext that the Third Kazekage had been murdered by Konoha.

At that moment, the Sand ninja, whose burns from the Explosive Tag had finally stimulated him awake through the pain, broke free from the genjutsu.

"Genjutsu? When? It hurts!"

The Sand ninja's pupils suddenly widened. He had no idea when he had fallen under the genjutsu and had not noticed it in the slightest, but the moment he awakened, he felt as if raging flames were scorching his body.

The two ANBU members also restrained him.

"I'll leave this spy to you, then."

Uchiha Lan spoke softly, an unusual tremor entering his voice.

The ANBU members moved swiftly, tying up the Sand Village spy and preparing to take him to the interrogation room without delay.

"Thank you for your cooperation. May I ask your name, sir?"

"Uchiha Lan."

"Masaka! So you're Konoha Spark. I've long admired you. Farewell!"

Afterward, they brought the ninja back to the village to await further interrogation.

As for Uchiha Lan, he began looking forward to having barbecue once all this was over.

"This mission was completed well. Everyone worked hard today."

Uchiha Lan said this, but a trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.

War... it had finally come!

Still, at least when I get to the battlefield, I won't have two deadweights dragging me down. That barely counts as a good thing, right?

The night remained deep as Uchiha Lan vanished into the dense forest with the ANBU members, leaving behind only scorched traces of fire.

Yet in his heart, he had already begun considering his next course of action.

The first plan was naturally the Thirty-Six Stratagems: retreat was best. In short, run away.

He felt no psychological burden whatsoever about abandoning the clan and fleeing.

After all, he was not born and raised here.

It was simply that his strength did not allow it. Konoha had indeed produced many rogue ninja, but which rogue ninja who survived was not Shadow Level?

For example, Orochimaru had lived all the way to Boruto: Unburnable after defecting. Someone like Mizuki, who could survive for two episodes, only managed it thanks to Kishimoto padding things out.

Not just anyone could evade the pursuit of Konoha's ANBU and Root, much less him—a member of the Uchiha Clan, whom the upper echelon currently ruled by the Third Hokage regarded with caution.

Those old bastards were ruthless enough to wipe out the entire Uchiha Clan rather than let them flee!

And even if he truly managed to escape Konoha by luck, there would be no place for him in the vast shinobi world.

How could those smaller ninja villages dare stand against the Five Great Ninja Villages? They definitely would not be able to protect him.

Fleeing to one of the other four great ninja villages would mean becoming a tool and breeding machine.

Though that honestly did not sound too bad. He was a tiny bit tempted.

But people still had to have dreams. Since he had come to this world, even if he could not dominate a region, he at least had to become a powerful ninja with lots of money, little work, and a home nearby.

Besides, that Konoha Spark title had truly screwed him over. He was already on the bounty list, worth as much as an Asuma!

If he ran into that diligent, money-loving, Shadow Level centenarian, he would be in some danger too!

How should he put it? Uchiha Lan had never wanted to make a name for himself like this.

When he had first learned that he was an Uchiha—

He had wanted to lie low and develop steadily, but his strength simply would not permit it.

Having lived two lives, his spiritual power was absurdly strong!

He entered clan training at age four and was utterly ordinary.

At age five, he entered the Ninja Academy, only to be relentlessly provoked by several jealous little brats because he was too handsome.

Who knew kids here matured so early? They had even learned how to be jealous.

He had no choice. It was not as if he could let them spit on him and throw rocks at him every day.

Then, after being humiliated, he successfully awakened his One-Tomoe Sharingan and became unbeatable throughout his grade.

At age seven, faced with upperclassmen who came after hearing of him, he had no choice but to knock them down one by one, becoming unbeatable in the school aside from Kakashi.

At age eight, like Kakashi, he graduated early, enjoying all manner of envious, jealous, and resentful gazes while being hailed as one of Konoha's Twin Stars.

At age nine, he began carrying out missions. Nearly driven mad by poverty, he became a veritable Harvest machine for D-rank missions, with a one-hundred-percent completion rate. He even awakened his Two-Tomoe Sharingan in rage after a bandit injured the ninja cat he kept.

Even the Uchiha Jonin leading his team clicked his tongue in amazement.

He had seen many clan members awaken their eyes, including those who awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan because their companions were injured or died.

But awakening the Two-Tomoe Sharingan because a cat had been injured? That was truly one of a kind.

Uchiha Lan merely said they were too easily surprised. I've even seen someone wipe out an entire gang over a dog!

What truly made him famous was when ten-year-old Uchiha Lan was still a Genin.

After completing a C-rank mission and preparing to return to the village, he unexpectedly encountered a Hidden Mist ambush unit.

After their teacher killed two Jonin, only to exhaust himself and die in battle—

Facing the pursuit and encirclement of one Jonin and more than a dozen Chunin, with his two companions also severely injured—

Uchiha Lan first used the Summoning Jutsu he had only recently learned to hide his two companions somewhere safe.

Then, in fury, he awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and lured away the pursuers alone. In the end, he used the terrain and weather to kill every Hidden Mist ninja surrounding him.

Only when reinforcements arrived at Konoha's border did they find the barely alive Uchiha Lan through clues provided by his other two teammates.

After that battle, Uchiha Lan was given the title "Konoha Spark." He became famous for a time, even overshadowing the genius Hatake Kakashi.

It also shattered the composure of many Hidden Mist ninja. Ten years old? You fucking told me he was ten years old?!

Was this the kind of achievement a child could produce?!

After that battle, even Kirigakure's reputation declined significantly, and its mission volume fell by five percent.

Originally, even the Third Hokage had wanted to directly grant him the rank of Chunin.

But Uchiha Lan refused, saying that aside from his strength, he was still unqualified in every other aspect.

He even said in front of everyone:

"In Konoha, rank is not the only standard by which a ninja's value is measured. A heart that protects is the true Will of Fire."