Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

2. The second page of the diary read: "The people of Kumogakure aren't the brightest, but a few are decent. Especially the girls—they all have smoking hot bodies. It's a shame they're all dark-skinned, not my type... But fortunately, there's Yugito. Her cooking is good, and she's becoming more and more virtuous lately."

Raikage A's mouth twitched.

*What's wrong with dark skin?*

*What's so bad about dark skin?*

He took a deep breath and turned to the third page.

"That idiot A has been sending people to watch me lately. He thinks I don't know, but I know everything. I'm just too lazy to care. With their skill level, tracking me? Heh heh heh. But seeing as they have it rough, I won't expose them. After all, they're just following orders; there's no need to make things difficult for them."

Raikage A's face darkened further.

Fourth page: "I've got the Eight-Tails' chakra, and the Two-Tails' as well. The next target will be the Three-Tails. I wonder what the situation is like over in Kirigakure, and if they'll welcome me? I heard Kirigakure is a total mess right now—something about the Village of the Bloody Mist, where killing is the norm. A normal person like me shouldn't get beaten up going there, right? But it doesn't matter. I'm so handsome, I'll definitely be very popular."

Fifth page: "I heard Orochimaru became Hokage. That's just absurd. That guy used to do human experiments, and now he's actually the Hokage? How did those old geezers in Konoha agree to that? But thinking about it, it makes sense. Hiruzen retired, Jiraiya refused, and Tsunade won't return. Who else could it be besides Orochimaru? They couldn't possibly ask me to do it, right? Hahaha."

Sixth page: "Planning to leave. I've been in Kumogakure for almost half a year. I've taken what I needed to take and learned what I needed to learn. There's no point in staying any longer. Yugito is coming with me; she volunteered. If that fool A finds out, he'll probably blow his top. But it's fine, he can't beat me anyway."

Raikage A's face went from black to green, and from green to purple.

"This bastard..."

His voice squeezed through his gritted teeth. Perhaps he was too engrossed in reading, as he didn't notice someone approaching from behind.

Killer Bee had walked into the office at some point. Standing right behind him, he craned his neck to look at the words in the diary and spoke up.

"A is an idiot, thinks too much, plans too shallow, so I'll be taking my leave, yo! Bro, look at this, did he write it right, yo!"

Killer Bee's voice carried a rapping rhythm, reading it out word by word.

Raikage A's face turned from green back to black. He slammed the diary shut with a loud smack, whipped his head around, and glared with wide eyes.

"You bastard!"

His voice was so loud that the entire office buzzed.

"Didn't you notice anything unusual during this time?"

Killer Bee pointed at himself, looking full of grievance.

"Bro, you know me. I usually don't even go out, yo! I've been at home writing lyrics and practicing swordplay. Where would I find the time to keep an eye on that kid, yo!"

Raikage A was left speechless.

He opened his mouth to say something, but found he couldn't utter a single word.

Killer Bee indeed rarely went out. Ever since he was injured by Uchiha Taiga last time, he had stayed in his quarters to recover. Once healed, he stayed home practicing his swordplay and writing raps, almost never stepping outside.

Expecting him to keep watch was indeed unrealistic.

Raikage A gritted his teeth, let out a cold snort, and slammed the closed diary hard onto the desk.

"That guy took Yugito Nii away. Now the village is down one major combat asset."

Killer Bee scratched his head, his expression quite relaxed.

"It's fine, everyone has been working hard lately, and our strength has improved, yo! Missing one person won't affect us, yo!"

Raikage A weakly closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples, feeling a splitting headache.

"Forget it. I'll handle this matter."

Killer Bee asked, "Should we send people to chase them?"

Raikage A immediately refused.

"No!"

He opened his eyes and looked at Killer Bee with a serious expression.

"We shouldn't make any unnecessary moves at a time like this."

He paused, as if pondering something.

"Have the ANBU gather more intelligence on Kirigakure. That guy said his next target is the Three-Tails' chakra. He will definitely take Yugito to Kirigakure."

Killer Bee nodded, then shook his head and sighed.

"Must be nice. That Yugito actually gets to go on a trip, yo! I want to go too, yo!"

Raikage A looked at him speechlessly, saying nothing.

...

Out on the open sea.

A large ship sailed along, its hull gently rising and falling with the waves. The white canvas sails billowed in the sea breeze, flapping loudly.

The sea sparkled, the sunlight scattering across the water's surface like a layer of crushed gold.

In the distance, the sea and sky merged, making it impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

A young man stood at the bow, his posture straight.

Uchiha Taiga wore a dark travel outfit, with three ninja swords hanging from his waist and a small backpack slung over his shoulders. The sea breeze blew past his hair, sending his black locks fluttering in the wind while the hem of his clothes snapped sharply.

His eyes gleamed white in the sunlight, like two carefully polished gemstones. The corners of his mouth were slightly turned up, carrying a faint smile. He looked handsome and otherworldly, like a figure stepping right out of a painting.

Standing beside him was a woman—it was none other than Yugito Nii.

She had also changed her attire, wearing a light-colored long dress with a thin coat over it. Her hair was no longer tied in a braid but cascaded loosely over her shoulders, gently swaying in the sea breeze. With her fair skin and delicate features, standing at the bow, she looked like a blooming flower.

Her attitude towards Uchiha Taiga was no longer as stiff as before. She didn't constantly keep a straight face, and although she didn't speak much, her tone had softened considerably.

Looking at the distant horizon, Yugito Nii spoke up.

"Are you sure there won't be any problems just leaving like this?"

Uchiha Taiga didn't turn his head; his gaze remained on the sea ahead.

"What problems could there be?"

His tone was very casual. "Could it be that idiot A actually dares to send people to intercept us?"

Yugito Nii thought about it and agreed.

Although Raikage A had a fiery temper, he wasn't stupid. He knew Uchiha Taiga's strength and knew that sending pursuers would only anger him. Naturally, he wouldn't do something so foolish.

"But are you sure you want to go to Kirigakure right now?"

Her brows furrowed slightly.

"The internal strife over there is very serious right now, and their Jinchuriki is the Mizukage himself. If you want to get the Tailed Beast chakra, I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

Uchiha Taiga turned his head, looked at her, and smiled.

"Harder than subjugating Kumogakure?"

Yugito Nii opened her mouth, then closed it again.

She couldn't find a reason to refute him. Kumogakure had been beaten into submission by him alone. No matter how chaotic Kirigakure was, how bad could it be? No matter how strong Kirigakure was, how strong could they be?

Uchiha Taiga added, "Besides, I'm not a ninja. As an ordinary person traveling to Kirigakure for a vacation, they should welcome me no matter what, right?"

Yugito Nii immediately fell silent.

*An ordinary person?*

*You call yourself an ordinary person?*

Looking at his deadpan face, she felt that trying to reason with him was a lost cause.

She turned her head away, no longer looking at him, and fixed her gaze on the distant sea.

The reason why Uchiha Taiga decided to go to Kirigakure first was quite simple.

At this point in time, Kirigakure was in its Blood Mist era. With the internal chaos, he might just reap some unexpected rewards by going there.

Furthermore, the current Mizukage was secretly controlled by Uchiha Obito, and he certainly didn't mind causing some trouble for Uchiha Obito.

In short, no matter how he looked at it, getting the Three-Tails' chakra from Yagura Karatachi would be simpler than getting Tailed Beast chakra from other ninja villages.

Thus, the large ship sailed on the sea for half a month.

Days at sea were monotonous and peaceful—watching the ocean by day and the stars by night.

Yugito Nii was in charge of cooking, and Uchiha Taiga was in charge of eating. The interaction between the two became increasingly natural and casual, like old friends who had lived together for a long time.

However, Uchiha Taiga still underestimated the level of chaos in Kirigakure.

On this day, as the large ship sailed across the sea, the outline of land could already be seen in the distance.

It was a coastline shrouded in thick fog. The fog was dense and white, lying across the sea like a solid wall.

Uchiha Taiga stood at the bow, looking at the thick fog, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"We're almost there."

Yugito Nii stood beside him, also looking at the thick fog, her brows furrowing slightly. She sensed that something was wrong.

Sure enough, moments later, several small boats charged out of the dense fog. On each small boat stood several ninjas dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, wearing masks on their faces, ninja swords hanging from their waists, and kunai in their hands.

Their eyes were cold, as if looking at dead men.

The leader stood on the foremost small boat, raising his ninja sword high before slashing it down fiercely.

"Kill everyone on board!"

The small boats accelerated simultaneously, charging toward the large ship, while the ninjas leaped from their boats, pouncing toward the large vessel.

Uchiha Taiga looked at the Kirigakure ninjas lunging at him, feeling utterly exasperated.

"Seriously, why is there trouble everywhere I go? Besides, this is just an ordinary merchant ship. Are these Kirigakure guys crazy?"

Yugito Nii's hand was already resting on the ninja sword at her waist, her body leaning slightly forward, ready for battle.

3.