Vengeful

"In that case, I'll have to sacrifice myself to resolve this dilemma between you two." Malaria sighed, as if he was ready to die a martyr's death. Then he approached Hatake Sakumo and said solemnly, "Teacher, I would love to study under you, like I did together with Kakashi back in those days!"

'Cough, cough, cough!'

Everyone was rendered speechless. That was too shameless, can't he see that Orochimaru was standing right here? Malaria had abandoned all that's left of his integrity so he could win some brownie points with the two Kage-level powerhouses.

The most unbelievable thing with all of this is that Malaria was pretending that he was doing everyone on the scene a favour. He was certainly one of a kind type of scoundrel. Sakumo waved his hand in denial and lifted Malaria that was about to fall to his knees in teacher worship.

Sakumo said softly, "You are truly different from your father." Malaria was stunned. "Do you know my old man?" Sakumo nodded and said with mixed feelings, "I thought he was my only friend, but it turned out he's my life's enemy."

"Does that make you my Uncle Sakumo?" Malaria said with glittering eyes. "Since this is the first time we meet as actual family, Uncle, please give me a greeting gift, just in case others were to mock Uncle for your lack of manners."

'COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!'

Everybody felt their minds starting to crack by Malaria's repeated shamelessness. 'Lack of manners? Don't you know which of you two is lacking in manners? Who has ever asked for a greeting gift so explicitly?' they thought.

Frowning, Kagura turned to Malaria and snorted, "So, you're that guys son. No wonder you look familiar to me." Malaria blinked his eyes innocently. Judging from her tone, she and Malaria's father probably had more than one disagreement.

Could It be that his father was the third person back in that year? Was Hikari actually his unknown sister from different parents? Thinking about that, Malaria ventured, "Stepmother?"

Everybody started having cold sweats running down their backs. Malaria acting this shamelessly with a Kage-level was definitely unprecedented in Konoha's history. Is he not afraid to get beaten and bruised?

"Get lost!" Kagura berated. What sort of person does he think she is? Damned scoundrel.

"So, you're not. I was quite worried there for a second." Malaria patted his chest and took a long sigh of relief. He might be shameless, he might be brazen – but he's absolutely not into incest.

Yamana looked at everyone curiously. Hikari's mother was a Kage-level, Kazuma's teacher was also Kage-level. Since Sakumo considered Malaria's father his life enemy, Malaria's actual father was probably Kage-level as well.

Three of these four ex-academy students had Kage-level backgrounds. Where was hers? Thinking of the Yamanaka clan, she remembers that they do still have a few elders with otherworldly spiritual power. If their chakra is there to match is uncertain though.

Sakumo took out a subtle spool of special wire that's so thin it's impossible to see with the naked eye, and said with melancholy, "Back then, your father was so sneaky in the shadows that I had to prepare these wires to tell me of his location. However, I never had the chance to fight him again. I'll give this wire to you. I hope that you can live up to your fathers' expectations."

Then, he threw the spool of highest grade wire to Malaria, which dumbfounded Yamana. That wire was a treasure that cost several hundreds of millions. One might not be able to buy it even if you had the money to spend. It was a symbol of status, with a certificate of excellence that the wire will never be spotted by the enemy.

However, Sakumo had given the spool away without any hesitation. This Anbu Commander was truly generous to his friends and 'family'. Malaria quickly grabbed the spool, as if he was worried that someone would try to steal it from him.

Then, he stared at the famous 'White Fang'-sword Sakumo was carrying and solemnly said, "Legend has it that when Senju Hashirama lost his best friend, he broke his Senju-Scroll because no one was worthy enough to get struck by its contents. Uncle, why don't you retire your sword like first Hokage did? However, since your sword is rather excellent, I can take care of it for you, so it won't turn dull and blunt."

Scoundrel!

The greatest scoundrel in the world!

Everybody on the scene labelled Malaria as such. 'Not only did you not show any gratitude after you were given a spool of Konoha's best wire, but you're also trying to acquire the man's signature chakra sword!' Everyone thought it was too outrageous.

"You are not like your father at all." Sakumo shook his head in amusement. "This sword is named White Light Chakra Sabre. It's one of the few weapons that isn't a Kusanagi but is comparable in quality. I've already made plans to pass it on to Kakashi. Besides, your father is famous for his Wind Release: Vacuum Blade. Why do you want my sword?"

Everyone's pupils constricted at that introduction. That tanto-blade was comparable to a Kusanagi sword in quality? The Kusanagi swords were all marvellous creations. Only two are known to exist and nobody knows how to forge another. It was not hard to imagine how powerful such a weapon is.

What surprised Hikari and Yamana was that Sakumo stated that Malaria's father had a technique that could match up with such a blade. They wondered, is Danzo his actual father or, is it as their clans say – a riddle nobody but the Shimura and the Aburame has an answer for?

"Haha, what a lively place!" Danzo guffawed and walked into the encirclement around the wagon with a stiff smile, followed by Suzuki Yamaha, Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Inabi. They had returned to reconvene before reaching the border of Grass by the next day, to have a meeting to discuss preparations.

"Danzo-sama, Fugaku-sama." Sakumo and Kagura hurried to pay respects to them. Danzo was technically someone equal to the Hokage, and Fugaku was the patriarch of a founding clan. It was to be expected that even if they have strength, respect is something they must give.

Thinking of something, Malaria looked at Danzo in a daze. Perhaps this was a chance…

"Father…" Tears flowed out of Malaria's eyes as he sobbed, looking at Danzo. "Come here, child. Let me take a look, what made a boy like you shed tears like this?" Danzo crouched down, patting Malaria on the head. He was sure this little devil was about to plot for something again.

"Wu… Wuu…" Malaria rushed into Danzo's arms and cried, as if he had been bullied by others the entire day and finally found his backing. "Good boy, you must have suffered." Danzo played along and rubbed his head 'affectionately'.

Yamana approached Hikari and asked in a low voice, "Do you know Malaria's definite identity? All the elders in my clan skirted around the question like the plague."

Hikari shook her head. She was also interested in the answer to this question. According to Sakumo, Malaria's father was a Kage-level powerhouse like himself, who had an ability to manifest a blade strong enough to contest a Kusanagi sword. His father must be a notable person.

Even Sakumo and Kagura, two Kage-level powerhouses, respected Danzo a lot. At least, they didn't notice that Sakumo was clenching his fist almost hard enough to draw blood. He had investigated how his mission report managed to leak, and all leads point to the Darkness of Shinobi – Shimura Danzo.

Wiping his tears, Malaria pointed at Sakumo and cried, "Father, he robbed me of my sword. You must make things right!"

Everybody shivered and overflew with sweat. Malaria was not only unbearably shameless, but also a great liar. Sakumo couldn't have regretted his actions of playing along with that brat. He shouldn't have given the special wire to this little scumbag. Malaria was turning into a thorn he couldn't get rid of.

Malaria blinked his eyes at Kagura, indicating that it was a good chance to add to Sakumo's troubles. Kagura nodded at Malaria and accused Sakumo solemnly, "That's right, Danzo-sama. I saw that Sakumo robbed Malaria of his sword just now. My daughter witnessed Malaria obtain it in battle the other day."

Sakumo's face was darkening more and more by the moment. Kagura was already a Kage-level powerhouse. Why was she horsing around like a little kid? Looking at all the big shots here, Suzuki Yamaha could only keep his head low and pray that nobody asked him any questions.

"Haha, is that sword really something worth keeping?" Fugaku laughed and walked up to Malaria. Snapping his fingers, Uchiha Inabi unsealed a ninja scroll that contained a set of brand-new pharmaceutical tools. However, different from the usual tools, these ones were state of the art - implying they were not cheap.

"The Akimichi Pill Chemistry Kit!"

Everybody widened their eyes in disbelief. The Uchiha and the Akimichi must have been having a great time since the wedding, even doing explicit trades of their most protected wares. Few people here knew how to make pills and drugs, but they were aware of the Akimichi Chemistry Kit.

It was said that the effect of different materials and drugs would be better if they were made through this especially chakra-enhanced Chemistry Kit. However, the reason its use wasn't widespread was due to the special materials required to build one. Translucent chakra glass is a rarity among rarities.

Malaria drooled at the sight of this extremely high-end chemistry kit.

Fugaku by the side smiled delightedly. "Malaria, you and I have been at it from time to time, and the Fireball Technique from last time could just be counted as a reconciliation gift. This Chemistry Kit will be yours, as well as any materials and funding you require to make the healing medicine and other drugs. I only ask that you let my Uchiha clan purchase some products before others…"

The more Malaria listened, the brighter his eyes grew. The Uchiha clan was indeed one of the wealthiest forces in the entire Land of Fire. He could already see how rich they were, getting this Chemistry Kit out of the Akimichi could impossibly be cheap.

Everybody clicked out a 'tch' through their tongues in chorus. This was too unbelievable! Endless research funding? Any materials he could ever need, for free? Even if one went shopping for things every day, the Uchiha's money would never run dry. Why was the Uchiha Patriarch so generous?

Seeing that Malaria was about to be lured in by Uchiha Fugaku, Danzo coughed and said, "Cough, cough. Malaria, have you forgotten about the itchiness those Aburame scum put you through?" Malaria woke up from his greed, remembering how his predecessor suffered from the mosquitoes from a very young age.

He was playing happily with little Anko when one day the elders caught him, saying it was time for him to earn his place in the Aburame clan. The itchiness, the disgust he felt when the mosquitoes laid their first eggs under his skin. Those terrible memories brought back the feeling of that mOnStRoUs iTcH that still doesn't relent even to this day.

He tried to look into chemistry, he looked into manufacturing to see if he could create a scratching machine. He even went to Konoha Hospital at 4 years old to ask for medicine to stop the itching. They refused to help him, not finding relief anywhere, and so he hanged himself a day before he turned 6-years old.

He never fought back or tried to hurt anyone under the torture, but only left in silence. However, then the current him transmigrated and had to keep up with this living torture of a body.

"I want to learn the emotionless technique, and seek revenge on those that left me this way without any help. I will tear down the Aburame clan and make them pay…" Malaria declared fiercely. He had to seek revenge from those people, for nothing else but his former self's dignity.

Everybody on the scene shivered. Nobody doubted a single word in Malaria's declaration. With his horrifying ideas and special talents, the Aburame clan would be doomed if he grew up. Fugaku sighed helplessly. It seemed the past of the brat left a scar on Malaria, and it was impossible for him to wholeheartedly focus on chemistry.