Uzumaki Kushina had been Uchiha Mikoto’s closest friend, and their families visited each other often enough that Kushina had practically watched Riku grow up.
He still remembered their first meeting years ago.
Kushina had planted her hands on her hips and solemnly warned him that the shinobi world was a dangerous place, so a pretty boy like him needed a reliable big sister who could protect him.
From that day onward, she had insisted that Riku call her “Big Sis.”
Ironically, only a few years later, the supposedly reliable big sister had nearly died herself.
If Riku had not already inherited Alucard’s power as the progenitor of vampires by then, the two of them probably never would have met again.
There was only one regret.
Although he had barely managed to preserve Kushina’s soul, there had been nothing he could do for the Fourth Hokage.
Ever since then, Kushina had made a habit of accusing him of “lusting after someone else’s wife.”
The injustice of it was unbearable.
Riku was an upstanding gentleman, a devoted champion of true love!
It was not as though he had some fetish for married women.
Since when did saving someone’s life count as trying to steal another man’s wife?
With a long, aggrieved sigh, Riku turned his attention back to the chat window.
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: So, did either of you make any progress lately?
[Doujin Artist]: Current Merit Points: 293.
[Deathwish Count]: Current Merit Points: -388,473.
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: Jesus Christ.
Every time I see Alucard’s score, I feel like my soul leaves my body for a second.
Merit Points were the chat group’s universal currency, as well as the resource required to upgrade the group itself.
Unfortunately, with Alucard sitting more than three hundred thousand points in the red, reaching even Level One seemed like a distant dream.
[Doujin Artist]: It’s already getting better!
His debt dropped by more than eight thousand this month!
[Riku-sama] [Group Owner]: That was half a month from your perspective.
More than a year has passed over here.
[Deathwish Count]: Four months for me.
[Doujin Artist]: I still can’t get used to this weird time difference between our worlds!
Each world followed its own rules, including the speed at which time passed.
The differences were only synchronized while the members were actively connected through the chat group.
When Eriri had first joined at fourteen, Riku had only just turned ten.
Now Riku was approaching eighteen, while Eriri had celebrated her sixteenth birthday only a few days ago.
Eriri had once found the whole situation rather amusing.
Watching Riku grow up had felt a little like playing some bizarre game where she raised an adorable little boy.
Now, all that remained was a profound sense of injustice.
The cute kid had somehow grown into an immortal supernatural monster while she was still sixteen.
[Power of the Vampire Progenitor — Price: 6,000 Merit Points]
Whenever Eriri looked at the price list in the group shop, she could only stare at it with the helpless frustration of someone window-shopping outside a luxury store.
“Hey, blondie.”
A vaguely familiar female voice came from the corner of the street.
Eriri turned toward it and saw a black-haired girl wearing a white headband and a light-blue school uniform.
“Kasumigaoka?” Eriri raised an eyebrow and walked over.
“What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that.” Utaha Kasumigaoka folded her arms beneath her chest, her dark red eyes studying Eriri carefully.
“Your family lives in District Six, doesn’t it?
Why are you all the way out here in District Nine?”
Eriri glanced down at the black stockings covering Utaha’s legs before answering with a completely blank expression, “None of your business.”
“You came here to deal with the biker gang that’s been hanging around this area, didn’t you?”
Eriri’s eyes narrowed.
“Were you following me?”
“I’m not that bored.
I happened to pass through here the day before yesterday and saw you.” Utaha casually crossed one leg over the other and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her temple.
“I never would’ve guessed that the ‘Golden Beast’ who’s been terrifying every delinquent in the area was you—the girl whose ability assessment came back completely blank.”
Eriri did not answer.
She simply turned around and started to leave.
“Beating up trash like that can’t be very satisfying, can it?” Utaha called after her.
Eriri stopped.
“What are you getting at?”
“Join us.”
Utaha’s teasing expression disappeared.
Her invitation was completely sincere now.
“If you want opponents who can actually challenge you, we can give you that.”
Eriri froze for a moment, then fell into thought.
…
After returning to Konoha, Riku did not go home.
Instead, he headed directly for Root’s headquarters.
Shimura Danzō sat at the head of the chamber with bandages wrapped around his head and right arm.
Dozens of Root shinobi stood in orderly ranks along both sides of the room.
“Uchiha Riku,” Danzō began, his eyelids lowered enough to conceal whatever emotion might have been in his gaze.
“I heard Hiruzen summoned you for another private conversation two days ago.”
“Yes.
Lord Hokage wanted me to help with some administrative work,” Riku replied with a nod.
“I refused.”
“Hmph!”
Danzō’s displeasure was obvious.
“You belong to Root.
Even the Hokage should know better than to repeatedly stoop to such underhanded attempts to poach my people.”
“Please don’t let it trouble you, Lord Danzō.
Lord Hokage simply does not understand the importance of Root’s mission.”
“Exactly!” A satisfied smile appeared on Danzō’s face.
“Root is the darkness hidden beneath Konoha’s prosperous surface, an indispensable foundation supporting the entire village.
We are the necessary evil that protects Konoha.
That fool Hiruzen has never understood such a simple truth!”
“You’re absolutely right, Lord Danzō,” Riku agreed.
Danzō paused for a moment before abruptly changing the subject.
“What is your opinion of the Uchiha clan as it stands today?”
“The radicals are already plotting against the village, while the moderates are too weak to accomplish anything.
Sooner or later, the Uchiha will rebel.”
Riku answered without the slightest hesitation.
A sharp gleam flashed through Danzō’s visible eye.
“And what would you recommend?”
“Kill every Uchiha who opposes Konoha’s decisions.”
Riku’s expression remained perfectly calm.
For a moment, the entire chamber went silent.
Even Danzō seemed caught off guard, while the Root shinobi lining the walls stared at the young Uchiha in disbelief.
‘That’s ruthless.’
‘Is this guy seriously an Uchiha?’
“You may all leave,” Danzō ordered, dismissing them with a wave.
The Root shinobi disappeared one after another.
Only after the chamber was completely empty did the man known as the Darkness of the Shinobi speak again.
“I share your opinion,” Danzō said grimly, “but Hiruzen is too weak to accept what must be done.”
“Then Lord Danzō means…” Riku lifted one hand and made a quick cutting motion across the air.
“Not yet.”
Danzō shook his head.
Then, right in front of Riku, he began unwinding the bandages around his arm.
“Once I complete this, all of Konoha will inevitably fall under my control.”
What lay beneath the bandages was nothing like the arm Danzō possessed in the original story, with Hashirama Senju’s cells and multiple Sharingan implanted into his flesh.
Instead, his entire arm was covered in a strange bluish-gray fluid substance.
The material visibly shifted across his skin in slow, restless currents, as though it were alive.
‘The stupid old bastard actually took the bait.’
Riku sneered inwardly, but his expression immediately transformed into convincing astonishment.
“Th-This is…?”
“It is all thanks to the corpse you brought back six months ago.” Danzō could no longer hide the pride in his voice.
“Without it, I would never have discovered such an extraordinary research specimen!”
“You truly are blessed by fortune, Lord Danzō!” Riku praised enthusiastically.
“Hmph…
hahahaha!”
Danzō’s lips spread into a broad grin before he broke into triumphant laughter.
“I have decided to name this substance God’s Blood!
Once my research is complete, there will be no one in the entire shinobi world capable of standing against me!”
‘No, that stuff is called ghoul blood.’
It would gradually infect Danzō’s cells and bloodstream until, eventually, he became a ghoul driven by an insatiable hunger for human flesh and blood.
Of course, the transformation would not happen overnight.
It was an extremely slow process, altering the body so gradually that the victim would barely notice what was happening until it was far too late.
Riku kept those thoughts to himself and instead let anticipation fill his face.
“What a glorious future that will be!
Under your leadership, Lord Danzō, I have no doubt Konoha will rise to greater heights than ever before!”