The classroom had become much quieter.
Akira sat undisturbed in his usual corner.
Ever since their previous exchange, Hyūga Hikaru had stopped provoking him.
He seemed to believe Akira was no longer qualified to be his opponent.
The only person Hikaru cared about now was the student who had placed second in the class.
Yamabuki Yuki.
However, because Yuki was a civilian-born shinobi, Hikaru didn’t consider her particularly important.
His attention therefore shifted to the student who had placed third.
A shinobi from the Aburame clan.
Aburame Raita.
Like Aburame Shino, Raita possessed almost no presence.
Akira had noticed that practically everyone from the Aburame clan shared this trait.
Perhaps their combat style required it.
After all, they primarily relied upon insects.
They didn’t need to personally appear on the main battlefield.
In other words, once an Aburame shinobi’s real body was discovered, they often found themselves at a disadvantage.
A figure entered the classroom.
It was Mizuki.
“Good morning, everyone.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“Take your seats.”
Mizuki cleared his throat.
“I’ll be teaching your classes today.
Aoki and Iruka worked late yesterday, so they won’t arrive until this afternoon.”
“Let’s begin.”
A trace of displeasure flashed across Mizuki’s face.
Yesterday, Aoki and Iruka had worked hard to compile the examination results.
Mizuki, despite also being an instructor, had left early.
As a result, he hadn’t been present when the results were announced.
Mizuki believed Iruka had done it deliberately.
Iruka must have wanted to exclude him from the process so that Mizuki would leave a poor impression on Aoki and the students.
Today, Iruka and Aoki had used their exhaustion from yesterday as an excuse not to come to the Academy in the morning.
That meant Mizuki had to handle every morning class alone.
It was far more exhausting than supervising yesterday’s assessment.
Mizuki felt that it was deeply unfair.
He was doing more work, yet Iruka received all the praise.
“That treacherous Iruka!”
“I never imagined you were this kind of person!”
Anger emerged within Mizuki’s heart.
Akira looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
Something about Mizuki appeared different from usual.
A black aura was coiling around his body.
“What is that?”
Akira instinctively associated it with the dream he had experienced the previous night.
He turned and looked at the other people in the classroom.
All of them possessed similar black auras to varying degrees.
However, none were as dense as Mizuki’s.
Among the students, the person with the most obvious aura was Hyūga Hikaru.
Akira looked at the student sitting in front of him.
He then reached toward the black aura surrounding that student.
Nothing happened.
The aura seemed completely insubstantial.
Akira’s hand passed straight through it.
He felt nothing unusual.
Akira frowned.
Aoki and Iruka arrived at the Academy that afternoon.
The two of them handled the afternoon classes while Mizuki rested.
Akira discovered that both Aoki and Iruka possessed the same black aura.
The aura around Iruka was much fainter, while Aoki’s was somewhat denser.
Even so, Aoki’s aura wasn’t nearly as concentrated as Mizuki’s.
A vague possibility appeared in Akira’s mind.
After class, he immediately returned home and brought Sasuke to the entrance of the compound.
Pedestrians passed them one after another.
“Sasuke, can you see the black things wrapped around those people?”
“Black things?”
Sasuke looked confused.
“No.
There’s nothing around them.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.
Big Brother, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
Akira smiled.
“Come on.
I’ll buy you something to eat today.
What do you want?”
“I want bonito rice balls.”
Sasuke’s eyes immediately lit up.
“All right.
I’ll buy some for you now.
Wait here.”
“Big Brother, I want to go with you.”
“No.
Stay home.
I’ll go alone and return soon.”
“All right…”
Itachi still didn’t return that day.
It almost seemed as though he had forgotten that this was his true home.
The amount of time Fugaku spent at home also continued to decrease.
A tense atmosphere enveloped the entire Uchiha compound.
As usual, Akira attended classes at the Ninja Academy.
He entered the classroom and sat at his desk.
“Everyone possesses that aura.”
“But I’m the only person who can see it.”
“So what exactly is it?”
Suddenly, an intense pain erupted from Akira’s eyes.
He hurriedly covered them.
The three tomoe within each eye began spinning rapidly.
“Akira, what’s wrong?”
Yuki noticed that something was wrong and immediately turned toward him.
“I’m fine.”
A moment earlier, when Akira looked toward Mizuki at the front of the classroom, an image had suddenly appeared in his mind.
Powerful emotions poured directly into him.
The black aura around Mizuki surged toward Akira.
In an instant, it entered his eyes.
At that moment, Akira finally began to understand what those black auras truly were.