At last, Mizuki’s expression turned cold.
“I must become stronger!”
“To gain strength, I’m willing to sacrifice anything.”
“Those people only stand above me because they were born with powerful bloodlines or inherited their clans’ secret techniques.”
“Why wasn’t I given anything like that?”
“What’s wrong with correcting the unfairness of birth through my own efforts?”
A trace of eerie energy seeped from the book in Mizuki’s arms.
It coiled around his body.
Mizuki’s eyes grew increasingly red.
They no longer resembled human eyes but those of some kind of wild beast.
His humanity gradually faded.
Greed and desire began to gain the upper hand.
Along with a trace of bestial instinct.
Mizuki stared at the corpse before him.
He slowly lowered himself, opened his mouth, and leaned closer.
Then he bit down.
“Splurt!”
Blood sprayed out, staining his entire face red.
Mizuki felt as though energy had materialized from thin air and poured directly into his body.
His blood began boiling uncontrollably, filling him with indescribable pleasure.
A moan of enjoyment escaped his throat.
“I’ve become stronger.”
Mizuki’s crimson eyes shone even brighter, and the last trace of hesitation in his heart disappeared.
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
The moment Mizuki bit into the corpse, Uchiha Akira felt a stream of power flow back into his own body.
Both his physique and chakra had grown stronger.
The increase wasn’t significant, but it undeniably existed.
Akira raised an eyebrow slightly.
“When Mizuki grows stronger, some of that power is actually transferred to me.
Does that mean the stronger Mizuki becomes, the stronger I’ll become as well?”
“If so, I have an even better chance of surpassing Itachi before the night of the clan massacre.”
Akira’s thoughts raced.
“However, that isn’t the most important part.
What truly matters is Mizuki’s transformation.”
“Mizuki has only just tasted the benefits.
There’s no way he’ll stop here.
If he handles this well, he’ll inevitably cause enormous trouble for Konoha.”
“After obtaining the Corpse-Eater Bloodline, Mizuki will become extremely difficult to deal with.”
“He’ll give Konoha’s higher-ups a serious headache.”
“They’ll then be forced to redirect some of the attention they’ve been focusing on the Uchiha.”
“That will ease the pressure on the clan.”
Akira then considered something else.
Mizuki’s transformation had been caused by his eyes.
This was an ability unique to Uchiha Akira.
“If Mizuki can undergo such a transformation, what about other people?”
“Could there really be no darkness within Konoha’s higher-ups?”
“No.”
“The darkness inside them is even greater than Mizuki’s.”
Akira suddenly felt much more relaxed.
What had happened to Mizuki had allowed him to discover the true nature of his unique ability.
“My left eye can see the darkness within people and absorb it.”
“My right eye is connected to that strange vortex.
It sacrifices the darkness absorbed by my left eye in exchange for a reward.”
To Akira, the process closely resembled a sacrifice.
He sacrificed the darkness in people’s hearts and received a reward from an evil god.
The book that only Mizuki could see was one such reward.
Meanwhile, Mizuki seemed to have become some kind of believer.
“First, as a believer grows stronger, a portion of that power will be transferred to me, enhancing my physique and chakra.”
“Second, the appearance of these believers will throw Konoha into chaos and attract the attention of its higher-ups, giving the Uchiha more room to breathe.”
“Third, I can turn Konoha’s higher-ups into believers as well.”
Akira looked toward Hyūga Hikaru.
Among everyone Akira had observed, the black aura surrounding Hyūga Hikaru was second only to Mizuki’s.
If there was anyone else whose darkness Akira had the greatest chance of absorbing, it was undoubtedly Hyūga Hikaru.
“It still isn’t dense enough.
He needs a little more.”
Akira shook his head.
Hikaru seemed to notice Akira’s gaze and glanced in his direction.
Upon seeing Akira, intense disgust flashed through his eyes.
Hikaru claimed he didn’t care about Akira.
However, the words “Hyūga Branch Family” were like sharp thorns stabbing deeply into his heart.
Akira had mentioned those words several times.
“Uchiha trash!”
The thought caused Hikaru’s hatred for Akira to intensify further.
Akira’s attention was no longer on the classroom.
He closed his eyes.
The scene surrounding Mizuki appeared inside his mind.
Mizuki had completely devoured the corpse.
He hadn’t even spared the bones.
A violent, bloody, and feral aura radiated from his body.
Mizuki raised his head.
Only after a long time did the redness in his eyes gradually recede.
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them again.
“That was wonderful.”
Mizuki licked his lips.
“This feeling of gaining strength is truly incredible.
Is this what those so-called geniuses, wielders of kekkei genkai, and inheritors of secret techniques have always felt?”
“No wonder they possess such an overwhelming sense of superiority.”
“And now, I have it too.”