“Those who mocked me…”
“Those who stole my opportunities…”
“I’ll make every last one of you pay the price you deserve!”
Mizuki’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.
Before long, he walked out of the cave.
Watching Mizuki, Uchiha Akira raised an eyebrow slightly.
“That book has affected him.
Mizuki’s emotions and thoughts have both undergone some degree of change.”
“The current Mizuki is practically a different person.”
After class ended, Akira hurried home.
He ate a few quick bites before shutting himself inside his room.
“Big Brother?”
Sasuke wasn’t happy.
He had pestered Uchiha Mikoto into teaching him a few basic shinobi skills today and had planned to demonstrate them to Akira.
However, Akira hadn’t given him the opportunity.
Akira continued observing Mizuki.
Mizuki had returned to the cave.
He had brought back another corpse.
The cave was silent.
The only sound was Mizuki chewing.
The sky gradually darkened.
At last, Mizuki stopped.
He took away his bloodstained clothes and burned them.
Once they had been reduced to ashes, he buried the remains in a pit.
Only then did he return to the medicinal-herb base where Tsubaki Chie lived.
“Mizuki, where did you go?”
Mizuki looked at Tsubaki and forcibly suppressed the desire in his heart before squeezing out a smile.
“Nowhere.
I was just training.”
“I’d forgotten some of the shinobi fundamentals, hadn’t I?
I’ll need them when teaching, so I wanted to familiarize myself with them again.”
Tsubaki smiled.
“I see, but don’t push yourself too hard.”
“It would naturally be good if you secured the teaching position, but you don’t need to force yourself if you can’t.
The two of us can stay here and manage these medicinal herbs.
That wouldn’t be so bad either.”
Mizuki nodded.
“You’re right.
That would be nice.”
“Tsubaki, it’s getting late, and I’m a little tired.
I’ll go rest first.”
“All right.”
Watching Mizuki enter his room, Tsubaki felt that something about him was strange.
However, she couldn’t identify precisely what was wrong.
After thinking about it for a while, she shook her head and returned to her own room.
The next morning—
Before Tsubaki had even awakened, Mizuki had already left.
“Mizuki?”
By then, Mizuki had already arrived at the Ninja Academy.
He had arrived before every teacher and student.
In truth, Mizuki hadn’t slept at all the previous night.
“Good morning, Mizuki-sensei.”
A student noticed Mizuki and took the initiative to greet him.
“Good morning.”
A trace of crimson appeared in Mizuki’s eyes as desire surged within him.
He desperately wanted to bite into the student, kill him, and devour his flesh and blood.
However, this was the Ninja Academy.
Mizuki’s mind and body had both undergone changes, but he still understood which actions would benefit him and which would bring him harm.
If he did anything extreme inside the Ninja Academy, he would inevitably be captured by the ANBU.
Then he would become a prisoner.
An ANBU shinobi appeared before Kakashi.
“Lord Kakashi.”
“What happened?”
“Three chūnin stationed at a watchtower outside the village disappeared yesterday.”
“Disappeared?”
“Yes.
We’ve already investigated, but we couldn’t find any suspicious clues.”
Kakashi frowned.
“Understood.
I’ll personally inspect the scene later.”
“Yes.”
However, even Kakashi failed to uncover anything.
“The scene is far too clean.
Either the culprit is considerably stronger than them—most likely a missing-nin or a shinobi from another village—in which case they’ll undoubtedly make another move.”
“Simply killing a few chūnin would be meaningless to them.”
“Or the culprit was someone the victims knew.”
Kakashi looked at the ANBU shinobi standing across from him.
“Investigate whether the missing shinobi had conflicts with anyone in the village.
Search the surrounding area as well.”
“Yes.”
Akira spent the entire day observing Mizuki.
“Mizuki has gained power through the Corpse-Eater Bloodline.”
“But it also has side effects.
He can only gain strength by devouring corpses, and his thoughts have been affected.
Furthermore, Mizuki appears to be finding it increasingly difficult to control his craving for flesh and blood.”
Mizuki’s condition hadn’t been this severe yesterday.
Today, however, Akira could see him struggling to maintain control.
When night fell, Mizuki hurried out of the Ninja Academy and released a relieved breath.
“I can finally begin.”
Mizuki unleashed the desire he had suppressed throughout the entire day.
His entire body radiated hunger and greed for flesh and blood.
From a dark corner came the sound of frantic chewing.
It sounded like a beast that had starved for countless days and had only just been released from its cage.
The next morning—
Kakashi’s expression became grave.
Two more shinobi had disappeared the previous night.
This time, they hadn’t vanished outside the village.
They had disappeared inside Konoha.
That made the situation far more terrifying.
Mizuki sat on a bench at the Ninja Academy with his eyes closed.
“So this is what it feels like to possess talent.”
“It’s incredible.”
“My strength has long since surpassed that of an ordinary chūnin.”
“I’ve already reached the level of a special jōnin.”
“There’s no possibility of Iruka defeating me now.”
The moment Mizuki thought of Iruka, the resentment in his eyes grew even more intense.