"Hey—vodka really hits the spot!"
Kurenai drained her flask in one gulp, wiped the remaining droplets from her lips with the back of her hand, and tossed the flask over to Izumi with a carefree smile.
Her bold action just now had only been witnessed by Kurenai and Izumi, who sat beside her.
"Huh?"
Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as she caught the flask. She shook it but saw there wasn't a drop left. With a pout of disappointment, she wiped the mouth of the flask with the corner of her sleeve.
It wasn't clean anymore.
This woman really went too far—she drank someone else's water and had the nerve to complain it didn't taste good.
The rest of the Uchiha, including Mikoto and Nono, were too focused to notice the brief exchange. They were listening intently to Kuroki's explanation.
So the creatures were called White Zetsu...
Everyone frowned, deep in thought.
Kuroki patiently continued:
"All you need to know for now is that these creatures have three basic jutsu.
The first is called 'Spore Technique.' It allows White Zetsu to parasitize any ninja it touches, draining the chakra of the host.
The second is called 'Imitation Technique.' By absorbing the chakra of a ninja, White Zetsu can transform into that ninja, and even the Byakugan or ninja hounds can't detect the difference.
The third is 'Mayfly Technique.' With this, they can merge their bodies with the earth and vegetation, moving at high speed underground.
There could be countless White Zetsu beneath our feet right now!"
As he spoke, Kuroki glanced at the grass nearby, unfazed by the possibility.
The rest of the Uchiha looked horrified, unsure where to look as they nervously scanned the ground beneath them, searching for any signs.
Izumi, sharp-eyed, caught onto the critical issue. A look of realization and fear flashed in her eyes as she asked, "Captain, since we've been in contact with them, could one of us have already been parasitized... or replaced?"
At her words, the expressions of the Uchiha froze, their bodies stiffened. They glanced at their companions, suspicion growing in their eyes.
Kuroki, his expression unchanged, shook his head.
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Before they could ask more questions, Kuroki explained: "You've all been marked by my Mangekyo Sharingan. If there's any change in your mental state or chakra, I'll sense it."
That was why he was so confident.
The Yachigama technique served as a form of sensory perception, preventing any infiltration by White Zetsu or even more skilled ninja impersonators.
The Uchiha finally recalled the events of the massacre night.
When they had pursued Kuroki, it had taken only a brief confrontation for them all to fall into his grasp.
Thinking about it now, their faces flushed with embarrassment.
Izumi, now more serious, raised her hand and pointed toward Kurenai beside Kuroki and Nono beside Mikoto. "What about them?" she asked.
Kuroki glanced at the two women, his lips curling slightly. "I marked them the moment we met."
Kurenai and Nono's eyes widened in shock. When had they been marked without even realizing it?
Uchiha Nanfeng, thoughtful, his glasses reflecting the flickering flames, hesitated for a moment before asking, "Captain Kuroki, I have to ask... how did you learn about these creatures?"
Everyone suddenly realized that Kuroki seemed to know a lot about these humanoid monsters.
The Uchiha all turned their attention toward him.
The firelight illuminated Kuroki's handsome face, casting an orange glow on the edges of his black hair, adding an air of mystery.
A sudden voice interrupted the brief silence.
"Hmph, this is what happens when you don't read enough books. My brother always had a book in his hands when he worked at the police department. You think he was just pretending to read?"
Tamao scoffed, clearly proud of himself.
Uchiha Nanfeng's face turned sour at the jab, rendered speechless by Tamao's arrogance.
The other Uchiha quickly recalled past memories.
One of them remarked, "Captain Kuroki often had free time in the police department. He'd spend his afternoons in the flower garden behind his office, sitting alone with a chair, a book, and a cup of tea, reading all afternoon."
Another Uchiha added, "Yeah, that laid-back attitude was why people like Inaho, Tetsuka, and Yadai didn't like him."
A third Uchiha chimed in, "Those police department bigshots were just narrow-minded. Everyone knew Captain Kuroki kept his district in perfect order. He'd finish his morning patrols, and by afternoon, there was never any trouble, no need to be on call."
With such outstanding qualities and interests, it was no wonder Kuroki appeared so refined and cultured. His love of reading was well-known among them.
Kurenai, listening to the Uchiha talk about Kuroki's past, couldn't help but smile, her mature and graceful face showing her pride. After all, this was the man she had chosen. His excellence was a point of pride for her.
But no one could have imagined...
That such a calm, elegant, and handsome captain, as gentle as water, had committed the terrible, sacrificial deeds during the massacre night.
The surviving Uchiha...
Were only alive because Kuroki had exchanged the lives of their clan for theirs.
The group of Uchiha suddenly found their thoughts returning to the night of the clan's massacre. Their expressions filled with sorrow, and their hearts ached.
The emotion hit them quickly.
"Ugh…"
Several younger Uchiha members burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.
Their grief erupted like a volcano.
"Why did this happen?!"
"Why didn't they even spare the civilians?!"
"Brother! Sister!"
One Uchiha knelt on the grass, sobbing and choking as he slammed his fists into the ground.
No one stopped him.
At the edge of the campfire, Mikoto hung her head in silence, her eyes red and swollen with tears.
Fugaku's decision...
It had truly been wrong.
Itachi's decision? Even worse.
Mikoto bit her lip so hard it bled, her fingers digging into the ground. She felt that the Uchiha clan should never have ended up like this.
For a moment, sorrow filled the air around the campfire.
Even outsiders like Kurenai and Nono couldn't help but feel empathy and pity for the Uchihas around them.
Whooosh—
The mountain wind howled, feeding the flames of the campfire, as if the very world was offering a bit of warmth to this group of homeless souls lost in the night.
Kuroki stayed silent, flipping over the wild boar that had been roasting for a while without anyone tending to it. He had no words to comfort anyone.
After all, since coming to the ninja world...
Wasn't he, too, a person without a home?
In that other dimension...
He also had a brother, a sister, parents, grandparents…
So how could he allow himself to die here?
Suddenly, Kuroki raised his eyebrows slightly, sensing through the power of the Eight Thousand Spears.
He could feel that, after yet another round of emotional torment, the visual prowess of the Uchiha members he brought with him had grown stronger once again.
Whether anyone could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, though, was still unknown.
The Sharingan, the Eye that Reflects the Heart, doesn't necessarily awaken only through intense pain; it could also come from extreme joy or anticipation.
But even intense pain, hatred, joy, or anger doesn't guarantee the awakening of the eye.
From the Warring States period to future, only three geniuses from the entire Uchiha clan, apart from Fugaku, had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Shisui, Itachi, and Sasuke.
These three had one thing in common: even without the Mangekyō, they were exceptionally strong and incredibly gifted.
The Uchiha members Kuroki had brought with him had good character, but none of them were those kinds of geniuses. In fact, there weren't any extra geniuses left within the Uchiha.
The scarcity of Mangekyō in the modern Uchiha was undoubtedly due to many factors.
But Kuroki hadn't delved into the specifics.
Taking advantage of the silence and mourning around him, Kuroki summoned his black blade, Dark Moon. Space rippled as the pitch-black, sharp blade appeared.
Gripping Dark Moon tightly, he wanted to try injecting different chakra nature transformations into the blade to see what effects might arise.
read more inpatreon
belamy20