At last, Mizuki's face went cold.
"I must become strong."
"For strength, I can pay any price."
"Those people stand above me only because of blood and secret arts they were born into."
"Why was I not given the same?"
"What is wrong with fixing unfair birth through effort?"
A strange aura seeped from the book in his arms.
It coiled around him.
Mizuki's eyes turned redder and redder, less like a man's and more like a beast's.
Humanity ebbed.
Greed and desire rose.
So did a hint of animal hunger.
He looked at the corpse before him, lowered himself, opened his mouth, and leaned in.
He bit down.
SQUELCH!
Blood sprayed, painting his face scarlet.
It felt as if energy poured into him from nothing, his blood boiling on its own, achingly sweet.
A low sound of pleasure slipped from his throat.
"I am stronger."
His crimson eyes burned brighter. The last scrap of restraint fell away.
Elsewhere.
The moment Mizuki bit down, Uchiha Itama felt a force rebound into him. His physique and chakra ticked upward.
Not much, but real.
His brows lifted.
"When Mizuki gains power, some of it feeds back into me. If he keeps growing, will I keep growing too?"
"If so, my odds of surpassing Itachi before the night of slaughter rise sharply."
His thoughts raced.
"But more important is Mizuki's change."
"Mizuki has only tasted the first sweetness. He will not stop. If he does this well, the Leaf will face a serious problem."
"With Ghoul Bloodline, Mizuki will be very hard to handle."
"Enough to give the elders a headache."
"Which means they will have to shift some of the pressure off the Uchiha."
"It buys us air."
Another thought struck him.
Mizuki's change came from these eyes.
This was Uchiha Itama's unique power.
"If Mizuki can change, what about others?"
"Do the elders not harbor darkness?"
"No."
"Their darkness is no less than Mizuki's, likely more."
A weight slid off his chest.
Mizuki's case had revealed his special ability.
"My left eye sees the darkness in people and absorbs it."
"My right eye links to that eerie vortex. I offer up what the left eye takes, and receive a return."
The process felt like an offering.
Offer the darkness of human hearts, receive the boon of a strange god.
Like that book only Mizuki could see.
And Mizuki was becoming a kind of believer.
"First, as the believer grows stronger, some power feeds back to me, raising physique and chakra."
"Second, believers will plunge the Leaf into disorder, drawing the elders' attention and giving the Uchiha a breather."
"Third, I can make the elders believers too."
He glanced at Hyuga Hikaru.
Of those he had seen, Hikaru's black haze was second only to Mizuki's.
If there was anyone whose darkness he could absorb next, it was Hikaru.
"Not thick enough yet. Still short."
He shook his head.
Hikaru seemed to sense his gaze and looked over. Recognizing Itama, his eyes filled with loathing.
He mouthed that he would not bother with Itama again.
But the words branch family were barbs lodged in his heart.
Itama had pressed that point more than once.
"Uchiha trash."
At the thought, Hikaru's hatred only thickened.
Itama's focus left the classroom.
He closed his eyes.
The scene Mizuki inhabited flowed into his mind.
A body gnawed clean, down to the bone.
A wild, bloody, feral breath spilled from Mizuki.
He lifted his head.
Only after a long while did the red fade from his eyes.
He closed them.
Opened them again.
"Beautiful."
He licked his lips.
"This feeling of power rising is truly fine. So this is what those so called geniuses, bloodline heirs, and secret art users feel. No wonder they carry such heavy superiority."
"And now, I have it too."