WebNovels

Chapter 25 - The Missing Ninja

"Those who mocked me."

"Those who stole my chances."

"I will make you pay, one by one."

Mizuki's eyes narrowed into thin slits.

He soon walked out of the cave.

Watching him, Uchiha Itama felt his brows lift.

"That book has altered him. His emotions and his thinking have shifted."

"The Mizuki now is practically someone else."

After class, Itama hurried home.

He took only a few bites, then shut his door.

"Brother?"

Sasuke was unhappy. He had begged Mikoto to teach him a few ninja basics today and wanted to show Itama, but Itama gave him no chance.

Itama fixed his sight on Mizuki again.

Mizuki returned to the cave.

He had brought another body.

Silence filled the stone.

Only the sound of chewing echoed.

Night sank deeper.

At last, Mizuki stopped. He took the bloodstained clothes, burned them, and after they were ash, buried the remains in a pit. Then he went back to where Chie Tsubaki stayed.

"Mizuki, where did you go?"

He looked at her and forced down the urge inside, shaping a smile.

"Nowhere. I trained a bit."

"I forgot some of the basics. I use them in class, so I wanted to brush up."

Chie smiled.

"I see. Do not overdo it."

"Being a teacher would be great, but if it does not work out, do not force it. The two of us can manage the herbs here at the outpost. That is fine too."

Mizuki nodded.

"Yes. It is fine. Chie, it is late. I am tired. I will rest first."

"All right."

Watching him disappear into the room, Chie felt something was off, but could not say what. After thinking for a while, she shook her head and went to her own room.

The next morning.

Before Chie woke, Mizuki had already left.

"Mizuki?"

By then he had reached the Academy.

Earlier than any teacher or student.

In truth, he had not slept at all.

"Good morning, Mizuki-sensei."

A student saw him and greeted him.

"Good morning."

A red sheen slid across his eyes. A craving rose. He wanted, very badly, to bite into the student, to kill him and devour warm flesh.

But this was the Academy.

Mizuki's mind and body had changed, yet he knew what helped him and what would ruin him.

If he did anything extreme here, ANBU would seize him.

He would end in chains.

An ANBU operative appeared before Kakashi.

"Lord Kakashi."

"What happened?"

"Three chunin went missing from the watchtower outside the village yesterday."

"Missing?"

"Yes. We investigated, but found nothing suspicious."

Kakashi frowned.

"I understand. I will take a look myself."

"Yes."

He found nothing either.

"It is too clean. Either the culprit is far stronger, likely a rogue or shinobi from another village, and if so they will act again. Killing a few chunin gains them little."

"Or it was done by someone familiar."

He looked at the ANBU across from him. "Check whether the missing clashed with anyone in the village. Also search the area nearby."

"Understood."

Itama watched Mizuki the entire day.

"Through Ghoul Bloodline, Mizuki has gained power."

"But there are side effects. He can only gain by eating corpses, and his thoughts have been affected. His craving for flesh is getting harder to control."

Yesterday it was not so severe, but today Itama could see him struggling.

Night fell.

Mizuki left the Academy quickly, letting out a breath.

"Finally, I can begin."

He released the hunger that had gnawed at him all day.

Greed for flesh flooded his body.

In a dark corner, frantic chewing burst out, like a beast starved for ages just freed from its cage.

The next day.

Kakashi's expression turned grave.

Because last night, two more ninja had gone missing, and this time it was inside the village.

That was even worse.

Mizuki sat on a bench at the Academy.

Eyes closed.

"So this is what it is to have talent."

"It is incredible."

"My strength is no longer chunin."

"It has reached special jonin."

"Iruka will never be my match again."

At the thought of Iruka, the malice in his eyes grew thicker.

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