The seal's markings twisted like coiled serpents, glowing faintly in fits and starts. An evil, heart-chilling aura clung to it, as though it were a curse from hell. Once branded, there would be no escaping it for all eternity.
He slowly raised his hand and lightly touched the forehead of the unconscious Uchiha Sasuke with his fingertip.
A pale golden seal instantly sank into Sasuke's body and disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed.
But only Genki knew that this seal concealed the most insidious scheme. Like an invisible hand, it would nourish Sasuke's body day and night, accelerate his chakra development, and force him to grow stronger at an astonishing pace. Whether he wanted it or not, this power would drive him toward strength, step by step, until he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan with his own hands—
It was no gift. It was a key that would drag him into an endless cycle of hatred, a shackle that would keep him trapped in a life of slaughter and pain.
Having finished, Genki turned his gaze to Itachi, who lay on the ground with every bone shattered and every tendon severed.
He slowly bent down and gathered another seal at his fingertip. Unlike the one on Sasuke, this seal was as black as ink, its markings more twisted, and it carried a dense force of oblivion. Without hesitation, he branded it onto Itachi's forehead. It, too, sank into his body at once, leaving no trace.
This black seal was far more cruel and insidious than the one on Sasuke.
It would not help Itachi grow or grant him power. Day after day, it would simply erase every memory of Uchiha Sasuke from his mind—
The laughter and joy they had shared as brothers, the lengths Itachi had