Tang Ya's Inner Darkness, Akatsuki Creation Plan

After saying that, Huo Yuhao pushed the door open and left.

Bang!

The door shut mercilessly in Wang Dong's face.

Wang Dong remained seated in her chair, her delicate face filled with shock and confusion.

Ever since she was little, whether at the Clear Sky Sect or anywhere else, she had always been the center of attention, relying on her looks that captivated both men and women and her outstanding talent.

This was the first time someone had looked at her with such disdain.

"Damn it..."

Wang Dong bit her lower lip, anger blazing in her pink-blue eyes.

"How dare he ignore me! How dare he say I'm annoying!"

"Huo Yuhao, just you wait!"

She furiously grabbed a pillow and hurled it at the empty bed across from her.

Yet as her anger gradually subsided, an inexplicable emotion quietly crept into her heart.

Strange...

Why... when I watched his back as he left, did I not want to stay away from him? Why did I feel the urge to chase after him instead?

Wang Dong pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her slightly quickened heartbeat as her gaze grew dazed.

Why is this happening...?

Outside the dormitory building.

Huo Yuhao was not taking a leisurely stroll. His steps were extremely quick.

Huo Yuhao glanced back at the dormitory building, his gaze icy.

Wang Dong?

The Tang God King's daughter, one-third of his divided soul placed in the lower realm.

On the surface, she was Huo Yuhao's lover in the original story, but in reality?

She was like Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.

Nothing more than a trap in the Tang God King's plan to gain absolute control over this plane.

I would not be like Uchiha Madara or Huo Yuhao from the original story.

With that thought, Huo Yuhao quickened his pace and swiftly blended into the crowd heading toward Shrek City.

Shrek City was as bustling as ever.

Shops lined both sides of the streets, while vendors' cries rose and fell without end.

Huo Yuhao moved through the crowd, but the city's prosperity did not distract him. His goal was clear—become stronger.

Although this body had been modified by Hashirama Cells, I was still not satisfied.

If I wanted to bear stronger Sharingan ocular power and control the Susanoo that I might awaken in the future, I had to temper this body to its absolute limit.

Just then, a familiar voice came from ahead and to his side.

"Huh? Little Yu Hao?"

Huo Yuhao stopped and looked up.

Tang Ya was looking at him with a delighted expression.

"What a coincidence! You should have been assigned a dormitory already, right? How is it? Are you getting along with your new roommate?"

Huo Yuhao curled his lip. The memory of beating up Wang Dong surfaced in his mind, and he calmly gave a two-word answer:

"Not bad."

Tang Ya did not notice his perfunctory response. She skipped over to him and asked curiously, "Then why aren't you resting in your dormitory? What are you doing in the city?"

"Buying some training equipment."

Huo Yuhao got straight to the point. "Teacher Xiao Ya, do you know where I can buy weighted gear for physical training?"

"Weighted gear?" Tang Ya blinked. "You want to train your body? Ordinary general stores won't have that kind of thing. You'll need to have it custom-made at a proper blacksmith shop."

"Perfect. I also need to order a batch of hidden weapons. Come on, I'll take you somewhere good. It's a long-term partner of our Tang Sect, and we can get a discount!"

Huo Yuhao nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, Teacher Xiao Ya."

The two crossed several streets and arrived at a blacksmith shop in the western part of the city, where clanging sounds rang out continuously.

Tang Ya greeted the owner like a regular, then pushed Huo Yuhao to the front.

"Boss, this child wants a set of weighted gear. For his wrists, ankles, and a vest."

The owner measured Huo Yuhao and noted down the specifications.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao took out two drawings he had prepared beforehand and handed them to the owner.

"Boss, aside from the weighted gear, can you forge these two items in batches for me?"

The owner accepted the drawings, while Tang Ya leaned over curiously.

What was drawn on them was neither the swords and sabers commonly seen on the Douluo Continent nor the needle launchers and mechanisms of the Tang Sect.

The first drawing showed a diamond-shaped throwing dart with a circular hole in the center and sharp corners.

The second showed a strangely shaped short blade with a ring at the end, seemingly designed to allow a finger to hook through it and spin it.

"These are..." A trace of surprise flashed through Tang Ya's eyes. "Hidden weapons too?"

"These are Shuriken and Kunai."

Huo Yuhao explained calmly, "They are throwing weapons I designed myself. With certain techniques, they can alter their flight paths and even collide with one another in midair to ricochet."

"Shuriken... Kunai..."

Tang Ya looked at the simple yet lethal designs, then at the eleven-year-old boy before her. The surprise in her eyes gradually turned into admiration.

"A genius... Little Yu Hao, you really are a genius!"

"Not only can you create Self-Created Soul Skills, you can even design entirely new hidden weapons like these."

As Tang Ya spoke, her excited voice gradually lowered.

She looked at Huo Yuhao's young yet steady face, and an unmistakable shadow suddenly welled up from deep within her eyes.

"Do you know, Little Yu Hao..."

Her hand gripped the corner of her clothes tightly, and her voice trembled slightly.

"Sometimes, I really envy your talent."

"If... if I were as powerful and talented as you, perhaps the Tang Sect would not have fallen so completely in my hands, and Father and Mother would not have..."

At that moment, the aura Tang Ya gave off was no longer that of the lively young girl she usually was.

Instead, it was a deep darkness born of hatred and helplessness.

Huo Yuhao keenly sensed that aura.

At that very moment, the System Screen in his mind flickered.

[Uchiha Obito (Tiger Mask)]

[Unlock condition: Guide two key figures onto fates completely different from their original ones]

[Current progress: 0/2]

Huo Yuhao looked into Tang Ya's pain-filled eyes. His heart did not stir in the slightest; instead, a thrill of controlling the entire situation rose within him.

What perfect material.

She craved power, bore a blood-deep grudge, yet was powerless.

She was practically a gender-swapped Nagato.

Huo Yuhao reached out and gently patted Tang Ya's shoulder. His voice became low and magnetic, like a devil's whisper.

"Teacher Xiao Ya."

"Talent is only one part of it. Effort is even more important."

"As long as you want to, we can reclaim everything the Tang Sect lost in the future. We can even... make those who destroyed the Tang Sect pay a hundredfold price."

Tang Ya abruptly raised her head and looked into Huo Yuhao's deep eyes. Something that had long been suppressed within her seemed to be breaking through the soil.

She took a deep breath and forced out a smile. "Mm! You're right! With you here, the Tang Sect will definitely rise again!"

Huo Yuhao sneered inwardly.

Rise again?

No. I will guide you to destroy that hypocritical Shrek with your own hands, to destroy this rotten world.

Just as Obito guided Nagato.

I will make you and the Tang Sect serve me.

However, I would definitely create an Akatsuki of my own in the future. That would not change!

"Boss, I want both kinds. Forge fifty of each first. Use the finest refined iron."

Huo Yuhao turned back, his tone returning to calm indifference.

After calculating the price, Huo Yuhao directly took out a heavy bag of Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Ring and slapped it onto the counter, leaving Tang Ya staring in astonishment.

"Keep the change. Rush the order."

Tang Ya's mouth fell open. "L-Little Yu Hao? Where did you get so much money?"

She had originally thought that this child must be short on money after just arriving at the academy. Earlier, after hearing that he was good at cooking, she had even considered suggesting that he sell grilled fish outside the school gates to earn some extra cash.

Yet he spent more lavishly than she did as the sect leader!

Huo Yuhao put away the money bag and gave a faint smile.

"These are savings left behind by my family."

More accurately, it was what the Duchess owed me.

Seeing Tang Ya's somewhat embarrassed yet envious expression, another plan formed in Huo Yuhao's mind.

If he wanted to control Tang Ya, power alone was not enough. Controlling her financial lifeline was equally important.

"Teacher Xiao Ya, if you need money..."

Huo Yuhao lowered his voice. "The next time we meet, I may have a way to help you earn the first pot of gold needed to revive the Tang Sect."

"Really?!"

Tang Ya's eyes instantly turned into the shape of gold coins, and the gloom from before vanished completely. "Then it's settled! No backing out!"

Over the next two days.

Huo Yuhao seemed to vanish from the world.

Aside from eating, he spent almost all of his time in the dormitory or finding secluded corners for intense physical training.

He wore the heavily weighted gear at all times, not even taking it off when he slept.

As for Wang Dong, his dormmate.

She had a miserable two days.

No matter how she tried to start a conversation—whether through provocation, friendliness, or even deliberately showing off her knowledge of martial souls in front of Huo Yuhao—

Huo Yuhao always had only a few responses.

"Oh."

"No time."

"Don't block the way."

Being treated completely like air drove this Young Master of the Clear Sky Sect crazy, yet she could do nothing about it.

What she did not notice was that the colder Huo Yuhao became, the longer her gaze lingered on him.

Until the day of the Opening Ceremony arrived.