A Reckless Yearning

Black threads tore through skin and flesh, burrowing into his heart.

This was the core of life, and the source of chakra.

Toji held two fingers up against his lips:

"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Parasitism!"

The Earth Grudge Fear parasite, nestled within the heart, began to writhe under the stimulation of chakra.

The scarred man's body began to move like a marionette on strings.

From the initial stiffness and sluggishness, his movements gradually became fluid and natural, no different from those of an ordinary person.

At this moment, his body was completely controlled by Toji's will.

The man's mouth curled into an eerie grin: "It seems the parasitism was a success..."

Before the words could fade, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

His eyes bulged violently, his entire body convulsed, and the instruments beside the experimental table began to blare with piercing alarms.

Within moments, the man lost all signs of life.

Toji watched the scene with a rigid expression, then took a deep breath to regain his composure.

Failure is the mother of success; as long as the root of the problem could be identified, the effort was valuable.

"Subject Number One lasted thirty seconds."

"Where did it go wrong?"

Toji fell into deep thought.

The development of Earth Grudge Fear was an uncharted path with no references to draw upon; he could only accumulate experience through trial and error in his experiments.

He couldn't find an answer for the time being.

Toji turned his head to look at the other subject, a one-eyed man.

The man had woken up at some point and was staring at him with a mix of shock and rage.

Toji ignored the hostile gaze and spoke to himself:

"Too many subjects lead to accidents, so I only arrange for two to be delivered each month."

"Until the next batch arrives, your life is still precious. I will do my best to use medical ninjutsu to keep you alive; I won't let you die easily."

"If you don't want to die, you had better ignite your will to live and survive my experiments."

It had to be said that Uchiha Yan's "selection" was quite conscientious. The people she brought were all mountain bandits with blood on their hands, so there was no guilt in using them as expendable materials.

Once upon a time, Toji had wanted to be a good person.

But having struggled to survive in a hellhole like Takigakure Village, Toji had long grown accustomed to life and death, and had cast morality to the wind. That was a luxury only those in peaceful times could afford.

As long as he had no morals, he would never be shackled by guilt.

Not killing wantonly, and making the best use of everything—that was his final shred of kindness.

Toji released the Earth Grudge Fear once more, planting a Cursed Seal on the one-eyed man's heart and applying a Five Elements Seal, before turning to leave the Underground Laboratory.

He would not easily begin a second experiment until he had identified the problem.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

At Gospel Hospital, Matsumoto Waka came to the director's office to hand in her assignment. While Toji was busy grading, she sat to the side, flipping through the research notes on Cursed Seals he had given her.

When she grew tired of reading, she quietly looked up, stealing glances at Toji's profile, her heart filled with admiration.

I really want to become a kind person like Teacher Toji.

Teacher Toji is so gentle; he probably hasn't even scolded anyone in his life...

"Waka."

Toji's voice made her jump: "Yes!"

"Focus on the Cursed Seal notes, don't get distracted. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask; don't be shy." Toji said expressionlessly, his head bowed as he spoke, not looking at Matsumoto Waka.

"Yes! I understand!"

My peeking was discovered...

Waka composed herself.

She did not let Toji down; her progress in studying Cursed Seals was rapid. She was reading through the research notes he had given her at a pace that exceeded his expectations.

Simply put, she was a genius when it came to Cursed Seals.

The deficiencies in her ninja combat abilities were all compensated for by her talent for Cursed Seals.

However, in front of Toji, Matsumoto Waka deliberately hid this talent, planning to give her teacher a big surprise when the time was right.

For this reason, she forced herself to take the initiative to make friends at school.

Matsumoto Waka had a cold, gloomy temperament and was always followed by a white snake. Even though she wore the glasses Toji had given her, she remained unwelcome at the Ninja Academy. It took a long time before she finally made two friends, one from the Yamanaka clan and one from the Hyuga clan.

To Matsumoto Waka, the matter of making friends was inconsequential. Accustomed to loneliness since childhood, she did not need friendship to fill the void in her heart.

All she needed was recognition and a little bit of tenderness. And of these two things, Toji was the first person to give them to her.

Therefore, Toji's goals were her goals!

The purpose of her making friends lay in this as well.

These two friends happened to possess exactly what Matsumoto Waka needed—

The Caged Bird Cursed Seal and the Mind Body Switch Cursed Seal.

Cursed seals were the foundational heritage of the major ninja clans.

Toji was, after all, a "ninja" and an "adult." Regardless of the reason, attempting to approach the secrets of the cursed seals would inevitably arouse suspicion.

But Matsumoto Waka felt that perhaps she could.

She was a "ninja trainee," a "young girl," and the level of wariness she inspired was at its lowest.

Mastering these two types of cursed seals was impossible; even the closest of companions would never hand over their clan's cursed seals to her. However, observing their operating principles at close range and listening to their personal insights was not entirely without opportunity.

There was only one prerequisite—

The "friendship" between them had to be solid enough that those two friends would be willing to break clan rules and quietly show her the cursed seals.

She knew that manipulating friendship and approaching others with ulterior motives was despicable, but the yearning for Toji deep in her heart made Matsumoto Waka throw caution to the wind.

Matsumoto Waka's gaze was resolute:

"This is my ninja way."

Could it be that Matsumoto Waka truly lacked talent in the field of cursed seals?

After this week's assessment, this doubt couldn't help but arise in Toji's mind. In the study of cursed seals, Matsumoto Waka's performance could only be described as average; she had not brought him any surprises.

His expectations had fallen through.

"It seems the energy invested in her will have to wait ten years before it can be slowly recouped."

Toji pulled back his thoughts and spoke:

"Let's go, Waka. It's time to head to the Ninja Academy for class."

"Yes, Teacher!"

At the Ninja Academy.

Senju Takayuki spoke up: "Lord Toji is here."

Behind him followed Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo.

Hearing this, Danzo raised his eyes and looked over.

He and Hiruzen had never actually had formal contact with Toji; they had only seen him from afar on the day of the entrance physical examination.

Everyone said that this man was a pivotal figure of great importance in the village.

But Danzo did not think so in his heart: he was nothing more than an outsider.

Deep down, he felt that Toji did not deserve such respect. After all, the man was merely a doctor who had arrived five years after the founding of Konoha; when it came down to it, he was still an outsider.

Only those like the Shimura and Sarutobi clans, who had been rooted here since the village's inception, were worthy of being called true people of Konoha.

Those who were not of his village and were of a different kind deserved to be monitored.

However, Danzo kept all these dark thoughts hidden in his heart, revealing them to no one.

At this moment, he was far too insignificant in front of Toji.

He wasn't even a formal ninja yet; how could he possibly pass judgment on such a big shot in the village?

If I could stand in the teacher's position, I would be able to voice my own opinions... Danzo thought to himself.

"Hiruzen, Danzo, I'm heading to class."

Senju Takayuki said his goodbyes to the two of them.

"Alright." The young Hiruzen replied, then turned to look at Danzo, "Danzo, aren't you going home?"

"I still have something to do. You go ahead."

Danzo remained at the school gate to wait, carrying a secret mission entrusted to him by Tobirama.

Several hours passed before he finally waited for Toji to walk out of the school gate after class.

He took a step forward and said in a deep voice:

"Lord Toji, Lord Tobirama requests your presence at the tea house for a talk."