Reckless Longing

Black threads tore through flesh and burrowed into his heart.

This was the core of life, as well as the source of chakra.

Toji raised two fingers to his lips.

"Secret Technique: Earth Grudge Parasite!"

The Earth Grudge Fear parasitizing his heart began to writhe under the stimulation of chakra.

The scar-faced man's body moved like a puppet on strings.

At first, he was stiff and sluggish, but gradually his movements became smooth and natural, no different from an ordinary person's.

By then, his body was completely under Toji's control.

A strange smile curled across the man's lips. "Looks like the parasitic technique succeeded..."

Before he could finish speaking, the situation took a sudden turn.

His eyes bulged violently, his entire body convulsed, and the instruments beside the operating table sounded a shrill alarm.

Moments later, the man stopped breathing.

Toji's expression stiffened as he watched the scene before him. He took a deep breath and regained his composure.

Failure was the mother of success. As long as he could identify the problem, it had value.

"Test Subject No. 1 lasted thirty seconds."

"Where did it go wrong?"

Toji fell into thought.

Developing Earth Grudge Fear was an unexplored path. There was no one to study or learn from, so he could only keep accumulating experience through experiments and trial and error.

For the moment, he could not reach an answer.

Toji turned to look at the other test subject, the one-eyed man.

At some point, the man had awakened and was glaring at him with fury and alarm.

Ignoring that hostile gaze, Toji spoke calmly.

"Too many test subjects can easily lead to accidents, so only two are sent here each month."

"Until the next batch arrives, your life is still valuable. I'll do my best to keep you alive with Medical Ninjutsu. I won't let you die easily."

"If you don't want to die, you'd better awaken your will to survive and live through my experiments."

It had to be said that Uchiha Yan had been very conscientious in her selection. Every one of them was a bandit with blood debts on their hands, so using them up as expendable material did not cause him the slightest guilt.

Once, Toji had wanted to be a good person too.

But after struggling to survive in a hellhole like Takigakure for so long, Toji had long grown accustomed to life and death and cast morality aside. That was a luxury reserved for peaceful times.

As long as he had no morality, guilt could never hold him hostage.

Not killing indiscriminately and making full use of everything were his last remaining tenderness.

Toji released Earth Grudge Fear again, planted a Curse Mark in the one-eyed man's heart, placed a Five Elements Seal on him, then turned and left the underground laboratory.

Until he identified the problem, he would not begin a second experiment lightly.

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Gospel Hospital.

Matsumoto Kazuka came to the director's office to hand in her assignment. While Toji lowered his head to grade it, she sat to the side reading the Curse Mark research notes he had given her.

Whenever her eyes grew tired, she secretly looked up and stole glances at Toji's profile, her heart filled with longing.

I really want to become someone as gentle as Teacher Toji.

Teacher Toji is so gentle. He probably has never even scolded anyone...

"Kazuka."

Toji's voice made her jolt. "Yes!"

"Focus on the Curse Mark notes. Don't get distracted. If there's something you don't understand, ask. Don't be embarrassed." Toji spoke without expression, his head lowered as he did not look at Matsumoto Kazuka.

"Yes! I understand!"

He caught me staring...

Kazuka collected herself.

She had not let Toji down. Her progress in studying Curse Marks was rapid. She had thoroughly absorbed the research notes Toji gave her far faster than expected.

Simply put, she was a Curse Mark genius.

What she lacked in ninja combat talent was fully compensated for by her talent with Curse Marks.

Yet before Toji, Matsumoto Kazuka deliberately concealed this talent. She planned to give her teacher a huge surprise once the time was right.

For that reason, she forced herself to actively make friends at school.

Matsumoto Kazuka had a cold, gloomy temperament, and a white snake followed her everywhere. Even with the glasses Toji had given her, she was still unpopular at the Ninja Academy. It took a long time before she made two friends from the Yamanaka clan and the Hyuga Clan.

Making friends did not matter much to Matsumoto Kazuka. Having grown used to loneliness since childhood, she did not need friendship to fill her heart.

All she needed was recognition and a little tenderness. Toji was the first person to give her both.

So Toji's goal was her goal!

That was also why she made friends.

These two friends happened to possess what Matsumoto Kazuka needed—

The Caged Bird Curse Mark and the Mind Body Transformation Curse Mark.

Curse Marks were the foundation of the major ninja clans.

Toji was, after all, a "ninja" and an "adult." No matter his reason, trying to approach the secrets of Curse Marks would arouse suspicion.

But Matsumoto Kazuka thought she might be able to do it.

She was a "ninja trainee," a "girl." People would be least wary of her.

It was impossible to master those two Curse Marks. No matter how close they became, her companions would never hand over their Curse Marks. But observing their operating principles up close and hearing their insights was not entirely impossible.

There was only one condition—

Their "friendship" had to be strong enough for those two friends to willingly break clan rules and secretly show her their Curse Marks.

She knew that exploiting friendship and approaching others with ulterior motives was despicable, but the longing in her heart for Toji made Matsumoto Kazuka throw herself into it without hesitation.

Matsumoto Kazuka's gaze was resolute.

"This is my ninja way."

Could it be that Matsumoto Kazuka truly had no talent for Curse Marks?

After this week's assessment ended, Toji could not help but wonder. In her studies of Curse Marks, Matsumoto Kazuka's performance had been merely average and had brought him no surprises.

His expectations had come to nothing.

"Looks like the effort I've invested in her can only be slowly recouped ten years from now."

Toji dismissed his thoughts and spoke.

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

"Yes, Teacher!"

Ninja Academy.

Takayuki Senju spoke. "Lord Toji is here."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were following behind him.

At that, Danzo raised his eyes and looked over.

In truth, neither he nor Hiruzen had ever formally interacted with Toji. They had only seen him from afar on the day of the entrance physical examination.

Everyone said this man was an important figure in the village.

Yet Danzo did not think much of him. He was nothing more than an outsider.

From the bottom of his heart, he felt that Toji did not deserve such respect. After all, he was only a doctor who had arrived five years after Konoha was founded. In the end, he was still an outsider.

Only clans like the Shimura and Sarutobi clans, which had taken root here from the village's founding, deserved to be called true people of Konoha.

Anyone not from our village is an outsider and deserves to be watched.

However, Danzo kept all these dark thoughts buried in his heart and told no one.

At this moment, he was far too insignificant before Toji.

He was not even a formal ninja yet. What right did he have to judge one of the village's important figures?

If I could stand in the teacher's position, then I could voice my own opinions... Danzo thought.

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

Takayuki Senju bade the two farewell.

"All right." The young Hiruzen replied, then turned to Danzo. "Danzo, aren't you going home?"

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

Danzo remained at the school gates, waiting. He carried a secret mission entrusted to him by Tobirama Senju.

Several hours passed before Toji finally left the school after classes ended.

Danzo stepped forward and said in a low voice.

"Lord Toji, Lord Tobirama requests your presence at the teahouse for a discussion."