Bodily Mutation

Inside the tree hollow, the light was dim.

Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the ground, adjusting his breathing and letting chakra circulate slowly through his body. The recent fight had not drained much of him, but the backlash from that Root sentry's ocular power had left his left eye slightly swollen.

He closed his eyes, intending to rest for a moment before leaving.

Suddenly—

A red-hot iron needle seemed to pierce the depths of his left eye.

"Ugh!"

Lin Feng clutched his left eye socket, his body involuntarily hunching forward. His vision spun violently, and his eyeball felt as though something were about to burst it apart from within.

The Sharingan activated on its own, beyond his control.

The Three-Tomoe spun madly, faster and faster, while ocular power rampaged through his eye socket like an uncontrolled flood.

Everything before his eyes became blurry red silhouettes.

"Lin Feng?"

Shisui quickly approached, his voice alert.

"My left eye..." Lin Feng gritted his teeth, his voice strained. "It suddenly feels like it's being stabbed by needles. My vision is spinning, and the Sharingan opened by itself."

Shisui did not hesitate.

He extended his right hand, gently placing his palm in front of Lin Feng's left eye.

"Don't panic. Let me take a look."

Gentle chakra flowed from Shisui's palm, seeping into Lin Feng's eye socket like a warm current. At the same time, Shisui's Sharingan quietly activated. Its Three-Tomoe turned slowly, emitting a faint hum.

Lin Feng felt the rampaging ocular power find an outlet, gradually flowing back under the guidance of Shisui's chakra.

The stabbing pain began to fade.

The blurry red before his eyes gradually returned to clarity.

After several breaths, Shisui slowly withdrew his hand.

"It's fine. I've suppressed it for now."

He stepped back half a pace, his expression turning serious.

Lin Feng lowered his hand. His eye was still bloodshot, and faint tomoe traces remained deep within his pupil.

"What's going on?"

"This isn't a minor matter." Shisui's tone was grave. "There are two possibilities."

"First, your Sharingan may be about to evolve and requires stronger ocular power to support it. Your current state has developed a gap."

"Second, some residual neuroactive drug in your body triggered an instability."

Lin Feng's breathing stalled slightly.

Drug residue.

The information the Root sentry had confessed earlier instantly surfaced in his mind—an extensive drug experimentation plan aimed directly at the Sharingan.

"Drug residue..." Lin Feng repeated under his breath. "Root's drug experimentation plan did mention affecting the Sharingan. Which possibility is more likely?"

Shisui pondered for a moment.

"With your training progress, it shouldn't have evolved this quickly. I'm more inclined to believe it's drug interference."

He looked directly into Lin Feng's eyes.

"Have you recently come into contact with any medicine of unknown origin or unusual food?"

Lin Feng frowned and began to think back.

He had prepared all the supplies in the safe house himself, and no stranger had handled them. The meals at the Academy cafeteria had always come from the same serving window and had never caused any issues.

Wait.

The tea at the Gathering Hall.

"Only once." Lin Feng's voice sank. "I drank the communal tea at the Gathering Hall—the day after you asked me to meet you at the shrine. I wanted to blend in quietly, so I didn't refuse when several outer clan members invited me to drink with them."

"Was there anything unusual about that tea?"

"It tasted a little strange. More bitter than what I usually drank. I thought it was just poor-quality tea leaves and didn't think much of it."

Shisui's gaze sharpened.

"The timing matches."

Lin Feng clenched his fists.

Someone had drugged him at the Gathering Hall.

What was the purpose?

To test the drug's effects on the Sharingan?

Or perhaps—someone was deliberately pushing changes in his Sharingan, accelerating some process?

Just as he was about to ask further—

A faint rustle of branches and leaves came from above the tree hollow.

The sound was extremely soft. If Lin Feng had not been on high alert, he would never have noticed it.

He instantly looked up.

Shisui moved even faster, already turning toward the entrance.

A figure silently landed on a branch above the tree hollow.

Uchiha Itachi.

The boy wore standard Anbu attire. His cat mask was lifted halfway, revealing a face far too young yet incomparably composed. Through the gap in the tree hollow, his gaze briefly met Shisui's.

Their eyes met.

The air froze for a second.

Itachi neither spoke nor showed any intention of exposing or questioning them. He merely looked away as though he had never stopped there, then his figure flickered as he continued forward.

He vanished into the depths of the forest.

A brief silence fell within the tree hollow.

Lin Feng's eye twitched slightly.

"Itachi... he saw us?"

"Yes." Shisui's voice remained calm. "But he pretended he hadn't."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he also wants to know the truth." Shisui looked toward where Itachi had disappeared. "Itachi cares more than anyone about the Uchiha's future—he simply chooses to observe in his own way."

Lin Feng did not ask further.

He knew Shisui was telling the truth, and he knew Itachi's appearance would bring more variables into the situation. But there were more pressing matters to handle.

He sat cross-legged again and steadied his breathing.

"I plan to go to the Ninja Academy Library and look up ancient texts on Sharingan evolution."

Shisui raised a brow.

"At the same time, I'll secretly investigate who came and went at the Gathering Hall during that period." Lin Feng's eyes sharpened. "If someone really drugged the tea, then whoever frequently entered the Gathering Hall at that time, whoever was responsible for preparing the tea utensils—those details can identify the suspect."

"Do you have any other leads?"

Shisui nodded.

"I'll continue monitoring Root's movements. If this really was caused by a drug, then this instability has instead given us a signal—someone is deliberately catalyzing the Sharingan."

"Catalyzing it?"

"Yes. Sharingan evolution requires intense emotional stimulation and sufficient ocular power reserves. If a drug can skip the former and directly stimulate the latter... then someone's plan to mass-produce powerful Sharingan users will become much easier."

Lin Feng's pupils constricted slightly.

Mass-producing powerful Sharingan users.

What lay behind this was far more serious than mere surveillance and data collection.

"I'll go to the library today." He stood and rolled his wrist. "As for the Gathering Hall, I'll need to investigate under another identity. Do you have any safe channels to recommend?"

Shisui took out a small scroll from his ninja tool pouch and handed it to Lin Feng.

"This is a map of the Gathering Hall. The red dots mark the entrances to the tea room and the back door. With your stealth skills, it should be enough."

Lin Feng accepted the scroll and tucked it into his clothes.

"When's the next training session?"

"Three days from now, same place." Shisui looked at the darkening sky outside the tree hollow. "If you find any leads, send me a message by crow."

"Alright."

Lin Feng turned and walked toward the exit of the tree hollow.

His steps were firm, without hesitation.

The stabbing pain in his left eye had completely faded, and his vision had returned to normal. But Shisui's words continued to echo in his mind—

The blood vessels around the eye were still fragile, and there was a risk of recurrence.

Lin Feng clenched his fists.

Before it recurred, he had to find out exactly what drug had been in that tea, who had put it there, and—

Why someone wanted to catalyze his Sharingan.

Night deepened.

The Forest of Death's shadows stretched across the ground.

Lin Feng's figure silently disappeared into the depths of the forest, sneaking toward the Ninja Academy.