The next night arrived quietly.The crimson moon hung over the compound like an omen, and the soft wind carried the faint scent of blood that always lingered in Kyuketsuki territory.
Naoki was the first to enter Akira's chambers. She bowed deeply, her long black hair falling like silk."Your Majesty, I have finished my examination."
Akira turned his gaze toward her, his scarlet eyes gleaming faintly in the dim light."Speak."
"Their chakra circulates through specific pathways — tenketsu points connected through something called the Chakra Network. I was able to identify the general pattern, but it's unlike our blood essence circulation."She hesitated, then continued. "However... there are similarities. Their chakra core functions much like our heart of essence, though less refined. If we could merge the two systems, theoretically, we could create a stable bridge."
'A bridge between blood essence and chakra...'Akira leaned back, his fingers interlocked.'That could be the key. If our essence can adapt, it might not just mimic chakra — it could dominate it.'
"Naoki, I want you to focus on that bridge. Start with the corpses of the shinobi. Then... we move to living subjects."
Naoki lowered her head. "Understood, your Majesty."
After she left, Akira closed his eyes and entered deep meditation.He could still feel the faint flow of chakra within him — unstable, rebellious, but present.
'Control comes from understanding. Let's see how far I can push it.'
He focused inward, visualizing his body's internal structure. Normally, vampires sensed only the ebb and flow of blood essence, but now there was another current — one that flowed differently, almost erratically.
He tried to guide it.At first, it resisted, pushing back violently. His veins throbbed, his skin cracked slightly, glowing faintly red and blue.
"Interesting..." he murmured, blood trickling down his lips."This energy is wild. It refuses to obey. It's like a beast trying to devour me."
He opened his eyes, and for a brief moment, the air distorted around him. The candle beside him flickered violently before extinguishing entirely.
'But beasts can be tamed.'
He grinned — a small, satisfied grin that didn't belong to someone sane.
Meanwhile, in the underground chambers, Naoki and Kisho stood beside a restrained prisoner. A trembling villager, eyes wide with terror.
Naoki's hands moved with precision. She injected a crimson liquid — a diluted form of Akira's blood essence mixed with a small amount of chakra she had extracted from one of the corpses.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the man started to scream. His veins bulged, his skin turned pale, and his eyes glowed faintly red.
Then — silence.
Naoki sighed, her expression calm but her eyes distant. "Failure. Again. His body rejected the infusion."
Kisho crossed his arms. "Maybe the dosage is too high?"
She shook her head. "No. The human body simply cannot handle our blood essence. But... I noticed something else. The more chakra a subject has, the longer they resist before dying. It means chakra stabilizes the transformation, even if only slightly."
"Then if we could find a shinobi host—"
"Exactly," Naoki interrupted. "But that would require one alive."
Kisho nodded grimly. "I'll send our scouts. There are always smaller clans or wandering shinobi around the borders. We'll catch one alive."
Back in his room, Akira opened his eyes again. The veins on his neck were glowing faintly, the pulse of power slowly stabilizing.He stood up, and with a single movement of his hand, a thin blood line shot from his fingertip and sliced a nearby candle in half.
'Hah... so I can channel chakra through my blood essence. It's merging, albeit slowly.'
He clenched his hand. "Looks like I found the first step toward evolution."
Days passed.Rumors began to spread in nearby villages — whispers of strange figures seen in the forests, of people vanishing without a trace.
Inside the Kyuketsuki compound, the clan trained under Akira's orders. The once-lifeless grounds were now filled with motion — vampires refining their physical power, meditating, and learning to control their blood essence with new precision.
The old despair was gone. Replaced by fanatic purpose.
Naoki entered again one evening, her eyes gleaming."Your Majesty. We succeeded."
Akira turned. "Explain."
"We captured a shinobi alive — and I managed to infuse a portion of our blood essence without killing him. His chakra is reacting strangely. It's being absorbed into the essence instead of resisting it."
Akira's eyes widened slightly. "Then the fusion is possible."
Naoki nodded. "Not only possible... but stable. At least for now. If we can replicate this under controlled conditions, we could begin the transformation for our clan."
'The dawn of a new breed,' Akira thought, his excitement restrained only by his calculated mind."Prepare the ritual chamber. I'll oversee the next experiment personally."
He walked past Naoki, the faint echo of his steps reverberating through the dark corridors.
'Chakra... blood essence... power. The world believes the shinobi are at the top of evolution. They couldn't be more wrong.'
His lips curved into a cold smile.
'Let's show them what true immortality looks like.'