Chapter 2: My Cheat Is Myself

Uchiha Luofu, Jonin of the Hidden Leaf Village!!

He was classmates with the fathers of the protagonist. In fact, he was even in the same class as the famed Golden Flash, Minato Namikaze.

Although he awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan due to his Uchiha bloodline and became a jonin with the advantage of his kekkei genkai, his potential seemed to have reached its limit. Failing to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, he was now merely one of the most ordinary jonin in the Uchiha clan.

Especially now, he had been deliberately sent by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi—the old schemer—to the Hidden Mist Village battlefield, where the Uchiha’s fire techniques were ineffective.

As Uchiha Luofu’s memories floated before Zhang Luofu’s eyes.

Uchiha Luofu, too, saw everything about Zhang Luofu.

After witnessing each other’s lives—third-person narratives flashing like a revolving lantern—they simultaneously blurted out: “Itachi’re also Luofu?”

Feeling the cold kunai withdraw from his throat, Zhang Luofu spoke, both excited and wistful: “I never thought my cheat would be the same as that proctologist’s!! Looks like Itachi’re having a rough time in the ninja world?”

“Itachi’re not doing much better than me.” Uchiha Luofu, having endured too many partings and deaths.

Between them, a stark contrast emerged.

Zhang Luofu was merely steady, plus years of unfulfilled obsession; Uchiha Luofu, by contrast, seemed outright obsessive.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Luofu finally spoke: “Is it just the two of us here?”

“Probably. But I think there’s one more!!” He shifted his tone, raising his kunai to point at the sky. “If every star above represents a version of us from a different world, then the three now shining mean another one of us has also arrived in this space!!”

A faint sense stirred in the depths of their minds.

Zhang Luofu and Uchiha Luofu looked in perfect unison toward the same direction.

Not far away stood a figure with a pair of pitch-black wings on his back, and a narrow, tightly closed fissure running from his forehead to his brow—two to three centimeters long.

“A spatial-type demon blood technique? Are Itachi two trying to team up and replace me as an Upper Moon?”

The moment he finished speaking, the fissure on his forehead split open, revealing an eye with seven pupils.

In addition to the normal pupil, six others were evenly distributed around it.

At first glance, it looked exactly like a six-tomoe Rinnegan Sharingan.

A sudden, instinctive sense of danger arose.

Zhang Luofu and Uchiha Luofu, again in perfect sync, spoke in unison: “I think we’re probably the same person. Why don’t we—”

Before he could finish, a flash of bloodlight erupted from the new Luofu, spreading outward like ripples, growing larger.

In an instant, both Zhang Luofu and Uchiha Luofu felt a flood of negative emotions surge into their hearts.

As if realizing persuasion was impossible.

Uchiha Luofu bluntly said: “I’ll draw his attention. Itachi charge in and make contact!”

After much effort, Zhang Luofu still couldn’t seize the chance—he’d been nothing more than a physically healthy ordinary man before this.

But Uchiha Luofu, while engaging the new Luofu in close combat, succeeded in making contact.

Yet after only a brief touch, Uchiha Luofu’s expression changed drastically. He broke contact, bent over, opened his mouth, and vomited violently.

Whether due to the strange nature of this space or not,

the moment the vomit hit the ground, it vanished without a trace.

Likewise,

the new Luofu, as if seeing something unbearable, bent over and vomited almost simultaneously.

“What’s wrong with Itachi two?” Zhang Luofu asked, bewildered, stepping closer.

Since contact had been made, it meant no further hostility remained between them.

When Zhang Luofu made contact with the new Luofu, he finally understood why Uchiha Luofu and the new Luofu had suddenly been overcome with nausea—he himself became the third.

In the instant he touched the new Luofu, the revolving lantern of memories before Zhang Luofu’s eyes shattered all normal human morality.

The new Luofu had been born in the world of Demon Slayer—and had been forcibly turned into a demon from a former Demon Slayer Corps member.

After becoming a demon, one lost all memories of being human. And demons fed on humans.

Yes!!

In the memories of this Demon Slayer Luofu, Zhang Luofu and the others saw scene after scene of him devouring humans.

“Muzan—I’m going to kill Itachi!!” After regaining his sense of normalcy, the Demon Slayer Luofu wiped his mouth, his eyes now blazing with chilling, murderous intent.

The Demon Slayer Luofu was the last to awaken his memories.

Zhang Luofu from Below the Heavens awakened after being beaten senseless by Zhang Chulan in childhood. Uchiha Luofu awakened under the trauma of the Second Great Ninja War.

Only the Demon Slayer Luofu had just now awakened.

With his past-life memories restored, a flood of memories of himself eating humans surged into his mind. Imagine the psychological shock for someone with normal morals.

“Calm down first,” Uchiha Luofu, the first to recover, said sympathetically. “This space seems to let us share memories and abilities. With my Sharingan, Itachi should be able to break free from Muzan’s control. Then Itachi can figure out how to deal with that bastard boss. Worst case, more versions of us will appear eventually. One day, Itachi’ll be able to crush Muzan at will!”

“Thank Itachi!” The Demon Slayer Luofu looked at the other two versions with complex emotion. “Because I absorbed demon blood, I’m worried that once we leave this space, Muzan might sense it here.”

“Itachi’re underestimating our cheat!” Zhang Luofu said confidently. “Though I’ve spent all these years without becoming an Immortal, I’ve been around long enough—I should logically be stronger than Itachi both. According to Daoist theory, both the Uchiha bloodline and demon blood are flawed. The Uchiha bloodline is strong in nature but weak in lifespan; their bodies cannot endure the spiritual strain of the Sharingan’s activation, and the risk of Mangekyo blindness may stem from this. Demons are the opposite: strong in lifespan but weak in nature. That’s why they lose their memories after transformation.”

“So Itachi mean, now that we’re sharing each other’s power, my defects and the demon Luofu’s are fully compensated?” Uchiha Luofu mused.

“Exactly!! Theoretically, the demon Luofu’s weak nature means he can’t resist Muzan’s demon blood!” Zhang Luofu continued smoothly.

(End of Chapter)