Borrowing a corpse to return to life!
This was the only explanation Amamiya Rei could come up with.
And transmigration, too!
He added the word numbly, clinging to the only logic left amid chaos
Otherwise, how else could he explain the fact that after being hit by a massive truck, he met Black Zetsu—and then got stabbed by Black Zetsu immediately afterward?
On the surface, Amamiya Rei's expression appeared calm, almost indifferent. But in reality, his sanity had collapsed like a dam breaking, his rationality swept away in an instant.
The heart of a working adult was fragile—far too fragile. It could not withstand this kind of shock.
Rei's pupils darted, quickly locking onto the figure of Black Zetsu in front of him.
Without warning, he lunged forward and grabbed onto Black Zetsu's leg.
His long, razor‑sharp nails pierced straight into Black Zetsu's body.
"Where's a mirror?!"
"I want a mirror!"
"Give me a mirror!"
He had to see his reflection.
He had to confirm with his own eyes that this nightmare was real.
Otherwise...
Otherwise, surely this was just hallucination—someone must have slipped him something at the anime convention!
Who cared whether this lump of black tar in front of him was Black Zetsu or Kaguya's creation?!
Black Zetsu kicked Rei away in disgust.
Lunatic!
Its bean‑sized yellow eyes were filled with both scrutiny and disdain.
Rei rolled nimbly across the ground, easily dispersing the force of the kick with clean, fluid movements.
"Huh?"
What had just happened?
His brain hadn't even processed it yet, but his body had already reacted instinctively.
When had he become this fast? This strong?
Bewildered, Amamiya Rei stared down at his own hands.
The sight shocked him even further.
When did he get a manicure?!
And why was the nail color so horrendously ugly?!
He scraped his sharp, glinting nails against the wooden floor.
CRACK.
Five deep holes immediately appeared where he dragged them.
"..."
Rei stared at his own nails.
What kind of biochemical weapon was this supposed to be?
In a flash of realization, a thought streaked through his mind like lightning.
Rapid regeneration... razor‑sharp nails...
Could it be—had he turned into Kibutsuji Muzan?!
He glanced at the long, black curls of hair hanging over his shoulders and tugged hard on a lock. A sharp pain shot through his scalp.
Crap! Not a wig!
He reached up and felt the fangs in his mouth; his fingertip was instantly pierced and began to bleed.
The tiny wound healed in the blink of an eye.
Amamiya Rei blinked several times, struggling to digest the conclusion he had just reached.
There was almost no doubt about it—
He had transformed into Kibutsuji Muzan... and transmigrated into the world of Naruto.
This is insane.
Wasn't this already spanning three different fictional universes?
The sheer number of tropes stacked together was almost absurd.
Still reeling from the shock, Rei lifted his head toward the window where Black Zetsu was still staring at him with blatant curiosity.
Black Zetsu's gaze was fixed on him like that of a dog, unblinking and eerily still.
"Who are you?"
Amamiya Rei feigned ignorance and asked in a perfectly calm voice.
Playing dumb was one of Rei's greatest skills.
After entering the workforce, he had learned that sometimes pretending to be clueless was the safest, most effective survival tactic.
Black Zetsu's bean‑sized yellow eyes remained unflinching as it replied without an ounce of shame, "I saved you. On the mountainside."
In truth, Black Zetsu had originally been scouting for information when a body had suddenly fallen out of the sky and landed in front of it—half‑dead.
Black Zetsu had no inclination to play doctor or savior and had turned to leave. But then it noticed something strange: the wounds covering this person's body were healing at a speed far surpassing even Hashirama Senju's legendary regeneration—ten times faster, at least.
Curiosity piqued, Black Zetsu had carried him to an abandoned courtyard halfway up the mountain and conducted a few tests, repeatedly piercing the man's heart with kunai.
Without exception, every wound regenerated instantly.
Even after having his heart punctured, he refused to die.
This thing in front of Black Zetsu could hardly be called human at all.
A monster.
Black Zetsu was astonished.
And then—the monster awoke.
...and behaved like a raving lunatic.
"You saved me? Weren't you just trying to kill me?"
Saved? Really?
Black Zetsu's shamelessness was boundless.
Amamiya Rei fixed him with a cold stare, suspicion plain in his eyes.
But once he recognized this thing as Black Zetsu, most of his fear dissipated.
Rei knew perfectly well what kind of creature Black Zetsu was—after all, he had watched the entire Naruto series.
"It was I who carried you here," Black Zetsu replied matter‑of‑factly.
"I didn't kill you. I was merely testing your abilities."
With the knowledge that this creature possessed extraordinary regenerative powers, Black Zetsu didn't consider stabbing him through the heart to be attempted murder at all.
Black Zetsu stared at the monster before him, utterly unapologetic.
Rei could only marvel at such shameless logic.
Still, speaking of regenerative abilities... this had to be Kibutsuji Muzan's power, didn't it?
Did this mean that by transforming into Muzan, he had also inherited Muzan's powers?
If that were true, it wasn't necessarily a bad deal.
Did that also mean he possessed the rest of Muzan's abilities?
Blood curse?
Flesh manipulation?
Blood Demon Arts?
As Rei pondered this, a sharp pain suddenly stabbed through his stomach. His vision went black as agony tore through him, like a thousand needles stabbing his gut all at once, twisting and stabbing with every spasm.
He collapsed onto the cold ground, curling in on himself as waves of black and white flashed before his eyes. His convulsing stomach sent one desperate message to his brain:
—Hungry!
Saliva pooled uncontrollably in his mouth.
His fingers clawed restlessly at the ground, leaving deep gouges in the floorboards.
His mind didn't conjure images of hamburgers, egg tarts, or barbecue...
Instead, it was filled with visions of raw, bloody flesh.
Chunks of thigh meat. Arm meat. Chest meat. Calf meat...
The dripping, crimson meat looked like the finest delicacies, tormenting his taste buds with unbearable temptation.
"So hungry!"
"I want to eat meat!"
A bloody red haze crept into Amamiya Rei's vision.
Driven purely by primal hunger, he crawled toward Black Zetsu.
His fangs and razor‑sharp nails made one thing perfectly clear—
The creature before Black Zetsu was not human.
But a monster.
A monster even Black Zetsu had never seen before.
Black Zetsu tilted its head curiously, silently watching Rei's approach without moving an inch.
Until Rei suddenly sank his teeth into Black Zetsu's thigh.
Black Zetsu: "..."
Is this normal?!Absolutely not.
Definitely a monster.
Rei's rationality slowly returned as his hunger abated.
After swallowing a chunk of Black Zetsu's flesh, warmth spread through his stomach like a cup of hot milk tea.
The pain vanished.
The dizziness disappeared. His whole body felt light and refreshed.
Rei hadn't even fully processed the horrifying fact that, like Muzan, he now needed to eat raw flesh to survive when a cold, mechanical female voice rang in his mind.
A system!
Amamiya Rei immediately recognized it.
He had his own cheat ability now.
[Ding!]
[Conversion System successfully activated.]
[Scanning...]
[Scan complete.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have obtained: "Black Zetsu Flesh Chunk" × 1.]
[Analyzing...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Contained abilities: Mental Fusion, Basic Wood Release, Sensory Perception, Spore Parasitism...]
[Converting...]
[Conversion complete.]
["Black Zetsu Flesh Chunk" × 1 = Sensory Perception + 600 min Sunlight Value + 6000 Chakra]
[Determined to be High‑Quality Flesh Chunk — Reward: Awakening Muzan Ability — Flesh Manipulation: Nine Whip‑Like Tubes!]
[Host, please strive to obtain more high‑quality flesh chunks!]
As the system's prompts faded, Amamiya Rei noticed two colored bars appear above his head.
They looked exactly like health bars in a video game, so Rei decided to call them that.
A blue bar hovered on the left, labeled with glowing text: "600 min Sunlight Value."
Sunlight Value?
Did it have something to do with sunlight?
Since Muzan couldn't walk under the sun, did this mean Sunlight Value represented the amount of time he could stay in sunlight?
Rei guessed as much.
Having inherited Muzan's powers, he had also inherited Muzan's weakness.
Sunlight—the ultimate bane of Muzan.
Beside it floated a green bar labeled: "6000 Chakra."
Amamiya Rei might pretend to be clueless, but he wasn't actually stupid. He quickly pieced together the torrent of information in his mind.
Judging from the Conversion System's explanation, he could gain Sunlight Value, Chakra, and even abilities by consuming flesh.
Moreover, the system could evaluate the quality of the flesh and, based on that, grant him new Muzan‑like abilities.
Two questions immediately arose in Rei's mind:
First, would the awakened abilities always be limited to Muzan's powers?
Second, was this incredible regenerative ability just part of some sort of beginner's protection package?
---