Some knowledge lives in silence.
Bound by chakra-sealed ink, buried in vaults no eyes were meant to see. Only the desperate, the broken, or the ambitious ever dare open the scrolls sealed by flame and blood.
And Sora was all three.
---
A Key Left Unattended
The scrolls weren't meant for him.
They were kept beneath the Uchiha estate, far below the main house—behind genjutsu walls and ancestral fire seals. But Ayame had left the path unguarded for a moment.
She needed time.
Time to think.
Time to mourn the girl she'd killed.
Time to not see Sora's eyes.
That was all it took.
One unlocked barrier.
One mistake.
And Sora descended into the dark.
---
The Vault Below
The stone corridor was ancient—lined with murals of Madara, Kagami, Izuna. The Uchiha legacy, painted in blood and shadow.
Torches ignited as Sora walked past them, sensing chakra in his bones. He passed relics: broken Sharingan eyes preserved in crystal, kunai laced with sealing jutsu, bone fragments with residue from ancient Ōtsutsuki experiments.
And at the very end…
A single scroll hovered midair.
Suspended in stasis by three silver chakra rings.
No label. No clan crest. Just danger.
The Forbidden Scroll of Consuming Flame.
---
Unsealing the Truth
He hesitated only once.
Then touched the scroll.
Pain ripped through his palm, the chakra rings branding his skin with foreign sigils—older than Konoha, older than shinobi, older even than chakra itself.
The scroll unfurled.
And secrets spilled.
---
Inside the Scroll
> "There exists a class of devourers, ancient and outlawed. Those who do not mold chakra… but consume it. Not leechers, not absorbers—but hollow gods who feast on jutsu, on time, on space itself.
> They were feared even by the Ōtsutsuki.
> One of them fell to Earth long ago. Wounded. Nameless. Sealed inside a human womb by the priestesses of the Spiral Flame Sect.
> That child was born once.
> And will be born again.
> Devourer Class: CODE 001 – VOID SERAPH"
Sora's eyes widened.
His breath caught.
Was this… me?
---
Memories from Another Life
As the scroll continued, strange images burned into Sora's mind.
Visions of himself—but older, darker. A version of him that wore robes made of black scales, that moved through time like walking through mist.
He saw himself swallowing a tailed beast whole.
He saw his own death… and rebirth… again and again… across different timelines.
And in each life, there was a constant.
Ayame.
Sometimes as protector.
Sometimes as enemy.
Sometimes… as sacrifice.
---
The Final Warning
> "Devourers cannot be contained. They must choose their path.
> If they devour with purpose, they become balance.
> If they devour without limit… they become gods of ash.
> This scroll must not fall into the hands of the hidden Root.
> And must never be read under a blood moon."
Sora clenched the scroll.
The moon above was waning… but in two nights, it would be blood-red.
Something was coming.
---
Ren's Arrival
"I told you not to touch the locked ones."
Ren stood in the archway, arms crossed, her expression unreadable.
Sora turned slowly. "You knew about this?"
"I knew the scroll existed. I didn't know it would… recognize you."
She stepped closer, shadows rippling around her like a living shroud.
"That scroll isn't Uchiha. It's pre-shinobi. Spiral Flame Sect knowledge. Long dead."
Sora looked down at his hands, which still glowed faintly with sigils.
"So what am I?"
Ren blinked once.
"Hungry," she whispered.
---
Elsewhere – Blood on Stone
In Root's deepest chamber, Danzo examined a replica of the same scroll.
A copy, imperfect, corrupted.
But enough.
He nodded to the clone kneeling beside him.
The one with Sora's face.
"It's time," Danzo said. "He's starting to awaken."
He rolled up the scroll and handed it to the clone.
"Go to the shrine of the Spiral Flame. Burn the wards. Tear open what's left."
The clone—his voice calm, cold—nodded once.
"As you command… father."
---
Back at the Estate
Ayame awoke with a start.
Blood on her hands. Sweat down her back.
She ran to the vault.
The seals were open.
The scroll was gone.
And she knew—deep in her Uchiha blood—that something had changed in Sora's eyes.
He had seen truth.
And truth was always heavier than lies.