Night again.
Konoha silent.
But not asleep.
Somewhere… something moved.
Not chakra.
Not human.
Something old.
Something that had waited.
Waited for him to awaken.
He sat on the rooftop.
Same one he always came to.
Above it all.
Watching.
Thinking.
Left eye… faintly glowing.
He blinked once.
The world shifted.
The buildings looked older.
Crumbling.
The villagers, different. Dressed in ancient robes.
Ghosts.
A version of the village long gone.
His eye was seeing the past.
He focused.
Zoomed in on one building.
It was the Hokage office… but smaller.
Wooden. Torched. Surrounded by masked figures.
He saw one man dragged out.
Screaming.
Begging.
They ripped off his mask.
The face was… his.
Not exactly.
But enough.
Another him.
Another version.
Another timeline.
They threw him to the ground.
Branded his eye.
A hand with six fingers pressed on his forehead.
"Contain him," a voice commanded.
The brand glowed.
The vision cracked.
Back to reality.
He exhaled sharply.
Blood from his nose again.
Every vision took more from him.
More memories unlocked.
More… pain.
But also power.
He could feel it in his bones now.
Muscles responding faster.
Instincts sharpening.
But the cost—
He was starting to see the other hims in reflections.
Moving when he didn't.
Smiling when he wasn't.
Next day.
Class started normal.
Kura again.
Still watching.
Still… off.
She asked them to practice hand seals.
He watched her hands carefully.
Too slow.
Deliberate.
Like she wanted to be seen.
He focused his eye on her.
Something cracked.
A layer peeled.
Under her skin—
Not a person.
A construct.
Made of living chakra and old flesh.
A puppet.
She noticed.
For the first time, she blinked.
And smiled.
"I see your eye works," she whispered.
No one else heard.
He froze.
She walked toward him.
Whispered again.
"You're the first to notice in 41 years."
Then—
She dropped to the ground.
Her body deflated like a balloon.
Dust scattered.
Gone.
The real threat still hidden.
Watching.
Testing.
That night.
Yurei returned.
This time, bruised.
Bloody.
She dropped an old scroll in front of him.
"This is from the Shrine of the Ninth Bell."
He opened it.
A single sentence written in black fire.
"The Fifth Crack opens when the Sixth Truth dies."
"What does it mean?" he asked.
She looked at him.
"I don't know."
"But you will."
Then she collapsed.
He carried her to his room.
Bandaged her arm.
She didn't speak again.
Just… trembled.
From fear.
The first time she ever showed fear.
It meant something.
Next day.
They were summoned.
Hokage's office.
Third Hokage. Sarutobi.
Old eyes. Kind voice.
But behind that—
Worry.
He looked at all the children.
Naruto. Sasuke. Hinata. Shino. Ino. Kiba.
And him.
"I've called you here," the Hokage began, "because something strange is happening."
"Children across villages are… changing."
He paused.
Looked directly at him.
"And we believe some of you may already be involved."
A silence followed.
No one moved.
Then—He spoke.
"I saw someone pretending to be our teacher."
The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
He explained it all.
Calmly.
No emotion.
Just facts.
The puppet.
The aura.
The mask.
The cracking.
Hokage didn't respond.
Instead—
He dismissed everyone.
Except him.
They sat in silence.
Then Sarutobi lit his pipe.
"Do you know what the Will of Fire truly is?" he asked.
"No," he replied.
Sarutobi exhaled smoke.
"It's not hope. Not peace."
"It's sacrifice."
"And the fire burns brightest in those who burn away everything else."
He stood up.
Walked to a drawer.
Pulled out an old scroll.
Black seal on it.
"No one was supposed to read this."
"But now… maybe you have to."
He handed it to him.
His hand shook as he touched it.
The seal pulsed.
Then broke.
The scroll opened itself.
Only four words written inside:
"You were never born."