Night clung to the river like a wound that refused to close.The moonlight danced weakly across the black water, reflecting the ruin of trees and shattered armor beneath the surface.Taiki stood at the edge, his reflection distorted by ripples — the image of a man both alive and fading.
The air smelled of ozone and iron.He knelt, dipping his fingers into the current. The water was cold… yet faintly pulsing with warmth, like the afterglow of a forge long extinguished.
[System Notice: "Residual Energy Detected – Flame Fragment Signature: 27%. Origin Unknown."]
Taiki muttered under his breath, "So it's hiding here too."
He closed his eyes, letting his chakra flow through his fingertips. The current responded — softly, subtly — carrying whispers of memories that weren't his.Children's laughter. Screams. The clash of metal. The roar of flame.
He flinched, pulling his hand back."Too fresh," he said, shaking the water from his fingers. "These aren't memories. They're burns."
Footsteps echoed behind him."Can't sleep either, huh?"
Taiki turned. The older shinobi from earlier stood there, bandages wrapped around his arm, a canteen slung over his shoulder. The faint Konoha insignia was scratched beyond recognition.
Taiki gave a faint grunt. "You're still alive. That's rare."
The man smirked tiredly. "Luck. Or stupidity. Hard to tell these days."He limped closer, lowering himself beside Taiki. The two watched the river in silence for a long while.
Finally, the shinobi said quietly, "Name's Renga."
Taiki nodded slightly. "Taiki."
"Taiki… huh." Renga studied him. "You talk like someone who's seen too many wars."
Taiki's expression didn't change. "You talk like someone who thinks this one's different."
Renga laughed under his breath. "Fair enough."He took a drink from his canteen, then offered it. "Water?"
Taiki shook his head. "Water cools the forge too fast."
Renga chuckled. "You really are a blacksmith."
The silence stretched again — comfortable this time.The sound of the river, the faint crackle of embers from distant camps, the whisper of wind through half-burned trees.
Then Renga spoke again, softer now. "You said earlier… that steel remembers what men forget. What did you mean by that?"
Taiki's gaze lowered to the river."Every time someone swings a weapon, it keeps a mark of their will. Rage, fear, love, despair — they all leave something behind. The metal remembers those feelings, even after the man who held it is gone."
Renga frowned. "You're saying the sword has a soul?"
Taiki smirked faintly. "Not a soul. A memory. Souls are too fragile for metal. But memory — that's what gives steel its edge."
Renga was quiet, staring at the water. "Then all the blades I've used…"His voice trailed off. "They must hate me."
Taiki didn't answer. He didn't need to. The silence was heavy enough to tell the truth neither of them wanted to say aloud.
After a while, Renga leaned back and asked, "So what are you doing out here, anyway? You're not a soldier. Not a merchant either. Looking for something?"
Taiki hesitated. Then he said, quietly, "Something that used to be mine."
Renga raised an eyebrow. "A weapon?"
Taiki shook his head. "A promise."
Before Renga could reply, the System pulsed again.
[Warning: Energy Flux Rising – Source Approaching.]
The river began to ripple unnaturally, glowing faintly red beneath the surface.Renga stood quickly, hand on his kunai. "What the hell—?"
Taiki's eyes narrowed. "Stay back."
The glow intensified, and from the depths, something began to emerge — not a creature, but a shape.A broken blade, half-melted, half-crystallized, floated to the surface like a corpse rising from the deep.
Renga stepped back, eyes wide. "Is that… chakra metal?"
Taiki's voice dropped low, reverent and tense. "No. It's something older."
He reached out, and as his fingers brushed the blade, visions flooded his mind — flashes of an ancient forge, a younger version of himself hammering under red skies, laughter, screams, a seal burning onto his wrist.
He gasped, dropping to one knee. The river hissed as if alive.
Renga knelt beside him. "Taiki! You okay?"
Taiki's eyes flickered gold for an instant before returning to normal.He gritted his teeth, forcing his breath steady. "It's… a memory. Not mine. Not exactly."
The broken blade pulsed faintly in his hand, as if recognizing him.He looked at it carefully — the edge inscribed with symbols that no current shinobi alphabet could read.
Renga stared. "What language is that?"
Taiki's voice was quiet, almost a whisper."One that even gods forgot."
[System Notice: "Artifact Acquired – Fragmented Prototype: Kusanagi Alpha."]
Renga blinked. "Did you just say Kusanagi—?"
Taiki didn't answer. He was already lost in thought, staring at the half-blade that shimmered faintly with ancient flame.
He whispered to himself, almost to the river, "So… this is where one of them ended up."
Renga stepped back, uneasy. "You're scaring me, Taiki. What are you?"
Taiki looked up slowly, his gaze calm but unyielding."I'm a blacksmith," he said. "And this world's been using my work for far too long without remembering who made it."
The wind howled through the trees. The river's glow dimmed, fading back to black.
Renga took a slow step back. "Then what now?"
Taiki rose, the broken blade held loosely at his side."Now?" He looked up at the smoke-filled stars. "Now I start taking back my memories — one ember at a time."
[Quest Updated: "The Ember Reclaimed – 1/7 Flame Fragments Retrieved."][New Objective: Trace the Origin of the Kusanagi Alpha.]
Taiki glanced at the fading system text, his expression unreadable.He turned to Renga and said, "If you're smart, you'll leave this place before dawn."
Renga frowned. "And you?"
"I'll go where the fire leads," Taiki said, walking away from the river. "It always knows before I do."
The blacksmith's silhouette vanished into the haze — a lone figure following the sound of memory through a world built on ashes.
And behind him, the river whispered — not with water, but with flame.