That night, they made camp in a defensible position several miles from the battle site. The mood was tense and uncomfortable. No one spoke directly to Kuro, but their disapproval was palpable.
He sat apart from the others, his back against a large oak tree, staring into the flickering flames of their small, carefully controlled fire. His hands were scraped and bandaged from his clumsy retreat, and his short sword lay beside him, still sheathed and unused. He hadn't drawn it once during the entire mission.
'Pathetic,' he thought, the word echoing in his mind like a mantra of self-loathing. ' I'm supposed to be Anbu, elite of the elite, and I can't even handle a single rogue ninja's leftover techniques.'
The other members of his team sat on the opposite side of the fire, their masks removed for the first time since he'd met them. Hawk was a man in his thirties with sharp features and calculating brown eyes. Cat was younger, maybe early twenties, with short black hair and the lean build of a specialist in assassination techniques. Bear was exactly what his mask suggested—a mountain of muscle with kind eyes that currently held nothing but disappointment.
They spoke in low voices, but Kuro's enhanced hearing caught fragments of their conversation.
"—liability in the field—"
"—recommend reassignment—"
"—not ready for active duty—"
Each word was a knife twist in his gut. They weren't wrong. He had been a liability, a weak link that had nearly gotten them all killed or compromised.
Lost in his spiral of self-recrimination, he almost missed it when something shimmered in the air before him.
At first, he thought it was just the heat distortion from the fire playing tricks on his eyes. But the shimmer solidified, becoming a translucent blue panel that hung in the air like a hologram.
[MEMORY RESONANCE SYSTEM - INITIALIZING...]
The text appeared in elegant script, glowing softly against the darkness. More lines followed in rapid succession.
[HOST IDENTIFIED: Kuro - Anbu Operative]
[EMOTIONAL CORE: Synchronized]
[MEMORY FRAGMENTS: Stable]
[SOUL COMPATIBILITY: 94.7%]
[FIRST BOOKMARK DETECTED]
[TARGET: Itachi Uchiha]
[BOOKMARK LEVEL: Novice]
[TYPE: Observation/Admiration]
Kuro's breath caught in his throat. The panel was responding to his thoughts, to his memories of watching a certain prodigy during training exercises. Itachi Uchiha—the youngest Anbu in history, a genius who moved like death itself, beautiful and terrible in his efficiency.
More text appeared.
[BOOKMARK ESTABLISHED]
[AVAILABLE TRAIT: Sharingan Insight (Passive)]
[DURATION: 30 minutes]
[ACTIVATION: Mental Command Required]
The implications hit him like a thunderbolt. This system—whatever it was—could let him temporarily access the abilities of people he had formed emotional connections with. Not just anyone, but specifically those who had left a strong impression on him, positive or negative.
'Itachi...'
He remembered seeing the Uchiha prodigy during a joint training exercise just weeks ago. The way he moved, the impossible grace and precision, the cold intelligence in those dark eyes. Kuro had been mesmerized, watching from the sidelines as Itachi dismantled opponents with techniques that looked more like art than combat.
"Activate," he whispered under his breath.
The change was immediate and overwhelming. The world sharpened around him with startling clarity. He could hear the heartbeat of a night bird fifty yards away, could sense the subtle shifts in his teammates' breathing patterns that spoke of their emotional states. The shadows no longer seemed impenetrable—he could make out details and movement that should have been invisible.
But more than that, he could "feel" things. Killing intent, even the faint residual traces left over from their earlier battle. The predatory awareness of nocturnal hunters beginning their nightly hunt. The complex web of life and death that surrounded them in the forest.
This was how Itachi saw the world—every detail catalogued and analyzed, every potential threat or opportunity identified and evaluated. It was intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure.
[MEMORY BOOKMARK ACTIVE]
[NEW TARGET DETECTED: Kakashi Hatake - Bookmark Potential: High]
[NEW TARGET DETECTED: Might Guy - Bookmark Potential: Medium]
[MISSION SUGGESTION: Forge meaningful connections to unlock additional Echoes]
The system was learning, adapting, showing him potential paths forward. If he wanted to grow stronger, if he wanted to survive in this world of monsters and miracles, he needed to stop being invisible. He needed to make impressions on people—strong enough impressions to create these "resonances."
The enhanced perception lasted exactly thirty minutes before fading, leaving him feeling blind and deaf by comparison. But in that brief time, he had experienced what it felt like to be truly capable, to see the world through the eyes of genius.
He stood up slowly, his teammates' conversation stopping as they noticed his movement. For the first time since awakening in this world, Kuro felt something other than fear and confusion.
He felt determination.
"If this world wants to treat me like a ghost," he said quietly, his gray eyes reflecting the firelight as he looked across the flames at his teammates, "then I'll become the kind of ghost that people remember."
Hawk's eyebrows rose slightly at the unexpected show of backbone. Cat tilted her head curiously, while Bear simply grunted—whether in approval or skepticism was impossible to tell.
[EMOTIONAL SHIFT DETECTED]
[BOOKMARK POTENTIAL INCREASED]
NEW MISSION PARAMETERS AVAILABLE]
The system flickered back to life, responding to his change in attitude.
[AVAILABLE TARGETS IN PROXIMITY: 3]
[SUGGESTION: Positive or negative emotional responses accelerate Bookmark formation]
[REMINDER: A ghost that is feared is still a ghost that is remembered]
For the first time since arriving in this world, Kuro smiled. It wasn't a pleasant expression—there was too much pain and determination behind it for warmth—but it was genuine.
Tomorrow, he would begin the process of becoming someone worth remembering.
Whether that memory would inspire fear, respect, or something else entirely remained to be seen.