Part I – Paper Lanterns
The village looked different after the incident.Maybe it was him.Maybe the world really had shifted by a degree.
Ishi moved through the market street, the smell of roasted chestnuts and oil-paper umbrellas clinging to the air. He wore his usual black blindfold and a pale yukata borrowed from the hospital; on the surface, nothing about him had changed. But every few steps he caught the faint tremor of people's chakra as they turned to look — curiosity, awe, fear.
Rumors spread fast in Konoha.A boy who stopped time.A "blind seer."A cursed prodigy.
He ignored them all and bought dango. The sweetness steadied him, the wooden stick anchoring his shaking fingers.
Still human enough to crave sugar. Good sign.
Part II – Kakashi's Report
In the Hokage's office, sunlight slanted through blinds, cutting across piles of scrolls.
Kakashi stood before the Third, the usual slouch gone."He's stable," Kakashi said. "Chakra still erratic, but no physical decline."
Hiruzen exhaled through his pipe, smoke curling like the shape of question marks. "And mentally?"
Kakashi hesitated. "He jokes. But there's something behind it — like he's hearing two conversations at once."
The old man's gaze softened. "The same could be said for you, once."
"Difference is," Kakashi murmured, "I didn't bend the laws of time during an exam."
Silence. Then the Hokage: "Keep him close. Observe quietly. If his power flares again, we'll need contingency plans."
Kakashi nodded. The word contingency tasted like betrayal, but he said nothing.
Part III – Sasuke
Training ground 7 was quiet. The cicadas had gone, replaced by wind through grass.
Sasuke was practicing alone — the sharp hiss of shuriken through air, the clean rhythm of motion and breath. When he sensed another presence, he didn't stop. He simply said, "You're terrible at pretending you're not watching."
Ishi stepped from the trees, slow clap echoing once."Impressive as always, Uchiha. Your angles are improving. Almost symmetrical."
Sasuke's eye flicked toward the blindfold. "You talk like you can see it."
"Maybe I can."
"Prove it."
Ishi smiled. Without moving, he raised a finger. "The third target. Bottom-left corner. Off by two centimeters."
Sasuke turned — the blade had nicked the bark, two centimeters wide of the center. His jaw tightened.
"How?"
"I cheat."
For a moment the air between them hummed. Challenge. Recognition. Something neither would name.
Then Sasuke said quietly, "You scare people."
Ishi tilted his head. "You don't."
"Maybe I should."
Their gazes met — one hidden behind cloth, the other burning like coal — two mirrors reflecting different kinds of loneliness.
When Sasuke finally looked away, he said, "Whatever you did in the exam… don't do it again. It felt wrong."
"Wrong?"
"Like the world blinked."
Ishi's smile faltered. "Maybe it did."
Part IV – Night Watch
That evening Kakashi found Ishi sitting on the monument, legs dangling over the carved stone faces. The village glittered below like spilled stars.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ishi said. "All these lights… each one a story."
Kakashi joined him, silent.
"I heard Sasuke's been asking about me," Ishi continued.
"He's curious."
"He's suspicious."
"Same thing for him."
Ishi chuckled. "He's sharp. He felt the time slip. Maybe that's his curse — awareness."
They sat quietly until the moon rose higher. Finally Kakashi asked, "If you could undo what you did — save Hinata without touching the threads — would you?"
Ishi thought for a long time. "No," he said softly. "Because then I wouldn't know what line I crossed. And I need to know where the edge is."
Kakashi studied him. "You're planning something."
"Not yet. But the world is."
Part V – The Mirror Cracks
Elsewhere — beneath the village — the Witnesses moved again.
The woman in shadow stood before a pool of shifting reflection. Within it, Ishi's image flickered — blindfolded, laughing, lonely.
"His threads entangle quickly," she murmured. "Uchiha, Jinchūriki, Copy-Nin… all orbiting him like moths."
A masked acolyte asked, "Shall we sever them?"
She smiled. "No. Let them tighten. Every bond is another handle for the Weaver to pull."
The water rippled — and for an instant her own reflection bore the same golden-black eyes.
Part VI – Reflections
Back in his small apartment, Ishi stared into the mirror while unwrapping his bandages.For a heartbeat he saw not his own face, but a dozen overlapping versions of himself — child, warrior, corpse, god — all whispering in unison.
Blind what the gods made to see.
He pressed the cloth back over his eyes, trembling.
"I'm trying," he whispered. "I'm trying not to look."
The reflection smiled even after he turned away.
End of Chapter 6 – Masks and Mirrors