The cycles blurred together.
Days? Weeks? Months?
Time in the Eternal Gate Realm had no meaning. Only waves. Only kills. Only levels.
Haruto stopped counting after the tenth wave.
By then his pack had grown to fifteen shadow minions—wolves, blade-wielders, even a hulking brute he'd evolved from a boss-tier warg that nearly crushed him in wave seven. He'd named the Alpha "Kage" on a whim. The others he simply numbered or ignored. Names felt like a weakness he couldn't afford anymore.
His body had changed too.
The boy who once struggled with basic three-seal jutsu now moved like liquid shadow. Scars from the betrayal had faded under Shadow Regeneration, but the memory hadn't. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Hana's back, the elder's smile, the chains that should have protected him turning traitor.
[Level 15 Achieved]
[Necrotic Energy: 420/850]
[Class Evolution Available: Shadow Initiate → Shadow Revenant]
[Accept Evolution? Y / N]
He accepted without hesitation.
A surge of cold power flooded his core. His eyes burned violet for a long moment. When the light faded, he felt… heavier. Stronger. Like the shadows weren't just around him anymore—they were part of him.
[Class: Shadow Revenant (Lv.1)]
[New Passive: Revenant's Aura – Weaker enemies within 20 meters suffer -15% speed and regeneration]
[New Active: Shadow Dominion (Lv.1)] – Temporarily merge with shadows to become intangible for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.]
[New Skill Tree Unlocked: Uzumaki Fusion – Combine necrotic energy with latent Uzumaki bloodline traits]
The system had finally acknowledged what he already knew: the betrayal hadn't erased his heritage. It had weaponized it.
He was mid-evolution when the sky cracked.
A deafening rumble shook the wasteland.
The red sky split like torn fabric. A jagged black rift tore open—wider than any gate he'd seen before. Light poured through—not red, not gray—but pale moonlight. Real moonlight.
The mechanical voice returned, almost reluctant.
[Final Trial of the First Gate Realm – Complete]
[Exit Condition Met: Reach Level 15 and survive 100 waves]
[The Eternal Gate Realm releases you.]
[Warning: 500 years have passed in the origin world. Return at your own risk.]
Haruto stared at the rift.
Five hundred years.
The number hit like a physical blow.
Konoha. His home. His betrayers. Were they even alive?
Did it matter?
He looked down at his hands—pale, veined with faint purple shadow lines. The same hands that once reached for Hana's during training.
"They'll be dust," he muttered. "Or worse."
He stepped toward the rift anyway.
Kage and the pack followed without command.
The transition was violent.
One moment endless gray; the next, cold night air, the scent of pine and distant smoke, the sound of wind through real leaves.
Haruto landed in a crouch on soft forest floor.
Moonlight filtered through towering trees—older, thicker than he remembered. The stars were the same, though. Cruelly familiar.
He straightened slowly.
No system message. No timer. Just silence.
He extended his Shadow Sense.
The world felt… different. Chakra signatures were faint, scattered, like embers instead of bonfires. But there were clusters—large ones—miles to the east.
A village. A city, maybe.
Konoha.
He took one step, then another.
His shadow minions melted into the darkness behind him, invisible unless he called.
He walked.
Hours passed.
The forest thinned. Ruins appeared—crumbled stone walls etched with faded Uzumaki spirals. Abandoned outposts. A rusted sign half-buried in moss: "Konoha – 12 km."
Twelve kilometers.
He kept walking.
Dawn was breaking when he reached the first real sign of civilization.
A massive wall—three times taller than the one he remembered—rose ahead, topped with glowing fuinjutsu barriers. Watchtowers. Patrols in unfamiliar uniforms: dark blue with red spiral insignias, but the spirals looked… wrong. Angular. Cold.
Above the gate, carved in massive stone:
Hidden Leaf Empire – Sector One
Empire.
Not village.
Haruto stopped at the tree line, still cloaked in natural shadow.
He watched.
A merchant caravan approached the gate. Guards checked scrolls, scanned chakra, waved them through.
One guard—a young man with white hair and pale eyes—paused, Byakugan activating. He scanned the forest.
His gaze passed right over Haruto.
Shadow Dominion had made him a ghost in the dark.
Haruto's lips curled.
They didn't sense him.
Good.
He turned his attention eastward, deeper into what used to be Fire Country.
Somewhere out there were answers.
Somewhere out there were the descendants of the people who'd sacrificed him.
Somewhere out there was revenge.
But not yet.
He wasn't ready to announce himself.
First, he needed information.
First, he needed to see how much the world had changed while he rotted in hell.
He melted back into the trees.
Kage appeared at his side—silent, loyal.
Haruto placed a hand on the shadow blade's shoulder.
"Let's go hunting," he whispered.
Not for monsters this time.
For secrets.
For names.
For faces.
And when the time came…
For blood.
A soft ping echoed in his mind.
[New Quest Generated]
[Title: Shadows of the Leaf]
[Objective: Infiltrate the Hidden Leaf Empire undetected and gather intelligence on the current ruling council and bloodline descendants of your betrayers]
[Reward: Massive Experience + Access to Uzumaki Fusion Branch: Adamantine Shadow Chains]
[Failure: Detection before completion will trigger Hunter Status – Empire forces will pursue you relentlessly]
Haruto's eyes gleamed violet in the pre-dawn light.
"Accepted."
He vanished into the shadows.
The empire would never know what was coming.
Not until it was far too late.
To be continued…