The Hidden Leaf Empire never truly slept.
Even at three in the morning, the outer districts glowed with chakra-lanterns. Hovering platforms carried supplies between towering spires. Shinobi in sleek black-and-crimson armor patrolled rooftops in perfect, silent formation. The air hummed with layered fuinjutsu barriers—stronger, colder, more paranoid than anything Haruto remembered from his childhood.
He clung to the shadow of a derelict warehouse on the edge of Sector Seven, the old merchant quarter now half-abandoned. Kage knelt beside him, form half-dissolved into the darkness. The rest of the pack waited farther back, spread thin across rooftops and alleys like living smoke.
Haruto's Shadow Sense extended outward in thin, invisible threads.
Hundreds of chakra signatures. Most civilian-level. A few chūnin patrols. Jonin-level presences clustered near the central palace district—too far, too guarded for tonight.
He wasn't here to fight.
Not yet.
[Quest Progress: Shadows of the Leaf – 8%]
[Current Objective: Locate and observe at least one direct descendant or blood-relative of the betrayal council members without detection]
The system had helpfully appended a short list after he crossed the outer wall:
Mizuki bloodline (Captain Mizuki's line)
Yamanaka branch (Hana's maternal clan)
Sarutobi elder lineage (Toru was a distant cousin)
Several minor Uzumaki retainers who participated in the ritual
Most names meant nothing to him now. But one did.
Hana.
He had forced the system to cross-reference old mission logs it somehow still retained from his era. The result was a single living descendant in the current generation:
Yamanaka Reina
Age: 24
Rank: Special Jōnin (Interrogation & Intelligence Division)
Current posting: Central Archives – Night Shift Overseer
Blood relation: Great-grandniece of Yamanaka Hana (deceased 487 years ago)
Haruto's jaw tightened.
Great-grandniece.
Five centuries, and the bloodline still carried the same clan name. Still served the same village-turned-empire.
He didn't know if he wanted to kill her on sight or simply watch her face when she learned who he was.
Maybe both.
He moved.
Shadow Step carried him thirty meters in a blink—emerging from the shadow of a water tower onto a narrow maintenance catwalk high above the streets. No sound. No ripple in the barrier weave. Revenant's Aura kept weaker patrols oblivious; their eyes slid past the patch of unnatural darkness he occupied.
The Central Archives building loomed ahead—a brutalist cylinder of black stone and reinforced chakra-concrete, ringed with sensor arrays. The night shift would be light. Archives weren't a combat post.
Perfect.
He crossed to the eastern face of the tower using a series of short Shadow Steps, landing soundlessly on a narrow ledge outside a ventilation grate. The metal was cold under his palms.
He pressed a hand to it.
[Shadow Dominion – Partial Activation]
His body turned semi-transparent, sinking halfway into the shadow cast by the grate itself. He slipped through the bars like smoke.
Inside: a long vertical shaft, dimly lit by maintenance strips. Air recyclers hummed. He dropped, controlling his descent with faint tendrils of shadow that caught him every ten meters like invisible ropes.
Basement level three.
The archives proper.
He emerged into a vast circular chamber lined floor-to-ceiling with scroll racks, data crystals, and sealed fuinjutsu vaults. Soft blue light from hovering orbs illuminated narrow walkways.
One person sat at the central console.
A woman.
Blonde hair tied in a severe bun. Pale eyes scanning a floating holographic scroll. Yamanaka clan markings on her collar—subtle, but unmistakable.
Reina.
She looked nothing like Hana.
Older. Sharper features. No softness in the mouth or eyes. But the shape of the cheekbones, the slight tilt of the head when concentrating… echoes.
Haruto stayed in the shadow of a massive scroll shelf thirty meters away.
He watched.
She worked methodically. Cross-referencing old clan registries. Occasionally tapping a command that made red warning glyphs flash across her screen.
One caught his eye.
RESTRICTED – UZUMAKI SACRIFICE PROTOCOL (487+ years classified)
Her fingers hovered over it.
She didn't open the file.
Instead she sighed—quiet, tired—and minimized the window.
Haruto's blood went cold.
She knew the file existed.
And she chose not to look.
He almost stepped forward.
Almost.
But then the archive door hissed open.
Two ANBU operatives in matte-black masks entered. No clan markings. Empire elite.
"Reina," one said, voice distorted. "High Council requests your presence. Immediate."
She didn't flinch. Just closed her console.
"Another audit?"
"Something about an anomaly in the outer barrier logs. Possible unauthorized shadow-type chakra signature."
Reina stood slowly.
Haruto's pulse didn't spike. It froze.
They were talking about him.
Reina glanced once around the room—almost as if she sensed something—then followed the ANBU out.
The door sealed behind them.
Silence returned.
Haruto exhaled through his nose.
Close.
Too close.
But also… useful.
He crossed the floor in three Shadow Steps and stopped at her console.
The holographic interface was still unlocked.
He reached out.
[Core Devour – Minor Application: Data Absorption]
Purple-black mist flowed from his fingertips into the crystal reader.
Lines of text scrolled across his vision—system-filtered, accelerated.
Mission logs. Clan purges. The "Uzumaki Sacrifice Protocol" mentioned no fewer than seventeen times in the last four centuries.
And names.
Dozens of names.
Living descendants.
Mizuki Kenji – current head of Internal Security
Sarutobi Councilor Taro – High Elder
Yamanaka Reina – flagged for "re-evaluation of loyalty" due to repeated access of restricted historical files
Haruto's lips curled.
Reina wasn't just a descendant.
She was suspicious.
Interesting.
He withdrew his hand.
[Quest Progress: 28%]
[Bonus Objective Unlocked: Turn or Eliminate Yamanaka Reina before she reports the anomaly]
[Optional Branch: Recruit her as an asset – High risk / High reward]
Haruto stared at the spot where she had been sitting.
Recruit?
Or kill?
He hadn't decided yet.
But one thing was certain.
Tonight, the shadows would follow her home.
He melted back into the darkness.
Kage materialized beside him, blade-arms crossed.
Haruto gave a single nod.
"Track her."
The shadow nin vanished.
Outside, the empire continued its restless hum.
Inside Haruto, something older than rage began to stir.
Patience.
Cold.
Endless.
Just like the gates that had forged him.
To be continued…