The night over Konohagakure stretched long and uneasy, heavy with secrets festering in its veins. The wind whispered through the trees like lost voices calling out. And beneath it all—beneath the surface of the village—something ancient stirred.
Something that had waited.
---
Beneath the Uchiha Shrine
Sasuke knelt at the altar in the hidden chamber of the shrine, the flickering torchlight dancing on the ancient stone.
Before him lay the seal—fractured, pulsing with energy he couldn't fully comprehend. His Sharingan spun, then flared into the Mangekyō as he studied the fragmented runes.
He pressed his palm to the seal.
The stone resisted.
Then… it gave.
A tremor rippled through the chamber, and a hidden passage slid open behind the altar. Darkness leaked out like smoke, thick with ancient chakra.
Sasuke descended.
Each step led deeper into the earth—and into the past.
---
Meanwhile – Outside Konoha
A young man cloaked in ragged robes watched the village walls from the cover of the trees. His face was gaunt, pale, but his eyes glowed faintly—crimson with slit pupils.
He had once been a shinobi of the Hidden Mist. Now, he was something else.
A Whispered One.
Inside his mind echoed Muzan's voice.
> "Observe the Uchiha. His blood is potent. But we do not destroy—yet."
He turned from the walls, vanishing into the shadows.
---
Back Inside – Hidden Catacombs
Sasuke emerged into a vast chamber.
It was not made by shinobi. These walls bore no mark of chakra-enhanced construction. They were carved by hand—ancient and smooth, like a forgotten tomb.
At the center stood a statue.
Twisted. Beautiful.
It depicted a man—tall, androgynous, arms outstretched like a savior. His eyes were gouged out. His mouth open in silent scream. From his chest grew black roots, spreading like veins into the chamber walls.
Sasuke's Sharingan pulsed.
"This… is him."
A plaque beneath the statue read only:
> "Kibutsuji. The Godless Flame."
Then the walls began to whisper.
Sasuke spun, kunai drawn.
From the shadows, they came.
---
Attack in the Depths
Figures crawled from cracks and tunnels—thin, pale creatures with hollow eyes and blood-streaked mouths. They snarled but didn't speak.
Whispered Ones.
Sasuke moved without hesitation. Lightning crackled across his blade.
"Chidori Nagashi!"
The surge of lightning erupted in a wide arc, electrocuting two of the creatures mid-lunge. They shrieked, limbs spasming.
The others came faster.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
They weren't shinobi. They weren't human.
But they adapted.
One dodged a kunai—another mimicked a taijutsu stance.
They were learning.
He sheathed his sword and focused. Time slowed under the Mangekyō's gaze.
He couldn't stay here long.
Sasuke leapt toward the exit, but one creature tackled him midair.
Its mouth opened wide—unnaturally so—baring rows of fangs.
"You wear his eyes…" it hissed.
Then—
A burst of flame incinerated the creature.
Sasuke rolled away as a figure stepped forward.
Black cloak. Red clouds.
"Too close, little brother."
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Itachi?"
---
Return of the Rogue
Itachi stood calmly, sharingan spinning, eyes focused not on Sasuke—but on the creatures.
"You've found his crypt," he said softly. "You shouldn't have come alone."
Sasuke growled. "I can handle this."
Itachi didn't respond.
Instead, he made a single hand sign. "Amaterasu."
Black flames erupted from the floor, clinging to the creatures. They screamed as their bodies were consumed.
Sasuke looked at him warily. "You're not supposed to be in Konoha."
Itachi didn't smile.
"I never left."
---
Tsunade's Office – Crisis Mounting
Tsunade stared down at the medical reports.
More cases.
Twenty-two patients. All chakra signatures showing mutation. Some had gone missing.
A map on her desk displayed the pattern.
It radiated out like a spider's web—from the Uchiha shrine.
She cursed.
Shizune burst in.
"We just lost contact with two ANBU teams near the old catacombs!"
Tsunade slammed her fist into the desk.
"Mobilize Kakashi. Dispatch Naruto. And wake Jiraiya."
She stood.
"We're going underground."
---
Forest Outskirts – Iruka's Discovery
Iruka paced the forest clearing nervously. The Academy had been closed temporarily due to the security threat, but he still checked the grounds.
That's when he saw it.
A young girl—no more than twelve—crouched by the roots of a tree, sobbing.
Her eyes were bloodshot. Her skin pale.
He approached carefully. "Hey there… are you hurt?"
She turned slowly.
Then lunged.
Iruka's instincts saved him—he leapt back, drawing a kunai.
The girl hissed.
Her shadow twisted beneath her.
And from it, another figure rose—taller, more monstrous.
Iruka recognized the signature instantly.
Not chakra. Something else entirely.
He bolted.
---
The Escape and the Warning
Iruka returned to the village breathless and bloodied.
He collapsed at the gates, shouting a single word:
"Mutation."
---
Back Beneath the Shrine
Sasuke and Itachi fought back to back now.
"Where have you been?" Sasuke asked between blows.
Itachi's voice was flat. "Following rumors. The name Muzan was whispered in the Akatsuki. Zetsu feared him."
"He's real."
"I know."
One of the creatures lunged at Sasuke.
Itachi intercepted, sealing it within a genjutsu. The creature spasmed, caught in a nightmare it couldn't wake from.
"We can't kill them all," Itachi muttered. "But we can seal the chamber."
Sasuke nodded, forming hand signs.
Together, they unleashed a joint fire technique—engulfing the chamber entrance.
The creatures screamed as the flames consumed them.
The tunnel collapsed.
Itachi turned away. "He's testing you."
Sasuke's jaw clenched. "He'll regret it."
---
Muzan's Reflection
Within his hidden lair, Muzan stirred.
He had felt the death of his agents. The loss of the Uchiha shrine's whispers.
Yet he smiled.
"They grow stronger," he whispered to himself.
"But strength breeds pride."
He turned toward the stone slab, where a new name had etched itself in blood.
> Sasuke.
"So be it."
He reached into the shadows and pulled forth a figure—a boy no older than Naruto, but with eyes glazed in crimson.
"Send him to the Mist," Muzan commanded.
"Let the bloodlines remember fear."
---
Elsewhere – Jiraiya's Discovery
Far beyond the walls of Konoha, Jiraiya stood before an ancient ruin. The toads had led him here—where chakra did not flow right.
Where the air felt… wrong.
He knelt by a pool of black water, observing the liquid shift.
In it, he saw faces.
Children. Shinobi. Monsters.
"Muzan…" he muttered. "You've been here longer than we thought."
Then something moved in the water.
Jiraiya stood, preparing a seal.
The war hadn't begun.
But the bloodline of shadows had returned.