Rain fell in a quiet rhythm over the abandoned compound, soaking the broken tiles and half-collapsed roof beams. Akari stood beneath the overhang, gaze fixed on the cracked stone tablet that had once marked the center of an old Senju outpost.
His fingers brushed the surface, tracing the faint etchings—names long forgotten, seals once meant to protect.
Behind him, Raien crouched beside the unconscious attacker they had brought from the forest. The man had yet to stir, but his chakra was distorted, unstable—altered.
"Whoever he is," Raien muttered, "he's not just some mercenary. That seal on his neck… looks like something I've seen in the old clan archives. Forbidden stuff. Something called—Chimera Binding."
Akari's brow furrowed. "I've only read about it. A fusion technique. Combines different chakra signatures into one."
Raien nodded grimly. "Or more than one. He's not the only one who's been experimenting."
Lightning cracked overhead. The forest seemed to flinch.
Akari turned to the horizon. "They're trying to recreate what my mother was building… but without the balance. Without the purpose."
"And if they succeed," Raien said darkly, "they'll become something else entirely."
A low groan cut through the rain. The masked intruder was waking.
Akari knelt beside him. "Who sent you?"
The man chuckled—dry, broken. His mask had cracked, revealing a pale, scarred face. One eye was artificial, gleaming with unnatural light.
"You think you're the only one chasing the truth?" he rasped. "You're already too late."
Akari's voice didn't waver. "Tell me."
"They called her the Bridge, didn't they?" the man whispered. "But bridges can be burned."
Before Akari could react, a glyph flared on the man's chest. Self-destruction seal.
Raien lunged, but the blast erupted in a flash of red light and smoke. When it cleared, the intruder was gone—only scorched earth remained.
Silence.
Raien cursed under his breath. "They're erasing all traces."
Akari stood slowly. "Then we stop chasing ghosts."
Raien looked at him. "What now?"
"We draw them out."
---
Back in Konoha, Tobirama faced the Hokage, eyes sharp.
"Akari's stumbled onto something dangerous. We need to decide—do we bring him back in… or watch what he uncovers?"
Hashirama remained silent, gazing at the flames in the brazier.
"Sometimes," the First Hokage said finally, "you have to let the fire burn before you can control it."