The silence in the forest wasn't natural.
It clung to the trees like a second skin—too still, too hollow, as if sound itself had been swallowed by the roots beneath. Akari moved carefully, his senses extended far beyond his footsteps. He could hear his heartbeat, the whisper of wind across the grass… but nothing else. Not even birdsong.
Raien walked behind him, eyes darting between the trees. "I don't like this," he muttered. "Something's off."
"It's meant to be," Akari replied. "This place was designed to mask chakra. My mother knew of it—called it the 'Silent Grove.' It was once a neutral meeting ground between clans. Before the wars turned everything to ash."
Raien kicked a moss-covered stone. "Funny how all these places tied to peace end up forgotten."
Akari crouched near a small stone arch, fingers brushing symbols etched into its underside. His eyes narrowed. "They were here."
"The ones after the scroll?"
He nodded. "More than one trail. And recently."
He stood and walked forward, following a barely visible path through the underbrush. The grove widened ahead, revealing a hollow clearing surrounded by natural stone walls. A shrine sat at the center—collapsed from age, but not completely broken.
At its base, a seal pulsed faintly.
Raien cursed under his breath. "Another one of those."
But Akari's gaze wasn't on the seal—it was on the remnants of a campfire, still warm. He moved closer, crouching beside it. There was something in the ashes—a fragment of cloth, scorched but not destroyed.
A symbol.
Not clan, not village.
A triangle of lines intersected by an eye. Familiar from ancient texts. Dangerous.
Akari frowned. "They're not just after the seals. They're protecting them."
Raien looked confused. "Protecting from what?"
Before Akari could answer, the air shifted.
From the edge of the clearing, a kunai whistled through the silence. Akari turned and deflected it mid-flight, the blade veering into the trees with a metallic clatter.
Figures emerged from the shadows—masked, silent, coordinated. Five in total. Each one cloaked in mismatched armor and wielding chakra signatures that flickered erratically.
"They're suppressing their chakra," Raien said, already moving. "Same as before."
Akari stepped forward. "No. These are different."
The one in front lowered their mask slightly, revealing a face that was neither young nor old—skin pale, veins dark beneath the surface.
"Akari Uchiha. You've wandered too close to the truth," they said in a rasping voice. "Turn back."
Akari didn't flinch. "I came looking for it."
"So did we," the figure replied. "And we lost everything."
Without warning, they attacked.
Raien clashed with two of them in the trees, his movements a blur of precision and fury. Akari stayed grounded, hands forming seals with deliberate calm.
The lead attacker charged, blades glowing with corrupted chakra. Akari raised one hand and the earth surged upward, forming a shield. The blades struck stone, then scattered into black dust. Akari countered with a swift sweep of fire chakra, forcing the enemy back.
Another seal activated in the air—a trap meant to bind him.
But Akari's sharingan spun violently, unraveling the threads mid-cast. He vanished in a flicker, reappearing behind his attacker with his fingers glowing.
He struck.
A pulse of chakra exploded from his palm, not to kill—but to seal.
The figure collapsed, unconscious, twitching from the shock.
The remaining attackers scattered, retreating into the trees with uncanny silence. Only one remained—Raien pinned him with a blade to the throat.
"Who are you working for?" Raien growled.
The man coughed. Blood on his lips. "You think this is about you? About your village? The world doesn't revolve around Konoha."
Akari stepped forward. "Then what does it revolve around?"
The captive smiled weakly. "The void she left behind."
Akari's eyes narrowed. "My mother?"
"She was trying to hold it back. You're trying to awaken it."
With one last breath, the captive bit something between his teeth—smoke erupted from his mouth, and his chakra vanished in a flash.
Dead.
Raien pulled back, wiping blood from his blade. "This is getting out of hand."
Akari didn't speak. He walked back to the collapsed shrine and activated the seal at its base.
A pulse answered him.
The stone split open—and a staircase descended into the dark earth below.
---
Far away, within a hidden cavern of obsidian walls and glowing veins of chakra, a figure watched a crystal projection flicker.
Akari's face hovered there.
The figure reached out, touched the image, and whispered:
"Your path was written long before you were born. But if you insist on changing it…"
The voice deepened.
"…then I'll change you first."