Ryo had never seen the Hokage Monument cry before.
At dawn, rain fell in slow, cold sheets over the carved faces of the past leaders of Konoha, dripping down their stone eyes like tears. Ryo stood there, soaked to the bone, clutching the kunai his guardian had left behind, staring at the glowing rift that had appeared in the sky above the Valley of the End.
It pulsed like a heartbeat, humming with whispers of voices that didn't belong to this world. Some called for help. Some called for blood.
And some called his name.
"Ryo!"
He flinched as Sarada Uchiha's voice cut through the storm. She ran up the muddy slope, sharing a quick glare before she adjusted her glasses. "Don't tell me you came out here alone again."
Ryo didn't answer. His eyes stayed on the rift, which shimmered in eerie blue and black, cracking the dawn sky like glass. Rumors had spread through the village—past Hokage spirits appearing near the outskirts, chakra storms swallowing patrol teams, and distant roars that reminded old shinobi of the Tailed Beasts.
Sarada touched his shoulder. "We're going in there today, you know."
"Even if it's dangerous?"
"Especially because it's dangerous," she replied, smirking.
Behind them, a gust of wind and a soft thump signaled Boruto Uzumaki's arrival, adjusting the hitai-ate tied around his neck. "Yo, Ryo. Staring at the sky won't close it, you know."
Ryo opened his mouth, but the rift pulsed again, sending a shockwave that rippled through the valley, shaking the trees. For a moment, Ryo swore he saw something inside—a shadow of a man in a long cloak, his hand raised in a sign of peace.
"Did you see that?" he whispered.
Boruto and Sarada exchanged a look. "See what?" Boruto asked.
But Ryo could still see it. The shadow inside the rift had turned its head toward him, and though it was impossible, he felt its gaze pierce straight through him. A voice echoed in his mind, soft but heavy with authority:
"Will of Fire… don't let it die."
Then it was gone.
The rift shimmered, closing for a breath, then flaring open wider, sending out a burst of chakra that swept across the valley like a tidal wave. Ryo raised his arms, bracing himself, but the energy wasn't cold. It was warm, familiar—like a hand on his shoulder when he was small, telling him everything would be alright.
When the light faded, the rift had calmed, swirling gently like a storm waiting to strike again.
Boruto was the first to break the silence, scratching the back of his head. "Looks like the rumors are true. Whatever's inside that thing…it's calling out to someone."
Sarada nodded, adjusting her glasses. "And we're going to find out why."
Ryo tightened his grip on the kunai, feeling the warmth of the chakra in his chest. He had always wanted to protect his friends, to prove he wasn't just another orphan in Konoha. But now, as the rift pulsed softly above the Valley of the End, he felt something awaken inside him—something tied to the stories of the Hokage, and the Will of Fire that had been passed down for generations.
"Let's go," he said, turning to them. "Let's find out what's waiting on the other side."
And together, under the crying dawn of the Hokage Monument, they leapt toward the rift, not knowing that the shadows of the past were waiting for them—and that the future of the shinobi world would soon rest in their hands.