The tremor didn't stop.
Dust fell from the ceiling. Stones cracked.
The girl drew her kunai. Not out of fear.
Out of instinct.
She didn't understand what was coming.But her blood did.
The boy stood still. His left eye spun—wild and unstable.
The dojutsu pulsed.
Like it wanted to speak.
Like it wanted… out.
He whispered, "Something's here."
The girl stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"I know."
Above them, the mountain groaned.
Then—silence.
Not peace.
A silence too heavy. Too thick.Something was waiting in it.
The boy's body tensed. His muscles moved before his mind did.
He turned.
So did she.
But there was nothing at the mouth of the cave.
Just shadow.
Then it moved.
Long.
Thin.
A silhouette against nothing.
A hand—five fingers—reaching inside without sound.
It didn't touch stone.It slipped through it.
Like the wall wasn't even real.
The girl dropped into a stance.
The boy didn't blink.
His dojutsu burned.Lines etched deeper into the eye.Too deep.
It started to bleed.
The shadow stretched forward.
A full shape now.
Human?
No.
Its body had no skin. No detail.
It wore the shape like a costume.But inside… nothing.
Just a void.
A walking absence.
The girl threw a kunai.
It passed through the figure.
No hit. No wound.
Just a ripple.
Then the figure spoke.
Not with a voice.
With space.
With gravity.
"Found you."
The cave twisted.
Reality bent.
The stone under their feet rippled like water.
The girl fell back.
The boy didn't move.
His eye locked with the creature.
It wasn't using chakra.
It wasn't alive.
Yet his dojutsu reacted. As if terrified.
As if recognizing something older than life.
He whispered, "What are you?"
The shadow replied.
"You broke the seal. I woke up. That's all you need."
The boy staggered.
His eye pulsed.
The bleeding stopped—Reversed.
The lines spun counter.
Then—
A flash.
Black.
His body vanished.
The girl screamed.
She lunged forward.
But the shadow had already turned.
Gone.
And the cave went quiet again.
Somewhere else—
A forest.
Dead trees.Twisted roots.No color.
Only a heavy fog.
The boy dropped from nothing.Hit the ground.Hard.
He coughed.
His body shook.
He stood—slowly.
Looked around.
The fog moved like it was alive.
Then it parted.
Another version of him stepped forward.
Same face.
Same height.
Same eyes.
But colder.
Broken.
Cracked lines ran across its skin like glass.
The boy didn't speak.
Neither did the other.
They stared at each other.
Until the broken one whispered—
"You're not supposed to exist."
The boy stepped back.
But the fog closed in behind him.
No escape.
The cracked twin walked forward.
Each step made the air vibrate.
The boy clenched his fists.
But his chakra…
Gone.
Empty.
His dojutsu…
Still spinning.
But slow.
Like drowning.
The cracked one grinned.
Eyes glowing red.
"Let's fix the mistake."
He raised a hand.
Black threads lashed out from his palm.
The boy jumped—barely dodged.
One thread grazed his leg.
Pain exploded.
But it wasn't normal.
It wasn't physical.
It tore something deeper.
A scream escaped his mouth.
He collapsed.
Breathing shallow.
The cracked version stepped closer.
"I'll take the eye back," it said. "And the soul."
The boy stared up.
His vision blurred.
The eye flickered.
Then—
He whispered a word.
Not in this world's language.
Something older.
The threads froze.
The cracked boy blinked.
Confused.
The real boy's eye glowed.
Bright.
The black lines inside it connected—formed a sigil.
Then—
A blast of darkness.
The cracked version screamed.
Shattered.
Fog whipped around him.
And he vanished.
The boy collapsed.
Breathing ragged.
But alive.
The eye stopped spinning.
And whispered again—
"That was only one of them."
He looked up.
The sky above twisted.
The red moon was rising again.