Location: Forest of Death – Ashen Zone
Status: Suppression Lifted – Overrun Limit: 57 seconds
System Mode: Wyrmsoul Combat Protocol – Unlocked
---
I felt my chakra roil like a storm locked inside skin.
The Raijin Vertex had taken the first move.
It drained me, countered Naruto, nullified Sasuke, and learned too fast.
But it made one mistake:
> It tasted fire... and thought it wouldn't choke.
---
My spiral eyes flared—crimson over silver, rotating like a memory turbine.
Bahdrakorr's voice rang through me.
> "You burn not for wrath. But for truth."
---
I stepped forward.
The dragon cloak roared to life.
Ash churned beneath my feet. Sparks laced through the forest air like serpents of heat.
I clapped my hands together.
---
> "Wyrmsoul Art: Ember Coil Collapse!"
---
The flame wings behind me folded inward. Not vanishing—condensing.
My chakra flared into a double-helix spiral, dragging air, heat, and even light toward my core.
> "System, release internal flame limiters—Override Layer Alpha through Gamma."
> [Override Accepted]
Core Stabilization Suspended. Initiating Ember Collapse Mode: 40 seconds until feedback failure.
---
The forest responded instantly.
The trees bent backward in a perfect outward circle.
Not from shockwaves…
But reverence.
---
The Raijin Vertex charged.
Lightning surged from its body, crackling with stolen chakra—my own techniques, mirrored, distorted.
It mimicked the Ember Fang Style.
It moved like me.
But it wasn't me.
---
We collided.
Flame and forged lightning spiraled across the battlefield, tearing trenches into the land.
My fist met its metal arm—
BOOM.
Feedback exploded outward. The Raijin staggered back for the first time.
---
> "You're fast," I said. "You adapt."
> "But you don't feel. You don't remember."
I leapt into the sky, cloak blazing behind me.
---
> "Let me teach you what memory does to fire."
---
My hands blurred through unfamiliar seals—ones given by Bahdrakorr in silence.
Then—
> "Wyrmsoul Secret: Ashen Cross Rebirth!"
I slammed both palms together and formed a burning sigil that spiraled outward—four flame dragons erupting from it, each streaking into a different cardinal direction.
Then they snapped inward, crashing into the Raijin Vertex from all sides.
The explosion was silent.
Too hot to make sound.
Only light.
---
When it faded—
The Vertex stood, charred and cracked…
…but healing.
Its body opened at the chest, revealing a chakra core.
My own energy—stolen. Twisting inside like a caged sun.
---
> "Analysis Complete," it droned.
"Subject incompatible with stability. Emergency absorption initiated."
---
It threw its arms wide.
Chains of chakra burst from its chest—aimed for my heart, my mind, my soulflame.
I narrowed my eyes.
---
> "Then try it."
I let them hit.
---
For a second—
Everything turned white.
---
The Raijin Vertex connected directly to my soul—deep enough to find the truth Bahdrakorr sealed in me.
And that's when it screamed.
Metal contorted.
Core destabilized.
It had reached too far into a memory older than death.
A vision poured into it:
Of Bahdrakorr awakening beneath a shattered moon.
Of a war not written in history.
Of gods burning as the sky turned red.
---
> "You don't absorb dragons," I whispered.
> "They absorb you."
---
I raised my hand.
The spiral in my palm glowed white-hot with memory.
> "Final art…"
> "Flame Burial: Black Ember Oblivion."
---
I struck the core.
Everything vanished in fire.
---
When the light faded—
The Raijin Vertex was on one knee.
Torso shattered.
Flames leaking from its mask like blood.
It tried to rise.
But my foot landed on its shoulder, pushing it back down.
---
> "Tell Danzo," I said coldly.
"I'm not a mistake to erase.
I'm a memory that survived…
and burns brighter every time you try to forget me."
---
I turned.
The Raijin collapsed into ash.
---
[Enhancement Bonus Achieved – Ember Synchronization 61%]
> New Passive Skill Gained: Ashen Flame Anchor
> Temporarily suppresses flare while maintaining battle mode
Chakra memory imprint defense unlocked
---
Behind me, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared in stunned silence.
Even the forest…
was quiet.
Like it was bowing.
Status: Ember Synchronization 61%
Location: Forest of Death – Ashen Epicenter
---
Ash still floated in the air.
The ground where the Raijin Vertex had stood was now a smoldering crater—a molten spiral branded into the earth like a seal carved by fire and fate.
Above it, wisps of memory flame lingered—phantoms of forgotten wars, hovering as if Kaizen's victory had ripped them from history itself.
---
> "You didn't just destroy it," Sasuke muttered, voice tense. "You… overwrote it."
> "That thing tried to copy me," I said, eyes dimming slightly. "But it didn't understand.
You can't mimic something that doesn't fear pain.
Only something that's become pain."
---
Naruto sat down roughly on a half-burnt tree stump. "Bro, I don't even know if I should hug you or throw a kunai and run."
Sakura kneeled next to me, gently placing her hand on my shoulder.
> "Your chakra—it's stable again. The forest isn't changing anymore."
> "Thanks to the Enhancement System," I replied. "I didn't need to suppress everything—just needed a way to direct it."
---
> [System Notification: Enhanced Flame Control achieved.]
> New Feature Unlocked: Ember Field – Control zone radius extended to 5m
Allies within field receive minor heat shielding and chakra amplification
Chakra corruption: halted unless intentionally activated
---
> "We have to keep moving," Sasuke said after a long silence. "We're not the only ones in the forest. And if Danzo built that, he might send something worse."
> "Let him," I said. "Next time, I won't leave anything to bury."
---
We moved as a unit again, leaping branch to branch, guided by instinct and still-burning resolve.
But this time—
I didn't lead through brute force or fear.
I led through presence.
Every time my foot touched bark, it pulsed slightly with recognition.
Every time wind passed over us, it moved around me.
Even nature itself had begun to accept me.
---
Until we reached the final ridge.
And there… we saw the Tower.
---
But something was off.
No teams.
No fighting.
Just smoke, glowing softly from the base.
And someone waiting at the entrance.
A lone figure, arms folded, a long red sash drifting in the wind.
I narrowed my eyes.
---
> "Kabuto?" Sakura asked quietly.
> "No," Sasuke said. "Look closer."
---
It wasn't Kabuto.
It was a cloaked genin with an exposed Sharingan in one eye…
…and a glowing crystal embedded in the center of his forehead.
---
I took a step forward, and the figure raised his head.
> "Uchiha Kaizen," he said calmly. "I came to witness the flame.
And now that I've seen it…"
He slid off his cloak, revealing a dark tunic etched with fūinjutsu and a mark none of us had ever seen.
> "…I've come to test it."