"Creation whispers to those who dare listen — but not all echoes should be heard."
[Scene: The Iron Temple Forge – Weeks Later]
The forge's fire had changed.No longer gold, no longer blue — now it shimmered with faint streaks of silver and violet, colors unseen in any chakra flame.The air around Taiki vibrated softly, a hum like the world itself was listening.
He stood before his anvil, hammer in hand, gazing at the foreign ember — the Runic Fragment — hovering above the forge.Its light flickered in complex patterns, each one forming symbols that dissolved before he could read them.
[System Log:]Cross-Realm Resonance Stable at 0.005%.Knowledge Extraction Progress: 7%.Warning — foreign information may alter internal forging logic.
Taiki smirked faintly. "You warned me when I first picked up a hammer, too."
He lifted the fragment with his tongs and placed it at the center of the forge.The metal around it hissed and warped, turning into something new — a substance that wasn't metal at all, but rather a concept made solid.
His eyes glimmered. "So this is what it means to forge from thought itself…"
He raised his hammer — and the first Dimensional Strike rang out.
[Scene: The Forge's Awakening]
Each swing bent the air.The walls around the forge shimmered with translucent sigils, fractal lines expanding outward like spiderwebs of light.Runes etched themselves into the floor, marking unknown words: Eidos. Silex. Matariel.
[System Alert:]Runic Metallurgy Progress: 14%.Unknown entities reacting to forging resonance.Containment field: Failing.
Taiki grits his teeth, flooding the forge with chakra to stabilize it. The air cracked — the sound like glass under strain.And then, the world split for a heartbeat.
For just a moment, the Iron Temple was gone.He saw glimpses — a sky filled with floating islands of ore, creatures made of molten script hammering reality itself… and in the center, a colossal forge that pulsed like a heart.
Then, silence.
He fell to his knees, gasping.
"So… there is another forge," he whispered. "And it's calling."
[Scene: Arrival from Konoha]
Two days later, the calm broke.
The temple gates opened to reveal a lone visitor — a tall man in a black flak jacket, hair tied back, eyes sharp yet curious.He carried no visible weapons, but chakra radiated from him like a steady flame.
"I come from the Hidden Leaf," the man said to the gatekeepers. "Under orders from the Hokage herself. I seek the one called Taiki Akinatsu."
Taiki emerged from the forge entrance, wiping soot from his hands.The visitor bowed slightly. "Yamato. ANBU liaison. The Hokage requests an audience — and possibly your assistance."
Taiki's brow furrowed. "Assistance? I'm a smith, not a soldier."
Yamato's gaze lingered on the strange violet light behind him."The Hokage believes your work may explain… certain anomalies. Our chakra sensors have detected distortions — centered here."
Taiki's smile was thin. "Distortions, you say? Maybe your sensors are hearing the world breathe again."
[Scene: The Offer]
Later, as the forge cooled, Yamato observed Taiki at work.The system hummed faintly in Taiki's mind, analyzing his guest.
[System Observation:]Subject: Yamato (Tenzo).Nature: Wood Release — Artificially stabilized Hashirama DNA.Potential Compatibility with Dimensional Metallurgy: High.
Taiki's eyes narrowed. "You carry the First Hokage's essence… but your body rejects it, doesn't it?"
Yamato stiffened. "That's classified."
Taiki smiled faintly, turning back to his forge. "I don't need a scroll to read steel. Your chakra hums like untempered wood — alive, but constrained."
Yamato hesitated, then asked quietly, "Can you fix it?"
Taiki paused mid-swing. "…Perhaps. But fixing life isn't the same as forging it."
The forge flared briefly — violet arcs dancing across the walls.
[System Whisper:]Dimensional Reaction Detected — Genetic Chakra Interface.Blueprint Available: Runic Vessel of Rebirth (Prototype).
Taiki blinked. "A… vessel?"
The system didn't respond — only pulsed, waiting for his command.
He turned to Yamato. "Maybe I can help. But understand — once I start this forge, there's no turning back. Even the world may bend to its rhythm."
Yamato's jaw tightened. "Then let it bend."
[Scene: The Runic Vessel]
The forge's light filled the entire chamber as Taiki began his next great work — a hybrid of steel, chakra, and runic energy.He poured his intent into every stroke: not weapon, not armor, but a vessel of renewal.
Yamato stood at the center of the circle, his body trembling under the power resonating from the runes.Roots of living wood sprouted from the ground, intertwining with glowing sigils.
[System Log:]Initiating Runic Vessel Formation.Soul Integrity Check: Stable.Warning — interdimensional energy fluctuation detected.
Taiki's hammer fell for the final time — and the forge exploded with light.
When the glow faded, Yamato gasped, falling to one knee.His chakra felt… different. Balanced. Alive.
He looked at his hands — the wood chakra pulsed gently, harmonized instead of restrained."What… what did you do?"
Taiki said,
"I reminded your chakra what it means to grow."
[Reflection: The First Success of the Unknown Forge]
That night, as Yamato slept, Taiki sat beside the cooling forge.The Runic Fragment pulsed faintly, now stabilized — its light resonating with the same rhythm as his own heartbeat.
[System Log:]Runic Metallurgy: 28% complete.New Title Acquired — Architect of Echoes.Cross-World Resonance: 0.011%.
He gazed into the dying fire and whispered,
"Every time I forge, I hear more of that other world's song… louder, closer. Soon, I'll need to answer."
The flame flickered — and for a moment, he saw a pair of glowing eyes staring back from within the fire.
Then they vanished.
End of Chapter 15 — "Echoes of the Unknown Forge"