The road to Daiyu Pass twisted like a scar through the forest.
Tall trees loomed overhead, their canopies thick with early morning mist. Henri ran alongside Jeneya and Team 5 in perfect rhythm, each step bouncing off bark and stone with practiced grace.
They were two hours out from Konoha now, approaching what used to be an ancient forward base during the Second Shinobi War.
Henri didn't like it.
Too quiet.
Too cold.
Even the birds had stopped singing.
---
🟢 [SYSTEM ALERT – ZONE CHANGE]
→ Entering: "Daiyu Ruins – Shadow Zone"
→ Visual Detection Lowered
→ Chakra Distortion Detected
→ Skill Efficiency Reduced: -10% Control, -5% Jump Distance
---
He frowned and slowed slightly. "Anyone else feel that?"
Jeneya, running beside him, nodded. "The chakra in the air... it's dense. Like walking through syrup."
The leader of Team 5—a jonin named Tenkai—motioned for everyone to halt.
"We're close. Formation Delta. Henri, Jeneya—rear sweep. Report if you see anything unusual."
"Understood," they both said.
The ruins of Daiyu Pass rose ahead like ancient bones—half-collapsed stone walls, rotting watchtowers, rusted kunai embedded in crumbled barricades. Moss grew thick over shattered wood.
But no signs of life.
Not yet.
---
⚠️ [SYSTEM QUEST OBJECTIVE NEARING]
Main Quest: Echoes in Daiyu
→ Objective 1: Locate Source of Chakra Pulses (73 meters ahead)
→ Hidden Objective Unlocked: "Marked by the Void"
→ Status: Tracking Unknown Observer
---
Henri felt it like an itch at the back of his neck.
They were being watched.
"Jeneya," he whispered.
"I feel it too," she said, unsheathing her short blade.
They crept behind one of the broken towers, where the system's pulse signal grew stronger.
Then—
WHAM!
A shockwave exploded outward.
Chakra flared ahead, lighting the ruins in flickering violet light.
Tenkai shouted, "Everyone fall back! It's a—!"
Too late.
Figures emerged from the shadows.
Three masked shinobi in cloaks—not rogue ninja. Not bandits.
They moved like ghosts—silent, coordinated, surgical.
---
🔴 [SYSTEM WARNING – Hostile Encounter]
Enemy Group: The Hollow Path (Unclassified Threat)
→ Leader: ??
→ Chakra Nature: Unknown
→ Rank: Estimated A-Class
→ Objective: Unknown
→ Combat Authorization: Granted
---
One of the masked shinobi charged straight at Henri and Jeneya.
"Split!" Henri shouted.
He leapt—chakra flooding his legs—and used Sky Weave mid-air to dodge a kunai that sliced through a tree like paper.
The assassin followed him, fast.
Too fast.
Henri landed and rolled, only for the masked shinobi to appear behind him in a flicker.
He's fast enough to follow my aerial movement?!
"Jeneya!" Henri shouted.
But she was engaged too, blades clashing with another masked fighter.
Suddenly, the assassin stopped moving.
He stood still.
And a voice echoed through the ruins—not from any of them, but from above.
From the broken watchtower.
"You're not ready yet, Henri."
Henri turned, eyes wide.
A man in a long black cloak stood atop the tower, arms crossed. His face was hidden by a metal half-mask shaped like a bird. His eyes glowed violet.
"You move well. But your system is still... immature."
Henri took a step forward. "Who the hell are you?"
The man tilted his head.
"I am what you will become… if you live long enough."
---
⚠️ [SYSTEM ALERT – Designation Match]
→ "Skywalker Class Seed Carrier" Detected
→ System Warning: Signature Recognized – Former System Host
→ Status: Rogue Entity
→ Power Level: S-Class
→ Advice: Disengage Immediately
---
Henri's heart pounded.
"You had the system?"
"I was the system," the masked man said softly. "Until it broke me."
Then he raised one hand, palm outward.
Henri braced for an attack—but it didn't come.
Instead, a swirling glyph appeared in the air. A strange, silver seal that shimmered with chakra he didn't recognize.
"You're not strong enough to face me yet," the man said. "But your seed has awakened. And now… others will come."
He clenched his fist—and the glyph exploded into violet mist.
Henri staggered, gasping.
Pain bloomed in his chest like a brand.
---
🔴 [SYSTEM INFECTION DETECTED]
→ Status: Seed Activation Triggered
→ Warning: System Mutation Possible
→ Passive Awakening Begins
New Path Unlocked: "Skywalker Mutation Tree"
→ First Skill Gained: "Void Pulse" – Delayed chakra burst
→ System Note: Mutation is irreversible.
---
Then the masked man was gone—vanished in a ripple of space, leaving the broken ruins silent once more.
---
🏥 Later – Temporary Medical Tent Outside Daiyu Pass
Henri sat shirtless on a cot, bandaged and wired to a chakra monitor. Jeneya sat beside him, her face tight with frustration.
"Tell me what happened," she said for the third time.
He stared at his hands.
"He said… he was like me. That he had the system. And it broke him."
"Then we shut yours down."
Henri shook his head. "Too late. He triggered something. A part of the system I never saw before."
---
🟡 [SYSTEM LOG – Passive Mutation Tree Opened]
→ Void Pulse: Stores chakra during jumps and releases it in an AOE burst upon landing
→ Side Effect: Headaches, loss of control at early levels
→ Cure: Unknown
→ Origin: Former Host Signature
---
He sighed.
"I think I'm changing, Jeneya. And not all of it is by choice."
She stood abruptly. "Then we train harder. Smarter. Together. Until no one—no system, no ghost, no masked freak—can tell you who to be."
He looked up.
"Promise?"
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then held out her hand.
"I'm not leaving you behind. Ever."
---
💬 [SYSTEM BOND PROGRESSION]
Jeneya Bond: 81%
→ Status: Emotional Anchor
→ Passive Unlocked: "Steady Ground" – Bonus chakra regeneration when near bonded target
→ Confession Flag: Active
---
Henri took her hand.
And this time… he didn't let go.
---
[To Be Continued…]