Location: Outskirts of Konoha
Alias: "Kazuya Renga" — Genin of the Grass Village
Objective: Infiltrate Chūnin Exams / Investigate Uchiha Ruins
---
The gates of Konoha looked smaller than I remembered.
Maybe because I was taller now.
Maybe because I saw it differently—not as home, but as the graveyard of my name.
Two Chūnin at the checkpoint took one glance at my forged headband and Grass ID, then waved me through without a word.
> "Another team from Kusagakure," one muttered.
"Better than the last ones. Those guys smelled like pickled onions."
I walked past them in silence, hood up, chakra masked.
Uchiha Kaizen had died six years ago.
Today, I was Kazuya Renga, quiet, observant, just another no-name genin with a fake smile and dull eyes.
---
Once inside the village, I split from the other Grass-nin and made my way through the alleyways until I reached it:
The ruins of the Uchiha District.
Still cordoned off.
Still untouched, like a museum built over blood.
My house—what was left of it—stood as charred timber and crumbled stone. But the foundation hadn't shifted. The floor panels still held secrets beneath the ash.
I crouched at the edge of a cracked wall and lifted one floorboard.
A sealed scroll case, wrapped in fireproof silk.
I hadn't been able to retrieve it as a child. But now…
It opened with a snap.
Inside—just one letter.
---
📜 To Our Son, Kaizen
(Dated three days before the massacre)
> If you're reading this… we are likely gone.
You were never meant to live in a normal world, Kaizen.
You were born not of prophecy, but of choice.
> Your blood is not purely Uchiha. We agreed to a project—a pact with Konoha's darkest roots. They called it "Project Ketsugan."
> You were created with spliced chakra lines from another lost clan: the Kurata Line—keepers of the Ketsugan, an ocular technique tied not to illusion or perception… but memory and instinct.
> We chose this not for power. But for protection.
Because we knew the Uchiha name was no longer safe.
> If Danzo discovers what you are… he will not allow you to live. He wants your body, not your future.
> Do not trust the elders. Do not seek the clan's vengeance.
Forge something new from the ashes, my son.
Not the fire they gave you—but the fire you build.
> With love,
Ryoka & Kenshiro
---
I sat there in the ruin, fingers trembling.
> "The Kurata clan…? The Ketsugan?"
The name echoed from something deep within—memories not mine, a feeling behind my eyes, like instincts buried under layers of dust.
My bloodline wasn't just Uchiha.
I was a hybrid.
A weapon they built in secret.
A child born of fire… and forgotten light.
---
> [System Sync Update: Bloodline Integrity Confirmed]
🔁 Enhancement Grid expanding…
New Path Unlocked: Path of the Mind
🔓 "Ketsugan Instinct Memory Tree" now available.
> "Memory never dies. Nor do instincts bred from battle."
---
I stood up and tucked the letter into my belt. My Sharingan flickered once as the system pulsed with new nodes.
> "Danzo… you erased the Uchiha because you feared them."
> "You should have feared me."
I slipped the letter back into the scroll case, sealed it tight with chakra, and buried it beneath the shrine's cracked base.
Not even the Sharingan could detect it there—not without knowing exactly what to look for.
> Kurata clan... Ketsugan.
Why did they wipe that name from the archives?
No—it wasn't just suppression. It was erasure.
Whatever the Ketsugan could do, it terrified someone high enough to cleanse the records and silence the bloodline.
And now it lived in me.
> [System Notice: Passive Trait Emerging – "Instinctive Recall"]
> When under mental pressure or in combat, ancestral memory may surface as muscle memory or subconscious guidance.
---
The wind shifted.
Not natural.
Trained instinct, sharpened by the Grid, prickled my skin.
I was being watched.
---
I moved quietly toward the cracked arch near the remains of the Uchiha watchtower, brushing my fingertips across a scorched post as if paying respect.
But my left hand formed a slow, deliberate seal:
> Fire Release: Ember Veil – Silent Ignition Mode.
The flame didn't burn.
It cloaked me, mimicking heat distortion to confuse thermal chakra sensors.
A flicker of movement—ten meters north, behind the statue of Kagami Uchiha.
A man in Root black.
Mask. Suppressed chakra. No forehead protector.
He stood still, almost statuesque—observing the ruins like a shadow remembering its old home.
> Is he here for me? Or just patrolling the zone?
No—he was facing my home specifically. The place I'd just unsealed.
I lowered my breathing. Let the flame veils wash over me.
> [Stealth Success – Root Agent Line-of-Sight Blocked]
---
> Root Agent Internal Comms: Encrypted | Passive Tap Active via Grid Node "Shadow Burn"
"Zone 7 remains quiet. No chakra disturbances… but I saw a flicker. Possibly residual."
"…Initiate scan for Uchiha residuals. Danzo-sama wants full confirmation. No survivors."
I bit the inside of my cheek.
> You already missed one. And I'm not done.
The agent stood still for another thirty seconds—then vanished in a blur of Body Flicker.
I didn't follow.
Not yet.
Instead, I opened the system and stared at the newest path it had revealed.
---
🔓 Path of the Mind – Ketsugan Subsystem: Available
[Ketsugan Status: Dormant]
> Special Trait: Ocular Instinct Encoding
> Skill Node 1:
🧠 Battle Memory Echo – When struck by a new jutsu or attack style, Kaizen has a 40% chance to "remember" a counter through instinctual muscle response.
Cost: 3 SP
> Skill Node 2:
🌀 Dreaming Eye Pulse – Occasionally senses strong emotions or intentions through eye contact. (Low-level precognition)
Cost: 2 SP
> Skill Node 3 (LOCKED):
🩸 Ancestral Recall – Summon a phantom echo of a Kurata ancestor to guide you in a single action or decision. Unlocks at Ketsugan Awakening.
---
I had 6 SP to spend.
Without hesitation:
> "I want the memories. The ones they tried to burn out of me."
"Battle Memory Echo: unlocked."
> [Skill Activated – Mind Path Level 1 Reached]
"You carry the fire of two clans. One of rage… and one of instinct."
---
I rose from the ruins as the sun began to set over the village.
Tomorrow, the Chūnin Exams would begin.
And I would step into the arena—not as an Uchiha, not yet—but as a shadow from the past…
A shadow preparing to burn.