The morning after his meeting with the corrupted guardian Kakashi woke up in the Hokage's tower. Sunlight poured across the stone floor casting golden streaks over the desk cluttered with scrolls. But Kakashi stayed still.
His eyes were closed. Was he asleep? No. He was listening. His body was still. Was he resting? No. He was grounding himself. The chakra of the Hidden Leaf flowed beneath him through wood stone and shadow. Could he feel the village pulsing under his feet? Yes.
Then he opened his eyes.
Was he alone?
No.
A shift in the air. A presence wrapped in total silence but unmistakable. Kakashi reached for his kunai but it was too late.
A voice whispered in his ear. You have been marked. The others will come.
Kakashi turned quickly. The kunai missed. The intruder was gone but a message remained etched on the wall in chakra script visible only to his Sharingan.
The Herald approaches. Prepare the Pillars.
He stood quietly rereading the message. Pillars. Herald. What did these terms mean? They were not in Konoha's historical texts or any ANBU report. But the seal on his palm pulsed as if it recognized the words.
Without delay he called for Sai and Yamato. They met in the rooftop garden surrounded by cherry blossoms that had not bloomed in years.
Sai unrolled his scroll. I've traced the symbol from your palm across the continent. There are five matching sites all at leyline intersections. We believe they form a pentagon across the Five Great Nations.
Yamato added Ancient shrine ruins sit at each point. But they are dormant. Even chakra sensors detect nothing.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. That's what makes them dangerous. Whatever is coming will start there. We deploy teams quietly. I'll go to the southern shrine myself.
Sai raised an eyebrow. You'll go alone?
Kakashi nodded. The fewer who know the safer the village.
He turned and began to fade into Kamui.
....
The Southern Shrine lay deep in the Land of Rivers hidden by centuries of jungle growth. Towering vines choked stone pillars and the temple roof had long since collapsed. Yet the chakra was clear.
Kakashi crouched at the edge of the main altar. He examined the carvings spirals branches roots all flowing inward to a circular emblem identical to the one on his hand.
As he touched it time shifted.
---
Did he find himself in a memory that was not his own?
Yes.
Before him an ancient sage in silver robes knelt under a starless sky. Five other figures each cloaked and faceless raised their hands together around a tree not the Shinju but a smaller one still glowing with primal chakra.
One of them turned speaking in a language he didn't know but could understand.
Let the Pillars bind the root. Let no blood awaken it.
A blinding flash of light.
Kakashi gasped as he was thrust back into reality. The shrine stone glowed and the mark on his hand burned with resonance.
Then something else changed.
The wind stopped.
Birdsong disappeared.
From the forest came a figure not cloaked not hiding. It walked calmly barefoot wearing silver grey robes that matched the ancient vision.
Its eyes were blank white not Byakugan but older. Deeper.
You carry the Seal of the Fifth Pillar the figure said.
Who are you? Kakashi asked.
I am the Herald. The first breath of what lies beneath. You have touched the Old Root. Now you must choose.
The figure raised its hand and space cracked not violently but as if reality was bending softly.
You walk toward godhood Hatake Kakashi. But divinity is not granted. It must be earned.
Kakashi took his stance.
No more riddles. If you want to test me do it now.
The Herald did not attack.
Instead it placed a single finger on the ground. Light spread in an arcane circle and five beams of energy shot skyward from the shrine's center.
Each beam reached a different nation.
Kakashi's heart sank.
They have been activated the Herald said. The Pillars awaken. When all five burn the Root will rise.
And with that the Herald faded.
Kakashi stood alone as the sky began to darken unnaturally. Not with night but with an impending doom.
Would the war to come be between villages?
No.
It would be between legacy and oblivion.
And Kakashi once merely a survivor now stood at the center.
...
The Fifth Pillar. The Eye of the Storm.
And the path to godhood had only just begun.
...