Peace was supposed to feel lighter.
The war had ended, banners of Konoha once more fluttered without fear, and merchants filled the streets again. Children laughed, sparring with wooden kunai, while carpenters rebuilt shattered houses. Yet beneath it all, Ryuzen felt the weight of something far heavier than mud and blood: silence.
The silence after a storm that wasn't truly gone.
He walked the familiar paths of the village, bandages hidden beneath his cloak. Civilians bowed, some whispered his name as if afraid to speak too loudly: Unbroken Vanguard. They smiled, but the smiles did not reach their eyes. A thousand enemy shinobi dead—that was not the tale of a comrade, but of a force. A weapon.
And Ryuzen knew, deep inside, that Danzō was not the only one who saw him that way.
Subtle Whispers
[System: Scanning environment…]
[Anomalous energy trace: 0.4% detected.]
[Classification: Obsidian residue.]
His head turned sharply. Nothing—just villagers trading fish at a stall, the scent of roasted chestnuts drifting through the air. But to him, the trace was undeniable. Faint lines shimmered along the stone wall of a house, invisible to others but clear to his System-enhanced perception. Like crystalline dust clinging to reality.
Obsidian was here.
He reached out, brushing his fingers across the wall. It felt normal, but the System whispered warnings like knives against his thoughts.
Minato Intervenes
"You've been staring at that wall for five minutes," a calm voice said behind him.
Ryuzen turned. Minato Namikaze stood there, relaxed in posture but sharp in gaze. His golden hair caught the afternoon light, his presence as steady as a lighthouse amidst fog.
"I was… thinking," Ryuzen answered evenly.
Minato smiled faintly. "Thinking, or looking for something no one else can see?"
Ryuzen's silence was enough of an answer. Minato didn't press, but his expression grew thoughtful. "The war may be over, but shadows don't vanish with treaties. If something lingers, trust that you don't have to carry it alone."
For a brief moment, Ryuzen almost spoke. Almost told him of the System, of Obsidian, of the warnings gnawing at the edges of his senses. But the words died before they could form. The burden was his. He couldn't drag Minato into a fight against an enemy no one else could even confirm existed.
Instead, he inclined his head. "I'll remember that."
Nightfall – The Trace Grows
That night, the village slept soundly. But Ryuzen moved through alleys like a silent blade, following the faint glow only his perception revealed. The crystalline traces grew stronger near the outer wall, like a trail leading to something waiting beyond.
The System pulsed.
[Alert: Obsidian agent proximity 67 meters.]
[Warning: Stealth-level interference detected.]
He stopped beneath a lantern, shadows stretching long. The air grew heavy, colder. Then, from the darkness between rooftops, it emerged.
A silhouette cloaked in fractured crystal-black shimmer, faceless, shifting like glass reflecting endless void. It didn't walk—it unfolded into existence, silent, watching.
Ryuzen's hand tightened on his kunai. His muscles screamed to move, but instinct whispered stillness.
The figure's voice was not sound but resonance, like glass grinding against bone.
"You are not bound by their world. You feel it, don't you? The system of survival. The endurance beyond flesh. You are closer to us than to them."
Ryuzen's eyes narrowed. "Obsidian."
The figure tilted its head, shards of light breaking from its form.
"Names are irrelevant. Only truth. And the truth is simple: Konoha is already compromised. Not just Konoha—every village, every clan. Shadows burrow deeper than your Hokage's eyes can see."
The air shimmered. For a heartbeat, Ryuzen swore he saw another—multiple—flickering silhouettes behind it. The sense of invasion made his skin crawl.
He stepped forward. "Why show yourself to me?"
The crystal-figure rippled, almost laughing without sound.
"Because only you can hear. Only you can endure what's coming. They will not trust you. But we… we will."
And then it vanished. No sound, no trace—except the cold residue crawling along the stones like frost.
Minato's Shadowed Glimpse
"Ryuzen."
His body tensed. Minato had landed on the rooftop above, kunai already in hand. The man's eyes swept the alley, sharp as lightning—but where Ryuzen saw crystalline residue, Minato saw nothing.
Still, his instincts screamed. "Something was here."
"Yes," Ryuzen admitted softly.
Minato frowned. His hand eased but didn't lower. "I felt… pressure. Wrongness. Like being on the battlefield again. But it vanished before I could trace it."
For a long silence, the two stood there—the only witnesses to a threat no one else would believe. Minato's voice lowered. "Whatever it is, it's not finished. Don't carry this alone, Ryuzen. Not this."
The words struck deeper than Ryuzen let show.
But again, he stayed silent. The System thrummed warnings, and he could not expose it—not yet.
The System's New Burden
As Minato finally left, promising to report the disturbance to Hiruzen, the System's voice cut through the night.
[New Quest Generated.]
[Quest: Identify and Eradicate Obsidian Infiltration.]
[Failure Condition: Collapse of Konohagakure.]
[Reward: ???]
The letters burned across his vision.
Collapse. Not infiltration. Not sabotage. Collapse.
Ryuzen closed his eyes, the weight of the war still heavy on his shoulders, and now heavier still with the shadows of something greater.
The war was over.
But the true battle had only just begun.
Author's Note
The Obsidian Arc is officially here. Ryuzen's victory in the war wasn't the end—it was only the prologue to a greater storm. Now he's caught between politics, unseen enemies, and a system that keeps pushing him further.
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Are you ready for Ryuzen vs. the unseen hand of Obsidian? Because the shadows are only getting darker…