The smell of smoke still lingered in the air. Charred timbers and the faint copper tang of blood told the story before my eyes even fully registered it.
Hercules' family… gone. Megara, the children… all dead.
And I had felt it. Every heartbeat, every flicker of life extinguished in a wave of violence.
I sank to my knees, fists digging into the dirt. Rage unlike anything I had ever known roared through me, mixing with the spiritual energy, chakra, and mana that had become second nature over the years.
It burned hot, and then… something snapped.
The Sharingan awakened — not the three-tomoe I had grown accustomed to, but the Mangekyō Sharingan, fiery and impossible to ignore. My vision fractured, colors and patterns warping reality around me. Time slowed, the whispers of the dead brushing against my consciousness.
I could see every movement, every soul, every intent. The world became a battlefield even when none yet stood before me.
"Mother…" I whispered, though I knew she was safe, "I will make this right."
I rose, standing tall in the ashes of my village. My body burned with energy — spiritual, magical, and chakra alike — all coalescing into a single, terrifying force.
Hercules had fled, leaving the town behind to go to the Oracle. His mind was clouded, cursed by Hera, and I understood that. But the loss… the absolute devastation of his household… it lit a fire in me that nothing could extinguish.
I turned my eyes to the horizon. The world was vast, filled with monsters, spirits, and divine beings. If I wanted to leave a mark in history, to craft a legend that would echo through Greek myth, now was the time.
I would travel. I would grow. I would hunt monsters, master my powers further, and let every soul who wronged the innocent learn the name of the boy who wielded chakra, spiritual energy, and magic like a god.
With a deep breath, I stepped forward. My cloak of black and violet swirled around me as I walked from the ruins of my home.
"I will be… unforgettable," I muttered.
And with that, the first steps of my journey began.