The next morning, Konoha was quiet. Mist still hung low over the rooftops, and the faint smell of rain from last night lingered in the air. Ryo sat on the edge of his temporary bed, staring at his wrist.
The mark was gone.
No light, no pulse, nothing. Just skin.
He turned it over again, rubbing the spot where the strange symbol used to glow. "Did I imagine all that?"
A soft knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.
"Come in," he said.
The door slid open, and Sarada stepped inside, already dressed in her shinobi gear. "Morning. Hokage-sama said you're supposed to report for testing."
"Testing?"
She nodded. "Yamato-sensei and Sai are waiting at the research compound. They'll check whatever that energy thing was yesterday."
Ryo grabbed his jacket, still half-dazed. "Right... that."
As they walked through the village, Ryo found himself noticing details he had missed before, the smell of steamed buns from the stalls, the laughter of kids running toward the academy, the sound of a blacksmith hammering metal somewhere nearby. It all felt so... normal. Like he had lived here his whole life.
"You're quiet," Sarada said, glancing sideways at him.
"Just thinking," Ryo replied. "Yesterday felt... unreal. I still don't understand what that power was."
She adjusted her glasses. "Neither do I. But it reacted to chakra, and that's not something normal civilians can do. You should take it seriously."
"I am," he said, a bit sharper than he meant to.
Sarada stopped, turning to face him. "Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight. But if you're part of Team 7, I need to know I can trust you. That mark isn't normal. If something happens again, it could put everyone in danger."
Ryo met her gaze. "I didn't ask for it."
"I know." Her voice softened. "That's why we're figuring it out. Together."
The tension faded. Ryo nodded slightly. "Thanks."
They continued walking until the street opened into a fenced compound surrounded by tall trees. Inside, Yamato and Sai stood beside a stone platform covered in sealing tags.
"Good timing," Yamato said. "You must be Ryo."
Sai smiled faintly. "You look calmer than most people would be before an unknown chakra scan."
"That's not helping," Ryo muttered.
Yamato gestured to the platform. "Stand there. Don't move until I say so."
Ryo stepped up, feeling the rough texture of the seals beneath his feet. Sai began drawing a circle around the platform, his brush moving smoothly as black ink formed complex symbols.
"What's that?" Ryo asked.
Sai replied without looking up. "Ink sealing formula. It'll react to any foreign chakra within your body."
"Foreign chakra?" Ryo frowned. "You mean... like another person's chakra inside me?"
Yamato nodded. "Or something even older."
That didn't sound reassuring.
As they finished preparing, Sarada leaned against a post nearby, watching closely. "You're sure this is safe?"
Yamato gave a small nod. "As long as he doesn't resist the flow. If he does, the seal could..." He stopped himself. "Just relax, Ryo."
"...Could what?" Ryo asked, his voice nervous.
"Don't worry about it," Sai said casually. "It'll only hurt a little."
"Fantastic," Ryo muttered under his breath.
Yamato pressed his hands together. The seals around the platform flared to life, lines of red light weaving upward like threads of fire. Ryo felt something cold run through his veins, then heat, then a strange pressure behind his eyes.
The mark on his wrist returned.
It glowed faintly, reacting to the seals. Energy started pulsing again, stronger this time. The ground trembled slightly.
Sai's calm voice turned sharp. "His energy output's rising too fast."
"I'm trying to stabilize it," Yamato said, biting his lip. "It's not responding like chakra... it's adapting."
Ryo clenched his fists. The light spread up his arm, then across his chest like veins of silver fire. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"What's happening to me?"
"Stay calm!" Yamato barked. "You need to breathe! Don't fight it!"
Ryo gritted his teeth. "That's easy for you to say!"
The air around him warped slightly, like heat rising from stone. For a second, Ryo saw something, a faint image behind his eyes, a shape of chains, a shadowed figure standing in a field of white. Then, it vanished.
The light flickered once... then went out.
Ryo fell to his knees, gasping. The seals faded. Silence filled the compound.
Sai stepped forward, scanning his notebook. "No trace of chakra residue. But the mark reacted to our seals in a pattern similar to... dimensional distortion."
Yamato exhaled slowly. "In other words, that thing isn't from this world."
Sarada's eyes widened. "So the mark itself came from outside?"
Sai nodded. "And if that's true, Ryo might be acting as its anchor point."
"Anchor?" Ryo asked weakly. "What does that mean?"
Yamato looked at him carefully. "It means... something from another world is linked to you. And whatever it is, it hasn't finished connecting yet."
The words made Ryo's stomach drop. He stared at his wrist, where the faint trace of light still pulsed beneath his skin.
Not finished connecting yet.
That meant it was still changing.
He didn't know what scared him more, what he had just seen inside his mind, or the possibility that this thing wasn't done with him.
---
That night, Konoha was calm. Lanterns flickered along the streets, and a cool wind brushed through the open window of the guest quarters where Ryo was staying. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that flash of white, those faint, shifting chains behind his eyelids.
He sat up, rubbing his face. "An anchor from another world... what does that even mean?"
He looked at his wrist again. The mark was dim, barely visible under the skin. It didn't hurt, but sometimes he could feel it pulse faintly, like it was breathing with him.
A knock on the door broke his thoughts.
"Ryo, are you still awake?"
He recognized the voice. "Yeah, come in."
The door slid open. Sarada stepped inside, holding two cups of hot tea. "You didn't show up for dinner. I figured you'd still be thinking about what happened."
"Kind of hard not to," Ryo said, accepting the cup. "They said it's connected to another world. I mean... that's basically where I came from, right?"
She nodded slowly. "Maybe that's why it reacted to you."
They sat in silence for a while. The room was quiet except for the faint sound of cicadas outside.
After a few moments, Ryo spoke again. "You ever wonder what it's like... not being born here? I mean, not having chakra, not growing up with missions, or even knowing what a kunai is?"
Sarada gave him a small smile. "Not really. But I can imagine it would feel... empty."
"Yeah," he muttered. "That's pretty accurate."
She looked at him seriously. "But you're here now. And whether you like it or not, this mark is tied to you. So instead of overthinking it, maybe you should try to understand it."
Ryo chuckled softly. "You sound like your dad."
She frowned. "I get that a lot."
Before he could reply, a sudden jolt ran through his wrist. The tea cup slipped from his hand and hit the floor. The mark started glowing again, bright, flickering light spreading up his arm.
"Ryo?" Sarada stood instantly. "What's happening?"
"I don't know!" he hissed, gripping his arm. The air grew heavy. The room darkened around them, though the lamps hadn't gone out.
The light from the mark pulsed faster. His vision blurred.
"Stay back!" he shouted, his voice shaking. "Something's"
The floor shifted. In an instant, Ryo wasn't in the room anymore.
The air changed, colder, still, empty. He stood in a white void, endless and silent. His footsteps echoed faintly on nothing.
Then, a figure appeared in front of him.
It wasn't human, a silhouette wrapped in faint light, featureless but vaguely shaped like a man.
"So, you finally touched the link," the voice said. It sounded distant, distorted, like it came from everywhere at once.
Ryo stepped back, tense. "Who are you?"
"Names won't help you," the figure said calmly. "You accepted the chance, and the story has already begun."
Ryo's eyes narrowed. "You mean that message? The button I clicked?"
The figure tilted its head. "You wished to be the main character. To change your life. You were given that wish. But stories demand balance."
"Balance?" Ryo repeated.
"For every main character," the voice said, "there must also exist an opposing force, something that defines their struggle."
Ryo frowned. "You're saying... there's someone else like me?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, it reached out, touching the air. The void rippled, showing a faint image, Konoha's skyline, dark and still. Then, a flash of shadow, something moving across the rooftops, too fast to follow.
Ryo's chest tightened. "What is that?"
"Your reflection," the voice said. "Your story's counterpart. The world accepted you, but it also created him."
The vision flickered again, a distorted figure with red eyes and markings across his skin, standing in the forest, staring directly toward Ryo as if he could see through the space between them.
Then, everything snapped back.
Ryo gasped, falling to his knees. The room came back into focus, Sarada was beside him, grabbing his shoulders.
"Ryo! What happened?!"
He looked around, disoriented, sweat running down his face. "I... I saw something. A person... or a shadow. It said there's someone else. Another me."
Sarada's expression hardened. "You mean, someone with the same mark?"
"Maybe worse," he muttered.
Before she could respond, the door slid open. Naruto stepped inside, flanked by Yamato. His expression was calm, but his eyes showed concern.
"I felt that surge all the way from the Hokage's office," Naruto said. "Ryo, what happened this time?"
Ryo hesitated. "I think... I made contact with whoever's behind this. And they showed me something. A copy of me, or something close to it."
Naruto crossed his arms, deep in thought. "A mirror self... so this isn't just power, it's a link. Something trying to balance his presence in this world."
Sarada frowned. "Then we're dealing with an outside entity that can manifest in our world?"
"Yeah," Naruto said quietly. "Which means from now on, Ryo stays under protection. Team 7 will keep him close until we understand what we're facing."
Ryo looked up at him. "So I'm officially part of Team 7 now?"
Naruto smiled faintly. "You wanted to be the main character, didn't you? Well, this is where it starts."
Ryo exhaled slowly, still shaken. "Guess I should be careful what I wish for."
Naruto nodded. "You're not alone. We'll figure this out, together."
As Naruto left, Ryo stared down at his wrist again. The mark had stopped glowing, but he could still feel its pulse, faint and steady. Somewhere out there, something else was moving, the "reflection" the voice spoke of.
And it was watching.
---