Nobu sat alone in the quiet hospital hallway.
The white lights above him flickered faintly, and the smell of medicine filled the air. Nurses walked past him from time to time, but Nobu barely noticed them. His mind was far away—lost in memories.
Too many things had happened recently.
Too many lives had been shaken.
And somehow… Nobu felt it was all because of him.
He lowered his head and pressed his hands together.
"Again… this is all my fault," he whispered to himself.
Just as those words left his lips, a cold voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.
"No… this is their fault."
Nobu's eyes widened instantly.
"What…?"
He looked around the hallway, but no one was near him.
Then he realized something.
Malvek.
The mysterious entity that lived inside him.
Nobu closed his eyes slowly, trying to reach him again.
"Malvek… was that you?"
There was no response.
Nobu focused harder.
He tried again.
And again.
The world around him slowly faded away.
Suddenly—
Darkness swallowed everything.
Nobu felt his body falling, as if he had been pulled into an endless abyss. When his vision returned, he found himself standing in a dark, empty place.
A familiar figure stood in front of him.
Malvek.
He stood calmly in the darkness, his long cloak swaying slightly as if a silent wind moved through the void.
Nobu didn't hesitate this time.
He rushed toward him.
"Who are you exactly?" Nobu demanded.
Malvek looked at him quietly for a moment… then smiled faintly.
"Perhaps… this is the right time to tell you everything."
Nobu's curiosity immediately grew stronger.
Malvek turned his back slightly and looked into the endless darkness.
"My story began five hundred years ago."
Nobu's eyes narrowed.
"Five hundred… years?"
Malvek continued speaking calmly.
"At that time, the world was very different. Clans did not exist the way they do today."
He paused.
"And I was the first person to create the concept of clans."
Nobu froze.
Malvek continued.
"I was also the one who created the sword techniques that people still use today."
Nobu shook his head immediately.
"That's impossible…"
He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
But Malvek simply smiled.
"You may doubt it now, but that truth will not change."
Nobu's heart was beating faster now.
"Then why are you inside me?"
Malvek slowly turned toward him.
"I have been with you since the day you were born."
Nobu's expression changed.
"What…?"
Malvek's voice became colder.
"And your step-parents did not die because of fate."
Nobu's eyes widened in shock.
"They were murdered."
The words struck Nobu like lightning.
"No!"
His voice echoed through the dark space.
"You're lying!"
But Malvek didn't react.
Instead, he calmly continued telling the story.
"Your stepfather once worked for the Kurokage Clan."
Nobu's breathing became heavier.
"He later betrayed them in front of me."
Malvek's eyes darkened slightly as he spoke.
"Because of that betrayal, the Kurokage Clan hunted him. They eventually killed him by staging an accident… using a truck."
Nobu's body trembled.
"And your stepmother…"
Malvek paused for a moment.
"She was killed by members of the Kurokage Clan as well."
Nobu clenched his fists tightly.
"How do you know all this?" he demanded.
Malvek answered calmly.
"Because I have been alive for five hundred years."
Silence filled the dark world.
"I know the Kurokage Clan very well."
Nobu's thoughts were spinning.
"If that's true… then how did you end up inside my body?"
Malvek's eyes slowly narrowed.
"After your stepfather betrayed the Kurokage Clan, they made a deal with others."
"A deal?"
"Yes."
Malvek's voice became darker.
"They united with the Top Ten Noble Clans."
Nobu's eyes widened again.
"They knew they could not kill me."
"So they decided to capture my soul instead."
Malvek raised his hand slightly as if remembering that moment.
"The ten noble clans attacked me together."
"Their strongest warriors… their most powerful techniques…"
"But none of it was enough."
Nobu could almost imagine the battle.
A single man… fighting ten great clans.
"I defeated them one by one," Malvek continued.
"But in the middle of that battle… someone managed to stab a sword into my back."
Nobu swallowed nervously.
"There was something strange on that blade."
"Something even I did not understand."
Malvek looked at his own hand quietly.
"And when that blade pierced my body…"
"My soul was separated."
"And it entered your body."
Nobu stared at him.
"But… why me?"
Malvek gave a small smile.
"Perhaps it was fate."
Nobu slowly lowered his head.
Images of his step-parents appeared in his mind.
The people who raised him.
The people who loved him.
And now he was hearing that their deaths were not accidents…
They were murders.
Nobu wanted to ask more questions.
About the noble clans.
About the Kurokage Clan.
About Malvek's past.
But before he could speak—
Malvek suddenly placed a hand on Nobu's forehead.
"The time is up."
The dark world began to collapse around him.
Nobu felt himself falling again into endless darkness.
And then—
His eyes suddenly opened.
He was back in the hospital hallway.
A nurse stood in front of him.
"Sir," she said politely. "Beru would like to see you."
Nobu blinked a few times, still trying to process everything that had happened.
"Beru…?"
A small smile appeared on his face.
He stood up immediately and walked toward Beru's room.
When he entered, he saw Beru sitting up on the hospital bed.
Beru looked much better than before.
"How are you feeling?" Nobu asked.
Beru smiled slightly.
"I'm fine now. I can even walk again."
Nobu felt relieved.
"That's good to hear."
But Beru suddenly noticed something.
Nobu's expression looked heavy.
"Something's wrong," Beru said.
Nobu looked at him.
"I don't know," Nobu replied quietly.
He sat down beside the bed.
"But I have a strange feeling…"
Beru waited for him to finish.
Nobu looked down at the floor.
"…that I don't have much time left to live."
The room fell silent.