The night refused to let me sleep.
I lay on my back, staring at the dark wooden ceiling of my room, listening to the faint sounds of the Uchiha district settling into silence. Footsteps faded. Lanterns were extinguished one by one. Somewhere in the distance, a child laughed briefly before being called inside.
Normal sounds.
Comforting sounds.
Yet my chest felt tight—like something inside me was slowly winding itself, waiting.
Thump.
A strange sensation pulsed through my chakra network.
Not pain.
Not discomfort.
Recognition.
I closed my eyes and focused inward.
There it was again.
Thump.
Deep. Slow. Deliberate.
It didn't feel like chakra circulating naturally. It felt… older. Like something that had been sleeping inside me and had finally started to stretch.
"So you're still there," I whispered.
The System remained silent.
No notifications.
No warnings.
No explanations.
That alone unsettled me more than any enemy ever could.
I sat up slowly and pressed two fingers against my chest, regulating my breathing the way the War Manual taught. Chakra flowed—smooth, controlled—but beneath it…
Something else stirred.
Thump.
My vision blurred for half a second.
Then—
A flash.
Not an image.
A feeling.
Loss.
Resolve.
An overwhelming desire to protect something precious—even at the cost of oneself.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
"That wasn't memory," I muttered. "That was intent."
The hidden reward wasn't just power.
It was will.
And it was beginning to wake up.
Sleep eventually claimed me—but not gently.
I stood in a vast, empty space. No sky. No ground. Just an endless red haze, thick like mist.
A single silhouette stood ahead.
Tall.
Still.
Watching me.
I tried to move, but my feet wouldn't respond.
"Who are you?" I called out.
The figure didn't answer.
Instead, the red haze shifted—and suddenly I was seeing through different eyes.
Battlefields soaked in blood.
Uchiha standing shoulder to shoulder.
A pair of eyes glowing crimson—not with hatred, but with unbearable clarity.
This is not your time.
The voice wasn't spoken aloud.
It resonated inside my bones.
"Then why show me this?" I demanded.
The haze trembled.
Because you walk the same path… but you hesitate.
The figure finally turned.
I couldn't see a face.
Only eyes.
Eyes that carried sorrow so deep it crushed my chest.
Power exists to protect, the voice continued.
But protection always demands a price.
My heart pounded.
"Are you the hidden reward?" I asked.
The red haze surged violently—
—and I jolted awake.
I was drenched in sweat.
My room felt colder than before.
My Sharingan hadn't activated—but my chakra was raging wildly, reacting to something it didn't understand.
I clenched my fists until my breathing steadied.
"That dream wasn't random," I murmured.
This wasn't just a system reward.
It was something bound to the Uchiha themselves.
Something ancient.
---
Morning —
The next morning, I met Itachi near the training grounds.
He stopped the moment he saw me.
"…You didn't sleep well," he said.
I blinked. "That obvious?"
He nodded. "Your chakra feels unstable. Like it's being pulled in two directions."
Sharp. Too sharp.
I crouched down to his level. "Did it… scare you?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "No. But it felt heavy."
Heavy.
That word again.
I forced a smile. "Must be overtraining."
Itachi didn't smile back.
"Shisui," he said quietly, "when people carry something heavy for too long… they break."
My throat tightened.
This kid—
always seeing things too clearly.
I rested my hand on his head.
"If that happens," I said gently, "you'll be there to pull me back, right?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"…Yes," he said. "I will."
The hidden reward pulsed faintly again.
Thump.
Almost approving.
---
Later that day, as I walked alone through a side street of the district, the sensation returned—stronger this time.
Thump.
Thump.
My steps slowed.
Someone else felt it.
I sensed it instantly.
A familiar, oily chakra signature brushed against the edge of my perception—distant, but deliberate.
Danzo.
Not physically.
But his awareness.
He was watching chakra patterns across the village. Measuring. Comparing.
And something inside me had just lit up.
I suppressed my chakra immediately, forcing everything down into a controlled stillness.
The pulsing resisted.
Like a heart refusing to stop beating.
"So that's it," I whispered. "You don't like being hidden anymore."
The pressure eased slightly, but didn't disappear.
Danzo wouldn't know what he felt.
Only that Shisui Uchiha had changed again.
That was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
---
System Glitch
That night, as I meditated, the System finally reacted.
Not with a normal notification.
But with distortion.
---
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Error detected…
Hidden Reward Status: UNSTABLE
Synchronization Rate: 12%
Recommendation: Delay Awakening
---
I opened my eyes sharply.
"Delay?" I whispered. "Or suppress?"
The system didn't answer.
The pulsing slowed, retreating—but this time, it felt reluctant.
Like something disappointed.
Like something patient.
Whatever the hidden reward was… it wasn't passive.
It wasn't just waiting to be used.
It was waiting for a decision.
And I knew—deep down—that when it fully awakened…
The story would change forever.
For me.
For Itachi.
For the Uchiha.
For the village.
I stared into the darkness.
"Not yet," I murmured. "When the time comes… I'll be ready."
The pulse faded into silence.
But the silence was no longer empty.
It was watching.
---
END OF CHAPTER 8
---
Today is the day I will upload 2 chapters at once.