Night blanketed Konohagakure in a quiet, deceptive calm.
Street lamps flickered gently. The wind stirred the leaves of the ancient trees lining the walkways. In the shadows of the Hidden Leaf, where the bustling chatter of the day had faded, silence reigned.
But not all things that slumber are at peace.
Beneath the village, far below its polished streets and ancestral monuments, there were tunnels. Forgotten passages carved by the founders, abandoned over generations. Even the ANBU, with all their secrets, had buried them in their records.
And yet, Muzan walked them with familiarity, as if they had always belonged to him.
His sandals touched the stone without sound. Torches along the walls flared to life as he passed—no hand lit them, only the recognition of his presence. Chakra-infused flames flickered in hues of crimson and violet, illuminating the intricate markings along the stone: symbols from a language long lost, etched in patterns meant to warp perception and suppress detection.
He stepped into a vast underground chamber.
Dozens of figures knelt in a circle—hooded, cloaked, and silent. Some bore the jagged scars of experimentation. Others shimmered faintly with unstable chakra, their coils twisted by his will. All of them bowed.
Muzan stood before a massive seal drawn on the floor—a complex, moving diagram that pulsed in rhythm with his chakra.
"Progress," he murmured. "That is the purpose of pain."
One of the kneeling figures stirred. A woman, barely more than a girl, lifted her head. Her eyes had no irises—only glowing white light.
"My lord, Subject-36 has begun to resist. His blood rejects your essence."
Muzan didn't even blink. "Then he is unworthy. Dispose of him."
She bowed deeply and rose, disappearing into a side corridor with a swish of her cloak.
> There can be no imperfections.
Only the purest shall carry my legacy.
---
Aboveground – Konoha Training Grounds
The next morning, Team 7 assembled at the usual clearing.
Naruto stretched lazily, rubbing his stomach. "Man, I swear something's been weird lately. I didn't even eat ramen yesterday. That's not normal."
Sasuke shot him a look. "Maybe that's the first sign of maturity."
Naruto scowled. "Tch, you wish."
Sakura stepped between them, arms folded. "No, he's right. I've felt it too. Like… there's something wrong in the village. Like something's watching us."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You both feel it?"
Before either could reply, Kakashi dropped from the trees with a casual wave, his face half-hidden behind his usual mask and book.
"Good. You're all alert," he said. "Because there's a disturbance the Hokage wants investigated."
That caught their attention.
Kakashi handed over a sealed scroll. "Disappearing civilians near the northern wall. The ANBU chalked it up to rogue bandits at first. But last night, a chunin patrol vanished. No signs of struggle, no chakra residue—just silence."
Sasuke's voice was low. "How many gone?"
"Thirteen in total. No bodies. No leads."
Naruto's fists clenched. "You think it's an enemy ninja?"
Kakashi's one visible eye hardened. "I think something has infiltrated Konoha. And I don't like it."
They set off immediately.
---
Meanwhile – Konoha Hospital
Muzan walked the sterile halls like a ghost, disguised as a traveling physician. His transformation jutsu was flawless—every inch of him resembled a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair and a modest demeanor. His chakra signature was suppressed completely, allowing him to move undetected.
He paused outside a specific room.
Inside, a boy no older than twelve lay unconscious. According to the hospital records, he had collapsed in the training grounds two days ago—his chakra overexerted, his cells deteriorating.
Muzan had seen this before.
He slipped silently into the room, placing a hand over the boy's forehead. A faint pulse of black chakra seeped into the boy's body. Muzan's eyes fluttered shut as he read the strands of the child's DNA, his chakra flow, the structure of his muscles, his bloodline.
A rare mutation. Dormant potential.
"Perfect," he whispered.
He pricked his finger and let a single drop of his corrupted blood fall onto the boy's lips.
The child stirred. His breath hitched. And then… stillness.
Muzan smiled.
"You will serve me well."
---
Outside the Northern Wall – Investigation Site
Team 7 crouched around the clearing where the last patrol had vanished. Trees leaned at odd angles. The soil was dry—unnaturally so. Birds and insects were absent. Chakra in the area felt heavy, corrupted.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan.
"There's residue," he muttered. "But it's not elemental. It's something else. Like chakra was… rewritten."
Kakashi frowned. "No signs of struggle. No blood."
Naruto scratched his head. "That's weird. I don't like this. It's too quiet."
Sakura scanned the area with a medical technique. "The plants here are dying from the roots up. Whatever did this, it's warping nature itself."
Kakashi knelt and placed a sealing tag on the ground.
"Fall back. I'm marking the area for ANBU sweep. We're not equipped to handle something we can't identify."
As they retreated, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder.
A shadow moved through the trees.
But when he looked again, nothing was there.
---
Later That Night – Hokage's Office
Tsunade slammed her fist onto her desk.
"A what?!"
Kakashi remained calm. "A chakra-altering force. Possibly biological. The only match I've ever seen was Orochimaru's early experiments… but this is far more advanced."
Tsunade paced. "And you think it's inside the village?"
He nodded. "It's already infiltrated the outer perimeter. We're being studied, Hokage-sama. Not attacked—analyzed."
She scowled. "I want a full lockdown. Triple ANBU patrols. Root out this cancer before it spreads."
Kakashi hesitated.
"There's more," he said. "Sasuke said the chakra felt familiar. He said it… reminded him of something from his clan's archives. A darkness older than Konoha."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Get the Uchiha elders. If this is a bloodline threat, I want answers."
---
Muzan's Underground Lair
The boy from the hospital now knelt before him, eyes glowing faintly, body twitching with unstable chakra.
"Do you understand your purpose?" Muzan asked softly.
The boy nodded, his voice hollow. "To obey. To observe. To sow the seeds of change."
Muzan extended a clawed finger and touched the boy's forehead. A seal spread across his skin like ink in water, vanishing beneath the surface.
"You are my Whisper," he said. "My eyes in the light."
He turned to his cultists.
"Begin phase two."
---
Elsewhere – Sasuke's Apartment
Sasuke flipped through an old scroll from the Uchiha vaults. The ancient text was fragile, its ink faded by time.
There it was.
> "In the age before villages, there existed a being that walked among shinobi, not as man, but as predator. It wore the skin of a human, but fed on life itself. It did not use chakra. It devoured it. And wherever it walked, only silence remained."
Beneath it, a faded ink drawing.
Red eyes. Pale skin. A mouth that stretched into a grotesque smile.
Sasuke whispered the name etched below it.
"…Kibutsuji."