The air over Konoha felt wrong.
The villagers noticed it first in small things—the wind whispering too cold at dawn, the leaves trembling when there was no breeze, the way chakra lamps flickered at night despite full reserves.
Boruto Uzumaki barely noticed any of that. He was too busy racing along the rooftops, laughing as he dodged between water tanks, the wind tearing at his hair.
"Slow down, Boruto!" Sarada shouted behind him, her crimson Sharingan briefly flashing as she tracked his zig-zagging path.
"You're too slow!" Boruto yelled back, leaping across a gap between two buildings, the morning sun painting Konoha in warm gold.
Ryo followed silently, feet landing softly as he leapt across the same gap. His eyes, however, flickered toward the Hokage Monument in the distance. The faces of the past Hokage watched over them, and for a moment, he felt a warmth in the mark on his wrist.
It was calm. For now.
---
They landed near the training field where Kakashi stood, his silver hair swaying in the light breeze.
"Good, you're here," Kakashi said, his lone visible eye curving in a lazy smile.
Boruto dropped onto the grass, arms behind his head. "You sure we need to train again today, old man? We just fought an Otsutsuki!"
Sarada rolled her eyes, folding her arms. "You barely lasted five minutes before getting slammed into a tree."
Boruto shot up, pointing at her. "I saved you when you—"
Kakashi's cough cut them off. "As lively as ever. But today isn't a normal training day."
He turned serious, pulling out a scroll. "Unusual chakra storms have been reported around the Hidden Cloud and the northern forests near Konoha's borders. The Seventh is preparing a diplomatic visit to Hidden Cloud to ease tensions. In the meantime, you three will join reconnaissance squads patrolling the borders."
Sarada's eyes narrowed. "Storms? Like natural disasters?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No. These storms drain chakra from shinobi and wildlife. Reports claim wildlife turning violent, scrolls malfunctioning, and summoning jutsu failing mid-battle."
Boruto felt his stomach tighten. "You think it's the Otsutsuki again?"
Kakashi sighed, his eye shadowed. "We don't know yet. But it's best we're prepared."
Ryo touched the mark on his wrist. It felt warm, pulsing softly, as if in agreement.
---
The Mission Begins
That afternoon, under grey clouds, the three stood at Konoha's northern gate.
Sarada adjusted her glasses, scanning the horizon. "If these storms are chakra-related, we need to avoid direct contact until we analyze them."
Boruto grinned, checking his kunai pouch. "Or we can punch the storm until it behaves."
Sarada glared. "That's not how weather works."
Ryo smiled faintly, but inside, he felt uneasy. The mark on his wrist had started to itch the closer they came to the forest's edge.
They moved swiftly, weaving through the pines, the air heavy with the scent of rain. Birds were silent. Even the wind felt like it was waiting for something.
---
Suddenly, Ryo stopped, hand raised.
A soft hum filled the air. The leaves on the trees began to quiver, a faint glow outlining their edges as if they were charged with chakra.
"Back," Ryo said, stepping back instinctively.
Boruto frowned, stepping forward instead. "What is it?"
The air exploded.
A wave of chakra-laced wind slammed into them, throwing Boruto back against a tree. Sarada threw up a chakra barrier, barely shielding herself and Ryo from the blast.
They looked up.
Above them, clouds churned in an unnatural spiral, crackling with blue-white lightning. Rain began to fall, but instead of cool relief, it sizzled on contact, draining chakra wherever it touched.
Boruto groaned, getting up, brushing steam off his jacket. "What the hell is this?"
Ryo stepped forward, rain hitting his skin, and he felt his chakra leeching out of him like mist. The mark on his wrist pulsed harder, pushing back the drain, warming him from within.
"It's draining chakra," Ryo said, eyes wide, "but my mark is resisting it."
Sarada studied the storm with her Sharingan. "The chakra is… moving. It's like it's alive."
A flash of movement caught Boruto's Jougan, and his eye flared, showing a ripple in the air where chakra threads pulled themselves into a humanoid shape.
"Guys!" Boruto shouted, forming a rasengan. "We've got company!"
---
The Storm's Guardians
The chakra storm twisted, forming three figures of pure chakra, like living shadows with flickering white eyes. They moved slowly, but each step sent ripples through the rain, drawing in stray chakra like hungry wolves.
Sarada leapt forward, kunai ready, eyes tracking every twitch.
Ryo felt the mark on his wrist pull toward them, resonating with the chakra in the storm. For a moment, he felt a voice in the rain:
"Return… to us…"
He shook it off, stepping forward, kunai in hand.
Boruto charged, slamming his rasengan into the nearest figure. The impact exploded in a burst of steam and lightning, forcing the chakra figure to stumble, but it quickly reformed, threads of chakra pulling it back together.
Sarada launched a barrage of fireballs, forcing the figures back, but the storm above crackled, reabsorbing the burned fragments, rebuilding the figures stronger.
"They're using the storm to regenerate!" Sarada shouted.
Ryo stepped forward, holding up his hand. The mark glowed, and the storm seemed to shudder, the rain slowing around him.
"Let me try something!" Ryo yelled.
He focused on the warmth in his wrist, letting it spread through his arm, reaching out to the storm. The chakra figures paused, turning their glowing eyes toward him, as if waiting.
The mark pulsed.
A wave of green light burst from Ryo, washing over the figures. The storm hissed, clouds splitting briefly to reveal the sky.
The chakra figures screamed silently as the green light disintegrated them, leaving only drifting sparks that the wind carried away.
---
After the Storm
The clouds slowly dissipated, leaving a strange, heavy silence.
Boruto dropped to the ground, panting, a grin spreading across his face. "Haha! Nice one, Ryo!"
Sarada approached, touching Ryo's shoulder, her eyes studying the mark. "What did you do?"
Ryo shook his head, looking down at the glowing mark. "I don't know. It just… felt like it was guiding me."
Sarada frowned. "We need to tell Lord Seventh. If your chakra can disperse these storms, you might be the key to stopping them."
Boruto stood, brushing dirt off his pants. "Let's head back. I'm starving."
Sarada rolled her eyes. "You're always starving."
Ryo looked up at the sky, where the last fragments of the storm disappeared into the dawn. Deep inside, he felt the warmth of the Will of Fire, but also a shadow of uncertainty.
What were these storms?
And why was he connected to them?
---
As they walked back toward Konoha, unaware, in the mountains far away, a lone figure in a black cloak stood, watching the remnants of the storm dissipate.
Kuro, leader of the Akatsuki Rebirth, smiled beneath his mask.
"So, the child of the Senju line truly lives… This will make things interesting."
His hand rested on a glowing artifact, a sphere of swirling chakra fragments, pulsing in rhythm with Ryo's mark.
"The world will change, and he will decide whether it burns or blooms."
The wind carried the scent of rain and revolution.
And the seeds of revolution had been sown.