"This is just the beginning."
"Oh, and Father," I added, my curiosity getting the better of me as I stood there still wrapped in the shifting, living armor of shadow, "have you ever seen anything like this before?"
Hagoromo narrowed his eyes slightly, not in suspicion—but deep thought. His hand slipped from my shoulder as he looked at the ground, then the sky, as if trying to piece together memories that might be hidden in the corners of time.
"I must admit… no," he finally said, voice calm and thoughtful. "This… this Ten Shadows you speak of—I've never encountered a chakra technique that manipulates shadows with such fluidity and instinctual connection."
Ashura tilted his head. "So, it's new? Like, completely new?"
Hagoromo gave a small nod. "It seems so. While chakra has infinite potential, most techniques thus far rely on elemental natures, spiritual focus. But this… Danava, your technique? It responded purely to your will."
I grinned. "I thought so. It felt like it came from me, not from something I learned. Like it was already inside, just waiting."
Hagoromo gave me a look that was somewhere between pride and caution.
"There are times when chakra awakens not from training, but from moments of deep emotion… desperation… or instinct. Your shadow answered when Ashura was in danger."
Ashura nodded. "It really did. You looked so scary back there—but in a cool way!"
Hagoromo crossed his arms, expression more serious now.
"Just because it's new does not mean it is without risk. Shadow, by nature, hides. Conceals. It's an element that walks beside the light, yet never fully reveals itself. You must be careful, Danava. Understand what you've awakened, before it consumes you."
I looked down at my shadow, now calm beneath me.
"It won't consume me, Father. I'll master it. And I'll make sure it protects those I care about."
Hagoromo smiled again, faint but genuine.
"Then you truly walk your own path. And perhaps, your shadow will become a light for others to follow."
Ashura pumped his fist. "Heck yeah! That's my brother!"
I chuckled softly and looked at my hands, the black fading back into the ground.
It was already sunset—the sky painted in hues of warm orange and deep purple, the clouds like slow-moving brushstrokes across the horizon. The soft golden light bathed the courtyard where we stood, shadows stretching long across the ground.
Just then, Indra appeared, walking with his usual composed, quiet steps. His newly awakened Sharingan had faded back to his natural eyes, but the air around him still felt a little different—heavier, sharper.
He approached slowly, stopping a few steps away as he looked at us mid-conversation.
Hagoromo turned to greet him with a calm nod. "Indra. Just in time. Your brother was showing me a very unique ability."
Indra looked toward me, raising an eyebrow. "You mean that shadow thing you did earlier?"
I gave him a grin. "Yeah. I've been experimenting with it. I call it Ten Shadows."
"Ten Shadows?" he repeated, his voice low but curious. He crossed his arms, studying me with an intensity I was used to by now. "So… it's a ?"new form of chakra?
"I think so," I said with a shrug. "It responds to my will—no hand signs, no elements. It forms armor, weapons… even tentacles. It even used the boar's shadow earlier to trap it. Felt like it came from somewhere deeper than just chakra."
Ashura, ever enthusiastic, jumped in. "It looked super cool! Like this shadowy armor just burst out and bam! the boar was stuck!"
Indra's eyes narrowed slightly, then softened, nodding slowly. "Interesting... something that powerful, and it doesn't even use hand seals or nature manipulation?"
Hagoromo stepped forward, placing a hand on both our shoulders.
"You both are beginning to walk very different paths... but both lead toward great strength," he said calmly. "But remember—power must serve peace. Without control, it becomes chaos. Danava's Ten Shadows… Indra's Sharingan… these are only beginnings. The foundation of what the world will one day call ninjutsu."
Indra looked at me, then Ashura, then back at our father. "Then I'll train even harder. I'll master my eyes… and surpass even this shadow technique."
I chuckled, "Then I guess I'll keep pushing my shadow further, so you've got something to chase."
Ashura raised a fist between us with a smile. "We'll all keep growing! Together!"
The three of us stood there under the fading sun—brothers with different gifts, destined for paths that would shape the future of shinobi history.
The days stretched into months, and the months into years. The quiet rhythm of our training carried on, but something had changed—slowly, imperceptibly. Indra, once the brother who stood by my side, now seemed distant. His eyes, always sharp and perceptive, had grown colder, more detached. Even in the heat of battle, where once there was camaraderie, there was now only a clinical detachment, a lack of warmth.
We were training as usual in the village clearing, the wind picking up as the sun hung low in the sky. Another disciple had just been knocked to the ground by Indra's ruthless precision, his Sharingan glowing faintly as he called out coldly, "Next."
The disciples hesitated, shuffling nervously, not daring to challenge the elder brother, who had grown into a terrifying force. His mastery of the Sharingan and his newfound strength—it all made him a force to be reckoned with, and yet his indifference was even more unsettling.
I watched from the side. Ashura was also watching all of this unfold. Indra was always alone now—alone in his thoughts, alone in his pursuits.
"Well," I muttered to myself, taking a deep breath, my resolve firming up. "Elder brother, hope I can offer you a challenge."
I stepped forward, my feet crunching softly on the grass as I walked into the center of the clearing, my expression neutral, but a faint, determined smile tugged at my lips. There was no fear in me—just the quiet desire to understand what had happened to the brother I once knew, to see if I could still reach him.
"Well, we don't want the Madara scenario to happen here."
Indra turned toward me, his eyes still sharp, but there was a flicker of something—recognition, perhaps, but also a cold indifference that made it clear he was no longer the same. He looked me over, sizing me up, before speaking.
"You want to challenge me?" His voice was emotionless, as if this was just another match, just another battle to pass the time. "Very well."
The distance between us seemed vast now, not just physically but emotionally. I squared my shoulders, settling into a stance.
"Let's see if you've gotten any better," I said, my voice steady.
Without further words, I launched myself at him, moving with the precision I'd honed over the years. My shadow armor wasn't needed here—not yet. I was testing my own skill, my own resolve, not relying on the power I had recently unlocked. My fists moved with practiced speed, a flurry of blows aimed to break through his defenses.
But Indra was fast. Far faster than I expected. His body moved like liquid, dodging and weaving between my strikes with cold, clinical precision. The Sharingan allowed him to read my movements before I even made them, and his counterattacks came swift and ruthless, each blow landing with pinpoint accuracy.
I gritted my teeth, dodging one of his strikes and spinning to counter with a kick aimed at his side, but he was already gone, his Sharingan glowing, and his next move already calculated.
"You're slower," Indra said flatly, his voice lacking any trace of emotion. "You've improved, but not enough."
I could feel the pressure building, the weight of his words pressing on me, but I wasn't done. I wouldn't be done.
"Maybe I'm slower, but I'm still here," I shot back, a fire lighting in my chest. I wasn't going to let him just walk all over me.
"And I'm not giving up yet."
The ground trembled beneath my feet as the shadows rippled around me, clinging to my body until I was encased in my shadow armour.
Indra's Sharingan spun lazily, as if mocking me with its calm precision. He tilted his head, studying me like prey.
I lunged forward before he could finish. The shadows reinforced my legs, and each step cracked the stone beneath me. My fist, wrapped in that living armor, slammed forward with enough force to make the air pop.
Indra shifted just enough. My blow ripped through the space where he'd been, sending a shockwave that scattered dirt and leaves, but his counter was instant. His hand snapped out, his Sharingan predicting every twitch of my body. A strike to the ribs—fast, clean.
The shadow armor absorbed the blow with a dull thud. The impact shoved me back a few steps, but I didn't collapse.
I grinned through the strain. "Not so soft, huh?"
Indra's eyes narrowed for the first time. "Interesting."
Then just as Indra tried to move his eyes widen.
The shadows on the ground beneath us stretched unnaturally, twisting and linking his outline to mine. My shadow armor shimmered darkly, but at its core, the connection pulsed like a chain.
Shadow Possession Jutsu.
Indra's brows furrowed, his jaw tightening. "When—?"