The night was colder than Raizen had anticipated.
The fire he lit crackled weakly against the wind, its flame dancing and bending as though afraid of the darkness surrounding him.
Raizen sat still, staring at the moon — a full, crimson disc that bled across the sky. His hand pressed against his temple, sweat forming despite the cold.
Again… these visions…
He had dreamt of falling stars, of pale figures cloaked in light, whispering in a tongue he should not have understood. And yet, he knew every word.
> "You are the shadow of what remains. You cannot run from me."
Raizen's breath caught. His hand instinctively reached for the sword beside him, though he knew no enemy stood before him.
From the silence of the forest, a voice broke through.
Low. Deep. Resonant — as if it came from every direction at once.
"Raizen Uchiha…"
He froze. No one was supposed to remember that name. Not after what he had done. Not after he had erased the world itself.
The fire sputtered. The shadows stretched unnaturally long across the ground.
A figure appeared only for a heartbeat, flickering at the edge of vision — tall, white-haired, with horns spiraling like the branches of a withered tree. His body wasn't solid. More like a scar etched into the air itself.
Raizen's Mangekyō Sharingan flared, bleeding red light across his face. His vision sharpened, but the figure dissolved like mist.
"…Who are you?" Raizen's voice was hoarse.
No answer. Only whispers, layered voices overlapping — some male, some female, some alien.
> "Shibai… Shibai… Shibai…"
Raizen staggered to his feet, his breath ragged. "Impossible. That name… it's not supposed to exist anymore."
The ground quaked beneath him. His blade hummed faintly, as if resonating with the memory he had sealed away.
Then — silence.
The forest was once again just a forest. The moon glowed blood-red above. The fire crackled weakly.
Raizen fell to his knees, clutching his head. His eyes burned — blood streamed down his cheeks from the strain of his Mangekyō.
"…I erased the world," he whispered, his voice trembling. "Then why… why do you remain?"
For the first time in years, Raizen felt something heavier than guilt.
Something he hadn't known since the fall of the Ten Nations.
Fear.
And in that moment, under the crimson moon, Raizen made an oath to himself.
"If you are truly out there, Ōtsutsuki… if you survived even my erasure… then I'll find you. I'll end you."
The fire finally died, leaving Raizen alone in the dark, with only the bleeding moon above as his witness.
--
The forest was silent again, but Raizen's breathing was ragged. His Mangekyō still glowed faintly, its bleeding light mixing with the crimson moon.
His sword slipped from his trembling hand, clattering against the stones. For the first time since erasing half the world, Raizen Uchiha felt small.
"…I erased nations," he muttered, as if reminding himself. His voice cracked. "I erased memory itself. My eyes are cursed with eternal power. And yet—"
His hands clenched into fists. His nails dug into his palms until blood welled.
"—yet I couldn't even touch him."
The vision of Shibai lingered in his mind — not solid, not even real, but overwhelming. A scar that refused to be erased, even by his absolute jutsu.
Raizen wiped the blood from his eyes, smearing it across his cheek. His reflection in the blade glared back at him — broken, yet unyielding.
"If this presence is real… if he lingers even after erasure…" His voice deepened, filled with conviction. "Then what I have is not enough."
The trees around him bent with the sudden flare of his chakra, black flames hissing into existence at his feet. His Mangekyō burned, but Raizen forced the pain deeper.
"I need more." His whisper was almost a growl.
"I need power beyond this curse. Beyond Sharingan. Beyond Uchiha blood itself."
A bitter laugh escaped him, hollow and sharp.
"To defeat a god… I must become more than human."
He rose slowly, wiping the blood from his chin, his cloak swaying in the night wind. His eyes were crimson lanterns against the void.
"Power that even the Ōtsutsuki would fear," Raizen vowed.
"If Shibai Ōtsutsuki left traces in this world, then I will hunt them… I will claim them… and I will end this cycle."
The crimson moon stared down at him, unblinking, as if mocking his oath.
Raizen gripped his sword again, holding it against his shoulder. His gaze hardened.
"No matter the cost… no matter the suffering… I will take what I need."
With that, he vanished into the forest shadows, leaving only the extinguished campfire and the iron scent of blood behind.
The hunt for power had begun.
---
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