The night was unnervingly still as Naruto and Sasuke crossed into the dead zone where maps turned to blank parchment. The moon's silver light draped the shattered earth, revealing ruins like a scar across the world—pillars jagged like broken teeth, collapsed arches lying half-buried in ash, and trees twisted as if they had tried to flee the land itself.
Naruto landed lightly on a cracked stone bridge, the boards creaking under his boots. The wind moaned low through the broken towers, almost like a sigh. "This place… it feels wrong," he muttered. "Like even nature's trying to forget it exists."
Sasuke's lone Sharingan flickered in the dark, scanning every shadow. "That's because, according to history, it doesn't. There was never supposed to be anything here."
Naruto snorted uneasily. "Yeah, well, history's been wrong before." He glanced back over his shoulder at Konoha's distant lights, now barely a faint glow on the horizon. "I can't shake it, Sasuke. That chakra we felt—it wasn't just strong. It was old. Like it's been waiting here longer than the Hidden Leaf's even existed."
---
The Forgotten Sigil
The two of them moved deeper into the ruins. What had once been streets were now rubble-strewn paths, and every step stirred clouds of ash that clung to their boots. A half-toppled statue caught Naruto's eye. Its face was eroded, but one detail remained—a single carved eye bearing a pattern that pulsed faintly under the moonlight.
Naruto crouched. "That… that looks like an Uchiha eye."
Sasuke stepped closer, brushing centuries of dust from the stone. His Sharingan glimmered as it locked onto the pattern. "No. Look closer. This design—it's older than the Uchiha. This predates even Indra's line."
Naruto swallowed hard. "Older than the clan itself… so what the hell was this place?"
A breeze swept through, carrying with it a faint whisper. At first Naruto thought it was the wind—but then the words became clear:
> "You were never meant to remember this place."
Both ninja spun, kunai and sword drawn. Sasuke's Mangekyō flared. "Who's there?!"
No one answered. The ruins creaked around them, but no chakra signature stirred.
---
The City Restored—For an Instant
Suddenly, the ruins shifted. The air thickened and wavered like water, and for a single heartbeat, the world around them transformed.
The collapsed pillars stood tall again, banners of ten nations flapped in a phantom breeze, and the ground trembled under the thunder of distant battle. A lone warrior—an Uchiha with white hair and bleeding eyes—stood on the ramparts, blade raised against a monstrous figure cloaked in cosmic light.
Then, as quickly as it came, the vision shattered. The ruins returned to their broken state, the banners vanished, and silence reclaimed the land.
Naruto staggered, clutching his head. "What—what was that?!"
Sasuke's voice was low, controlled, but his knuckles whitened on his sword's hilt. "A memory… someone buried deep."
---
Watching from the Shadows
Unseen on a distant cliff, a figure watched—the same warrior from the vision, alive and cloaked in shadow. Raizen's cloak fluttered as his crimson eyes softened with something between sorrow and guilt.
> "Naruto Uzumaki… Sasuke Uchiha… heirs of a world I once tried to save. You were never meant to walk this path."
His fingers brushed the hilt of his blade. For a moment, he considered revealing himself. But the ghosts of his past—Shibai's apostles, the decree of the five nations, Itachi's sacrifice—chained him in silence.
---
The Apostles Stir
Far above, in a rift of darkened sky, Shibai's apostle watched through an ethereal veil. Its glowing eyes narrowed.
> "The forgotten guardian still walks the earth," it whispered to a companion hidden in the void.
"He erased the world's memories, yet fragments endure. If Raizen unseals what he buried, Shibai's plan will unravel."
The second apostle's voice was a hiss of static. "Then the Hokage and the Uchiha must not leave these ruins alive."
---
Uneasy Resolve
Back among the ruins, Naruto exhaled slowly, forcing his hands to unclench. "Sasuke… what if whoever erased this place did it for a reason? What if digging it up brings something worse?"
Sasuke met his gaze, his Sharingan glowing faintly. "Then we face it. But ignorance isn't safety—it's a delay."
Naruto managed a grin, though his eyes were serious. "Guess we're doing this the hard way. Just like old times."
They started forward again, deeper into the heart of the forgotten city. The shattered towers rose higher, the whispers louder. Somewhere below the ruins, faint energy pulsed—a heartbeat in the earth.
---
A Promise to the Lost
From his cliffside vantage, Raizen turned away, his voice barely a breath.
> "I thought I ended the war. I thought I gave you peace. But Shibai's shadow is still here… and now, even the Hokage and the last Uchiha follow the trail I buried."
He looked toward the sky, where stars glittered like distant eyes.
> "Itachi… if you can hear me in whatever lies beyond, forgive me. I never wanted your brother to carry this weight."
Raizen vanished into the night, leaving only the ruins and the two shinobi stepping closer to the truth.
---