Uchiha's forgotten Ember

Narration – Third Person

The month between the preliminaries and the final round had begun—a pause in the storm, a breath before the clash. But for Uchiha Kaizen, rest was not a luxury he allowed himself.

The forest surrounding the Leaf Village shimmered under early moonlight. Cicadas hummed in the background, but Kaizen's presence silenced birds, the breeze, even the very chakra in the air. He stood at the threshold of an ancient site hidden beneath the ruins of an older Uchiha shrine—a place untouched since the Warring States era.

His fingers brushed against the worn stone, his chakra reacting to an unseen seal. A red streak surged through his fused eyes—Sharingan spiraling into the foreign geometry of the Ketsugan.

> "System: Accessing sublayer… anomaly detected. Bloodline compatibility — confirmed. Releasing auxiliary lock…"

The seal cracked with a low hiss, revealing a staircase coiled in obsidian roots. Descending into the dark felt like entering the lungs of a sleeping beast. With every step, Kaizen felt the temperature rise, his flame-touched blood thrumming in rhythm with something ancient.

At the bottom was a room that defied chakra flow entirely. In its center stood a mirror of onyx—spiraling etchings in draconic script glowed faintly. When Kaizen stepped close, the room trembled.

> "You return… bearer of forgotten fire," a voice spoke—more felt than heard.

Suddenly, Kaizen was elsewhere—his mind submerged in a crimson void.

A silhouette of a great western dragon—horned, serpentine, but regal—loomed overhead, its body forged from crystallized fire and obsidian. Its wings stretched into infinity, its gaze locked onto Kaizen with infinite patience.

> "The world mistook me for a curse," it rumbled, "but I am judgment—sealed within you not to corrupt, but to awaken."

Kaizen clenched his fists. "Why now?"

> "Because you finally see," the dragon answered. "The Leaf sees you as a weapon. The Uchiha see you as an aberration. But I see you as my heir."

> "Claim the title I left behind, and you will not need to kneel to bloodlines or gods. You will be the legacy."

---

Elsewhere – Training Grounds 3

Naruto slammed into the ground, panting. "Ero-sennin! Again!"

Jiraiya scratched his head. "Kid, we've been at this for hours. You're already shaping your chakra like a pro."

Naruto stood, more serious than usual. "I have to get stronger. If I don't… Kaizen will leave me behind."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Kaizen? That quiet one with the weird eyes?"

Naruto nodded. "He saved me once. He didn't have to. But he did… and I couldn't do anything. Next time, I want to stand next to him."

Jiraiya smiled faintly. "Hmph. You're finally growing up."

---

Back Underground

Kaizen returned to himself, gasping. His hands were glowing—not just with chakra, but with crystallized dragon flame. He looked at his reflection in the obsidian:

Eyes: swirling in both Uchiha and Kurata patterns.

Arms: laced with molten streaks of energy.

Mark: a spiraling insignia now etched upon his back.

And then—a whisper:

> "You're not alone, Kaizen. I am with you. When the time comes… unleash me."

Suddenly, the mirror cracked—and from its base emerged a scroll sealed in chakra-wax. It bore the sigil of the Sage of Six Paths.

Kaizen narrowed his eyes.

> "The arena won't be ready."

> "But I will be."

The underground chamber trembled slightly as chakra surged through its veins like lifeblood. Kaizen stood before a towering, rune-etched obsidian gate—long dormant, now stirring awake. The voice that had called him here no longer whispered but roared silently in his mind, like a memory of fire too ancient to burn out.

Behind him, Naruto grumbled, "Why do I feel like we're standing on top of a volcano?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "This place isn't normal. That symbol... it's Uchiha, but something's wrong. It's distorted."

Kaizen's fused Ketsugan and Sharingan flared, showing a glowing helix of red and white energy that outlined the door's mechanism.

"The Kuroten Seal," Kaizen murmured. "A forbidden lock made to contain bloodline fusions. I think... this was built to imprison something—or someone—like me."

Sakura took a nervous step back. "Wait, are you saying this place was designed for your clan?"

"No," Kaizen said slowly, his voice calm but grim. "It was made to erase the ones they feared the most."

A pulse of heat rolled through the room, and a low growl echoed from the other side of the gate. The chakra pressure was immense—reminiscent of the Nine-Tails, but... colder. Older. Ancient.

Suddenly, the seal reacted to Kaizen's blood. The glowing symbols twisted, unraveling, and the massive doors began to part with a groaning wail.

Inside lay the true source of the forgotten flame—a crystal cocoon embedded with draconic scales and Uchiha chakra, half-shattered. Tendrils of crimson mist drifted from it, and from within, two eyes glowed like molten rubies.

Sasuke stepped back, eyes wide. "That's... not human."

"It's not," Kaizen whispered. "It's me."