Uchiha's forgotten Ember

The gates of Konoha loomed in the distance, towering like silent sentinels watching over the village. The sun was just beginning to dip beyond the horizon, casting long shadows across the dirt road. Birds chirped, children laughed beyond the walls, and the faint scent of grilled dumplings and miso broth drifted from the marketplace.

Naruto raised his fists to the sky.

"WE'RE BACK, BABY! RAMEN, HERE I COME!"

Jiraiya groaned. "That kid only has two brain cells—one for yelling, and one for eating."

Kaizen chuckled under his breath. Though the journey home had been relatively quiet, he found himself appreciating Naruto's presence more than he expected. The blonde was like an unstoppable spark that refused to die out, no matter how harsh the wind blew.

Kaizen's own crimson eyes flicked toward the village skyline, landing on the Hokage Monument.

'A new era is coming… but the roots still rot beneath the soil,' he thought.

---

Inside Konoha – Celebration and Undercurrents

The return of Tsunade was met with celebration. Villagers lined the streets, welcoming their new Fifth Hokage with cheers and waves. Konohamaru even ran up and tugged on Naruto's sleeve.

"Boss! You really brought back the new Hokage?!"

"Of course I did!" Naruto beamed, hands on his hips. "That's what future Hokage do!"

Kaizen, however, kept to the back, his presence more muted. A few villagers gave him sideways glances. Whispers carried on the breeze:

"Isn't that the Uchiha boy?"

"I thought the clan was gone…"

He ignored them.

Tsunade took her place at the Hokage Tower, and soon after, missions resumed, the hospital stabilized, and for the first time in weeks—Konoha began to heal.

---

Summoning Practice Continues

Back at Training Ground 7, Kaizen and Naruto stood in the middle of a broken field. Scorch marks, small craters, and claw prints littered the area.

"Alright, let's try again," Kaizen said, weaving hand signs.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

POOF!

A shimmering, serpent-winged dragon whelp appeared at Kaizen's side—Rinryuu. Her scales had grown more iridescent, now trailing faint wisps of vapor as she hissed at the air.

Naruto pouted. "Ugh! Still just Gamakichi. I want Gamabunta!"

"Maybe if you stopped passing out after every summon," Kaizen teased.

Naruto grumbled, but then both turned serious as their chakra flared. The earth beneath them pulsed faintly.

---

Meanwhile… in the Shadows

Deep beneath Konoha, in the ROOT compound, Danzo watched the reports unfold.

"The boy has returned," one agent reported.

"The Uchiha? Or the Jinchuriki?"

Danzo's one visible eye narrowed. "Both."

A brief silence fell.

Danzo turned to the shadows behind him. "Activate sleeper agents. We must ensure the Uchiha does not awaken the rest of his blood."

---

Back in the Uchiha Compound

That night, Kaizen wandered the old Uchiha ruins. The compound was silent, lifeless. Lanterns long cold. He paused at a charred wall, brushing his fingers over a faded clan crest.

Then he noticed… a single black raven perched atop the rooftop.

Watching.

Its eye glinted red.

"…Sasuke?" Kaizen whispered.

But the raven flapped its wings and vanished into the night.

Konoha – One Week After Tsunade's Return

The village bustled once more with the rhythm of recovery. Scaffolding and repairs lined many rooftops, and citizens walked with lighter steps under the newly appointed Fifth Hokage's protection. Tsunade's strength and fierce will became quickly evident—her presence reminding the village what it meant to have a Sannin at its helm.

Naruto had resumed his boisterous training routine, swearing to surpass Tsunade and become Hokage himself. Meanwhile, Kaizen had found quieter moments amid the chaos. The remnants of the Chūnin Exams, the Invasion, and the loss of the Third Hokage weighed heavily on him.

In the shadow of the Hokage Monument, Kaizen stood alone, katana sheathed across his back. His fused Ketsugan and Sharingan eyes slowly blinked open, the irises glowing with concentric rings of deep violet and crimson lightning threads. Meditation had become a daily ritual—one that stabilized his bloodline fusion and tamed the remnants of his intense grief.

> "You're suppressing your chakra again."

Kakashi's voice cut through the silence as he stepped forward with his Icha Icha book in one hand.

Kaizen opened his eyes fully. "There's too much of it. If I don't focus it through a circuit, it spills. The fusion—it amplified everything."

> "And you're doing a better job than most Jōnin could," Kakashi replied with his usual calm. "Lady Tsunade was impressed by your diagnostic sealwork too. You have more than just power—you've got instinct."

Kaizen turned to him. "Are you trying to recruit me for something?"

> Kakashi's visible eye crinkled in a smile. "Nope. Already yours. Team Seven is whole again. Sakura, Naruto, you, and Sasuke. We'll rotate training missions and surveillance. Sound Four and Orochimaru aren't done yet."

---

Elsewhere – Hokage Tower

Naruto grinned wide, standing proudly before Tsunade's desk. "I'm gonna train twice as hard now! I'll be better than the last Hokage and the next one!"

> Tsunade raised an eyebrow, signing a mission scroll. "You're not even a Chūnin yet, gaki."

"Then I'll skip that step! Believe it!"

Kaizen entered the room calmly behind Naruto. "Lady Tsunade, I've completed the new containment seal for the Hyūga barrier project."

> Tsunade glanced at him, pleased. "Good. You've got a sharp mind, Kaizen. Maybe we'll make a medic-nin out of you yet."

Naruto blinked. "Wait, Kaizen's working on barrier seals and fighting off Gaara's Shukaku form like it's no big deal?!"

Kaizen gave a rare smirk. "Multitasking."

---

That Night – Uchiha District

Though still scarred by the massacre, the Uchiha compound had begun to stir with life again. Kaizen's presence had slowly earned him respect and fear in equal measure. Not as a ghost of the clan—but as a flame rekindled.

In a hidden chamber, Kaizen sat beneath a large paper seal spread over the ground, focusing on his next goal: perfecting his personal summoning contract.

A massive parchment scrawled in ink lay before him. Unlike Naruto's toads or Sasuke's hawks, Kaizen had chosen something ancient—dragons, long dormant from the Kurata line. The blood contract shimmered with pale blue light as Kaizen whispered the pact's vow.

> "From molten core to celestial flame, I summon thee—Shiroten, Drake of Memory."

A swirl of silver mist filled the chamber, and with a low rumble, a large, serpent-like dragon spirit emerged—half ethereal, half flesh, its scales crystalline like ice and its eyes ancient and glowing.

> "You called, scion of the frostfire blood."

Kaizen bowed. "I seek knowledge. To grow… and to protect them all."