The sun over Konoha was a pale, mocking imitation of the fire Kaito had seen in the Rain. It hung high and indifferent over the village, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch toward him like grasping hands. Following his confrontation with Danzo Shimura, the air in the village felt different—thicker, more stagnant. Every alleyway felt like a potential ambush, and every polite nod from a passing Chunin felt like a masked interrogation.
Kaito sat on a stone bench in the Academy's rear courtyard, far from the bustling training fields where the younger students were practicing their shuriken throws. His body was still acclimating to the Steel Bone Density. Every time he shifted his weight, the bench groaned under a mass that didn't match his small frame.
Hiss... Haaaa...
The Total Concentration Breathing was a low, rhythmic vibration that kept the "Roughness" of his skin from accidentally shredding his own clothes. He was a walking hazard, a boy who had to think about the physics of a footstep just to keep from cracking the pavement.
"You're brooding again. It makes you look like a miniature version of the Second Hokage, and believe me, that's not a compliment."
Kaito didn't need to flare his Observation Haki to recognize the voice. Tsunade stood a few feet away, her hands tucked into the pockets of her mesh armor. She looked exhausted, her medical sleeves stained with the faint, lingering scent of antiseptic and sage.
"The Hokage said I have to attend 'Humanity Sessions'," Kaito said, his voice carrying that new, metallic resonance. "I assumed that meant talking to a therapist, not sitting in the dirt with you."
Tsunade snorted, sitting down beside him. The bench creaked ominously. She looked at the stone, then at Kaito, her eyes narrowing. "You're heavier. Not bigger... just heavier. What did you do while you were recovering? And don't give me that 'just breathing' nonsense."
"I integrated," Kaito replied simply.
"Integrated," she repeated, the word tasting bitter. "You talk about your body like it's a machine, Kaito. That's exactly what Danzo wants. He's been breathing down my grandfather's—I mean, the Hokage's—neck all morning. He's furious that you turned him down."
Kaito looked at his hands, his knuckles still carrying the obsidian sheen of the Armament Haki seed. "He wanted a shadow. I'm already a ghost. I don't need to be both."
The Session
Tsunade sighed and pulled a small wooden Shogi board from her bag. "The Hokage thinks if you spend time doing 'normal' things, you'll stop looking at everyone like they're a target at sixty paces. So, we're playing Shogi. No Haki, no 'Burst' movements, and for the love of the Sage, stop vibrating. You're making the pieces rattle."
Kaito reached out to move a pawn. His fingers, now possessed of Steel Bone Density, gripped the delicate wood with terrifying precision. "How are Jiraiya and Orochimaru?"
"Jiraiya is busy being a loud-mouthed 'hero'. The Academy girls are following him around, and it's gone straight to his head," Tsunade said, though a small smile touched her lips. "And Orochimaru... he's in the archives. He's looking for anything related to 'Physical Anomalies' and 'Void Chakra'. He's worried about you, in his own creepy, obsessive way."
Kaito moved his silver general. "And you? You're the one who has to keep us all in one piece."
Tsunade stopped, her hand hovering over a gold general. She looked at Kaito, and for a moment, the mask of the fierce Senju princess slipped. She looked like a child again—a child who had seen too many bodies on too many litters. "I'm tired of being the only one who remembers we're supposed to be children, Kaito. The war... it's not over. The Iwa are moving toward the Grass border. The Kumo are testing the northern coast. And here I am, playing Shogi with a boy who can shatter a stone golem with his bare hands."
The Ambush in the Light
The peace of the courtyard was shattered not by an explosion, but by a sudden, unnatural silence. The birds in the surrounding trees stopped singing. The wind died.
Kaito's Observation Haki didn't just tingle; it screamed.
> [System Alert: High-Threat Intent Detected]
> Source: 3 O'clock. High Ground.
> Type: Lightning Release Signatures.
>
"Tsunade, move!" Kaito roared.
He didn't use a gentle push. He slammed his shoulder into her, his Steel Bone Density sending her flying back toward the Academy's stone wall just as a bolt of blue lightning tore through the spot where they had been sitting.
The Shogi board was vaporized. The stone bench was turned into glowing slag.
Three figures materialized from the canopy, wearing the dark, high-collared vests of Kumogakure. They weren't scouts; they were a specialized abduction team. Their skin was wreathed in flickering blue electricity—the Lightning Release Armor.
"The Anomaly," the lead Kumo ninja rasped, his eyes fixed on Kaito. "The Raikage wants to know how a civilian breathes fire into his blood. You're coming with us, boy. Dead or alive, your marrow will tell the story."
The Clash of Elements and Will
Tsunade scrambled to her feet, her knuckles cracking as she surged with chakra. "Kumo spies? Inside the village!? You must be suicidal!"
"The village is distracted by its 'heroes'," the Kumo leader sneered. "They didn't expect us to walk through the front door."
Kaito stood in the center of the cratered courtyard. He took a slow, rattling breath.
"Total Concentration... Constant... OVERDRIVE!"
His skin began to steam as his internal temperature skyrocketed. He didn't have Slaughter Demon—Kagami had taken it for "safekeeping"—so he had to rely on the only weapons he had ever truly owned: his fists.
The first Kumo ninja moved with the speed of a lightning strike. He appeared in Kaito's guard, his hand coated in a piercing blade of electricity.
Kaito didn't dodge. He raised his right hand, his Armament Haki turning his skin into a light-swallowing obsidian.
CLANG.
The lightning blade hit his palm. Sparks showered the courtyard, the smell of ozone filling the air. The Kumo ninja's eyes widened. "He caught it? Without a jutsu!?"
"My turn," Kaito rasped.
[Refined Soru]
Kaito disappeared. He didn't move like a ninja; he moved like a glitch. He appeared beneath the ninja's chin.
"Divergent... BLACK FLASH!"
The spatial distortion snapped. The black lightning erupted, tearing through the Kumo ninja's Lightning Armor as if it were made of wet paper. The man was launched upward, his body shattering through the Academy's roof.
The other two Kumo ninjas didn't hesitate. They knew they couldn't win a physical brawl. They slammed their hands together. "Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind!"
Four massive pillars of electricity rose around Kaito, forming a cage that pulsed with millions of volts. The ground beneath him began to melt.
"Kaito!" Tsunade screamed. She lunged forward, but the third Kumo ninja intercepted her, his blade flickering with high-frequency electricity.
Kaito stood inside the cage. The heat was immense, the electricity crawling over his Roughness-coated skin like a thousand stinging insects.
> [System Status: Integration 4.5%]
> Warning: External Temperature Exceeds Safety Parameters.
> Recommendation: Execute 'Conqueror's Flare' to disrupt the chakra construct.
>
Kaito didn't use the flare. He didn't want to alert the whole village to his new "Will" power yet. Instead, he focused on the Steel Bone Density and the Total Concentration Breathing. He pulled the air into his marrow, feeling the oxygen saturate his very skeleton.
He walked forward.
He didn't run. He didn't leap. He simply walked through the wall of electricity. The lightning lashed out at him, burning his clothes and searing his skin, but his Physical Integrity held. His obsidian-coated arms pushed the pillars aside as if they were made of plastic.
The Kumo ninjas backed away, terror finally overriding their mission. "He's... he's walking through a Four Pillar Bind... what kind of monster is this!?"
Kaito emerged from the cage, his skin blackened and smoking, his eyes glowing with a terrifying, rhythmic intensity. "I told Danzo... I don't like boxes."
He used Refined Soru one last time. Two dull thuds echoed through the courtyard. The Kumo ninjas fell, their chests caved in by a force that carried no chakra, only the weight of an anomaly's will.
The Aftermath
By the time the Konoha ANBU and Kagami Uchiha arrived, the courtyard was a wreck. Kaito sat in the center of the ruins, his breathing finally slowing back to its "Constant" rhythm. Tsunade was kneeling beside him, her hands trembling as she applied healing chakra to his scorched shoulders.
Kagami landed beside them, his Sharingan spinning with a violent, protective light. He looked at the three unconscious Kumo ninjas, then at Kaito. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Sensei," Kaito said, though his voice was brittle.
Kagami looked at the ANBU, his voice like ice. "How did three Kumo abduction specialists reach the Academy courtyard without a single alarm being raised?"
The ANBU remained silent, but their intent was a mixture of shame and... something else. Something that felt like Danzo's lingering shadow.
Kaito looked at the sky. The golden sun was gone, replaced by the familiar, weeping grey of a coming storm. He looked at Tsunade, whose face was covered in dust and tears.
"The Shogi board is broken," Kaito said softly.
Tsunade looked at him, her grip on his arm tightening. "Forget the board, Kaito. Just... just keep breathing. Don't let them turn you into the void they're so afraid of."
> [System Status: Integration 4.5%]
> Points Awarded: 600.
> New Title: The Unbreakable Anomaly.
>
As he was led away toward the Uchiha compound for "protection," Kaito felt the gears of the village moving against him. Danzo had failed to recruit him, so the "Kumo breach" had happened. It was a warning.
But as Kaito looked at his blackened hand, he knew one thing for certain. A weapon without a trigger was dangerous. But a weapon that could think for itself... that was a revolution.