The next morning was quiet.
Too quiet.
Kuro awoke at the orphanage before dawn, instincts alert. His body was calm, but something unsettled churned beneath the surface of his skin.
He remembered the scroll in the dojo. The handwriting. The warning.
"If you walk both worlds, be careful not to fall between them."
The message was a whisper, but also a threat—a reminder that the path he walked was visible to more eyes than he'd anticipated. The system remained silent, offering no clues.
He dressed carefully, slipped past the snoring caretakers, and made his way to the old dojo.
It was empty again, as always. No new scrolls. No signs of entry. But that only deepened his unease.
[System Alert: Passive Detection Ping – Unknown Presence Detected Two Nights Prior. Identity: Masked Observer. Level Unknown.]
"Someone stronger than the Watcher."
Kuro knelt in the center of the dojo and began his morning forms. He moved slower than usual, deliberately focusing on rhythm and stillness.
"If they're watching," he whispered, "then let them see nothing worth watching."
At the Academy
That day, Iruka began the lecture with an unexpected announcement.
"Today we'll be joined by a guest instructor. This is Mitarashi Anko—special jounin, former student of one of the Legendary Sannin."
The class flinched at the name. Anko carried herself like a blade—jagged, impatient, and not interested in making friends.
She stood with hands in her coat pockets, eyes scanning the classroom like a hawk over prey.
"I'm not here to babysit," she said bluntly. "Iruka says this batch shows promise. We'll see."
Sparring pairs were selected. Kuro hoped to avoid her notice.
No such luck.
"You," she said, pointing straight at him. "The quiet one. Fight me."
Whispers surged through the class.
"Is she serious?""She'll kill him.""That's the weird kid, right?""He doesn't even use jutsu…"
Iruka tried to interject. "Anko, perhaps—"
"He's either ready or he's not. C'mon, gray boy."
Kuro stepped into the sparring circle.
He didn't bow.
Neither did she.
Anko vs. Kuro
She moved first—faster than any academy student could track. A simple front kick aimed at his stomach.
Kuro slid back—not dodging, but absorbing, letting her motion flow past his frame.
She followed with a spinning backhand.
He ducked.
A leg sweep.
He leapt gently over it, pivoted mid-air, and landed without sound.
"Huh," she muttered. "You are strange."
Kuro moved in—not to attack, but to feel. He stepped just inside her guard and touched her wrist lightly.
[Technique Activated: Flow Disruption Palm – Light Touch Variant]
Her chakra surged. Flickered. Stumbled.
"What the—?"
She twisted out of his range and leapt back.
"You just tried to jam my tenketsu."
"Not exactly," Kuro said calmly. "I disrupted the timing, not the node."
"You shouldn't even know what a node is."
Now the room was silent.
Iruka stared, mouth slightly open.
Anko stared harder.
"You're not from any clan I've seen," she muttered.
"I'm not from any clan," Kuro replied.
System Prompt
[Combat Success: Deflect Hostile Elite without Damage – Achievement Unlocked][Skill Up: Flow Disruption Palm – Rank D → Rank C][Unique Trait: Combat Equilibrium Detected – New Trait Seed Germinated]
"Even when outmatched, you maintained balance. This is the heart of Jin Mu Won's martial intent."
After the Match
Later that day, as the class was dismissed, Anko intercepted him before he could leave.
"Where'd you learn to move like that?"
"I was raised by a retired swordsman in the Land of Iron."
"That explains the footwork. Doesn't explain how you touched my flow."
Kuro shrugged. "I don't like loud moves. Or loud people."
Anko smirked. "You'll fit in just fine. Or get killed real fast."
She handed him something. A folded scroll.
"Study this. It's not chakra-based. It's just old movements. Root-era stuff. Might suit you."
Root? Kuro knew the name. Danzo's covert black-ops division. Brutal. Efficient. Emotionless.
"Why give this to me?"
"Because you didn't flinch. And because you don't belong here—but somehow, you do."
She turned and left.
The scroll was old. The ink faded. It contained a series of techniques labeled only by numbers:
Root Style 1: Nerve Tap
Root Style 2: Silent Bind Step
Root Style 3: Pulse Sever
Kuro didn't smile. But inside, something stirred.
"Even the poison tree has roots worth studying."
Naruto, Curious Again
That night, Naruto approached him at the training field.
"You fought that crazy lady and didn't even get hurt. You gotta be hiding something."
"Maybe," Kuro said, practicing strikes on a worn dummy.
"Teach me," Naruto said.
Kuro paused. "Why?"
"Because no one teaches me anything. Iruka tries, but… I don't get it like the others. Sasuke's good at everything. Even Hinata's getting better."
"You don't want to learn to be me," Kuro said. "It's lonely."
"I'm already lonely," Naruto snapped.
Kuro looked at him—really looked. For once, not as noise, not as color, but as a soul trying to rise.
He nodded.
"Come tomorrow morning. Before sunrise. If you're late, I leave."
Naruto grinned.
"Deal!"
System Notification
[New Branch Questline: The Loud and the Silent]Teach Naruto – Outcomes Will Shape Future Events.Optional Goal: Impart Jin Mu Won Philosophy Without Revealing the System.]
"This might be dangerous.""But maybe it's necessary."
That Night – Another Scroll Appears
Back at the dojo, a second scroll lay waiting for him—this time weighted with a small obsidian coin.
The handwriting was different than before.
More elegant. More deliberate.
"You are being watched not just by the village, but by those beyond it. The way you walk is not unknown to the Old Clans. Stay silent, or wake the past."
[New Hidden Faction Introduced: The Forgotten Houses of the Martial World]
[World Fragment Detection: 3% Unlocked]
"So the echoes of Jin Mu Won existed even here…"
The Naruto world, it seemed, wasn't just chakra and bloodlines.
It held older things. Forgotten things.
And Kuro was a spark to reignite them.