Location: Forest of Death – Central Zone
Status: Stage Two – Ember Synchronization Expanding
Participants Remaining: 31
---
Something was different now.
The trees didn't sway the same way.
The birds had stopped singing.
Even the air carried a weight, like the forest itself was listening.
---
> "We're being followed again," Sasuke muttered. "But not ROOT."
> "Another team?" Sakura asked.
> "No. Something else," I answered, my eyes spinning slowly—spiral crimson laced with molten silver. "It's watching us from above the canopy."
---
> [System Alert – Environmental Mutation Detected]
Chakra Field Instability – Cause: Wyrmsoul Influence
Mana Pulse Formation Initiated. Nature reacting to ancient chakra.
> Effect: Region-Class Mutation – Forest of Death now partially corrupted.
---
The trees near me had begun to shift.
Bark blackened.
Roots glowed with ember lines.
Moss turned to scorchleaf—plants once thought extinct.
The dragon in me stirred.
Bahdrakorr's chakra wasn't just residing within me—it was leaking, reshaping the land through my steps.
---
Naruto blinked. "Hey, uh… were those trees on fire five seconds ago?"
> "No," I said. "They remember fire."
---
Suddenly, a scream echoed from the east.
Then silence.
Another team.
> "That was Team Oboro from Amegakure," Sasuke muttered. "Three genin, all with mist-cloaking and genjutsu tactics."
> "Gone now," I said.
---
A pulse of chakra struck the ground—
BOOM.
Dust and flame blew out from a distant ridge. Birds exploded from the trees, panicked.
We rushed toward it.
---
At the scene:
Burnt grass.
Half-melted kunai.
One crater.
No bodies.
Only black scorch marks in the shape of a coiled dragon claw.
---
> "They stepped into the mutated zone," I muttered. "And they couldn't handle the echoes."
Sakura looked pale. "So it's not just enemies being affected—it's the forest. The whole area is changing just by your presence."
> "Then we'll have to finish this exam fast," Sasuke said, tightening his gloves. "Before the forest forgets us too."
---
Further ahead, another team hid behind a barrier of earth-style defenses.
Team Kabuto.
They watched from the shadows—curious, calculating, but not ready to strike.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses.
> "So… the dragon lives again."
---
Above them all, high in the trees, a figure cloaked in ANBU armor crouched beside a masked ROOT observer.
> "Send word to Danzo," the ROOT agent whispered. "Phase one has failed. Uchiha Kaizen is alive—and the forest now burns in his image."
The ANBU didn't reply.
He just looked up at the sky—
Where a thin spiral of flame twisted through the clouds like a dragon's breath.
Location: Forest of Death – Ember Zone
Status: Contamination Level: 12%
Time Remaining: 42 Hours
---
We moved quickly, leaping from tree to tree. The path ahead glowed faintly under my steps—roots curling unnaturally, leaves whispering in a language only I could hear.
---
> [System Notice – Wyrmsoul Influence Radius Expanding]
Warning: Inner Forest zones now evolving into Fire-Aligned Chakra Terrain
Effect: Increased elemental hostility, decreased stealth efficacy for non-native chakra
---
Sakura pressed a hand to her temple. "This chakra… it's messing with my focus. It's like I'm trying to think through smoke."
> "Because the forest doesn't trust outsiders anymore," I said.
> "But we're in your team," Naruto argued.
> "Even you," I replied calmly. "The Wyrmsoul doesn't recognize allies. It only recognizes heirs and threats."
---
Suddenly—
A sound.
Metal hitting bark.
A trap triggered.
Sasuke reacted first, spinning midair and knocking two kunai aside with perfect form.
But the third…
had a tag.
It pulsed once—
and exploded in a flare of mist, not fire.
---
"Hidden Mist jutsu," Sasuke muttered. "But warped."
---
From the fog stepped three cloaked figures—headbands marked with slashes through Kirigakure. But their eyes…
Not normal.
Dilated. Bloodshot. Crackling with wild chakra.
And their veins pulsed unnaturally—too bright, too unstable.
---
> "They're corrupted," I whispered.
> "By what?" Sakura asked, readying her kunai.
> "By the forest," I answered grimly.
---
The lead Mist-nin spoke, voice ragged.
> "We were here to kill, not survive. But the flames... they speak now. They show us things."
He pointed at me.
> "You're the source, aren't you? The dragon's heir. The fire-thief."
> "I didn't steal anything," I replied. "It remembered me."
---
With a scream, they attacked—chakra flaring erratically.
Sasuke took the left, Naruto the right.
I stepped forward, calm.
> "Flame Style: Spiral Burn."
A single spin of my hand drew a sigil in the air.
The sigil ignited, releasing a shockwave of heat and memory.
The mist evaporated instantly.
One attacker dropped, paralyzed, hands twitching from echo-overload.
Another screamed as visions of his own training memories looped endlessly—caught in my Wyrmsoul imprint.
Only the last one remained, snarling with a sword of ice.
---
He lunged.
But I caught the blade—barehanded.
The chakra reacted violently with mine—cracking, steaming, melting in my grip.
> "You were brave," I said, eyes glowing.
> "But this is where memory ends."
---
I let Bahdrakorr's fire speak through me.
A silent pulse.
The Mist-nin dropped to his knees—conscious, but stunned. He began crying, whispering names I didn't know.
---
Sakura was silent.
Naruto's eyes were wide.
Sasuke… watched me carefully, jaw clenched.
---
> "They didn't stand a chance," Naruto finally muttered.
> "They weren't supposed to," I replied. "The forest already decided they didn't belong."
---
We left them behind, their minds broken by memory, not violence.
---
High above, in the black canopy, the masked ROOT observer clicked a seal tag.
> "Observation confirmed. Forest mutation exceeds expectations."
He turned and vanished, whispering into a scroll tube—
> "Danzo-sama… it has begun."