The next morning, the village was wrapped in quiet mist. Konoha's rooftops glistened faintly under the pale sunlight, and the smell of damp earth filled the air.
Ryo walked through the training field behind the Hokage residence, his hands in his pockets, still thinking about what had happened the day before.
That voice... the shadow within the darkness. It hadn't felt hostile, but it wasn't friendly either.
It was watching him. Testing him.
Naruto was already waiting by the edge of the field, wearing his usual Hokage cloak, the red flames fluttering lightly in the breeze.
Next to him stood another figure, tall, dressed in a long dark cloak, his single Sharingan eye glinting faintly beneath his bangs.
Ryo stopped for a second. "Sasuke Uchiha...?"
Sasuke gave him a short nod. "So you're the one Naruto told me about."
Ryo swallowed hard, trying to stay calm. He'd seen Sasuke countless times in the anime, but standing in front of him now was something else entirely. The man's presence was heavy, cold, but not cruel, like standing too close to the edge of a blade.
Naruto grinned. "Don't look so nervous. He doesn't bite. Much."
Sasuke sighed quietly. "You're still terrible at introductions."
Ryo let out a short, awkward laugh. "I'm just... surprised, I guess. I didn't expect both of you to train me."
Naruto crossed his arms. "You're dealing with something unusual. It's better if we both keep an eye on it. Besides, Sasuke's better at chakra control than anyone I know."
Sasuke stepped forward, his gaze sharp. "Naruto told me your chakra has a strange pattern, unstable, yet connected to something deeper. I'll confirm it myself."
Before Ryo could react, Sasuke raised his hand.
A faint surge of energy washed over the air as the Sharingan spun to life, followed by the Rinnegan's purple ripple in his other eye. The world seemed to slow down under his gaze.
Ryo froze, feeling an invisible pressure settle over him, like every layer of his being was being peeled apart and analyzed. He could feel Sasuke's chakra brushing against his own, cold and precise.
After a few seconds, Sasuke lowered his hand.
"...It's true. His chakra is layered, almost like it doesn't belong to this world. There's something buried deep inside it, but it's not demonic. More like... sealed energy."
Naruto nodded. "Exactly what I thought. That's why we need to teach him control before it wakes up on its own."
Sasuke turned back to Ryo. "Tell me, when you fight... do you ever lose track of yourself?"
Ryo hesitated. "Sometimes. It's like... the world slows down, but I can't tell what I'm doing. My body moves on its own."
Naruto exchanged a glance with Sasuke. "That's what I was afraid of."
Sasuke crossed his arms. "Then we start with grounding. You'll learn how to sense your own chakra, control your breathing, and maintain focus no matter what's inside you."
Naruto smirked. "Don't worry. Sasuke's harsh, but he's a good teacher."
"Better than you," Sasuke replied flatly.
Ryo almost laughed, almost. But his nerves kept him silent. He stepped forward, taking a stance as instructed.
Sasuke gestured toward a large boulder near the clearing. "You see that rock? Focus your chakra into your palm. Not too much. Just enough to feel the pulse."
Ryo nodded and took a deep breath. The air was crisp and cool, and for a moment, he could hear the faint rhythm of his heartbeat. He raised his hand, concentrating.
The chakra within him stirred, unstable, like a storm under calm water. He tried to shape it, compress it the way Naruto had shown him before.
But then, it flared.
The air around him crackled, the grass flattening under the sudden pressure. A faint, dark glow flickered around his arm. Naruto stepped forward quickly, raising a hand.
"Ryo, breathe. Don't fight it, guide it!"
Ryo gritted his teeth, forcing his mind to focus. His vision blurred for a second, and then he saw it.
Not just his own chakra, but threads of energy wrapping around his body like thin streams of light, flowing unevenly.
Sasuke's eyes followed every movement. "He's close. Just stabilize the flow."
Ryo exhaled slowly, guiding the streams inward. The glow dimmed, the pressure faded, and his heartbeat slowed. When he finally opened his eyes, the boulder in front of him had a clean, circular dent burned into its surface.
He lowered his arm, panting. "Did... did I do that?"
Naruto smiled. "Yeah. And without blowing yourself up. That's progress."
Sasuke gave a faint nod. "Not bad. But that power inside you reacted again. You'll need to learn how to suppress it completely before it learns to control you."
Ryo wiped the sweat from his face, still breathing hard. "Suppress it... right."
Naruto patted his shoulder. "Don't rush it. The more you understand it, the more it'll trust you."
Ryo blinked. "It'll... trust me?"
Naruto smiled faintly. "You'll see."
As they packed up the field for the day, Ryo glanced at both of them, the Seventh Hokage and the Shadow of Konoha, realizing that for the first time since arriving in this world, he wasn't walking his path alone anymore.
And deep inside, something stirred again, quiet, patient, waiting.
---
By the third day of training, Ryo's body felt like lead. Every muscle ached, his palms were scraped raw, and his chakra reserves felt constantly off balance, too wild to rest, too unstable to ignore.
Naruto watched him from the side of the field, arms crossed. "You're overthinking again," he said with a grin. "Your chakra's like ramen dough. Too stiff and it won't stretch."
Ryo groaned. "You're seriously comparing this to ramen?"
Sasuke, sitting nearby under a tree, opened one eye. "He's right, though. You're trying to control it with fear. That never works."
Ryo exhaled sharply, closing his eyes. The air was warm, buzzing faintly with residual energy from earlier exercises. He focused inward again, this time slower, more careful.
At first, all he could sense was chaos. His chakra spun unevenly, rising and falling in jagged waves. Then, as he steadied his breath, the rhythm began to shift, smoother, steadier.
He felt it.
A pulse beneath the surface. Deep, slow, and ancient.
"Good," Sasuke murmured. "Now hold it there."
Ryo nodded slightly. The energy grew clearer now, but along with it came a voice, faint and echoing, whispering from the edge of his mind.
"You're getting closer."
His eyes snapped open. The forest blurred for a second. He looked around, but Naruto and Sasuke hadn't moved; they were still watching him, unaware of what he'd heard.
"Did you... hear that?" he asked quietly.
Naruto frowned. "Hear what?"
"The voice," Ryo said, gripping his arm. "It said"
Before he could finish, the ground beneath him shuddered slightly, as if reacting to his chakra. A shockwave rippled out from where he stood, faint but enough to scatter the dust around his feet.
Sasuke was on his feet instantly, his Sharingan spinning. "Naruto, his chakra's spiking again!"
Ryo gasped, trying to stop the flow, but it was too late. The pulse inside him roared awake, flooding his senses with blinding white. He fell to his knees, clutching his head as the world twisted.
Through the noise, the same voice spoke again, clearer this time, closer.
"Stop fighting me. You'll break yourself before you understand."
He felt the world tilt sideways, then silence.
When he opened his eyes, the forest was gone.
He stood in an endless white void, suspended between nothing and everything. The air was heavy, glowing faintly with strands of golden light.
And there, a few meters ahead, stood a figure, tall, humanoid, but shifting like smoke, with eyes that burned faintly like molten amber.
"Who... are you?" Ryo whispered.
The figure tilted its head. Its voice was calm, but resonant, like it came from inside his bones.
"You already know. You've felt me since the moment you arrived here."
Ryo's hands trembled. "You're the one inside me... the thing Naruto sensed."
"Not thing," it corrected softly. "A memory... a fragment of something older than this world. You awakened it when you crossed between realities."
Before Ryo could respond, the figure stepped closer, and for a split second, he caught flashes of images, fire, destruction, a storm of chakra tearing through dimensions.
Then everything faded again.
"Your body isn't ready to see more," the voice said. "But soon... you'll have to choose what you become."
"Wait!" Ryo shouted, reaching out, but his hand passed through the light. The world fractured like glass.
And then, he was back.
He gasped, falling forward onto the grass, drenched in sweat. Naruto caught him before he hit the ground.
"Hey! Ryo! Are you okay?!"
Ryo blinked rapidly, still disoriented. Sasuke knelt nearby, eyes serious. "You were unresponsive for nearly a minute. What did you see?"
Ryo hesitated. His heartbeat thundered in his chest. "I... saw something. A place. And someone inside me. It wasn't an illusion."
Naruto's expression turned grave. "Someone... inside you?"
Ryo nodded weakly. "He said he was a memory. A fragment of something ancient."
Sasuke's gaze darkened. "A dimensional residue, maybe. It explains the foreign chakra signature."
Naruto helped Ryo sit up. "We'll figure it out. But for now, you rest. Don't try to push it."
Ryo leaned back, eyes still unfocused, the faint echo of that voice lingering in his head.
"Soon, you'll have to choose."
He didn't know what that meant. But deep down, he could feel it, this wasn't just about chakra anymore. Whatever lived inside him wasn't done yet.
And neither was he.
---