Silence had weight.
Akari felt it pressing down on him before his eyes even opened. The air was thick, not with chakra — but with control. Cold stone beneath him. A faint hum in the walls. He was underground.
He opened his eyes slowly.
The ceiling was unfamiliar: carved stone, reinforced with chakra channels — a containment chamber.
He sat up too fast.
Pain. A flash of black across his vision. His chest burned where the mark had been. He lifted his shirt — the lotus seal was gone. But a faint violet stain remained across his skin, as if his veins still remembered.
He wasn't alone.
Behind a barrier of transparent chakra glass, stood Tobirama Senju.
Calm. Calculated. Watching.
---
> "You're awake," Tobirama said, voice as precise as a blade.
"That makes things easier."
Akari tried to speak, but his throat was dry.
He reached for water. A small bowl had been left on a stone table beside him. No comforts. No bed.
Just control.
> "What happened?" Akari finally managed.
"Where's Raien?"
Tobirama didn't move.
> "Alive. He insisted you weren't a threat. I don't take insistence at face value."
Akari stared.
> "So you locked me underground?"
Tobirama's expression didn't change.
> "You lost control of something ancient — something I sealed personally almost a century ago. I don't think you understand the risk you pose. To this village. To yourself."
---
Akari stood, fists clenched.
> "You think I'm possessed."
> "No," Tobirama said. "I think you're becoming."
---
The room chilled.
Akari stepped closer to the glass. "Then test me. If I'm dangerous, do what you have to. But don't treat me like I'm already lost."
Tobirama met his gaze. "You want a test? Then listen."
He placed something on the other side of the glass: a scroll, black-sealed. The same one Akari had touched weeks ago — the one that started it all.
> "This belonged to the first wielder of the Kagura mark. Before it was a name. Before it was sealed. It's written in chakra script only the host can read."
Akari hesitated.
The mark on his chest tingled.
> "You expect me to open it?"
> "I expect you to decide if you're still yourself."
---
Just then, the door behind Tobirama slid open.
Raien entered — looking more tired than Akari had ever seen him. His eyes darted to Akari, and relief softened his features.
> "You're awake."
Akari almost smiled. "So are you."
Raien glanced at Tobirama. "This isn't how we treat our own."
Tobirama's voice was quiet, but sharp.
> "He's more than our own now. He's a gate."
---
Silence again.
Raien looked at Akari. "Did you… mean to do it?"
Akari shook his head slowly.
> "No. But I don't think I can undo it either."
---
The chakra barrier flickered — then vanished.
Tobirama nodded once.
> "You'll be released. But not unsupervised. From now on, your missions are under council review. And you're to report any... incidents. Immediately."
He turned to leave. Then paused.
> "One more thing. If the mark speaks to you again… don't listen.
That voice doesn't want to share. It wants to replace."
And with that, he vanished.
---
Later – Outside the Chamber
Akari and Raien walked in silence through the narrow halls.
Akari finally asked, "Do you think he's right? About me?"
Raien sighed. "I think you've always been more dangerous than you let on."
Akari frowned.
Raien added, "But that's never stopped me from trusting you before."
Akari didn't reply — but the tightness in his chest eased slightly.
Above them, the village carried on. But beneath it, seeds of doubt were growing — in the council, in the villagers… and in Akari himself.
Because somewhere deep in his bones,
he could still hear the voice whispering:
> "You opened the door.
You think you can close it?"