Darkness.
Weightless.
But loud.
His heartbeat echoes like war drums inside his head.
Then a scream.
Not his.
A woman.
Crying.
He sees flashes again.
Blood-stained snow.
Footsteps in the white.
He's holding a sword.
Dripping.
Someone's voice screams his name—
But the name is not his.
Another flash—
A glowing eye reflected in frozen water.
His eye.
Different.
Twisting like a spiral.
And then—light.
Too bright.
He wakes up.
Gasping.
Vision doubled.
His head hurts.
Something burns behind his left eye.
His hands—shaking.
He's no longer in the library.
He's… somewhere else.
A wooden floor.
No windows.
Only a candle flickering in the far corner.
A dark room.
Quiet.
But not empty.
He hears someone breathing.
Two steps behind.
"You're awake."
A voice.
Familiar.
The girl in the cloak steps forward.
"You were poisoned," she says. "It's temporary. But painful."
He sits up.
Feels the weight of chains on his ankles.
She notices.
"I had to," she says calmly. "You've triggered Protocol 4."
He doesn't understand.
Yet he does.
The dreams.
The visions.
The blurring of past and present.
She kneels in front of him.
Places something in his palm.
A scroll.
Old.
Crumbling.
"This is a Harmonization Seal," she says. "If you read it… your mind and eye will start syncing."
"What happens if I don't?"
"You'll die."
He laughs a little.
Dark.
Dry.
No humor.
"What is this… Protocol 4?"
She hesitates.
Then answers.
"The eye... is not yours. It never was. You're just the next container."
"What does Harmonization do?"
"It decides whether you remain in control—or become a passenger."
The words sink deep.
He grips the scroll.
Tightly.
And nods.
"Then let's start."
She unseals the scroll.
Symbols fly out.
They spin in the air.
Forming a circle.
He closes his left eye.
It glows through the eyelid.
The room fills with whispers.
Voices.
Unknown languages.
She begins chanting.
Fast.
Urgent.
The circle of symbols starts closing in.
One by one.
Touching his skin.
Burning.
He clenches his teeth.
The pain—
It's different.
Not physical.
Mental.
Memories crash into him.
Not his own.
He sees a man standing in front of the Sage of Six Paths.
He sees a woman chained inside a temple.
A giant eye… watching from the moon.
He screams.
Can't help it.
His eye opens by force.
Blood leaks.
The symbols burn brighter.
Then—
Silence.
The last symbol marks his chest.
And fades.
He falls forward.
Exhausted.
But not unconscious.
She steadies him.
Wipes the blood from his face.
"You did it," she whispers.
"You survived Harmonization."
He sleeps for twelve hours.
Wakes up in a different room.
This one has a window.
It's evening.
He feels… strange.
Stronger.
But heavier.
Like his body is adjusting.
She sits beside the window.
Watching the clouds.
"You're the first," she says. "To survive Protocol 4 before age 15."
He doesn't speak.
Too tired.
Too numb.
She stands.
"I know you have questions. But we don't have much time."
She throws him a jacket.
"You're going back to Konoha."
He blinks.
"What?"
"You've been missing for one day. That's enough to raise flags."
He gets up slowly.
His body aches.
But his vision—
Clear.
Sharper than ever.
She walks him outside.
It's a forest.
Just outside the Hidden Leaf barrier.
A secret exit carved through the cliff walls.
Before he steps through, she speaks again.
"Don't trust the old man."
He stops.
"Hokage?"
She nods.
"And don't trust your reflection."
That confuses him.
But she disappears before he can ask.
He returns to Konoha.
Barely in time.
A couple of ANBU catch him near the village gates.
They question him.
He tells them he blacked out after a training session.
Woke up near the forest.
Injured.
Disoriented.
They buy it.
Almost.
They escort him to the Hokage.
Sarutobi looks at him.
Longer than usual.
No smile.
Only smoke from his pipe.
"Where were you?" he asks.
"I don't know."
Truth.
Technically.
"Do you remember what happened?"
He shakes his head.
Sarutobi studies him.
Eyes sharper than any genjutsu.
But then—
He nods.
"Get some rest."
Just like that.
Dismissed.
That night.
The dreams return.
But clearer.
He sees the ancient temple again.
This time he walks inside.
He sees seven thrones.
Six broken.
One still whole.
He touches it—
And his eye burns awake.
He sits up in his bed.
Sweating.
But his mind—calm.
For the first time.
He understands something now.
The protocols.
They're not just powers.
They're memories.
Of another life.
Another self.
And something is coming.
He senses it.
Not a person.
Not even a creature.
But… an event.
Something massive.
Something that could split reality itself.
He visits the academy the next day.
Everything's normal.
Naruto still loud.
Sasuke still quiet.
Sakura still fake-laughing.
But Neji notices.
His gaze lingers.
Byakugan watching him silently.
Sasuke too.
But says nothing.
Iruka pulls him aside after class.
"I heard you blacked out. You okay?"
He nods.
"You're not in trouble. But… be careful. These things happen. And sometimes, they leave something behind."
The words carry weight.
He nods again.
Leaves.
Night falls again.
Another letter.
Same blood-red ink.
Slipped under his door.
No symbol this time.
Just a message.
"You survived Protocol 4. You're no longer prey."
Below that—
"Next: Blood Recoil."
He feels his eye twitch.
His reflection in the window distorts.
For a moment—
He sees another face.
Staring back.
Same hair.
Same skin.
Same eye.
But… smiling.
And he isn't.