Chapter 21: The Hidden Game

Rain fell like needles as Phantom stood on the edge of a fractured world.

Above him, the skies still shimmered with the aftershocks of Ruin's forced entry. The red portal had closed—but not before leaving behind scars in the clouds, trails of warped space where time had twisted like a broken spine.

Ruin was gone.

But he had said just one word before he left—"Judgment."

And Phantom knew that meant one thing.

He was being tested.

Not by Danzo.

Not by the system.

By the origin of the glitch itself.

Phantom knelt, trying to regulate his breathing. The wounds from the fight with Phantom_X had closed, but the ache lingered—deep in the marrow. Not from physical damage.

From identity degradation.

[System Alert: Identity Fragmentation Stabilized – For Now]

[Integration Level with Assassin Persona: 18%]

[Warning: Higher integration risks full override]

He could still feel the Assassin breathing inside him—coiled like a panther. Restless. Watching.

"I don't like this silence," the voice said.

"I know," Phantom muttered under his breath. "Neither do I."

He surveyed the forest.

The battlefield was empty. No sign of Phantom_X. No blood trail. No scroll.

All wiped.

Only the scent of scorched chakra and the residue of forbidden techniques.

But the real threat wasn't what he had just fought.

It was who was watching now.

A soft breeze rustled the leaves.

Then, a voice spoke from the trees—calm, amused, and entirely unexpected.

"You move like a Root ghost, but you hesitate like a human."

Phantom's blades were in his hands before the last word finished echoing.

He spun, kunai flying—and struck nothing.

Just mist.

And a chuckle.

"Still twitchy. That's good."

Then, out of the shadows, stepped a child—maybe eleven, twelve years old, in a tattered hoodie and cracked glasses. His eyes, though…

Not a child's eyes.

They were ancient.

Phantom narrowed his gaze. "You're not from Root."

"Nope."

"ANBU?"

The boy snorted. "Cute."

"Who are you?"

The boy smiled. "Someone who's been playing this game far longer than you've been alive."

[System Scan: Unknown Entity Detected]

[Identity Trace: Blocked]

[Threat Level: ???]

[Title: Gamekeeper]

"You triggered Protocol Zero," the Gamekeeper said, now walking in slow circles around Phantom. "That means your system's starting to remember. That means they'll come for you in waves now. Not just the clones, not just the echoes."

Phantom didn't lower his guard.

"I handled Phantom_X."

"Did you? You sure about that?"

Phantom didn't answer.

The Gamekeeper continued, plopping down on a stump like this was some casual chat.

"You're standing at the midpoint of what we call the Hidden Game. You think this is about Danzo, or Naruto, or stopping some Root conspiracy?"

He leaned forward.

"It's bigger. Way bigger. This is about rewriting history itself—and you're just a pawn who got smart enough to notice the board."

Phantom frowned. "What do you want?"

"To give you a move."

"A what?"

The Gamekeeper tossed him a small, obsidian-black tile etched with strange swirling patterns.

It pulsed once when Phantom touched it.

[System Update: Hidden Move Unlocked]

[Subprotocol: "Mirrorstep" Installed]

[Warning: Usage Will Attract Greater Entities]

Phantom stared at the tile.

"What's the cost?"

The boy grinned, wide and eerie.

"Everything that made you human."

Meanwhile – Konoha's Inner Council Chambers

Tsunade slammed her palm against the table. "He was sent on observation, not open combat!"

Danzo remained impassive. "The mission evolved."

"You sent an aborted version after him, Danzo," she growled. "Phantom_X is unstable."

Homura leaned forward. "He survived. That says something."

Tsunade's eyes burned. "It says he's becoming something we can't control."

Kakashi spoke for the first time. "I told you. He's not just a ghost. He's learning. Adapting. He's not slipping—he's growing."

Danzo's fingers drummed on the table.

"Then the next test must be accelerated."

Tsunade's glare darkened. "You'll lose him."

Danzo smiled beneath his bandages. "Or he'll find himself."

Back in the forest, Phantom pocketed the tile and took a step back.

"I'm not ready to lose what little's left."

The Gamekeeper just winked. "No one is. That's what makes the game interesting."

Then he vanished.

No jutsu.

No sound.

Just gone.

And Phantom was alone again.

The mission was long over.

Tazuna's bridge was complete. The Zabuza encounter had shifted the tides of that region, but it no longer mattered.

That mission had been a smokescreen.

A way to isolate Phantom. To draw out the buried codes.

Phantom turned to leave—and paused.

Because there, at the edge of the clearing, stood a familiar face.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Watching.

"Was wondering when you'd notice me," Sasuke said, stepping forward.

"How long?" Phantom asked.

"Long enough to see you fighting nothing but air."

Phantom didn't react.

Sasuke's Sharingan spun slowly.

"You're not who you say you are."

"And you're not asking the right questions."

Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Like what?"

"Like why your brother's name is embedded in my system."

Sasuke froze.

"...What?"

Phantom walked past him.

"Next time you want to watch, don't forget—I was trained by people who taught the Uchiha how to vanish."

Elsewhere – The Mirror Realm

A ripple formed in the space between dimensions.

And from it stepped Echo.

Her face half-shrouded in a veil of glitching pixels, her eyes glowing the same violet as Phantom's system prompts.

Behind her, dozens of mirrored screens flickered.

On them—Phantom.

Every move. Every word. Every hesitation.

She whispered to the empty void:

"He's almost ready."

Then she turned, her voice sharp.

"Release the Arc Tokens."

The screens glitched.

And from their depths, six figures emerged.

Shrouded in armor from timelines never born.

All of them bearing the same sigil:

[OBLIVION]