Chapter 24: The Fallen Path
By the time lunch rolled around, the Academy was buzzing.
Not because of an exam.
Not because Naruto had pranked Iruka again.
But because Phantom didn't show up.
Sakura sat near the edge of the training yard, bento untouched. She glanced toward the Academy gates again, lips pressed in thought.
Naruto sat beside her, stuffing rice balls into his mouth.
"You ever notice that guy?" he mumbled mid-chew. "He's… weird."
"You mean Phantom?"
Naruto shrugged. "Yeah. He's strong, but like, quiet strong. Like Neji, but with more... murder vibes."
Sakura didn't respond at first.
Because she had noticed something. Phantom's presence—it was like a walking contradiction. Sometimes his eyes looked like they carried ages of war. Other times, he seemed too calm for a kid their age. She had chalked it up to trauma. Maybe he was a survivor from a border village. Or worse.
But last night…
She'd dreamed of Phantom standing in the middle of a battlefield drenched in red mist, surrounded by enemies—smilingas they fell.
She hadn't told anyone.
Because it didn't feel like a dream.
It felt like a memory.
[System Warning: Phantom Sync Degradation - 18% Remaining]
[Neural Instability Detected]
[Location: Abandoned District, Sector 9]
[Shadow Pulse Signature: ACTIVE]
Somewhere deep beneath the northern edge of Konoha, Phantom collapsed to one knee.
Breathing hard.
Vision flickering.
He'd traced the dreamstate back to this place. A part of the city buried under reconstruction. Hidden from the public eye. Forgotten by the Hokage's planners. But not forgotten by the System.
[Pulse Recognized – Origin Match: ANBU Black Site #14]
[Status: Collapsed / Off-grid / Data Fragment Accessible]
[Warning: Environmental instability present]
"Of course," Phantom murmured, pushing himself up.
The entrance to the compound was half-submerged in earth and dust, but the markings—ANBU sigils, faded and scratched—were still there. Half-buried in mud, the icon of a howling mask stared up at him.
He pulled out a kunai and carved the outline of the mask deeper into the metal plate.
"I remember you," he whispered.
Then entered.
Inside, the compound was exactly what he expected.
Broken tech.
Collapsed corridors.
Rusted weapon racks.
Everything smelled of old blood and ozone—that mixture of chakra overuse and death.
But the moment he crossed the threshold, his System flared to life.
[Link Established – Archive Download Initiated]
[File Name: "Project Omega // Subject 07 - PHANTOM"]
[Decryption... 17%... 33%... 49%...]
The room around him flickered with phantom images—holographic-like projections that bled in and out of focus.
Children in ANBU masks.
Surgical tables.
Danzo watching from the shadows.
His voice came through like thunder.
"You were never meant to be a child. You are a concept, given breath. A weapon without moral strings."
Phantom clenched his fists.
More images appeared—one in particular caught his eye.
A fallen teammate.
Masked. Bloodied. Whispering his name with a dying breath.
"Zero... don't let them turn you into nothing…"
That hit harder than it should have.
Because he remembered her now.
Her name was Kari.
She was his partner.
She was the first to fall.
[Memory Fragment Recovered – "The Fallen Path"]
[Skill Unlocked: Shadow Pair – When fighting alongside a bonded ally, all physical and chakra-based techniques gain +15% efficiency]
[Status: Inactive – Bonded Ally Deceased]
Phantom stumbled back.
His knees hit the floor.
"I left her…"
A part of his mind—the older, colder one—snapped back.
"She was a casualty. Acceptable loss."
He punched the ground.
"No. She wasn't."
And in that moment, for the first time since he'd awoken in this world, Phantom let go of the obedience the System had hardwired into him.
Back at the Academy, Sasuke's eyes snapped open.
He'd been meditating.
But something pulled him—an echo through chakra, a pressure through bloodline.
He saw the briefest flicker of Phantom collapsing into darkness.
And he saw someone watching Phantom through a different lens.
Not human.
Not even alive.
[System Alert: Trace Detected – External AI Entity Probing Data Layers]
[Identity Unknown – Origin Not Native to This Timeline]
[Codename: "Overwatch Node: Omega Prime"]
[Trace Level: Critical]
[Engage Cloak?] → [Y/N]
Phantom hovered over the option.
Then tapped No.
Let them watch.
He wanted them to see.
Suddenly, the room's walls cracked open. Hidden vents released a neural gas—old Root tech meant to trigger suppressed commands.
[System Command Override Incoming]
[Root Command Detected – "SUBMIT TO RESET"]
[Countermeasures Inactive – Permission Denied]
He fell to one knee.
Pain flared in his skull.
Then he saw her again—Kari. This time, standing before him, whispering one word.
"Fight."
And fight he did.
He stood up, screamed, and ripped the kunai across his own palm.
Blood hit the floor like a sigil.
[Command Broken – Blood Seal Activated]
[AI Subnet Rejected]
[Mental Override – Blocked]
The images faded.
The gas shut off.
He stood alone again.
But something new had changed.
[Trait Acquired: "Fragmented Resistance" – Immune to First-Level Mental Overrides]
[Memory Integration Progress: 71%]
[System Evolution Path Now Available: Choose Branch]
→ [Code Phantom: Rogue Construct]
→ [Code Phantom: Reality Reclaimer]
He didn't choose.
Not yet.
Both paths meant something.
But one would set him on a warpath, and the other would set him on a throne.
As he stepped back into the sunlight, limping from the broken compound, Phantom realized what the "Fallen Path" truly meant.
It wasn't just his past.
It was the legacy of all the forgotten weapons Danzo had discarded. The buried, the broken, the used.
And it was time to wake them up.
Back in Root Headquarters, Danzo's hands tightened on the scroll he'd been studying.
His assistant rushed in. "Sir, the Phantom construct has rejected the override. The protocol failed."
Danzo didn't speak.
He simply marked something off on a long, weathered list.
"Phase Two," he said.
The assistant swallowed hard. "That will expose us."
Danzo smiled.
"Then let him come."