Chapter 28: Unmasking Shadows

There are places in Konoha that no one dares to enter.

Not because of danger—but because of what's been buried there.

Beneath the broken foundations of the old Uchiha District, Phantom moved like a whisper between time-worn stones and collapsed rooftops, guided by an old ANBU trail code only a handful of agents could decipher.

Tonight, he wasn't hunting.

He was remembering.

[System Notification: Memory Surge Detected — Initiate Sequence?]

[Y/N]

He didn't respond.

His fingers hovered near the kunai holstered at his thigh, not because he expected a fight—but because some ghosts required weapons, not words.

Back in the Academy dorms, Sasuke stood near the edge of Naruto's bed, eyes half-lidded, his mind processing everything he'd seen.

The memory tag burned into his thoughts like wildfire.

Itachi.

Phantom.

And a version of the Leaf... that no longer existed.

Naruto stirred in his sleep, whispering something barely audible.

"Don't… leave…"

Sasuke's gaze hardened. He's starting to remember something too, isn't he?

If Phantom was telling the truth—and Itachi really worked with him in another time—then everything Sasuke knew might be a lie.

And that meant...

Danzo had more to answer for than just the massacre.

Elsewhere – Root Compound [Restricted Wing]Danzo stood alone in front of a massive cryo-seal chamber. Glass frost shimmered over a sealed body floating inside, draped in black ANBU armor etched with strange chakra conduits.

"Subject-00… you were never meant to survive the reboot," Danzo muttered.

Behind him, a masked operative approached. "The Phantom is awake. He's begun bypassing memory locks."

Danzo didn't flinch. "Let him. The more he remembers… the more he burns. All codes have failsafes."

"And what of Uzumaki?"

Danzo turned slowly, one Sharingan eye exposed beneath his bandages.

"He's more important than he realizes. Which is why we'll let Phantom protect him—for now."

The operative hesitated. "And if Phantom turns rogue?"

Danzo walked toward a stone altar and pressed his palm against a sealing matrix.

The air hissed.

And the second cryo-pod began to thaw.

A second figure floated inside—face obscured by a cracked white mask etched with the kanji for "Purge."

"Then we awaken Protocol-13."

Training Grounds – 3:41 A.M.Phantom stood across from Kakashi, weapons sheathed. There was no need for pretense anymore.

"You knew I wasn't a normal student," Phantom said.

"I knew the moment you blinked through my clone's Shadow Bind," Kakashi replied, adjusting his headband.

"Then why play along?"

"Because I wanted to see how long it would take before you started asking the right questions."

Phantom's expression remained unreadable. "I remember pieces now. Itachi trained me. He said the timeline was broken."

Kakashi nodded. "Itachi believed in contingency plans. And in timelines."

He paused, then added:

"But there's something you don't know. Something only I and one other person were allowed to read."

From within his flak vest, Kakashi retrieved a scroll.

A scroll marked with the Uzumaki crest—and stained with the blood-seal of the Fourth Hokage.

"Minato sealed more than just the Nine-Tails," Kakashi said.

He tossed the scroll to Phantom.

It unfurled mid-air, glowing with latent chakra.

[Hidden Seal Triggered: Decrypting Forgotten Directive...]

[Message Begins—Minato Namikaze]

"If this message reaches you, then the system collapsed and a reset occurred. You were never meant to wake up. But if you have..."

"...then we failed."

"Project: Oblivion Protocol was never about preventing war. It was about sealing a memory—the memory of a future too broken to survive. You are that memory. A walking failsafe. A shadow left behind."

Phantom felt his breath hitch.

The scroll disintegrated into light.

[System Update: Title Acquired – "Oblivion Echo"]

[ANBU Classification: Ghost of the Timeline]

Kakashi watched him with quiet gravity. "Now you know. You're not just a survivor. You're a living lock."

"And if I'm opened?"

"Then everything Konoha buried… comes back."

Back at the dorms, Naruto jolted awake.

A searing pain stabbed through his head.

[??? System Echo Detected]

[Blood Resonance Matching – Unknown User]

[Subject: Phantom]

He clutched his chest, gasping. His chakra fluctuated wildly—like something was syncing beneath his skin.

Unseen by him, a glyph pulsed beneath the surface of his palm. The same glyph on Phantom's system seal.

Abandoned Shrine – Near the Forest of DeathSasuke arrived late.

He'd tracked the signals. Faint traces of Phantom's chakra trail led him here.

The shrine was shattered. Pieces of stone marked with ancient Uchiha runes lay scattered across the mossy floor.

And then he saw it.

A half-burnt scroll.

He picked it up and read the first few lines:

"Operation: Unmasking Shadows"

Lead: Uchiha Itachi

Objective: Sever the link between the Jinchūriki and the Protocol Seed.

Status: Mission Failed.

Consequence: Timeline Reset.

Sasuke's breath caught.

"This... was real?"

Behind him, a voice whispered from the trees.

"You weren't supposed to find that."

Sasuke turned sharply—Sharingan flashing.

But it wasn't Phantom who stood there.

It was someone else entirely.

The mask was white, smooth, blank—save for a red crescent over the left eye.

A kunai gleamed in the intruder's hand.

And then—without warning—the masked figure rushed him.