Chapter 137: “The Spiral that Smiles”
Years passed.
Quietly.Unnoticed.
No wars.No beasts.No gods twisting time into knots.
Just silence.
And a boy—
Souta.
He laughed like any child.
Ran like any genin.
He trained under Ryuki in the mornings.Studied with Eri in the evenings.Ate dango with Konohamaru on the weekends.
His spiral no longer spun.Not visibly.
But Ryuki could still feel it.
Buried deep.Sleeping.Waiting.
Some days, Ryuki stared too long.
Other days, Eri held him too tight.
Because both knew—
Peace wasn't permanent.
It never was.
Especially when it was born from rewriting fate.
One night.
A mission.Simple C-rank. Escort. No risk.
Ryuki watched Souta vanish with a three-man squad.A goodbye wave.
A smile.
But Ryuki didn't smile back.
Midnight.
A flare shot into the sky.
Ryuki was already moving.
Eri behind him.
The mission had gone wrong.But not from enemy shinobi.
From within.
The Valley.
Souta stood in the center of a broken ravine.
His teammates unconscious.
Eyes open.
Breathing.
But stuck.
Frozen in time.
Souta stood still.
Smiling.
But not his usual one.
Not human.
Not playful.
Just... empty.
"Don't move!" Ryuki shouted, landing hard.
Eri beside him.
Souta turned.
Face lit by moonlight.
"It was an accident."
His voice cracked.
The spiral in his eye was spinning.Faster than ever before.
"I got scared."
"They touched my chakra.And something opened."
He clutched his chest.
White light leaked from his ribs.
The Spiral Seed had bloomed.
Eri moved to him—calm, gentle.
But the ground distorted.
Not violently.
Like it was sighing.
Giving way.
Time began skipping.
Seconds fell out of sync.
The moon flickered.
Ryuki stepped in.
"Souta. You're okay."
"No."
"I can feel Kurashiki."
"Not its mind. Its instinct."
"The part you didn't kill."
"The part that's me."
He looked at his hands.
"I don't want to spiral."
"But I can feel it smiling."
Eri's hand touched his shoulder.
"You're not alone."
Souta shook his head.
Tears now.Real.Raw.
"I saw a future."
"I burn everything."
"I smile while doing it."
"And I like it."
Ryuki's voice came slow.
"You smiled tonight too."
"Because I was afraid."
"Then hold onto that."
"Fear?"
"No."
"Choice."
The spiral pulsed.
Then dimmed.
Time settled.
The night resumed.
The moon stayed put.
Souta collapsed.
Eri caught him.
He wasn't cured.
But he was choosing.
Still human.
Still smiling.
Still spiral.
Far away.
That man in rags again.
The one underground.
He whispered through cracked lips.
"The spiral grows roots."
"Let's see what blooms next."
End of Chapter 137.