The vilge border patrols had picked up the reports first—missing civilians, disappearing from small towns and farmnd along the southwestern edges of the Land of Fire. Quiet families, lone travelers, merchant scouts. Vanished without a trace.

  No blood. No notes.Just silence.

  Ken read the full report under dim candlelight, the mission scroll tucked beneath a seal for covert ops: ANBU-css only.

  A handwritten note at the bottom from Commander Ryou:

  “Patterns match an old Root ghost op we once fgged but never traced. If it’s them, be ready. If it’s something worse—report immediately.”

  Ken didn’t hesitate.

  He suited up, masked, cloaked, and moved into the forests under the cover of night.

  Six Hours Later – Outskirts, Western RidgeThe trail had gone cold near a ravine—deep and dry, long abandoned. Ken crouched near the cliff edge, observing old scratch marks across the rock.

  They weren’t made by weapons.

  They were cw-like.

  And ced with faint traces of chakra.

  Ken pressed his hand to the ground and sent a pulse of sand and sensory chakra downward.

  What came back wasn’t just movement.

  It was a presence.

  Underground. Buried.

  Waiting.

  He dropped silently down into the ravine and pressed against the canyon wall until he found it—a sealed stone opening, camoufged by moss and an old genjutsu.

  Ken dispelled it with a flick of his Sharingan.

  The tunnel beyond smelled of wet dirt and decay.

  He went in.

  The deeper he moved, the less it felt like a hideout… and more like a root system. Branches of earth spiraled out like veins. The chakra grew darker, heavier. The walls weren’t built—they were grown.

  And in the stillness, he heard it.

  Whispers.

  Not voices. Not human.

  Organic.

  Ken turned a corner and found himself in a wide underground chamber—root-covered, pulsating faintly with natural chakra. At the center, cocoon-like husks hung from the ceiling. Five. Maybe six.

  All of them pulsing slightly.

  Alive.

  He stepped closer, inspecting one—

  Inside, suspended in chakra webbing, was a human body.

  Eyes open. Frozen. Still alive.

  Ken recoiled slightly. “What the hell…”

  A movement in the roots made him turn.

  Emerging from the far wall like a shadow stretching too far from its source, a figure peeled from the tree bark itself.

  Zetsu.

  The half-bck, half-white creature tilted its head in eerie unison.

  “You weren’t expected,” it said in two voices.

  Ken’s body tensed.

  “You’re not the one we're watching,” said White Zetsu cheerfully.

  “But you’ll make a good report,” said Bck Zetsu coldly.

  They slipped back into the roots.

  Ken hurled a Wind-Kunai enhanced with Shukaku’s chakra—but the figure melted into the wall before contact.

  Gone.

  Ken scanned the chamber once more, dropped a chakra marker for retrieval teams, then vanished with flicker speed up the tunnel.

  As he emerged into the moonlight, one thing echoed in his mind:

  They’re already inside the nd. Beneath the soil.

  The Akatsuki weren’t just hunting jinchūriki.

  They were pnting themselves for war.

  Back in Konoha – Next DayKen filed his report directly to Hiruzen and Commander Ryou. No specution—just facts. Bodies, seals, Zetsu encounter, estimated depth of operation. He didn’t mention the whispers he’d heard in the tunnel—those stayed locked in the part of his mind where nightmares kept score.

  Once dismissed, Ken left the tower, body tired but too wired to rest.

  He found himself walking toward the market.

  And toward the smell of broth and grilled pork.

  Ichiraku RamenKen stepped into the stand out of habit more than hunger—and paused.

  Sitting at the counter, slurping loudly, was Naruto, his headband gleaming, a massive grin on his face.

  Next to him sat Sakura, politely smiling.

  And beside her, silent and still, was Sasuke.

  Ken blinked once.

  “Yo!” Naruto waved. “Ken! Over here!”

  Ken tilted his head. “Didn’t know this was a squad meeting.”

  Naruto pointed proudly. “Team 7 now, baby. Kakashi-sensei just let us off for the day. Thought we’d celebrate.”

  Sakura looked up. “Naruto told us you were his ‘ramen buddy.’”

  Ken smiled faintly. “Guilty.”

  He sat next to Naruto, ordered one bowl, and leaned his forearms on the counter.

  For a few minutes, it was light. Naruto joked. Sakura commented about Kakashi's teness. The air felt normal—almost too normal.

  Then Sasuke spoke, without turning.

  “Hard to believe you’re the same guy the elders talk about.”

  Ken raised an eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”

  “You’re sitting here, ughing,” Sasuke said, voice neutral. “But st month, they said you killed three men with your eyes closed.”

  Naruto went silent. Sakura stared awkwardly at her ramen.

  Ken didn’t flinch.

  He met Sasuke’s eyes, calm and unbothered.

  “And what’s wrong with a little fun?”

  Sasuke blinked.

  Ken added, “If you live in the dark too long, it becomes all you see. Gotta let light in somewhere, even if it’s over noodles.”

  Sasuke looked away.

  “…Bance,” he muttered.

  Ken smiled. “Exactly.”

  Across the Street – Rooftop AboveKakashi leaned on the railing, watching the scene from above with his signature eye-crinkle.

  “They’re all heavier than they let on,” he murmured. “Even the ones who smile.”

  He pocketed a small bck book, closed it.

  “And maybe... that’s okay.”