The blade whispered all night.
Not in words.
In images.
Mountains crumbling.Chains melting.Eyes stitched into the sky.
He didn't sleep.
The girl did.
But not well.
Her dreams were filled with voices not hers.Laughter that bled.A face she didn't recognize—yet somehow feared.
By dawn, they moved again.
The samurai offered no farewell.
Only nods.
And silence.
Even they knew—
What he carried nowwasn't a sword.
It was a reminder.
That gods could die.
And that someone… had already killed one.
They traveled south.
Past frozen lakes.Through forests no map remembered.
He spoke less now.
Each step was guided by the blade.Not chakra.Not instinct.
Just something deeper.
A pull in the blood.
One night, they stopped by a shrine—crumbled and eaten by moss.
She asked what he was looking for.
He stared at the stone figure.
Headless.One hand reaching toward the stars.
Then finally whispered:
"The one hunting the Vault Bearers."
Her brow furrowed.
"There's someone hunting them?"
He didn't look at her.
"There's always someone who wants the door to stay closed."
Flashback—from the blade's memory.
A child, standing before a Vault.His eye—sealed shut.Chains around his neck.
Someone behind him—mask, voice like gravel:
"Open it, and I'll make you forget your name."
The child didn't cry.
He obeyed.
And vanished.
Now—
The girl stood as the wind changed.
She drew a kunai.
Not chakra—just reflex.
Something was near.
Watching.
Then—
A flicker.
To her left.
Steel moved.
She spun—too slow.
The kunai in her hand shattered.
He moved faster.
Sword drawn.
Steel met steel—but not like a clash.
Like a conversation.
Sparks bloomed in the snow.
The attacker stepped back.
A cloak.A hood.A mask of stone.
The Hunter.
He didn't speak.
Only pointed—
Not at the boy.
But at the blade.
As if saying:
"That doesn't belong to you."
They circled each other.
Snow steaming from the heat of their movement.
The girl tried to step in.
The boy held her back.
"No."
"I need to see what he knows."
The Hunter tilted his head.
Then attacked.
Fast. Precise.
No chakra.
Only pure killing intent.
The sword answered.
Not with light.But with silence.
Each block—perfect.Each dodge—planned before it happened.
But the boy's arms trembled.
The sword wasn't helping.
It was testing.
Minutes passed.
Then the Hunter struck low.
A feint.
The blade rose.
The Hunter ducked.
And touched the boy's chest—
With a single finger.
A seal ignited.
The boy screamed.
Dropped the sword.
The Hunter caught it.
Held it up.
Studied the eye in the hilt.
Then spoke.
"You opened the second Vault."
His voice was calm.Unrushed.
Ancient.
The girl lunged.
He caught her mid-air—and froze her.
Not with jutsu.
With a word.
"Hush."
Her chakra stopped moving.
Like a switch flipped.
She fell to the snow.
Still breathing.
But disconnected.
The boy tried to rise.
His eye spun wildly.
Too fast.
Too unstable.
The Hunter crouched beside him.
Lifted his chin.
Studied his face.
Then whispered:
"You're not the first crack."
"But you may be the last."
He placed the sword across the boy's chest.
"If you open more Vaults, you won't survive it."
The boy gasped, "Then… help me."
The Hunter shook his head.
"I was made to stop you. But I'm tired of killing echoes."
He stood.
And walked away.
No sound.
No trail.
Gone.
When the girl woke, she couldn't feel her chakra.
It returned slowly.Like blood into a numb limb.
She crawled to him.
He was awake.
Staring at the sky.
The sword beside him.
She touched his face.
"Who was he?"
The boy didn't answer.
Not directly.
Only said:
"He's what happens… when a Vault-bearer fails."
She froze.
"You mean—"
He nodded.
"He opened one once. Maybe more."
"And now the chains are all that's left of him."
They rested that night beneath twisted trees.
He didn't close his eyes.
The blade didn't speak.
The silence was different now.
Not empty.
Not peaceful.
Just... waiting.
She sat beside him.
"You still want to keep going?"
He looked at his hand.
Fingers twitching slightly.
Burned from the seal the Hunter left.
"Yes."
"Even if it kills you?"
He nodded.
Then whispered:
"Because if I don't open them…"
"…the wrong person will."
Far away—
In a cave made of bone—
A mask sat on a stone throne.
Eyes behind it opened.
Three of them.
And they smiled.
"The chain's unraveling faster than I thought."
"Let the third Vault wake."
"Let the next god scream."
To be continued.