The light hurt.
It shouldn't have existed here.
Not in the Wailing Zone.
Not above a shrine made of bones.
But it rose.
Pale. Gold. Unnatural.
And Rei stood in the center of it.
Alone.
Smoke curled off his skin. His cloak was gone. His body trembled—not from pain, but from something deeper.
Silence.
Real this time.
Not the cursed kind. Not the kind that screamed behind your ears.
Just…
Stillness.
The shadow was gone.
Not sealed.
Destroyed.
The price?
His dojutsu.
It flickered weakly in his left eye. The shape was fractured. The patterns incomplete.
He couldn't hear the voices anymore.
For the first time since awakening in this world… he was alone in his head.
It was peaceful.
It was terrifying.
He took a breath.
Then another.
The shrine behind him was gone. Erased. No trace. Not even ash.
Like it had never existed.
But Rei knew better.
It had happened.
The choice.
The offer.
And now?
He could feel something new.
Not a power.
Not yet.
But a silence with weight.
Like something ancient had gone still… waiting.
He turned.
The Wailing Zone had changed.
The air was clearer. The corpses had turned to dust. The cursed seals had stopped glowing.
Even the wind had returned.
It tugged at his torn robes. Carried a smell he hadn't known in this land.
Grass.
Life.
Something had shifted in the balance.
Because of him.
And yet—
He knew this was just the beginning.
He walked.
No destination. Just forward.
Toward light.
Toward the world he had left behind.
Somewhere far.
Hidden beneath a mountain of iron and blood.
The Root stirred.
Old alarms flared.
Old machines hummed to life.
And in the center of it all… a tube.
Suspended in black fluid.
A boy floated inside.
Identical to Rei.
Except his eyes were open.
Bright.
And watching.
A voice spoke from the shadows.
"He's awakened."
Another replied. Older. Bitter. Danzo's former right hand.
"He was never supposed to. The Shrine was locked. Triple-sealed. Buried under twenty failed generations."
"Rei found it."
A pause.
"Then activate the Clone."
The figure in the shadows didn't move.
"Now."
The clone's eyes flashed.
Not purple.
Not red.
But silver.
Like mercury.
Like reflection.
Like mockery.
Elsewhere.
Konoha.
The forest buzzed with insects and chakra.
Birds chirped.
A hawk circled above the Hokage Monument.
Life moved on.
But two figures stood still.
Hinata.
And Naruto.
Both staring at a scroll.
Rei's last message.
Left weeks ago.
Naruto's hand trembled.
"He went alone?"
Hinata nodded.
"He didn't tell anyone. Not even me."
Naruto clenched his jaw.
Sasuke appeared behind them. Quiet as dusk.
"We felt it," he said. "That light."
Hinata turned.
"You think it was Rei?"
"I know it was."
Naruto gritted his teeth.
"I should've stopped him."
"No," Hinata whispered. "You couldn't."
Sasuke looked toward the east.
Where the Wailing Zone waited.
"He broke something," he muttered.
Naruto frowned. "Broke what?"
Sasuke didn't answer.
He simply turned… and vanished in a blur of shadows.
Back with Rei.
He stood at the edge of a cliff.
Below him—green hills.
Trees. Rivers.
And far in the distance—smoke.
Konoha.
He had returned.
Almost.
But something pulled him back.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
He felt it again.
That pressure.
That presence.
Like being watched from behind a mirror.
He spun.
Nothing.
Just sky and rock.
But…
He closed his eyes.
And saw it.
In the cracks of his dojutsu. In the glitching fragments of vision.
A face.
His face.
Smiling.
And a voice:
"You killed your shadow."
"But I… was never just a shadow."
Rei's eyes snapped open.
The cliff beneath him cracked.
A ripple of chakra surged across the hills.
Somewhere—animals scattered.
Birds took flight.
The trees bent away.
He exhaled slowly.
The silence was broken again.
But this time—it wasn't from inside.
It was coming for him.
Deep underground.
In a black chamber lit by white fire.
The Clone stepped forward.
Still wet. Still forming.
But alive.
His skin shimmered unnaturally.
His smile was perfect.
"Where is the Original?" he asked.
The technician bowed. "Moving toward Konoha."
The Clone tilted his head.
"Then I'll meet him halfway."
He turned.
Walked toward the exit.
Chains fell off his arms.
Seals flared on his chest.
The walls shuddered as he passed.
"Project Revenant has awakened," a voice whispered into the comm.
And behind it… a chorus of dead voices answered.
End of Chapter 116