Chapter Intro:
The Riftborn armies have been repelled, but the war is far from over. Deep within the void, a presence stirs — ancient, calculating, and furious. The Riftborn King, long dormant, awakens. As the Hidden Leaf regroups, Team 0 is summoned to a secret chamber beneath the Hokage Tower, where the truth about Shawn’s Hoshigan — and its connection to the King — is finally revealed.
Scene 1: The Hidden Chamber
Interior panel: A spiral staircase descends into the earth. Torches flicker along the stone walls. Team 0 follows the Hokage and Kuroda into a sealed vault.
- Shawn: His white fox mask is clipped to his belt. His face is calm but alert, with sharp features and a faint scar beneath his right eye. His 3-Tomoe Hoshigan glows with a fourth mark forming at its center. He wears a black cloak over a white shirt, the obsidian-forged sword strapped across his back.
- Jaden: His spiky black hair is slightly damp with sweat. He wears a black shirt with a red flame crest, one sleeve torn to reveal his muscular left arm. His Byakugan is inactive but alert, and his black gloves are scuffed from the last battle.
- Isaiah: Towering and broad-shouldered, his dark skin is marked with faint black veins from his mutation. His dreadlocked hair is tied back, and his fur-lined cloak is torn at the edges. He holds a kunai loosely in his right hand, always ready.
Hokage (gravely):
“This is the Eye’s origin. The place where the first Hoshigan was sealed.”
Kuroda (to Shawn):
“Your eye didn’t awaken by chance. It was chosen.”
Scene 2: The Memory Stone
A massive crystal floats in the center of the chamber. It pulses with violet light. As Shawn approaches, his Hoshigan reacts — the fourth mark completes.
Shawn (wincing):
“It’s… calling me.”
He touches the stone. A surge of energy floods the room. Time freezes. Jaden and Isaiah are suspended mid-step.
Scene 3: The Vision — The Riftborn King
Shawn is pulled into a vision. He stands in a ruined world, skies torn open. A throne of bone and obsidian looms ahead. Upon it sits the Riftborn King — a towering figure with six arms, a crown of jagged crystal, and a single, massive Hoshigan eye in his chest.
Riftborn King (voice like thunder):
“You wear my legacy, child. My eye. My curse.”
Shawn (steady):
“I’m not your heir.”
Riftborn King:
“You already are. The Eye remembers. And soon… so will you.”
The King raises a hand — the vision shatters.
Scene 4: Awakening
Back in the chamber, time resumes. Shawn stumbles back, eyes wide. The Hoshigan now bears a fourth tomoe — a black diamond at its center.
Jaden (rushing to him):
“Shawn! You good?”
- Jaden’s Byakugan activates instinctively. His pale eyes scan Shawn’s chakra — it’s swirling, unstable.
Isaiah (stepping forward):
“Your chakra… it’s not yours anymore.”
- Isaiah’s mutation pulses in response, his black veins glowing faintly.
Shawn (breathing hard):
“I saw him. The Riftborn King. He’s coming.”
Scene 5: The King’s Herald
Suddenly, the chamber trembles. A Riftborn sigil burns into the air. A voice echoes from the stone.
Riftborn Voice:
“The King rises. The Eye will return. And the world will kneel.”
The sigil vanishes. Silence.
Hokage (to Team 0):
“You three are the last line. If the King crosses over… we fall.”
Scene 6: Final Panel
Full-page spread: Team 0 stands at the edge of the chamber, backlit by the glowing memory stone. Shawn’s Hoshigan gleams with four tomoe. Jaden’s Byakugan is fully active. Isaiah’s mutation coils like a shadow beast behind him.
Narration box:
The King has awakened.
The Eye has remembered.
And the war for reality has begun.
