Forged Beyond

Bonus Chapter (Continuation of the Arc) + Author's Note

That night, shadows ruled the Uchiha compound.

Naruto, Itachi, and Hinata moved like whispers in the wind, hidden under cloaks, careful not to disturb the heavy stillness of the abandoned district.

If there were a crow that carried Shisui's final truth... it would not leave this place.
It was bound. Tethered. Like memory to a soul.
But the compound was littered with crows—perched on rooftops, chimneys, the rusted lamp posts, the skeletal remains of old mailboxes.
Crows were everywhere.

That was the problem.

Shisui and Itachi had been masters of crow-based genjutsu. Any one of these birds could be an illusion. It could be meaningless. Could be watching. Or not.

Naruto muttered, "...this is gonna take forever."

Itachi's eyes flicked from crow to crow.
"I don't even know what to look for..." he said, his voice thin. "What if he didn't leave anything behind? What if it's just a ghost..."

One day passed.

Izumi stood quietly at her window, arms folded, tea untouched.

Across the street stood the old house of Mikoto and Fugaku—sealed and silent. The same house she used to visit after academy. The home where laughter once echoed in low murmurs and soft scolding.

She mourned them like phantom parents—hers, and Itachi's.

Two days until the summit.

Another day passed.

Izumi returned to the same spot by the window, scroll in hand, tea warm and fragrant in her palm. Itachi lay on the sofa, one hand draped over his eyes, mind tangled in a thousand threads.

She sipped the tea, eyes drifting lazily outside.

And then...
Something clicked.

On the roof of the house across the street—not Mikoto's, but the shorter one to the right—a crow sat.

Still. Silent.
Unmoving.
Not preening. Not blinking. Not shifting even in the breeze.

And it had been there yesterday too.

Izumi slowly set her scroll down.

She walked outside, slippers quiet on the cracked path, heart tapping a beat that didn't match her footsteps.

She stood between the two houses—Mikoto's on the left, the low-roofed house on the right.

She looked up.

The crow sat, staring in the window of mikoto's house

Then she turned her gaze slightly up to the window of Mikoto's house, the glass cracked and dusty.

And there, reflected in the window, was not the crow.
It was a man.

Shoulders squared, arms by his sides.

Shisui.

His silhouette clear, like a memory burned into the world.
Not moving. Not smiling.
Just waiting.

Izumi gasped softly and turned her head back—
The crow was still there.

Unmoved.

Unblinking.

Could this be a sign?
No.
This was the sign.

Back inside, she burst through the door.
"Itachi—" she said, breathless.