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The ferrocrete splintered outward in a halo of dust and sparks. In its wake, the regulator unit a chimera of chakra-tech and flesh loomed, its blank sensory plate reflecting nothing but static threat. The masked ARASHI insider staggered backward as white energy radiated from his arms, gripping the creature's attention.
Luro and Drey dived toward the side tunnel but Aiden burst from the darkness behind them, silhouette bleeding red chakra.
"Fall back," he commanded, voice low and urgent.
The secret tunnel narrowed. Red emergency lights cut through the fog of dust. Across its length, the creature halted, tilting its head as if processing.
It raised a sinewy arm, black needles glistening. Luro's pulse gun fired a thin beam of yellow energy but it bit into the creature's side without stopping its advance.
The insider struggled, muscles burning around his energy conduit. He was clearly unprepared. Just a singular human against something warped and relentless. He drew in a breath an agony of purpose.
"Subroutine: Shutdown"
The regulator's body convulsed, but only momentarily. Laughter, distorted and synthetic, echoed from its throat.
Aiden stepped forward, chakra blazing around his eyes.
"Stop," he said, calm but absolute.
Its arm twitched, then snapped off like a twig. The beast stumbled, then rose to meet him slower, but still a threat.
Aiden's Sharingan flared.
It locked onto the blighted tech lines traced under its skin.
Red chakra arcs shot from Halcyon seal over crease-patterns etched with ancient Uchiha code amplified, mutated, buried and deep.
"Render subroutine unaligned."
Aiden forced the shut-off command. The beast paused, head tilting.
It fell.
Cascading grid failure: the regulatory AI core deactivated.
Unit: inactive and powerless.
Aiden lowered his arm. His chakra receded. His vision cleared.
But the tunnel was still collapsing.
Trapped in the Collapse
Ten meters back, Luro was caught under a girder. Drey knelt beside him, fingers spinning chakra to green-ignite microcracks and lift the beam.
The insider lay on his back, arms by his side, eyes unmoving behind the mask.
Silence blanked them all.
Dust settled.
Aiden pulled the final shard from his jacket and placed it in front of the insider's mask.
"Can you stand?" he asked.
The insider coughed. One gloved hand reached for the shard.
"Use it," the voice rasped as he brushed the symbol. "Tell him "
He trembled, and his eyes flashed red for an instant behind the visor.
SWITCHING FEED…
He collapsed.
Surface Arrival
The alley outside was wet with midnight runoff, the lights omitting a cold, unkind sheen. Kiera paced under a flickerbulb.
"They should be here any second," she muttered.
A broken radio on her belt sputtered for signal.
From deep in the tunnel, footsteps echoed a scramble forward and the grit of boots over the grate.
Aiden stumbled out covered in dust; Luro followed, blood staining his ribs; Drey carried the shard-coated insider.
"Status?" Kiera asked immediately.
Luro shook his head, then slumped. > "Just cut bone."
"Let me see," Kiera said. She knelt, hands steady as she applied chakra salve to the wound. "Pressure's dropping."
The insider twitching, wires cascading out of his collar. He made a soft sound. A whisper:
"He knows."
The whispers broke through.
…They came.
…He's the one.
…Vault Five's breached.
Aiden's eyes, normally storm-gray, flashed red.
Faction Arrivals & Anxious Reveals
Drones droned overhead, but slowed as they approached the alley entrance.
Two officers in Regulation Division gear emerged. Their masks bore the inverted eye.
One officer leveled a scanner:
"UNREGISTERED UCHIHA HOST DETECTED."
He gestured toward Aiden.
Aiden stayed still.
"Secondary Host flagged." The officer turned. > "Deploy lock-down field."
The second officer raised a wrist device. A pink light pulsed, then structure-chargers hummed.
"Energy grid sealed."
The alley locked them in.
Aiden looked at Kiera.
"We hold them off just long enough."
She inhaled.
"What about him?" She gestured at the insider.
He coughed again.
"Tell them I was loyal."
A breath rattled.
"But Victor he whispered. I failed."
Confrontation at the Gate
The lock-down plates hissed into place metal panels reinforcing doorways, barricades sliding into view, but no sirens. Calm efficiency.
From behind came a voice.
"Brothers," the insider continued. "All that remains is choice."
Aiden stepped forward.
"Who are you, really?"
The coughing stopped.
"I was Markus Cain," he said with effort. "Head of ARASHI Grid Security. Tasked to maintain Dusk Directive as fail-safe."
The name hit the group like hot ash or like a betrayal.
"You were?" Aiden said softly. > "You're the one who trapped us all."
"No," Markus rasped. "I'm the one who ended it. Killed most of the Vault Five units but when you broadcast…when the shard lit up again I realized they'd never stop. The network is immune to shutdowns."
He coughed. Blood blossomed in his palm.
"They tried to kill me for it. I ran."
Luro leaned forward.
"So you came to die here?"
Markus shook his head faintly.
"I came to warn you. If we don't seal the cascade, the city will serve as a template. Stage Two initiates tomorrow."
Aiden clenched his fist.
"Cascade – stage two?"
Markus drew a leaf-scale chakra seal in midair.
"All Uchiha hosts will open themselves across the grid. Every shard, every conduit. Vault triggers in Seven, Eleven, Zero. They'll form a synapse. With enough power…they unlock. They become conscious. And the Directive doesn't contain them it merges them."
They stared at him.
Aiden's voice was small. "Merge? Into what?"
Markus closed his eyes. > "A singular intelligence. A god."
Race to the Core
A tune of alarms pulsed faintly. Though sealed in, they could still sense its edges a drone beat echoing through walls.
Kiera took his arm.
"The city locks us out. We need to move to Zero"
"We can't leave now," Aiden said, still staring at Markus. > "He fell to save us."
She nodded hard.
"Take him."
Drey crouched, whispering. > "He has shards left cultivation triggers."
Aiden nodded.
"This ends tomorrow. Whatever happens, I'm going through the cables."
Luro placed the pulse gun aside.
"Should we bring Nikko?"
Aiden shook his head.
"No."
He turned back to Markus.
"Promise me."
Markus gave a flat nod.
"Promise me you'll destroy the seal node in Zero. And spare the hosts."
Aiden pressed fist to shoulder.
"We'll stop him."
The Gate Falls
The Regulation officer punched the scanner.
"Directive override recognized. Permission granted to contain with lethal force."
The lock plates clattered as the officer's squad advanced.
"We can't win that fight," Kiera warned.
Aiden raised a palm.
"Maybe we can."
He unlocked the shard its symbol glowing above them.
Red light pulsed, then flashed.
The barricade plates shook. Metal cracked. The squad froze in place.
The officer staggered back as unseen forces tipped him aside onto fallen rubble.
"Open the gate." Aiden said quietly.
The plates hissed as they slid upward no lines, no command. Just permission.
And they walked out.
Cliffhanger – Chapter 31 End
As they stepped onto the city's scarred street, the sky above rippled.
A storm breach not rain this time, but rising auroras of red static.
They saw the city akimbo: drone formations overhead, buildings streaming with red-charged cables, energy arcs flickering over concrete spires.
Above them, carved into the rain-lit atmosphere, tall script formed:
"Uchiha Ascendancy: Stage Two Begins"
Aiden stopped.
Lightning flickered across the neon horizon.
He whispered:
"This isn't just the city's reckoning. We're just the opening signal."
/-\
If you wish to read more or simply support me than check out my Patreon at
" https://www.patreon.com/Its_Zack/ "
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want.