Under the moonlight, he stood in front of a big black rock. This one black rock was one of the many that were spread in the training grounds of the Konohagakure recording the names of the people who died in the line of duty.

Raito sat in front of the one and was deep in thought. After his ‘talk’ with Jiraiya, Raito thought of asking the ‘Poison Hall’, who knew about his gamer powers for help. But to his surprise and confusion the more he thought of them, the cloudier the memories began and by the time he reached the Building where poison hall was supposed to be, he had already forgotten the people he wanted to meet.

Feeling threatened, Raito hurriedly jotted down all the things he could remember then went inside. But to his dismay, the building was totally empty, devoid of man and material.

“Anko-nee knows about them.” Looking at the purple mark, Raito ran in the opposite direction and reached the T&I department.

Inside there were the fresh meat, ready for special treatment. Even though it was busy Raito forced the receptionist and called Anko.

Anko arrived with light steps and a wide smile on her face, which had blood splatters all over from her physical torments.

After a quick inquiry, Raito found that she didn’t know about the poison hall or anyone related to them and the suspicious point was that, she would go in a trance-like state whenever he mentioned them and was easily distracted by other things.

He couldn’t dive into her mind and search in front of everybody and neither could he try it covertly because the last time he tried on her for practice, she was able to lock him out completely.

It was a locking mechanism taught to the few people who held confidential information in the village and is supposed to be an extremely confidential thing.

Inoichi wanted to show Raito that he could not do whatever he liked and take whatever he liked because he learned the diving technique.

There were not many people that the Poison Hall came in contact with within his memories but there would be specific people that they had to meet to go to places or enter certain areas in the village.

With that in mind, Raito summoned three clones and went to work.

It was the technical next day when Raito found himself at the memorial stone at training ground seven. The people who were awake did not know the poison hall or its members and those who were asleep, Raito tried diving into their memories and find about them but that also failed.

With shadow clone and avatar’s help, Raito had much the manpower he needed but it was all in vain as no one in the Konoha knew of them, or at least that’s what Raito thought

The Hokage and the ninja council might have some idea but Raito felt like it was courting death to ask them about something that no one knows about and somehow everyone was affected by it.

“The people from the ‘Poison Hall’ have disappeared and the people, who once knew them seems to have no knowledge of them. It’s like they never existed and even the building is empty.”

“Jii-chan may know something but I can't just try to…” Raito chuckled and shook his head.

Letting out a groan, he leaned back and lay on the ground looking at the sky, the star, and the moon.

‘Purple Poison Mark’. Looking at the purple mark on the back of his palm, Raito frowned then sighed. “Even Anko-nee doesn’t remember who gave her the art.”

“Masami Iwasawa, Abarai Renji.” The invisible tabs floating in front of him showed the details of them but Raito couldn’t put a finger in his mind on who they exactly are.

“They used to sit behind me?” After the process of elimination, Raito finally concluded that these two people must have definitely sat behind him.

‘Even Sakura who had the greatest impact with them in the survival test didn’t remember.’

Raito let out a groan then threw all the ideas about the Poison Hall to the back of his head and rolled to his sides. “I can't remember anything at all.”

Giving the memorial stone a final glance, Raito pushed the ground and stood up. After a quick sweep of his surrounding, he took a quick walk around the nearest block then disappeared quietly.

Swosh, tap.

After half an hour Raito appeared out of thin air into his room on the second floor.

“Whew, a good night sleep will do me well.” Raito looked at the depleted chakra bar and let out a satisfactory smile.

“Yeah, I was waiting for you, this whole time.” Shikamaru’s lazy voice shocked Raito as he quickly turned around and raised a kunai.

Shikamaru was sitting on the floor crosslegged with a book in his hand. One hand was holding the book while the other was a piece for resting his head.

Closing the book with a snap, Shikamaru stood up and placed the book on the shelf. “I heard most from your clone. I thought that it would be just like the previous year but-”

“It isn’t.” Raito walked to the other end of the room and grabbed a dumbbell. With STR crossing the hundreds, the dumbbell felt light as a feather.

“Everyone is running around and preparing for war.” After a slight pause, Raito looked towards Shikamaru and added, “I caught a few traitors, who wanted to aid the enemy.”

“Traitors?” A frown appeared on Shikamaru’s face as tried guessing.

“Yeah, Inoichi-sensei said that in time of crisis we will see who is on our side and who isn’t,” Raito replied while staring blankly in front.

“Hey,” Shikamaru called. “What did those traitors do?”

“They wanted to sell the scouting division routine and plant some sort of Fuinjutsu.”

“We have already stopped them and now they are in the T&I department undergoing investigation to find out who gave them those instructions and all.”

There was a long silence in the room as Shikamaru had a frown on their face and Raito felt like every single point the village had an advantage on would be met by opposition by the cruel and clever enemies.

“I don’t understand why the attack will happen on the day of the exams? The Daimyō and other people will have their own protection details so it's not to spread our manpower and… if it's to show that other villages can rival Konoha and earn the interest… damn.”

Raito let out a small smile and said, “When I was inside Gaara’s head, I heard that they would attack after Shukaku’s outburst. So, it’s to weaken us by letting Shukaku out… that’s what I think.”

“Shukaku?”

“Yeah, it’s a, no, he is a tailed beast, like the Kyūbi, and has one tail,” Raito explained or tried to.

“One tail, nine tail. It seems like it’s all about tails.” Shikamaru sighed as he thought about troublesome things that were going to happen. “You said you were already inside Gaara’s head. That means…”

Raito nodded and said, “Jiraiya-sama and the combined Fuinjutsu group from Nara and Yamanaka clan have placed a new seal on Gaara.”

“Then that means…”

“I don’t know.” After a slight pause, Raito continued, “Jiraiya-sama said that Orochimaru could still do something since he also knows about Konoha’s core Fuinjutsu principles and sealing formulas.”

“The attack will definitely happen from what I have heard. Every area head is leading to do drills for emergency escape in small groups for the past week. And extra manpower is sent to the capital and the border patrol for assurance.”

“Things are rough.” Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes then recited the code of conduct. “In case of emergency, it is every ninja’s duty to safeguard the weak. As a Genin, we are expected to help the people to reach the nearest safe house and guard it against any adversity.”

“Code red of the Genin handbook.” Raito sighed.

“You have something else in mind?” Shikamaru asked looking at Raito’s face.

Rubbing his forehead, Raito answered, “It’s just this poison hall. I think that… ah, never mind.”

“We will all be at the stadium on the final day of the Chūnin exams. So, we can make plans accordingly. If we can find all the probabilities…”

‘As expected, Shikamaru didn’t focus on ‘Poison Hall’.’

“Shikamaru?” Raito called stopping Shikamaru’s mumbling.

There was a slight frown on his face as he answered, “What is it?”

“Do you remember the people sitting behind me in the academy?” Raito asked signaling behind him.

“It was Hinata and Shino.” Shikamaru quickly answered.

“No, I was talking about when I was in section B.” Raito clarified.

“Uhh… I don’t remember much, sorry.” Shikamaru had a small frown on his face as he tried remembering them.

Shaking his head, Shikamaru let out a small groan then asked, “Is that really important?”

“Not really.” Raito shrugged.

“Then… what will you when the attack happens?” Shikamaru asked with raised brows.

‘Again.’

“… I don’t know.” Raito sighed then added, “Follow the protocol… maybe.”

“Following the protocol is not so bad,” Shikamaru said with a weak smile. “It’s not like we can do more.”

Throwing the barbell in the air, Raito let out a chuckle then looked towards Shikamaru. “No.”

“What?”

Just before the barbell was about to hit the ground, it disappeared. “I can do much more.”

Raito took out a scroll from the inventory then threw it towards Shikamaru.

Grabbing the scroll, Shikamaru gave it a quick look then gave Raito a confused look. “Lantern.”

“Come on, take it out.” Raito smiled then added, “That’s my new sealwork.”

“Present for your birthday if we didn’t make it.”

“Don’t,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes then injected chakra in the seal. With a small cloud of chakra smoke, a stone lantern appeared in front of him.

“Lantern?” Crouching down, Shikamaru raised his brows in curiosity. “There are seals in there. Preservation seal and this sealing formula…”

“Yeah, try injecting it with chakra,” Raito suggested with a smile.

Shikamaru nodded while looking at the seal on the stone lantern. He quickly injected chakra into the seal and saw the fire igniting and illuminating the whole room.

‘High degree of suggestibility, just like hypnosis.’ Raito maintained a small smile on the outside whereas in the inside he was trying to piece the situation together.

“The shadows,” Shikamaru said in shock as he looked down at his shadow, which was a few shades darker.

“I took the foundation sealwork from the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu then added something of my own mix,” Raito explained as he extinguished the fire in the stone lantern.

“Oi.” Shikamaru snapped as he had already started to push chakra into the shadow.

“What?” Raito sealed the stone lantern in the scroll then said, “You were staring at the fire for too long.”

Throwing the scroll towards Shikamaru, Raito walked towards the door and opened it. Yawning, Raito looked at Shikamaru and said, “It’s middle of the night and you are in my room. If you don’t think that’s weird then…”

“Che, you are going to do something else and want me to go.” It was not a question but a statement that Shikamaru had come to.

“I have some things to do,” Raito replied lazily staring blankly into space.

‘Again?’ Shikamaru looked at Raito then walked out. “I’ll see myself out.”

“Mm.” Raito nodded but his entire focus was on the notification that appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

[You have received a message.]

[You have 1 unread message.]

“What the hack it this!?” Banging the door close, Raito sweeped the surrounding with his ‘[Chakra Sense]’.

Finding no one suspicious eyeing the house or him, Raito sat at a corner, away from the sight of the window, and said, “Open message.”

[Message – 1 message from ‘The Abyss’]

After a short pause, Raito pressed the message. A new tab appeared with a recording of a person in dark clothes. Looking straight, he said, “I’ll be waiting for you at the basement, young master.”

With that the video message ended, leaving Raito with a frown and confusion.

“… I know him.” Not knowing who he was or what he was but the feeling that he was someone related in the past, made Raito shiver down his spine. Walking down the stairs, crossed the living room, and reached the library. As he stood in front of the mirror, Raito felt like it was the longest night, he had ever experienced till now.

Letting out a breath of tension, Raito unsealed the hidden door and walked down to the end of the corridor.

Dark corridor, rapid breathing, and the unknown on the other side of the door. Thinking about the possibilities made Raito sweat.

“Damn it.” Raito cursed and yanked open the door.

Bang.

“Ah, young master.” Sitting on a chair and drinking tea was the old man, Four and sitting opposite to him was the person in dark clothes, looking at him straight.

The person in dark clothes stood up and bowed with his hand over his heart. “Young master, you may have forgotten about me. So, let me re-introduce you myself.”

“I am ‘Zero’ from ‘The Abyss’.”

Raito swallowed as patches of memories appeared in his ‘Fog Of Memories’. “You guys did something with my memories.”

“It was supposed to be for everyone.” Zero sighed as he started explaining. “And when I said everyone, everyone means literally everyone… or it was supposed to be.”

“Everyone except this brat.” Four sipped and added.

“Every trigger was a powerful feedback for me, you nosy brat.” Four harrumphed. “When you forget something, why can't you be like everyone else and just leave it as it is?”

“It’s probably because of those gamer power.”

“It must be something else.”

“STOP!” Raito shouted with chakra flaring.

The two, Zero and Four, looked at Raito then at each other then finally at Raito.

Four looked at Raito and smirked, “Couldn’t take it anymore, huh?”

“Let’s keep this short, young master.” Zero clapped drawing attention then added. “About the memories, we did it because it was time for us to go back.”

Confused, Raito asked, “Where?”

Zero answered, “Another world.”

“Ah, yes that.” Raito didn’t know what to say so he simply shut his mouth.

“And about what our mistress did… for that, she was expelled by ‘The Abyss’.”

“Expelled by the abyss? Sounds kind of creepy.” Raito let out a smile and played with his canines.­­­­

“Two points cleared, then the last one.”

“It’s about the shop.” Four gave a light cough and added, “Since we would no longer be available in this world, we want to present you this.”

A blue sphere of the size of a fist appeared on the table and approached towards Raito.

“This is our shop’s exclusive service to the young master. Whenever you have something you want to purchase please look for it in the shop.”

Raito looked in exhaustion at the blue sphere then stretched out his hand.

[On assimilation, a new feature ‘Shop – The Abyss’ would be added to the main menu. Would you like to assimilate?]

Raito looked at the notification then at the two. Sweeping the tab to the side, Raito opened his mouth to ask, “Um, can I ask if the Abyss can help me with something?”

“Stop it, you brat.” Four stood up with annoyance on his face. “Even after I told you about our circumstance.”

“I have about a little more than a hundred million in saving-”

“We are sorry, young master but we can no longer stay in this world as such it is impossible to take on any requests.” Zero stood up and replied calmly. The tables, chair, and the teacups disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.

“I did guess that much.” Raito sighed as he called the notification forward and pressed the accept button.

[‘Shop – The Abyss’ added to the main menu. For trading purposes, please access the shop.]

“Done.” Raito closed the notification and looked at the two. “What else?”

The two looked at each other then Zero stepped forward drawing a semi-circular arc with his right hand and pointing at the vast emptiness. “A parting gift for the young master.”

“Um, is there supposed to be something?” Raito tiled his head to look at where Zero was pointing but saw nothing.

“Ah,” Turning around Zero waved his hand as one after another things started appearing out of nowhere.

Eyes widened and mouth gaped as Raito saw the cylindrical things appear. “What is this?”

“Our mistress first strike was leaving the restricted area to warn the Third Hokage about the Uchiha clan’s animosity.”

“The second strike was leaving the restricted area to help the Third Hokage.”

“The third strike was leaving the restricted area to warn the Third Hokage about his demise.”

Zero stopped then turned around to face Raito and said, “With all being said and done, it’s time, young master. I wish you well for your future.”

“Such mentality.” Four looked at Raito for a long time before waving his hand, forcing the space to distort in front.

Zero and Four quietly walked through a spatial gate and forever disappeared from this world.

The spatial gate, Zero, Four or any other thing they had said didn’t register in Raito’s brain as his entire focus was locked by the bodies floating in a liquid inside the cylindrical chamber.

“Just what the hell is this?”