Naruto: Chronicles of the Lost Library

The hallway was too damn quiet.

No whispers, no traps, no creepy chakra threads buzzing in his ears. Just cold air and dead silence.

Naruto's boots scraped across the stone like they didn't belong there. Every step echoed like a warning. He was deep now. Past the burnt ruins, past the fake ghosts, past all the cryptic bullcrap.

And then—

Thump.

He paused.

A tiny pulse under his right foot. Barely there. Like he'd stepped on something that breathed.

He crouched, pressed his palm to the ground.

Thump. Thump.

It was coming from below.

His eye twitched. You've gotta be shitting me.

He found the crack near the wall—a faint chakra line running through it like a dying vein. Fast. Uneven. Like it was reacting to him.

He pulled a kunai and jammed it into the stone. Chipped it hard. Dust coughed out like the damn place didn't want to be touched.

Didn't matter.

He dug deeper until the tile broke open.

Underneath?

Hell.

A glowing mess of chakra threads. Not like the ones on the walls. These were alive. Bright. Twitching. Like arteries under skin, pumping raw chakra like blood.

He reached in, touched one.

And his chest nearly exploded.

WHAM. WHAM.

His heartbeat slammed like a hammer. The thread beneath him pulsed in perfect sync.

He jerked back, heart pounding like a war drum. What the hell was this?

He stared at the floor like it had just laughed at him. His hands were shaking. The chakra wasn't just moving—it was listening.

This whole damn Library had a pulse.

No. No way.

He paced, muttering. Don't tell me… this place is alive?

He looked back at the thread.

Is it synced to me?

Am I the battery?

Or the damn bomb?

Another pulse. The walls flickered. Threads he hadn't even seen before lit up—edges of the ceiling, cracks on the floor. Even his boots were glowing. Chakra dust clung to him like static.

He looked up.

You watching me, Kazuki? Is this your creepy chakra zoo?

No answer. Just the heartbeat. Loud. Steady. Like it was daring him to breathe wrong.

He clenched his jaw. I'm done.

He turned to leave.

And the door behind him slammed shut.

Naruto spun, fists up. The air shifted. The room didn't growl, but it felt like it wanted to.

Oh, you wanna threaten me now?

He glared at the stone. Don't act like you're some ancient god-machine. You're not wise. You're not sacred.

You're just a damn parasite with too much history.

He slammed his hand on the chakra again.

The response was instant.

A shock ripped through the walls—wild, pissed off. One thread burned out like a fuse, snapping under his pressure.

He didn't flinch.

You wanna link to my heartbeat?

Fine.

Then bleed with me when mine stops.

The ground trembled.

And suddenly—

The pulse slowed.

Thump.

Thump.

The threads dimmed. The walls cooled. Everything pulled back like the Library itself was thinking.

Naruto stood in the middle of it, fists still clenched, eyes locked on the dark veins under the floor.

He didn't know what the hell he'd just triggered.

But whatever was buried in the Library…

It had finally noticed him.

And it sure as hell wasn't happy.