Naruto: Chronicles of the Lost Library

The next morning, Naruto couldn't stop thinking about that damn scroll.

He had shoved it under his bed like trash he didn't want to deal with, but the words wouldn't shut up in his head.

"The Library Lives Beneath the Ashen Stone."

What the hell was an "Ashen Stone"? Some dumbass rock? A metaphor? A guy's name?

He sat on the rooftop of his crappy little apartment, legs dangling, eyes locked on the massive stone faces of the Hokage Monument.

Sunlight hit them just right—long shadows cutting across those carved brows like they were judging him.

Then it clicked.

"Stone… monument… holy shit."

He jumped up, nearly tripping over himself as he bolted.

He tore through the streets of Konoha like a man on fire, nearly knocking over a fruit stand. One of the shopkeepers yelled something about "crazy brats with no manners," but Naruto didn't give a damn.

He wasn't stopping.

Not now.

Not when something in his gut told him he was finally getting close to the truth those dead bastards had whispered about.

He reached the base of the Hokage Monument, panting.

He started scanning—stones, cracks, bushes, whatever. Most of it looked normal. Way too damn normal.

Then he saw it.

A small patch of rock near the First Hokage's neck.

Scorched.

Black. Charred. Like it had been hit by fire jutsu centuries ago and no one ever gave a crap to clean it.

"Ashen… stone?"

He pressed his hand against it.

It was warm.

Way too warm.

And then it pulsed—right under his damn fingers.

A flare of chakra flickered from his palm, reacting. Not from him—from the scroll, still clinging to him like a parasite.

The rock shimmered—just for a second.

And then…

Whispers.

Whispers crawling into his ears like cold insects.

"Turn back…"

Naruto flinched, stumbling back like he'd been slapped.

"What the hell was that?"

This wasn't some genin prank. This wasn't hallucination.

This was real.

The scroll hadn't lied.

It had led him here—like some sick breadcrumb trail from dead men who lost their minds chasing answers.

And now someone—or something was trying to scare him off.

He looked up at the stone faces towering over him.

Sarutobi. Tsunade. Kakashi.

All carved like gods watching from above.

"What the hell are you old fossils hiding?"

He clenched his fists.

If this was where the Library started, then he was done running in circles.

He was gonna find the truth.

Even if it meant smashing through every lie this village buried under its goddamn legacy.