The next morning, Shisui awoke early, his mind still unsettled.
Though the warmth of Naoko beside him had calmed him, the rogue shinobi's strange Arch Energy technique kept clawing at his thoughts.
He dressed swiftly and headed toward Hanagakure's Central Archives—a fortified complex built beneath the Administrative District, hidden behind gardens and sealed by chakra-encoded stone walls. Only shinobi of high clearance could access it.
Shisui's credentials as the Daimyō's son and a Bloom Village elite granted him passage.
Inside, the scent of ancient paper and charged ink filled the air. Scrolls, tablets, and chakra-sealed records lined the endless stone shelves. Shisui sought the section marked "Forbidden Arch Energy Studies."
After hours of searching, he found it—an old document sealed with three layers of chakra encryption.
Project Hollow Bloom.
He broke the seals with layered hand signs and began reading:
> "Initiated during the Warring Clans era, the Hollow Bloom Project aimed to replicate Arch Energy artificially. The goal was to empower non-gifted warriors… but the result was unstable. Subjected individuals went mad, their energies collapsing inward. Records were sealed after the failure of the Third Bloom Prototype."
Shisui's fingers clenched the scroll.
"The rogue shinobi… he wasn't just using twisted Arch Energy," he whispered. "He was a failed experiment."
Just as he closed the scroll, a whisper echoed in the chamber.
"You weren't supposed to find that."
Shisui turned—Kaien, Team Nine's leader, stood behind him, arms crossed.
"You knew," Shisui said sharply.
Kaien sighed. "I suspected. I was one of the guards during the closure of Project Hollow Bloom years ago."
"Why keep it secret?"
"Because the Council fears what will happen if word gets out. That Hanagakure, the village of peace and flowers, once tried to create weapons using sacred power."
Shisui's jaw tightened. "Someone has reopened the project."
Kaien met his eyes. "Then we'd better find out who… before they bloom destruction again."