It was if the days passed in a blur, unfamiliar events. Natives began falling sick, their bodies seeming to lose that very life juice. Others began seeing figures lurking at corners of their visions-people they knew but with hollow eyes and twisted smiles. It wasn't as if the village was feeling it, but the lands surrounding it started to feel the very presence of the curse.
Naruto gathered his team once more, this time with a mission to follow the source of the curse deep into the ancient ruins of the old village. Sasuke and Sakura sat beside him, but they were all tense. Something was watching them, something that was strong.
The further they went, the deeper they reached into the under-village ruins, uncovering a decaying chamber hidden away from the rest of the world. Strange symbols covered the walls; in the middle of the room was a stone altar cracked and stained with some fine, drying bloodstains. The air felt heavy and oppressive.
Sasuke placed his hand on the altar. "This is it. This is where it all started," he said.
The earth shakes. Grinding roar fills the chamber. Stone altar cracks apart, reveals dark swirling void below. Out of it, a figure steps forth. Man mantled in darkness; an obsidian mask muffs his face's entire side.
The curse was never really sealed," the figure said in a voice that made their spines crawl. "It has only slept until now.". He stepped in front of him, fists clenched. "Who is this?"
The mask on the figure's face split open, revealing eyes that were not human: black pits of darkness. "I am the darkness you awakened. I am the one who will end you all.".
Just before they could do anything, the figure disappeared into the darkness, and the chamber plunged into darkness. The earth beneath them broke open and the whole team falls in all directions, averting a great plunge into the abyss.
"We have to get out of here!" Sakura screamed, pulling Naruto through toward the door. But as they ran, the shadows closed in upon them, and that seal forced shut for centuries was undone.