After your encounter at the forgotten shrine, both you and Sasuke continued moving independently—yet no longer blindly. Fragments recovered from the cult’s records pointed toward a deeper pattern—connecting testimonies, missing-nin movements, and forbidden research. At the center of it all was a figure known only as "the Heretic", a rogue shinobi who had anchored himself to Kaguya’s lingering chakra, consuming life force to force humanity closer to what he believed was its “intended” evolution.