NOVEL NEXT Arc IV Chapter 16
IV
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Arc IV Chapter 16
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Asami marched down the dark corridors, grumbling. She was one of the highest-ranking ninja in the entire village, and she couldn't get past a few stupid guards because of her appearance.
No one took her seriously. She was short, she was young, and she was a girl. Being all cuddly and huggly also didn't help. She received a lot of patronising stares because of her age, but those who took her lightly didn't laugh for long. It was always her who laughed last, and she was sure she would hit a growth spurt soon. Being shorter than short wasn't funny.
Her figure approached the room that held the secrets she desired. There was work to do. She had to be prepared for the upcoming meeting with Shikaku. After all, she couldn’t turn up with empty hands, could she? She needed a battle plan. And a contingency plan. And a contingency plan for the contingency plan. And a contingency plan for the contingency plan of the contingency plan.
That is why she was currently scouring the archives, searching for military maps, intelligence reports, and certain other useful documents. A series of specific investigation reports and council protocols were among them. They were documents that she had now access to due to her promotion. They contained the answers to some of her questions, to questions that had been bothering her since the day she awakened her sharingan.
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An old enemy returned. Asami faced an old enemy once again, an enemy vicious and merciless in nature.
Her foe was a bookshelf, an evil bookshelf made of evil wood and evil nails. It was too high for short girls like her. The vile traitorous bookshelf sabotaged her efforts. The documents were placed on the highest shelf, but that wouldn’t stop her. She wouldn’t be defeated by furniture.
Asami was standing on her tiptoes, waving desperately with her arms, but she didn't reach the upper shelf. She was so close, yet so far. She was just too short and there was no chair to be found in the vicinity.
“...” Asami pouted. Jumping like a fool was clearly beneath her dignity ... She jumped, but her attempts bore little fruit. She was still too short.
Thus, she planned her next move. She crossed her arms and stroked her chin. The bookshelf might have won the battle, but not the war. It wasn't over yet. Maybe she should reduce the bookshelf to firewood? Nobody would miss it for sure.
Ultimately, she decided against demolition. She got an idea. She ordered her susanoo to assist its mistress. Victory would be hers!
Under her guidance, her susanoo constructed a staircase out of books and tomes. It turned out they were versatile. Books were multifunctional.
A happy Asami stepped up the stairs and got what she wanted. Beneath a thick layer of dust, black letters shimmered, letters almost forgotten by the sands of time.
Her hands gripped the scroll and blew off the dust. “ANBU report A - 1562 - S: Uchiha clan massacre.” A smile crossed her lips.
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Heaven opened its gates. Rain graced the earth and the night was clad in darkness. Amid the pouring rain, a hooded girl moved through empty streets. Armed with an umbrella, Asami strolled through the lifeless ruins of the Uchiha district, a place abandoned for years and sullied with blood.
“Numerous corpses were found in the vicinity of the Naka Shrine. We assume they tried to defend the shrine.” Asami applied little force. The shrine gates yielded easily, as if they had awaited her coming. The gates opened. Her luminescent purple eyes pierced the darkness. She knew her path.
“The attacker overcame their opposition with ease. The Uchiha were slaughtered in a matter of minutes. They were missing their eyes, like the majority of corpses we recovered. They were removed.”
Asami commanded her chakra and lit the torches on the walls. Her purple fire illuminated the hall. “We investigated the shrine further and discovered a massive stone plate under the seventh tatami mat. Its purpose still unknown, but we suspect the plate to be some kind of sealing stone.” Her steps led her towards the seventh tatami mat. She found the stone plate. Her hands touched the cold surface. Her purple glimmering eyes lingered on the inscriptions. The plate featured a stylised sharingan.
“We tried to breach the seal, but our efforts failed. Despite several breaking attempts, the seal didn’t weaken. Fuinjutsu specialists suggested the sharingan was required to activate the mechanism. We decided against using breaching charges.”
Asami stared at the seal, but the plate refused to budge. Bad decision. Defying her never ended well. The stupid stone would meet her wrath. The air changed. Purple chakra saturated the hall. Her fire shared her anger. “Move or crumble beneath my might!” Her threat showed effect. The stone plate moved, frightened by her aura. It only required some minor coercion.
Asami entered the underground complex. It was dark as the corridor lacked adequate lighting. She tripped and fell down the stairs, landing softly on her butt, grumbling. “Stupid architect ... Stupid stairs ... Stupid lighting ...” Her night sight might be excellent, but even her mangekyou failed her in total darkness.
Asami summoned a flame to light her way. In her fire, she could trust. She reached the end of the corridor, spotting a tablet, a boring stone tablet.
Disappointment overcame Asami, and she was tempted to leave, but the tablet caught her attention. A text was engraved on the tablet and the text glowed in the dark bright blue with an intensity akin to pure chakra. The letters were written with chakra.
Asami turned to the tablet, reading. Disappointment turned into interest. Interest turned into curiosity. Curiosity turned into maniac giggling. She knew that her sharingan was a powerful instrument, an instrument that she learned to appreciate, to love over the years. But what the stone tablet told her was beyond even her wildest imaginations. The sharingan held the key to absolute power.
Granted, she would never be graced with the eternal mangekyou as she was born without siblings. And she now came to know now why her eyesight continued to deteriorate, but the benefits outweighed the disadvantages. Apparently, her eyes were even able to control the tailed beasts in exchange for deteriorating eyesight.
Asami slid her fingers across the tablet, ignoring the infantile nonsense called ninshu. The Sage of Six Paths preached in his ignorance peace and understanding, but his feeble attempts failed. The world hadn't changed. War and destruction never disappeared. Furthermore, she also received a lesson in Uchiha clan history. The tablet mentioned a goddess named Kaguya, a tree from which all chakra descended, a forbidden fruit, how the Sage of Six Paths sealed the Jubi inside the moon, how two brothers fought each other. Indra, her progenitor, lost. How disappointing.
“Seeking stability, a god was divided into Yin and Yang. Together, they possess the power to create everything. When the powers of Saṃsara meet the moon, an eye will open and grant the eternal dream.” Asami chuckled. She seriously doubted that the Infinite Tsukuyomi would grant all your wishes. It was too good to be true. It was nothing more than a fairy tale. Everything in this world had its price and the price had to be paid.
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