"Book of Seals" and a Secret Chamber Discussion

"..."

Uchiha Fugaku hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. "All right, we'll do as you say and give it another try."

Then—

He asked another question, unable to hide his eagerness. "Grand Ancestor, I was wondering if you might have time to return to the clan and look around sometime soon? The clan members are all looking forward to seeing your true appearance and fulfilling the filial duty expected of descendants."

"...We'll talk about it another day."

Uchiha Hikari's mind was still focused mainly on Sealing Techniques.

Besides, she could more or less tell that although Uchiha Fugaku and the others respectfully called her "Grand Ancestor," they probably still saw her as a child. The real reason for inviting her was not any "filial devotion"—they had never even met, so where would that come from?—but because they valued her strength and wanted to use their young Grand Ancestor to back the Uchiha Clan and pressure Konoha.

She disliked the conduct of Konoha's higher-ups.

But she did not want to be used by others either, borrowing a tiger's might to throw her weight around.

Just then—

Uchiha Hikari caught sight of Sarutobi Hiruzen from above the corridor. Dressed in a Priest Robe, he was hurrying over from the direction of the Hokage Building, followed by Uzuki Yugao and two other Anbu.

"There, the Sarutobi brat's here."

"Perfect, you can talk it over. If you start arguing later, keep your voices down. The soundproofing in these houses isn't very good."

Uchiha Hikari jerked her chin at Uchiha Fugaku, then glanced at Kakashi, who stood in the corner. "Hey, White-Haired Brat over there, remember to ask Sarutobi when he'll let me see the 'Book of Seals.' I'm running out of patience."

Several days had already passed since the Root Base Incident.

Uchiha Hikari understood that Danzo had left behind quite a mess that needed time to clean up, but after waiting this long, she was getting impatient.

After saying that, she went back into the house and shut the door, ignoring all outside affairs as she continued exploring Yachihoko.

Uchiha Hikari had no idea how the negotiations that day turned out.

But starting the next day, the Uchiha Clan sent people to Naruto's house early every morning with piles of fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat. They would linger for a while before leaving.

Uchiha Hikari did not make a point of meeting those who delivered the goods, but neither did she refuse the ingredients. She handed all of them to Naruto to wash and cook, improving their meals a little.

Fruit in Konoha was quite expensive. Since they could eat it for free, there was naturally no need to spend their own money.

On the morning of the third day—

Sarutobi Hiruzen finally knocked on the door again, saying that he would take Uchiha Hikari to see the "Book of Seals."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's home.

A secret chamber lit by flickering lamps.

Ignoring the layers upon layers of protective barriers around her and the Anbu standing guard in full readiness, Uchiha Hikari looked up at the enormous scroll before her, nearly as tall as she was.

"So this is Konoha's 'Book of Seals'?"

"Yes."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, his tone solemn. "The 'Book of Seals' holds extraordinary significance for Konoha. Even I, the current Hokage, may only view it here and cannot take it out at will... I hope Miss Hikari can understand."

Yeah, right. So the Book of Seals Naruto took out was fake, then?

Wait...

Could the Book of Seals in front of me be fake?

Uchiha Hikari suddenly became cautious. After laying the scroll flat, opening it, and sitting down cross-legged, she activated the chat group's camera function, took a picture, and uploaded it.

Nameless: image.jpg

Nameless @Forever with Sis: Fourth Hokage, could you please take a look? Is there anything wrong with the records of these ninjutsu?

Forever with Sis: Is this... the "Book of Seals"?! You actually managed to borrow it?

Nameless: Yeah, I said a few words to the Third Hokage and he agreed. He's actually a pretty nice guy.

Forever with Sis: ...Judging only from the techniques you sent, there doesn't seem to be any problem. But I never read that entire scroll either. Many of the ninjutsu recorded on it either cause enormous harm to the user or violate the natural order, so they have little value for study. I only gave it a cursory glance, and I may not be able to identify everything.

Nameless: That's fine.

With Minato Namikaze helping her verify it, Uchiha Hikari felt a little more at ease.

She was not greedy, either.

Just as Minato Namikaze had said, although the Book of Seals recorded quite a few forbidden techniques, there were not many truly worth learning.

Multiple Shadow Clone, Eight Gates, Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, Impure World Reincarnation... those were definitely the ones she needed to focus on.

The first two could easily damage the body, but as long as she exercised enough self-control and did not push herself beyond her limits, they would be fine. As for Impure World Reincarnation, Uchiha Hikari only wanted to understand it for now. If she truly wanted to use that forbidden technique, she would most likely have to seek out Orochimaru's improved version.

There was one more, too...

"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"

This technique had also been invented by the forbidden-technique master Tobirama Senju. It used the principles of the Summoning Technique: with a single explosive tag as a trigger, it could continuously summon new explosive tags for endless explosions. Its power was great enough to destroy a Gate of the Great God and injure a Ten-Tails split body. Its flaw, however, was that its power was too great and it could not be stopped manually, meaning the caster could be caught in the blast as well. Generally, it needed to be used in conjunction with Impure World Reincarnation.

But...

Those shortcomings were things Uchiha Hikari could find ways to overcome.

She had Susanoo to withstand the force of explosions, along with the double recovery granted by her own physique and Senzu Beans. While it was nowhere near as absurd as an Impure World Reincarnation body, she could theoretically tank the damage from a full set of Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.

If things truly reached a critical moment, she could use this technique as a trump card.

An entire day passed.

Uchiha Hikari spent it in the dark room, carefully studying and memorizing the contents of the scroll.

She had brought some snacks and pastries beforehand, setting them casually beside her and eating a little whenever she got hungry.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained seated some distance away, reviewing official documents.

Until evening came.

Only after roughly finishing the entire scroll did Uchiha Hikari rise to her feet, roll her neck a few times, and stretch.

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately turned to look at her. "You've finished reading it?"

"More or less."

Uchiha Hikari replied casually, then thanked him. "Thanks, Sarutobi brat."

"..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen tugged at the corner of his mouth in speechless irritation, then looked over with his cloudy eyes. "Miss Hikari, shall we talk?"

"Hm?"

Uchiha Hikari raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression grew serious. "I would like to ask what you think of Konoha's Uchiha Clan..."

"?"

Uchiha Hikari narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze resting on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face for several seconds before she slowly sat back down. "Say what you want directly. I don't have time to trade riddles with you."