January 7, Kaiyuan Year Three.
The former site of River Capital, the Ryumyaku ruins where Uchiha Hikari had once been sealed, had now been designated by the Empire's Uchiha imperial family as a new ancestral site for worship.
Winter had not yet passed, and the early spring wind still carried a biting chill. It swept through the evergreen pines and cypresses surrounding the shrine, making the branches murmur in deep, unbroken waves like ancient prayers.
A grand shrine had risen from atop the ruins.
Massive dark-green stone foundations supported vermilion pillars, while the roof was layered with dark glazed tiles that gleamed with a restrained, heavy luster beneath the thin winter sunlight.
The entire structure rose in tiers along the mountain slope, silently overlooking the ley lines where the former seal lay buried, freezing centuries of time into solemn majesty amid curling incense smoke.
The long stone steps and approach leading to Uchiha Shrine had been swept spotless.
On both sides stood the armored Uchiha Red-Armored Army, stationed year-round in nearby camps.
They wore uniform black armor, the clan crest bound around their arms, hands resting on sword hilts. They stood straight as pines, their gazes sharp and calm beneath their masks.
The early spring wind swept past the ranks, stirring the hanging drapes beneath their armor plates with faint rustling sounds, making the entire approach seem even more silent and iron-bound.
In the distance, at the end of the mountain path, a ceremonial procession slowly approached. The imperial carriage had arrived.
The white-haired Old Clan Head stood before the worship hall at the shrine's highest point, clad in traditional priestly robes and holding a tamagushi.
Behind him stood the solemn main hall, enshrining all Uchiha heroes who had died for the clan since the Warring States era.
"Your Majesty."