Beside the Naka River stood the Uchiha Naka Shrine.
The ancient shrine had black tiles and white walls, its style solemn and timeworn.
At the end of the mountain path stood a vermilion torii gate, its pillars carved with simple Sharingan patterns.
"This is the forbidden ground of our Uchiha clan. The patterns symbolize our entry into the Uchiha Divine Realm."
Uchiha Fugaku gazed at the shrine in his black robes. After speaking, he took the lead through the torii gate, with Kazuhiko, also dressed in black, following behind him.
"You must be wondering why I brought you here before the war."
Kazuhiko was curious!
He was incredibly curious about what the Uchiha still had that he did not know.
Fugaku turned back with a faint smile. "Today, I'll reveal the Uchiha clan's ultimate secret to you."
With that, he turned into a riddle-speaker and walked into the shrine on his own.
The ultimate secret!
Could there be a secret chamber beneath Naka Shrine?
And inside that secret chamber, would there just so happen to be a stone tablet left behind by the Sage of Six Paths?
Kazuhiko followed behind Fugaku, his heart as still as an ancient well.
If he had been called out in the middle of the night just to look at a stone tablet, there was really no need.
With that time, he would rather launch a night raid on Kurenai Yuhi and play another round.
Distracted, Kazuhiko surveyed the shrine's wooden structure.
The courtyard was filled with ancient cedars and moss. It was clean and orderly, clearly maintained year-round, though the darkness gave it a quiet, desolate air.
"Those permitted to enter the shrine's main hall are the elite among the Uchiha elite, qualified to learn the Sharingan's advanced ocular techniques—"
Fugaku opened a hidden