Looking over Konoha's rapid changes, the clan grounds remained much the same.
As Madara strolled through the clan grounds, he spread out his senses, perceiving every sentry post, open and hidden.
Passing beneath the Torii Gate and entering Naka Shrine, he moved aside the massive stone wall that required the Sharingan to shift, then walked down the brightly lit secret passage toward its deepest reaches.
"Thud. Thud. Thud."
His rhythmic footsteps struck like drumbeats upon the dancing flames, silently stretching Madara's shadow.
The Uchiha Stone Tablet passed down from the Sage of Six Paths was illuminated by bonfires on either side.
Madara dispelled his Transformation Jutsu and returned to his original appearance, stepping across the wooden floor as he slowly approached it.
A rare complexity appeared on his stern face. Once, the fog brought by this stone tablet had tightly enshrouded him, even giving birth to an obsession.
At Mount Myoboku, he had seen what a true shortcut to learning the truth looked like.
Those immortal holy lands of cultivation that had endured since ancient times could not help but fill him with admiration.
He paced forward.
The time consumed by those few short steps—
Madara felt it had surpassed the sum of all his previous journeys.
He slowly parted the hair covering his right eye. His pupil glimmered faintly with purple light, while black concentric rings rippled outward layer upon layer like waves.
The Rinnegan's ocular power surged from his right eye as it deciphered the records upon the stone tablet.
The opening described how to use the Rinnegan.
The Six Paths techniques and Yin-Yang Release techniques.
Madara continued reading, and his expression grew increasingly grave.
Beyond the methods of using the Rinnegan, it also detailed everything he had seen within Mount Myoboku regarding the eras of Kaguya and