"I'm not saying, but whoever designed this passage was seriously some kind of genius, right?"
In the crowded tunnel, Kou had long since lost the excitement he had felt at the beginning after walking for who knew how long.
His shoulders occasionally scraped against the rough rock walls on either side, and several times, his head even struck the low-hanging stone ridges overhead with a dull thud.
Kou held up Firebirth, its flames flickering. The flaming blade had now been reduced to a "torch."
As he walked forward in speechless frustration, he could not help complaining, "A tunnel from a thousand years ago, and they didn't even renovate it. There aren't even any lights.
Could it be that every member of the Uzumaki Clan had to bring a torch whenever they came here?!"
His voice echoed through the narrow passage, squeezed by the stone walls into a low, droning hum.
Mei Terumi followed closely behind Kou. After hesitating for a moment, she timidly added, "Is there a possibility that when the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out... electricity hadn't become widespread in the Ninja World yet?"
Kou was briefly rendered speechless.
"Uh... then, never mind."
Kou coughed awkwardly, then looked at Firebirth in his hand, still playing the role of a torch, and muttered unconsciously, "Sigh, if that stubborn old man Uchiha Yashiro were still alive and found out I was using Firebirth as a torch, he'd probably go insane with rage, wouldn't he?"
The corners of his lips curved faintly, carrying both warmth and sorrow.
But that sorrow existed for only an instant before he quickly suppressed it.
Kou stared ahead and continued onward.
After an unknown amount of time, his steps paused slightly.
His eyes, especially bright in the firelight, caught something unusual in the distance ahead.
"Is that