Ruined Secret Chamber and the Tree of Inheritance

"They have started searching the clan grounds."

Before the final school bell had even faded, Chiba slipped out through the side gate. He circled two blocks before vaulting into his own backyard.

The weeds outside the ancestral hall had been trampled, and there was a fresh scratch on the rusted lock.

The intruders had not forced their way in.

The Senju ancestral hall still held remnants of old seals. If an ordinary ninja touched the door frame, the department directly under the Hokage would receive an alert almost immediately.

The people from Root could only search for an entrance from the outside.

"The pulse from last night came from underground. Have they sensed something too?"

Chiba pushed the door open and entered the hall. A scent of dust, accumulated over many years, stung his nostrils.

Dilapidated murals covered both walls. One could still make out the figures of Senju clansmen clad in armor, though large patches of pigment had flaked away, leaving only hands gripping swords and half-visible clan crests.

Spiderwebs hung behind the offering table, and several wooden tablets inscribed with names lay toppled in the dust.

Chiba straightened them one by one, though he did not offer a prayer.

He had no memories of these people, yet he had occupied the identity of Senju Chiba and inherited this clan land.

From now on, if anyone else stepped in here, they would at least need his permission first.

"System, scan the underground structure."

[The Infinite Evolution Template does not possess standard sensory scanning functions.]

"The roots touched it last night. You can record evolution energy, but you can't record a path?"

[Wood Release connection traces can be utilized.]

[Do you wish to reactivate the residual root system?]

"Activate. Limit the growth range."

A faint sound came from beneath the floorboards. The fine roots left behind last night revived from the soil, stretching along their original path toward the depths of the hall.

Chiba closed his eyes, identifying the changes in the soil layers through the feedback from the roots.

There was a hollow area beneath the offering table. The entrance was sealed by a heavy stone slab, wrapped in several layers of chakra patterns.

"Found you."

He moved the offering table aside, revealing only a few cracked bricks on the floor.

The roots emerged from the gaps between the bricks, prying one up to reveal a rusted metal ring hidden beneath.

Chiba gripped the ring and pulled upward. The entire floor tile lifted, exposing a narrow stone staircase leading underground.

Cold air, heavy with the smell of rotting wood, surged up.

The sides of the stone steps were carved with sealing symbols, some of which had lost their luster. The closer he got to the bottom, the clearer the chakra reaction became.

Chiba did not step down immediately. Instead, he let a vine probe the passage first.

The moment the vine crossed the third step, the walls lit up with red light.

"Intruder, retreat."

A hoarse voice emanated from within the stone walls, and the poisonous vine was severed into several pieces by the sealing power on the spot.

Chiba withdrew his chakra.

"It can identify identities and still retains defensive capabilities."

[High-intensity sealing structure detected.]

[This seal integrates bloodline verification and chakra recognition. The success rate for forced decryption is below the executable range.]

"I am of the Senju bloodline."

[Host's soul and body fusion is stable; bloodline verification can pass. Chakra recognition involves unknown conditions.]

Chiba bit his fingertip and dripped blood onto the clan crest on the first step.

The blood flowed along the carvings. The red light flared from near to far, and the repulsive force from underground began to weaken.

"Descendant of the Senju, state your name."

The voice from the stone wall spoke again.

"Senju Chiba."

"Which branch of the paternal line?"

"I don't know."

"Which branch of the maternal line?"

"I don't know."

"Where is your mark of inheritance?"

"No one gave it to me."

The sealing light within the passage flickered repeatedly. The voice in the wall fell silent for a moment.

"Where is the keeper of the clan seal?"

"Dead, missing, or simply unwilling to return."

"Where is the clan head?"

"There is no clan head."

"How many Senju remain?"

Chiba stared at the tightly shut stone door at the end of the stairs.

"Of those remaining in the Konoha clan grounds, only I am left."

The sound of wooden gears turning echoed within the walls. The first layer of the seal receded, but the steps behind it remained covered in red light.

"Bloodline verification passed. Inheritance qualifications insufficient."

"What is considered sufficient?"

"Hold the clan head's seal, gain the recognition of the elders, or awaken the Tree of Inheritance."

"I have neither of the first two. Where is the third?"

"Insufficient authority."

Chiba reached out and pressed his hand against the stone wall. The poisonous vine probed along the carvings, but the red light flared again, scorching the tip of the vine to a crisp black.

"System, analyze the seal."

[Commencing comparison of energy structures.]

[The main body of the seal contains Uzumaki Clan techniques, Senju bloodline imprints, and an unknown Wood Release totem.]

The World Tree skill map in his mind unfolded.

In the center of the branches that had already been lit, the main trunk totem gradually overlapped with the sealing patterns at the end of the stone steps.

Chiba opened his eyes.

The surface of the stone door was carved with a giant tree with lush foliage. Its canopy supported the sun and moon, and its roots delved deep into the mountains and rivers.

It shared the same main trunk orientation as the World Tree in the Infinite Evolution Template, with no difference even in the way the roots were intertwined.

"Why are they the same?"

[Insufficient data. Unable to answer.]

"You said you were a template. You never mentioned being related to the Senju clan."

[Insufficient data. Unable to answer.]

"Then where did you come from?"

[Insufficient authority.]

Chiba stared at the system panel until the skill tree faded away once more.

This thing had been pushing his Wood Release to evolve, yet it had never explained its own origin.

Appearing at the same time as his transmigration did not necessarily mean it belonged only to him.

Perhaps this World Tree had existed within the Senju clan all along, and only merged with his soul because the original owner had died.

"What is the Tree of Inheritance?"

Chiba asked the stone wall.

"The source of Wood Release, the root of the Senju."

"Left behind by the First Hokage?"

"Begun before the First, completed by the hands of the First."

"What is preserved inside?"

"Insufficient authority."

"Change the question. How do I awaken it?"

"Let the withered roots grow again."

This time, the stone wall provided an answer.

Chiba crouched down and pressed the fine roots, which had been absorbing water, against the first step.

The seal did not attack.

The fine roots passed through the clan crest and continued downward along the inside of the stone wall, soon touching a piece of withered wood.

That object was buried behind the stone door, its scale far exceeding his range of perception.

The root system's water absorption function started automatically.

Groundwater was drawn in, sent along the fine roots into the withered wood, and trace amounts of natural energy from the soil flowed in as well.

A leaf lit up on the World Tree totem on the stone door.

[High-concentration Wood Release residue detected.]

[Unknown Senju cell sample detected.]

[World Tree skill map resonating. A new evolution node is attempting to connect.]

Chiba cut off the Wood Release immediately.

However, the withered wood behind the door did not go silent; instead, it drained the chakra from the residual roots.

More leaves lit up one after another.

"Stop."

[Connection has been taken over by external energy.]

The underground passage began to shake. The spirit tablets on the offering table collided with one another, and dust fell from the cracks in the murals.

A fissure opened in the center of the stone door.

A pale tree root emerged from within, stopping at Chiba's feet, its tip slowly rising.

The voice that had slept for many years within the wall spoke once more.

"Tree of Inheritance confirms bloodline. Senju clan head candidate, take your place."

The pale tree root immediately coiled around Chiba's wrist, and for the first time, a bright red warning flashed on the system panel.

[Warning: Another holder of the Infinite Evolution Template detected.]