The information was like a silent electric current that instantly penetrated Uchiha Xuan's nerve center.
Deep in the Fire Country mountain, there is a Uchiha Cemetery that is far older than Warring States Era, more than a dozen sarcophagi engraved with the original Sharingan totems, and the two big characters on the coffin lid - "Xuan Position".
Chiyo stood respectfully aside, looking at the familiar smile on Xuan's face that was mixed with sarcasm and coldness, and he already understood in his heart.
"They even want to get their hands on the graves of the dead. These people are getting more and more bottomless." Xuan's voice was very soft, but it was like a steel needle tempered with ice, piercing the air and freezing it. "It seems that I have given them a comfortable life for too long."
His fingertips tapped lightly on the table, and every sound seemed to be a prelude to the coming storm.
"Baba."
A black figure appeared out of thin air in the shadow of the room, kneeling on one knee, it was none other than Commander Scarlet Eye Guard Baba.
"Master."
"Lead a team of Scarlet Eye Guard and take over the cemetery immediately." Xuan's eyes did not waver at all, and the order was clear and cold, "Remember, it is a takeover, not a blockade. Don't touch anything, and don't leave any traces of battle. I want to make it look like a temporary control area established by Fire Country officials for the purpose of cultural relics protection."
Hearing this, Chiyo said with some confusion, "Master Xuan, with all due respect, wouldn't it be safer to completely seal it and list it as a forbidden area for the Uchiha Clan, and then expel those so-called scholars? Anyone who tries to pry into the secrets of our clan should pay the price."
Xuan shook his head slowly and looked towards the billowing clouds outside the window, as if he was overlooking all living beings.
"Chiyo, the blockade can block their footsteps, but it can't block their mouths, let alone their pens. Each of these scholars has a sharp mouth that can turn black into white, and a pen that can confuse right and wrong. As long as they go back and write a book and publish a few papers, they can set off huge waves among the people and shake the foundation we have finally established."
He paused, and the corner of his mouth curled up with a sinister arc. "I don't need them to shut up, I need them... to tell the story I want them to tell. This tomb cannot disappear, it has to become a 'wrong answer', an answer that is enough to make everyone doubtful and then deny themselves."
A sophisticated and vicious plan took shape in his mind instantly.
"Chiyo, go to my collection room and take out the skeletons numbered 'Warring States-07', 'Warring States-13' and 'Warring States-21'." He ordered, "Those are the remains of the strong Warring States Era who were devoured and fused by me in the early years. Use him Their skeletons were used to reconstruct three complete corpses. Remember, the skull shape must be deliberately modified to make it significantly different from the modern Uchiha Clan people, but it must be ensured that the DNA test results will point to the highest purity Uchiha Clan bloodline."
"Baba," he turned to the shadow again, "After the scholars arrived, they were provided with food and tools in the name of 'assisting research'. In all drinking water, mix one ten thousandth of a dose of Divine Tree spore powder. The dosage must be controlled. I don't want them to become idiots. I only need a slight deviation in their logical judgment."
"As for night," Xuan's eyes became dark, "Chiyo, mobilize your mechanical crow troops to conduct ultra-low-altitude Shizune hovering over the cemetery. Through infrasound waves, broadcast my message to the camp. The audio provided to you... is the wailing of countless souls when they were pulled away by Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. After processing, it sounds like the uneasy roar of ancient dead souls. I want them to believe from the bottom of their hearts that this place is ominous."
The order was given, the two men followed it, and the huge underground machine began to operate at high speed for this conspiracy.
A few days later, when a team of independent scholars composed of several top anthropologists, historians and geneticists arrived at the ancient tomb in the mountains, they were greeted by Baba and his polite but unquestionable Scarlet Eye Guard.
A "temporary protection order" stamped with the seal of Fire Country strictly limited their activities to a few designated areas outside the cemetery.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone came from afar." Baba smiled like a loyal butler, "We are ordered to protect this important relic, but we are also well aware of the research enthusiasm of all scholars. Please rest assured that we will do our best to provide all conveniences while ensuring the safety of the cultural relics."
Although scholars are dissatisfied, they are helpless in the face of official documents.
In the next few days, they began intense surveying and exploration work.
The food provided by Baba was exquisite and delicious, and the tools were all available. The meticulous "assistance" made them gradually let down their guard.
However, strange events began to happen one after another.
First, the youngest geneticist in the team repeatedly came to contradictory conclusions when analyzing soil samples. He scratched his hair irritably, thinking that there was something wrong with the instrument.
Then, several scholars had nightmares at night. The dreams were bizarre and strange, but when they woke up, they were left with an inexplicable palpitation.
In the camp, whispers began to spread that "this place is a bit evil."
The mechanical crows controlled by Chiyo are like ghosts in the night. The frequency of their wings beating has been accurately calculated and will not emit any sound that humans can hear. However, the processed wails originating from the abyss of the soul penetrate pervasively into everyone's subconscious through infrasound waves.
On the fifth day, when Professor Hasegawa, the most authoritative anthropologist in the team, was measuring the size of the "Xuan Position" sarcophagus with a precise instrument, a sudden change occurred!
His whole body suddenly convulsed violently, his eyes turned white, he foamed at the mouth, he fell straight backwards and fell heavily to the ground.
A sudden epileptic seizure plunged the entire camp into chaos.
After emergency rescue, Professor Hasegawa woke up slowly, but his eyes were full of unprecedented fear.
He grabbed his colleague's hand and described in a trembling voice what he saw when he was unconscious. "I... I saw... a red giant standing tall... His whole body was burning with chakra flames, and his blood-colored eyes were like two huge Uzumaki Clan, staring at me... He was roaring, he was reprimanding us... tomb robbers!"
The description of "Red Eye Giant" was like the last straw, completely crushing the fragile nerves of the scholar team.
Fear spread like a plague, and most people advocated terminating the investigation immediately and evacuating this ominous place.
But the historian in the team, known for his rigor and stubbornness, Tanaka, stood up.
"Nonsense! It's just an illusion caused by excessive pressure! How can scientific research be shaken by superstition? The truth is in this sarcophagus. I must open it today and conduct a bone examination!"
Baba looked at this stubborn "truth pursuer" and said, "Since Professor Tanaka insists, we should cooperate. However, in order to protect the cultural relics, please be sure to wear the special gloves we provide when opening the coffin."
He handed over a pair of brand new sterile gloves, and Tanaka quickly put them on without doubting his presence.
He didn't notice that Baba had applied a thin layer of fluorescent protein on the inner palm of the glove in an almost invisible way.
Under the gaze of everyone, the heavy "Xuan Position" sarcophagus lid was slowly pushed open.
A cold wind mixed with the breath of dust and time blew towards my face. Inside the coffin, a relatively well-preserved skeleton lay quietly.
Tanaka took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and carefully reached out, preparing to pick up the skull of the skeleton for preliminary observation.
The moment his fingertips touched the bones, Baba suddenly shouted, "Wait! Turn on the ultraviolet exploration light and check for microbial contamination!"
A Scarlet Eye Guard immediately activated the hand-held ultraviolet lamp, and a faint purple beam swept across the sarcophagus.
The next second, a scene that made everyone's scalp numb appeared -
The skeleton that had been touched by Tanaka quickly spread a weird blood-red fluorescence from the point of contact!
It was as if something inside the skeleton had been activated, and the entire remains glowed ominously red under ultraviolet light, as if they had been completely "contaminated" by some unknown, evil force!
"Oh my God!" A female scholar screamed and backed away.
Tanaka was also frightened and suddenly retracted his hand, looking at the red fluorescence on his gloves that was also stained with horror, as if he had touched something poisonous.
The psychological defense of the scholar team completely collapsed at this moment.
They packed their bags overnight and fled in a hurry from what they defined as a "cursed forbidden land."
A week later, an archaeological report co-signed by the team caused an uproar in the academic world.
In the report, they described the entire process of the investigation in a rigorous and restrained manner, and finally came to an explosive conclusion: the so-called "Xuan Tomb Lord" had obvious traces of unnatural modifications on his skeleton, and the genetic sequence was mixed with some abnormal fragments that could not be analyzed. It is very likely that he was not a pure Uchiha Clan ancestor, but a biological experiment from ancient times, or even the product of a "pseudo-ancestor worship" ritual.
As soon as this statement came out, public opinion was in an uproar.
Those overseas Uchiha Clan exiles who were ready to respond to the "Return-to-Ancestor Faction" call instantly fell into great confusion and self-doubt.
If even the oldest ancestral graves are full of doubts, how can they start talking about the "purity of blood" they pursue?
Some radicals even began to openly question the origin of the entire Uchiha Clan bloodline.
Xuan sat at the top of Naka River Shrine, holding a copy of the report in his hand, and laughed softly.
"I never deny the existence of ancestral graves, I just... make it so that no one dares to mention it anymore."
Another seven days later, Xuan quietly came to the already silent cemetery alone.
He walked slowly to the "Xuan Position" sarcophagus and stood in silence for a long time, as if he was looking at a Phantom that spanned a thousand years.
After a long time, he slowly raised his right hand, and a ball of extreme crimson light condensed in his palm.
The light swept across like a sharp blade, and wherever it went, all the inscriptions and totems on the sarcophagi and tombstones were evaporated by the high temperature and turned into nothingness, leaving only bare stone slabs.
"Baba." He called without looking back.
"Here." Baba's figure emerged from the shadows again.
"Dig the ground three feet, completely fill it with saline-alkali soil, and plant dead trees." Xuan's voice was emotionless. "In the future, if anyone asks about this place again, tell them that there was nothing here from the beginning."
That night, Xuan returned to the underground secret room of Naka River Shrine.
He took out a tiny crystal sealed in an inert gel from a complex system terminal.
In the core of the crystal, there is a ray of almost invisible material sealed - that is the real DNA sample of the owner of the tomb "Xuan Position".
On the label of the crystal, there is a line of small words written in cold font, "The only control group, never used."
He locked the crystal into the deepest core of the entire base system and whispered to himself, "The real history is only worthy of being my backup."
Outside the window, the dark clouds gathered by his pupil power gathered again, blocking the moonlight.
The Eternal Mangekyō in his eyes slowly rotated, and countless illusory tombstones seemed to emerge from the edge of the bloody halo. They stood quietly in the silent wind, and in the next moment, they all turned into flying ashes and scattered in the endless darkness.
And that carefully distorted archaeological report is like a quietly falling spark, about to ignite the entire Fire Country public opinion wilderness.