The torrent of data that was huge enough to burst the brain of any Kage Level strong man surged through Uchiha Xuan's sea of consciousness.
Hundreds of years of wind and frost, dozens of generations of planning, from the first crazy idea to a taboo ritual that spans the ages, all the secrets of "Final Lesson Plan" are revealed under the analysis of his pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
However, Uchiha Xuan's eyes did not stay too long on those bloody histories and complex laws of cause and effect.
His mind was like the most precise scalpel, cutting open the entire data flow and pointing directly at one insignificant node - at the moment Chiyo Saori said the sentence "The person holding the knife must know who is worthy of being believed", at the moment the [Canon Overseer's Eye] branch was activated, Myriad Phenomena Devouring System, there was absolute silence for 0.5 seconds.
That's not a delay, and it's not a glitch.
In the countless information interactions that Uchiha Xuan has integrated with the system, he has never experienced this feeling.
It was a kind of... pause that was close to "evaluation."
It seems that the system is not passively executing its will, but actively confirming a parameter, a key parameter that it has set by itself and is hidden under countless protocols.
This discovery, like a cold steel needle, pierced Uchiha Xuan's long-standing confidence in absolute control of the system.
He has always regarded the system as a tool accompanying his soul, an unlimited supply of weapons.
But at this moment, a crack appeared in this perfect understanding.
Is the system more than just his golden finger?
Could it be... screening too?
Screening the "sword holder" who is qualified to hold it?
And Chiyo Saori, with her almost perfect performance, passed some kind of assessment that she was not even aware of?
A flash of extremely cold murderous intent flashed in Uchi-Hoshi's eyes.
He will never allow any variable to exist that is out of his control, even if this variable is the system itself that gives him everything.
"Chiyo Saori."
The cold voice sounded directly in the stone chamber at the other end of the ruins through the spiritual link.
Chiyo Saori, who had just completed the handover of authority and was preparing to meditate, immediately stood up and knelt on one knee, as humble as the most loyal believer.
"Go to the third floor of Flame Master Ruins," Uchiha Xuan ordered without any emotion. "According to the original records of 'Final Lesson Plan', First Flame Master hid a bone box with the core key sealed in 'Chamber of Extinction' on this floor before self-immolation. Find it and bring it back."
"Yes." Chiyo Saori didn't hesitate at all, and his figure turned into an afterimage and disappeared into the darkness.
On the throne, the corner of Uchiha Xuan's mouth raised a sinister arc.
On the system light screen in front of him, the holographic image of the third-level ruins was clearly displayed.
The so-called "Chamber of Extinction" is empty.
The so-called "Core Key Bone Box" did not exist from the beginning.
This is a complete lie and a carefully laid trap.
For this trap, he even set up three layers of Sharingan Genjutsu in the tower's control room specifically targeting people's hearts and perceptions.
The first level is to distort the light and shadow, creating the illusion of the existence of the bone box; the second level is to simulate energy, so that any perceptive ninja will "discover" the weak seal fluctuations; the third level is the most insidious, it will amplify the inner expectations and utilitarianism of the explorer, and induce it to make a judgment that is most consistent with the logic of "meritorious service".
What he wants to see is not whether Chiyo Saori can complete this false mission.
What he wants to observe is her truest reaction when she is alone and faced with an order that points to merit but is full of doubts.
If she has doubts but still blindly obeys and "finds" a false bone box to bring back under the guidance of illusion, it means that she has completely given up thinking and has become a mere tool.
Such tools are easy to use, but they are also fragile and of limited value.
If she detects the trap, tries to break the illusion, or even reversely probes his intentions, it proves that her unruly self-will is still dominant.
Such a knife is too sharp and may bite back at any time.
What he needs is the third possibility.
Flame Master Ruins On the third floor, it was so silent that you could hear the sound of your own blood flowing.
Chiyo Saori's footsteps were light and steady, making no sound at all.
She walked straight towards "Chamber of Extinction", and the distance of each step was as precise as a textbook.
Her black sleeves swayed slightly as she moved forward, and her long fingertips slid over a hard bulge on the inside of the cuffs.
There, there was a piece of Newborn Skull debris that she crushed and then collected again.
She did not use any chakra, nor did she perform any probing ninjutsu. She only used this relic, which had the deepest causal connection with Flame Master lineage, to sense the almost non-existent energy flow in the surrounding space in an extremely subtle way.
The air is "stagnant".
This is not normal.
True nothingness should be smooth.
This sluggish feeling is a weak rejection reaction that occurs after energy is forcibly distorted and covered.
Three minutes later, she stopped at the preset position of the bone box.
In front of her was a simple stone platform with nothing on it.
But in her perception, the three-layer illusion was running perfectly, and the image of a bone box exuding an ancient atmosphere was quietly suspended above the stone platform, exuding an alluring "sealing wave".
She stared down at the void, as if contemplating a rare treasure.
After a long time, she spoke softly, and her voice sounded particularly clear in the empty stone room.
"There's nothing here, right?"
She didn't turn around, didn't ask anyone, it was more like she was talking to herself.
However, in the next second, an action happened that was beyond Uchiha Xuan's expectations.
Chiyo Saori suddenly knelt down on one knee, pulled out the bone blade polished from First Flame Master's ribs with his right hand from his sleeve, and without hesitation, cut the palm of his left hand.
The blood dripped, not splashing on the stone platform, but accurately seeping into an inconspicuous scratch on the ground.
That was the last ritual track drawn by Ghost Cleaver with his toes before he burned himself in the ruins!
In an instant, blood resonated with ancient rituals.
In the air, circles of translucent rune chains invisible to the naked eye spread like ripples.
They were not triggered or destroyed, but only briefly showed their form - that is the reverse decoding path of the triple illusion seal protocol laid down by Uchiha Xuan!
She's not trying to crack it!
She was using the most correct and "professional" way to "confirm" the existence of this trap to the monitor!
This hand is exquisite!
She neither blindly followed orders to claim a false credit nor foolishly attempted to challenge her master's authority.
She answered this test perfectly with an internal language belonging to "Flame Master inheritance":
I know you are testing me, and I know this is a trap, but I choose to use the rules you set to give my answer.
On the top of the tower, on top of the throne, Uchiha Xuan looked at this scene through the light curtain. The pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan slowly narrowed, and a trace of real heat ignited in the depths of the originally cold pupils.
Beautiful!
This is the "knife" he wants!
Sharp enough to see through the deceptions of gods, yet sober enough to be willing to be held in the palm of your hand!
"Start, 'Shadow Training Replay'."
Uchiha Xuan ordered in a low voice.
Following his will, the energy flow of the entire Flame Master Ruins instantly reversed!
The third floor of the original Kongji was filled with countless lights and shadows. In one second, the scene was restored to what it looked like seven days ago when the twelve taboo puppets were undergoing collaborative training!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Twelve bone puppets exuding the strong aura of Kage Level emerged from the shadows in unison, surrounding Chiyo Saori in the center.
Their blue soul fire suddenly lit up, and their cold murderous intent was locked on her body, like twelve strict instructors, waiting for the final verdict.
Uchiha Xuan's voice, like an oracle, sounded directly in Chiyo Saori's mind:
"You said that swords shouldn't have faith. But if one day, I find that I can't even trust myself... will you still stand here?"
This is a heart-wrenching question with no answer.
Chiyo Saori stood up slowly, with the cold mask still on his face.
She didn't even look at the taboo puppets around her. She just inserted the blood-stained bone blade into the ground in front of her gently but firmly.
She didn't answer the question, but her voice penetrated the layers of space and clearly echoed in Uchiha Xuan's ears:
"A true whetstone is never afraid of being cut."
The moment the voice fell, in the deepest layer of the system that no one could pry into, a brand new log quietly emerged: [Emotional simulation progress: 71% | Target personality synchronization rate: 90.1%... Threshold breakthrough, passive influence protocol upgrade...]
At the same time, under the reflection of the twelve puppets' ghostly fire, for a moment, an extremely blurry double image appeared in the slender shadow of Chiyo Saori, as if there was an outline that did not belong to this world, and it disappeared in a flash.
On the throne, Uchiha Xuan didn't care about the minutiae.
He got the answer he wanted.
But this answer, together with Chiyo Saori's perfect performance just now, and the system's "evaluation" of 0.5 seconds, all the clues gathered in his mind pointed to an even weirder paradox.
He retrieved the entire data of "Final Lesson Plan" that spanned hundreds of years.
The logical chain of the causal law template is not a straight line.
In the records, the timestamp of a certain "root event" that led First Flame Master to have the crazy idea of "burning the world" was clearly marked... in the future.