Above the ruins of Naka River Shrine, it was so silent that even the wind seemed to have died.
Uchiha Xuan's figure sitting cross-legged is integrated with the earth that was torn apart by his own hands.
For three days and three nights, he never closed his eyes. Those transformed pure silver Byakugan pupils just stared at the void darkness in front of him quietly, not reflecting anything or showing any emotion.
This is not meditation, nor is it rest.
This is the ultimate "silent hunting".
After personally activating [Gene Overwriting·Unique True Name] and completely devouring the initial personality template as a "traveler", Uchiha Xuan cut off all active perceptions between himself and the outside world.
He turned himself into an absolute "black box", an information singularity that could only enter but not exit.
He is waiting.
Waiting for an answer.
When the initial "anchor point" disappears, when the "prototype" as a reference for pollution is erased, is there still a higher-dimensional "recorder" silently observing him and recording his every move?
That thing from behind the "door", that "First Devourer" will that tried to assimilate him, where is its origin?
Time passes in a meaningless way.
Until the seventh hour of the third day, at the bottom of Myriad Phenomena Devouring System, which had entered a deep dormant state in his body, a pulse fainter than starlight quietly lit up.
A line of cold data flow that did not belong to any known language unfolded directly in his sea of consciousness:
[The agreement takes effect, the coordinates are exposed, and the source responds]
Coming.
Uchiha Xuan's sculptured body finally made its first move.
He blinked slowly, and the entire Shinobi World starry sky was reflected in the depths of his silver-white pupils, but it was colder and more vast than the starry sky itself.
He didn't get up, just a thought.
"Master Xuan."
A beautiful figure appeared silently behind him. Chiyo Saori knelt on one knee, with her long scorpion tail braid almost touching the ground, her posture was extremely respectful.
For three days, she has always stayed a hundred meters away, like the most loyal shadow guard, never taking a step away.
"Bring it here." Xuan's voice was as calm as water, without any ripples.
Chiyo Saori understood immediately and presented a box made of high-density chakra crystal with both hands.
In the box, lying quietly was the bone dagger, which was completely black and had a simple shape.
It was this dagger that was forged with her hard work and mixed with Xuan's ribs and Newborn Skull fragments, and she personally dug out the source of the pollution.
"Seal it," Uchiha Xuan's order was concise and clear. "Declare to the outside world that this object has been reduced to ashes along with all unknowns in 'Self-Immolation Rite'. Prepare a report and destroy all relevant data recorded without leaving any trace."
"Yes." Chiyo Saori agreed without hesitation.
However, Uchiha Xuan has not finished speaking yet.
His silver pupils shifted slightly, as if they had penetrated the crystal box and landed on the bone dagger.
"In the bone core of this dagger, I implanted a reverse memory ripple. It is sealed in a tiny gap in time and space, and cannot be detected by any chakra."
Chiyo Saori's breathing stagnated slightly
"Once any life form that is not of my Uchiha Clan bloodline attempts to touch this dagger with their energy or soul, the ripples will be automatically released. It will simulate that I am entangled by 'Guilt Chain', 'Devourer's will is an illusion when it initially awakens, and releases an extremely weak and fleeting distress signal." Xuan's lips curved with a cold arc, "It is a trap, a cognitive trap prepared for those self-righteous 'recyclers'."
Chiyo Saori's heart was shocked, and he suddenly understood.
Master Xuan is... fishing!
Not only did he predict the enemy's arrival, he even took into account the detection methods and recovery methods the enemy might use, and laid out the bait in advance to invite you into the trap!
This is no longer a battle, but an all-round crushing from intelligence, psychology to cause and effect levels!
"My subordinates understand that I will handle this matter without leakage!"
"Go ahead."
Chiyo Saori's figure disappeared into the night.
Uchiha Xuan stood up slowly. Instead of returning to the central tower that symbolized absolute power, he turned around and walked step by step towards the deepest part of Naka River Shrine.
There is the real node of the Uchiha Clan leyline and one of the intersections of the entire Fire Country Dragon Vein.
He stands in the center of the node, and the space here is slightly distorted by the huge Natural Energy.
He closed his eyes again, but his silver pupils seemed brighter than when he opened them.
The power of time and space anchoring that remained deep in the soul, belonging to Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan, was activated by him in a completely new way.
There is no Amenotejikara, no Limbo: Border Jail·Bian Jail, and no Planetary Devastation.
His willpower was highly condensed and turned into an invisible carving knife. In the twisted void in front of him, stroke by stroke, he carved a line of runes that no one could see or understand.
That is not ninjutsu, not Sealing Jutsu, but a domineering behavior closer to "rule declaration".
The meaning of that line of runes transcends the scope of language. If it is forced to be translated with the understanding of this world, there is only one sentence:
[I am no longer on the list.]
This is the most direct and arrogant betrayal and declaration of war against the unknown Otsutsuki Main House!
Do you use "fruit numbers" to define the value and sequence of life, and regard the world as an orchard that can be picked?
Very good.
Today, my "fruit" announces that I have left the plant on my own, and I am no longer a member of your "list" for harvest!
After doing all this, Uchiha Xuan turned around and left, as if he just brushed off the dust from his clothes.
Three days later, night.
Changes occur suddenly!
On the distant and cold back side of the moon, the Otsutsuki Altar, which had been silent for thousands of years, suddenly trembled violently.
The stone tablet in the center of the altar with the inscription "First Devourer, return to your place" shines brightly!
"Buzz--!"
A silver-white beam of light that was as condensed as substance, like a spear of judgment tearing apart the universe, instantly penetrated the thin lunar atmosphere, crossed the dead vacuum, and hit Uchiha Sacred Land on the earth at a speed exceeding the speed of light with incomparable precision!
However, wherever the light beam reaches, what greets it is not the ruins and deathly silence as expected.
I saw an ancient and solemn formation on the surface of Naka River Shrine. I don't know when.
Twelve figures, wearing ancient Uchiha Clan priest uniforms, holding imitation artifacts of different shapes, stood solemnly.
They exuded an ominous Impure World Reincarnation aura, but their movements were uniform, as if they had been rehearsed thousands of times, full of a sense of sacred ritual.
"Welcome... God!"
The leader of the puppet made a dry and loud sound from his mouth.
The judgment beam stopped abruptly above the formation, and the light flickered, as if an intelligent life form was hesitating and making judgments.
It felt a familiar and ancient atmosphere in the formation, which was the sealed order belonging to the lineage of "Guardians" of this planet.
The beam's detection logic was instantly misled: the seal here has not completely failed, and there are still ancient guardians maintaining order.
After staying briefly for less than three seconds, the beam slowly retreated, finally turning into a stream of light and disappearing into the sky.
On the high tower, Uchiha Xuan watched all of this indifferently through a huge one-way Crystal Release surveillance mirror.
Chiyo Saori stood behind him and said softly, "Master Xuan, as you expected, the other party's first wave of exploration was non-aggressive, with priority given to confirming the 'coordinates' status. The twelve 'pseudo priest' Impure World Reincarnation puppets we arranged successfully simulated the remaining fluctuations of the ancient sealing ceremony and deceived it."
Uchiha Xuan's gaze fell on a corner of the surveillance mirror.
There, the energy analysis diagram fed back after the beam scan is displayed in real time in the form of a data stream.
"It scanned the entire area," Xuan's voice contained no emotion or anger, "But the focus was on this."
He tapped his finger and the screen switched.
Deep in the pitch-black underground, a blue tissue fragment the size of a fist, buried deep in the ground, was emitting an unusually conspicuous glow on the energy map.
That is exactly the original core interface of Myriad Phenomena Devouring System that he dug out from his own body!
"Heh."
A very light sneer sounded in the empty hall.
Everything is under control.
"Pass the order," Uchiha Xuan ordered without looking back, "Start 'Shadow Burial Protocol' immediately."
"Yes!"
Chiyo Saori's figure disappeared again.
A moment later, in a mobile secret base thousands of miles away, a huge underground furnace was activated.
The blue core interface was accurately put into it by the mechanical arm, and the remaining chakra from Ten-Tails was instantly ignited, turning into an eternal fire of purgatory, and began to calcine the fragment day and night.
The majestic energy fluctuations are distorted and transformed by the special barrier, and finally form an extremely unique signal, which is continuously emitted into the deep space of the universe - it is a simulated false signal that the "host" is rapidly declining and the energy core is about to collapse.
After doing all this, Uchiha Xuan walked to the top of the tower alone and sat down on the cold throne.
He took out something from his arms that had never been shown to anyone before - it was a flat, pale white bone fragment taken from an unknown creature.
On the bone fragments, seven fine marks were deeply carved with fingernails.
Each one represents the consciousness of a Warring States Era Uchiha Clan ancestor who was completely devoured by him.
They are the initial "nourishment" of this body and the cornerstone for him to embark on this path.
He stared at the seven scratches, and a trace of ridicule flashed in his silver eyes that even he himself had not noticed.
"You... want to retrieve the so-called 'First Devourer'?"
He whispered to himself, his voice being blown away by the strong wind high in the sky.
"Very good."
He flicked his finger, and the bone fragment turned into a stream of light, accurately falling into an eternally burning industrial furnace in the city below, and was instantly swallowed by the tens of thousands of degrees of heat.
"Then come... come to my mountain of ashes and take a good look at it," he slowly leaned on the throne, looking in the direction of the moon, and the cold arc at the corner of his mouth became more obvious, "See which handful is where your doom is buried."
Which bone are you worthy of erecting a monument for me?
Almost at the same moment when the bone fragments were burned, on the back side of the moon, in the center of the silent altar, the earth cracked open, and a coffin made entirely of unknown metal slowly rose up amid a heart-wrenching sound.
On the sealing rune of the coffin, a clear number is shining with the same light as the blue fragment on the earth:
[U0]
Everything is silent.
Uchiha Xuan sat on the throne, his consciousness no longer paying attention to the outside world.
At this moment, his mind sank into a sea of data.
That is the monitoring data stream transmitted back in real time from the mobile furnace of "Shadow Burial Protocol".
The temperature of the flame, the output of chakra, the camouflage intensity of the energy signal... all parameters are stable at the preset values.
His plan was flawless, and every step ran as accurately as a precise clock.
However, just when he was about to cut off the connection, at the end of the data flow, a variable that was supposed to be constant showed an extremely small, almost negligible fluctuation.
That represents... the intrinsic structural density of the calcined material.