"So," Boruto said, his eyes shifting to the plain Stone Coffin as a daring thought struck him.
"Could the person buried in there really be one of Sarada's ancestors? Jackie Chan, can we open it and take a look? Just one look! We might even set a piece of distorted history straight!"
Jackie Chan hesitated. He looked at Boruto, who was brimming with curiosity, then at Shikadai, whose caution clearly hadn't kept him from wanting answers too.
Finally, his gaze returned to the Stone Coffin covered in Sealing Runes. His professional ethics as an archaeologist warred with his caution toward the unknown.
"Opening a coffin for examination is part of archaeological work. It helps us uncover the truth about history," Jackie Chan said slowly. But his tone was unusually grave.
"But you must agree to two conditions. First, once we open it, you must not touch anything inside with your bare hands—not even a scrap of clothing—without my permission."
"Second, if anything unusual happens, whether the runes start glowing or a mechanism makes a sound, step back immediately and follow my instructions."
"The seals may be ancient, but their power doesn't seem to have faded completely. There's still a risk of triggering an unknown mechanism."
"Got it!" Boruto promised at once. Shikadai nodded solemnly. "We'll be careful, Mr. Chan."
"Good." Jackie Chan took a deep breath and pulled several more small tools from his backpack. He checked the sealing patterns around the Stone Coffin once again and confirmed that there was no obvious sign of activity.
Then he motioned for Boruto and Shikadai to stand on one side of the Stone Coffin. "Come on. Let's try pushing the lid off. Slowly and steadily."
The stone lid was extraordinarily heavy. Even with all three of them pushing, it took considerable effort