Shizune pulled out copies of several ancient biology scrolls. "Under the influence of certain extreme environments and unusual energies, arthropods like centipedes can undergo unimaginable changes in lifespan and size."
"It may have grown and mutated over hundreds of years. It might even have absorbed some energy leaking from the Ruins, or energy that accumulated there later, before becoming what we see now."
"The Senju Clan's target back then may have been only that Uchiha girl. The centipede could have been a guardian beast of the seal, or a creature drawn there later that mutated and made it its home."
Tsunade forced herself to take a deep breath and accept the relatively reasonable theory.
"That makes sense. Time can change a great deal. It can also cause some things to grow far beyond what their original designers anticipated."
"We'll lower the priority of this matter for now. We don't have enough intelligence, and investigating blindly could trigger a disaster."
She was about to discuss how to handle the Ruins going forward when Shizune handed her another intelligence scroll, freshly deciphered and rushed over. Her expression was more serious than Tsunade had ever seen.
"Lady Tsunade, there's something else. It takes higher priority."
Shizune lowered her voice. "We've been conducting a secret, wide-ranging search based on the facial features, builds, and habits of everyone who has appeared on the Canopy Screen."
"In a remote temple in the Land of Rice Fields, we found someone whose appearance closely matches Jigen, a senior member of Nine Nether shown on the Canopy Screen."
"Not just a resemblance. According to a classified report from the ANBU observer on-site, he's almost identical."
"What?!" Tsunade shot to her feet, pressing down on her solid-wood desk so hard it gave a dull thud. Her pupils contracted, shock written