Following the braziers along both walls of the cave, they entered a passage wide enough for three people to walk abreast. Less than thirty meters in, it opened into a spacious chamber.
Kurotsuchi crept up behind Shinji and Shisui, who had suddenly stopped. She peered past them, curiosity written all over her face...
"Hey! What are you two looking for?"
Shisui frowned and glanced back at the girl, who was as boisterous as any boy.
It made no sense.
Was she normal?
Shinji just killed two of Iwagakure's Jinchūriki and beat your own grandfather half to death. How can you still follow us around, asking questions without a care in the world?
Do you have no sense of danger?
Shinji ignored Kurotsuchi. He stared at the open space ahead and smiled.
A Sealing Jutsu array, much like the one he had set up beneath Orochimaru's Laboratory.
Crooked black markings covered the entire space. At the center stood something like an altar, though its surface was empty.
It appeared to be made of metal pieces fitted together. Its spiral shape reminded Shinji of the Sealing that held the Nine-Tails.
Presumably, undoing the Sealing would open the platform.
"So it's still underground? They hid it pretty deep..."
Shinji stepped forward, crouched, and knocked on the platform. It answered with a dull clang. "Thick, and I don't recognize the metal."
He stood with his hands on his hips for a moment. "Breaking it open by force is out. I can't tell what's underneath, and if it caves in and crushes whoever's down there, that won't be funny."
"Then..."
Smack!
Shinji bent down and pressed one palm to the ground. Chakra flowed.
Hum—
The next instant, the black Sealing markings rapidly faded, as though rubbed away by an eraser. Soon, they vanished entirely.
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