Night, Konoha, the former Uchiha District, Naka Shrine.
Ever since the Uchiha Clan had moved out of Konoha, this place where its members once gathered had fallen into desolation.
On top of that, the nostalgic Elder had already emptied the building of everything left behind. Only an empty shell remained, so naturally, no one paid it any attention anymore.
Tonight, however, a faint glow of fire came from inside, lending a trace of life to the desolate place.
But only a handful of households remained in the vast former Uchiha District, and they all went to bed fairly early, so no one noticed.
Besides, even if someone had noticed, they might not have bothered to investigate. After all, the Uchiha Clan had long since parted ways with Konoha, and the few remaining households would move away within days. Naturally, they had no interest in such unnecessary business.
Naka Shrine.
Shin Uchiha stood with his hands behind his back, staring absently at the empty space before him. The flames of the torches mounted on the walls flickered, casting alternating light and shadow over his face and making his expression impossible to discern.
The spot he was looking at could be called the source of turmoil throughout the Shinobi World. A stone tablet had once stood there, one that had been passed down within the Uchiha Clan for a thousand years.
Back then, it was precisely because Madara Uchiha had been deceived by the contents of that stone tablet that he had taken Hashirama Senju's flesh, awakened the Rinnegan, and devised the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.
What Madara Uchiha had not known, however, was that the contents of the stone tablet were not what the Sage of Six Paths had left behind at all. They were lies fabricated by Black Zetsu to resurrect