Inside the secret chamber, the air seemed to freeze. The fan emblem engraved with the word "Kite" and the scrolls of forbidden knowledge on the altar struck Kakashi like silent thunder.
"'Kite'... Uchiha 'Kite'?" Kakashi turned the unfamiliar code name over and over, searching his dust-covered memories for a clue, but found nothing. No such name had ever appeared in the Uchiha Clan's records. Who was he? Someone deliberately erased from the clan's history? An Uchiha who had long been in league with this terrifying dark power?
He quickly leafed through the scrolls, their contents sending chills down his spine. Beyond the basic theory Tobirama had identified-stealing power through bloodlines and souls-they detailed how to channel and amplify negative emotions to better align with the dark power, and how to establish stable spatial coordinates for one-way "supplication" or even two-way "communication." They even... contained scattered descriptions of the "Sacred Lord's" will: chaos, greed, an utter loathing of life and order, and... a "preference" for certain bloodlines, especially the Uchiha bloodline with its powerful Yin Release.
"These scrolls... are ancient. They date back long before the Uchiha Clan Massacre, perhaps even earlier." Kakashi's voice was dry. "Could the Uchiha Clan... have had some connection to the 'Sacred Lord' since ancient times?"
Ling carefully examined the sacrificial formation with his Senjutsu perception, his expression growing graver. "This formation... wasn't merely activated once. At its core, there's a trace of dark power, extremely faint but of an extraordinarily high order. It's like some kind of 'mark' or 'approval.' And the formation has been maintained well. It's old, but its structure is intact, and its energy circuits are still in a half-active standby state... Someone must have used it recently!"
Ino tried probing the fan emblem with her mental power, only to receive a