The Council Chamber was frighteningly quiet.
Lamplight flickered across Tobirama Senju's face. Three parchment scrolls lay spread before him, all copied out word by word by him and Izuna over the past few days.
Hashirama sat at the head of the table without speaking.
Madara stood at the far end of the long table with his arms folded, his face as black as thunder.
Mito stood beside Hashirama, her hand pressed against the table, her knuckles slightly white.
Izuna sat in a guest chair. The wound beneath his bandages still hurt a little, but he had no attention to spare for it now.
"Finished?" Madara asked, his voice cold enough to freeze someone to death.
"Finished." Tobirama nodded, pointing to the passages circled in red on the scrolls. "We cross-checked ancient texts from the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki. The timelines match, and so do the descriptions of the symptoms. Most importantly..."
He paused.
"The 'origin' mentioned in the records connects them."
Izuna picked up the explanation, his voice calm but steady. "The Uchiha's Ancient Bloodline Origins mentions the 'ancestor's eye' in three places. It says the Sharingan's ultimate power comes from the legacy of the 'sage's eye,' but the records are vague. They only call it an ancient legend."
Mito said, "The Uzumaki's ancient texts contain similar records. They say the Uzumaki Clan's vast chakra and vitality might have been inherited from the 'sage's body.' But again, there is only a name, with no specific details."
Tobirama looked at Hashirama. "Brother, those passages in the Senju's Secret Clan History Records about 'ancestors resonating with nature' and 'flesh summoning'-looking back at them now, they very likely describe some traits of the 'sage's body.'"
Hashirama said nothing. He was taking it in.
Madara sneered. "So? Based on a few vague passages in