IV

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Arc IV Chapter 16

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Asami marched down the dark corridors grumbling.

She was one of the highest-ranking ninja in the entire village, second only to the Hokage, but she couldn't get past a few stupid guards.

No one took her seriously. She was short, she was young, and she was a girl. Being all cuddly and huggly also didn't help.

Asami received a lot of patronising looks because of her age, but they didn't laugh for long. It was always her who laughed last, and she was sure she would hit a growth spurt soon. Being shorter than short wasn't funny.

Asami sighed and approached a room. She had work to do.

The room held the secrets she desired. She had to be prepared for the upcoming meeting with Shikaku. After all, she couldn’t turn up with empty hands, could she?

Asami needed a battle plan. And a contingency plan. And a contingency plan for the contingency plan. And a contingency plan for the contingency plan of the contingency plan as plans exhibited the nasty habit to fall apart when implemented.

Asami searched for military maps, intelligence reports, and a series of specific investigation reports and council protocols. Documents she had now access to due to her promotion.

They contained the answers to her questions, questions that bothered her since the day she awakened her Sharingan.

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An old enemy returned. Asami faced an old enemy once again, an enemy vicious and merciless in nature.

Her foe was a bookshelf, an evil bookshelf made of evil wood and evil nails. It was too high for short girls like her. The vile traitorous bookshelf sabotaged her efforts.

The documents were placed on the highest shelf, but that wouldn’t stop her. She wouldn’t be defeated by furniture.

Asami stood on her tiptoes and waved desperately with her arms, but she didn't reach the upper shelf. She was so close, yet so far.

Asami was just too short and there was no chair to be found in the vicinity.

Asami pouted. Jumping like a fool was clearly beneath her dignity ...

She jumped, but her attempts bore little fruit. She was still too short.

Asami planned her next move. She crossed her arms and stroked her chin. The bookshelf may have won the battle, but not the war. It wasn't over yet. Maybe she should reduce the bookshelf to firewood? Nobody would miss it for sure.

Asami decided against demolition. She got an idea.

She ordered her Susanoo to assist its mistress. Victory would be hers!

Under Asami’s guidance, her Susanoo constructed a staircase out of books and tomes. It turned out they were versatile. Books were multifunctional.

A happy Asami stepped up the stairs and got what she wanted.

Beneath a thick layer of dust, black letters shimmered, letters almost forgotten by the sands of time.

Asami gripped the scroll and blew off the dust. "ANBU report A - 1562 - S: Uchiha clan massacre."

Asami smiled. After all these years, she finally found the scroll.

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Heaven opened its gates. Rain graced the earth and the night was clad in darkness.

Amid the pouring rain, a hooded girl moved through empty streets. Armed with an umbrella, Asami strolled through the lifeless ruins of the Uchiha district, a place abandoned for years and sullied with blood.

Asami approached. "Numerous corpses were found in the vicinity of the Naka Shrine. We assume they tried to defend the shrine."

Asami applied little force. The shrine gates yielded easily, as if they had awaited her coming. The gates opened.

Her luminescent crimson eyes pierced the darkness. She knew her path.

"The attacker overcame their opposition with ease. The Uchiha were slaughtered in a matter of minutes.“

“They missed their eyes like the majority of corpses we recovered. They were removed."

Asami commanded her chakra and lit the torches on the walls. Her purple fire illuminated the hall.

“We investigated the shrine further and discovered a massive stone plate under the seventh tatami mat. Its purpose still unknown, but we suspect the plate to be some kind of sealing stone." Asami navigated towards the seventh tatami mat. She found the stone plate.

Her hands touched the cold surface. Her red eyes lingered on the inscriptions. The plate featured a stylised Sharingan.

"We tried to breach the seal, but our efforts failed. Despite several breaking attempts, the seal didn’t weaken. Fuinjutsu specialists suggested the Sharingan was required to activate the mechanism. We decided against using breaching charges.“

Asami stared at the seal, but the plate refused to budge. Bad decision. Defying her never ended well.

The stupid stone would meet her wrath. The air changed. Ripples of lightning flickered across the hall. The purple arcs shared her anger. "Move or crumble beneath my might!"

Her threat showed effect. The stone plate moved frightened by her aura.

Asami chuckled. She required only some minor coercion.

Asami entered the underground complex. It was dark as the corridor lacked adequate lighting.

Asami tripped and fell down the stairs. She landed softly on her butt.

”Stupid architect, stupid stairs, stupid lighting.” Asami grumbled displeased.

Her night sight might be excellent, but even her mangekyou failed her in total darkness.

Asami summoned a flame to light her way. In her fire she could trust.

Asami reached the end of the corridor. She spotted a tablet, a boring stone tablet.

Disappointment overcame Asami, and she was tempted to leave, but the tablet caught her attention. A text was engraved on the tablet and the text glowed in the dark bright blue with an intensity akin to pure chakra. The letters were written with chakra.

Asami deciphered the tablet. Disappointment turned into interest. Interest turned into curiosity. Curiosity turned into maniac giggling.

Asami knew her Sharingan was a powerful instrument, an instrument she learned to appreciate, to love over the years.

But what the text told her was beyond even her wildest imaginations. The Sharingan held the key to absolute power.

Granted, she would never be graced with the eternal mangekyou as she was born without siblings and knew now why her eyesight continued to deteriorate, but the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.

Apparently, her eyes were able to control the tailed beasts in exchange for deteriorating eye sight.

Asami slid her fingers across the tablet. “Seeking stability, a god was divided into Yin and Yang. Together they possess the power to create everything."

She ignored the infantile nonsense called ninshu. The Sage of Six Paths preached in his ignorance peace and understanding, but his feeble attempts failed. The world hadn't changed. War and destruction never disappeared.

She also got a lesson in Uchiha clan history. The tablet mentioned a goddess named Kaguya, a tree from which all chakra descended, a forbidden fruit, how the Sage of Six Paths sealed the Jubi inside the moon, how two brothers fought each other. Indra, her progenitor, lost. How disappointing.

"When the powers of Saṃsara meet the moon, an eye will open and grant the eternal dream."

Asami chuckled. She doubted the Infinite Tsukuyomi would grant all your wishes. It was too good to be true. Nothing more than a fairy tale. Everything in this world has its price and the price would be paid.

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