After Hollowfication, Kyo's Spiritual Pressure level was more than five times his normal state.
Therefore, his ability to interfere with reality had long surpassed before.
His externally released Spiritual Pressure, without even needing to gather power, could easily prevent these weaklings from standing.
At this moment,
Having felt this even more terrifying pressure, the two guards were naturally scared out of their wits!
"Ah, ah, the basement is behind the second entrance hall inside the shrine!"
"You... you only need to touch the mechanism stone outside the entrance hall, and it, it will open the door to the basement!!"
Their bones were nearly crushed by the pressure now; how could they have any mind left to think about the Clan Head's orders? Surviving was certainly more important!
So, they rushed to speak and confess.
"Good."
Kyo nodded with satisfaction, then turned and walked towards the shrine, speaking with his back to the two, a smile in his voice:
"Your lives can be temporarily spared."
As his words fell,
He had already Shunpoed into the main hall of the shrine.
Hearing this, the two guards finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Whew..."
But then they realized that the pressure on them didn't seem to have been lifted at all. They still couldn't stand up and could only kneel there...
"..."
The two looked at each other wordlessly, could only smile bitterly.
And silently prayed in their hearts that someone would come to rescue them.
...
On the other side,
Having entered the shrine, Kyo paid no attention to his surroundings. Following the information from the guards, he went directly behind the second entrance hall.
Sure enough, in this small room, there was indeed an item resembling a mechanism stone.
Kyo focused his mind, Spiritual Pressure surged, and the mechanism stone began to operate.
The next moment, two floorboards in front of him suddenly separated, and an entrance leading downwards clearly appeared.
This was the basement.
Kyo didn't hesitate and immediately walked down the steps.
He knew that down here,
There should be the stele that had been tampered with by Black Zetsu.
As he continued downward,
He could clearly feel the temperature getting lower and lower, and the surroundings getting quieter and quieter.
Only when Kyo reached the very bottom did he see, at the end of the passage, a sealed stone door.
Various complex cursed scripts were attached to it,
Clearly indicating that something extremely important was placed inside.
Kyo, however, had no intention of looking at the inscriptions. Instead, he very calmly raised his index finger directly, pointing it at the stone door ahead.
The next moment, moon-white Hollow Spiritual Power began to condense at his fingertip, like a small energy ball, gathering at high speed.
Until it reached a certain limit, Kyo said calmly:
"Cero."
Boom!!
As the words fell, the light ball in front of Kyo's fingertip instantly shot out, transforming into a brilliant pillar of Spiritual Pressure, like a laser cannon, directly blasting onto the stone door!
The powerful residual force of the Spiritual Pressure made the entire space seem to tremble!
And that stone door, covered in seals, was instantly shattered by Kyo's Cero, exploding!
Rocks and dust flew.
Kyo revealed a satisfied smile.
The power of Cero had not disappointed him.
Kyo stepped into the stone chamber. The moment he entered, he immediately saw a black stele, quietly displayed within.
Kyo's eyes lit up, and he immediately walked forward.
The Naka Stele,
An object personally inscribed by the Sage of Six Paths.
Its original purpose was to hopefully guide the reincarnation of his eldest son, Indra, back to the right path.
But in the course of history, variables often appear.
After the Sage of Six Paths died, Black Zetsu found this stele and modified its contents, thereby guiding that man down the wrong path.
Afterwards, this stele became a part of the Uchiha Clan's Naka Shrine.
According to the stele's settings, its contents were divided into three parts, requiring the Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan, and Rinnegan respectively to read.
Those who hadn't awakened any eye could only see the most superficial content.
"It seems this is the thing that screwed over Uchiha Madara's whole life."
Kyo looked at the stele before him, a faint smile appearing on his face.
He didn't have the Sharingan, so naturally he couldn't read any of the implied messages within.
But not being able to understand didn't matter.
Because, the moment he finished reading the superficial inscription before him, the prompt sound immediately rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, Main Quest Branch Mission completed!]
[Read the Naka Shrine's Stele once (1/1), Completed, Reward: Spiritual Power +5000!]
'Oh?'
'Directly added 5000 points of Spiritual Power?'
Kyo's eyes immediately lit up, and he couldn't help but reveal a pleasantly surprised smile.
'As expected of a main quest branch mission, the reward was indeed completely beyond ordinary side missions!'
'It seemed the remaining few branch missions couldn't be neglected either.'
...
At this moment,
Outside the Naka Shrine.
Just as Kyo was reading the stele,
Suddenly, a black figure arrived before the shrine.
It was Itachi.
At this time, his expression remained indifferent, but his face was unknowingly stained with a few drops of fresh blood.
And the blade in his hand was covered with traces of blood, appearing exceptionally gloomy under the moonlight.
A bleak cold wind swept by.
He silently walked towards the two guards ahead,
A flicker of complex emotion occasionally passing through his eyes, but instantly suppressed.
At this point,
He knew there was no turning back.
Having slaughtered his clan, he couldn't stop here.
However,
Just as he reached the side of the two guards, one of them noticed his arrival and said with great surprise:
"Itachi, Young Master Itachi?! Great! You've finally come!"
"We just discovered a..."
"Pfft!"
Before the words finished, blood had already sprayed.
Under the pale moonlight, blood splattered like flowers, blooming on the ground.
Itachi's sharp blade, with extreme speed, slashed across the throats of the two guards, without any pause.
As for the unfinished words from the guard's mouth, Itachi didn't care.
No matter what they were going to say, it didn't matter anymore.
Because now,
Everything was about to end.
This place,
Was the final rendezvous point,
The one he had agreed upon with the mysterious masked man.