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"Clan Head!"
The two elders kneeling on the floor snapped their heads up. The moment they saw the teasing poem carved into the wall, every drop of blood drained from their faces, and their eyes rolled back as they nearly passed out.
In their hearts, they also felt the legend of the Sage of Six Paths was vague and distant. But there was a difference between doubt and open blasphemy.
You're free not to believe me. But carving a mocking poem beside the Sage's portrait violated every taboo of the Uchiha's sacred rites.
..............
High above, as soon as Manji read the poem, he felt a shock and his face grew dark.
"How bold. She's flirting with me now??" For a moment, Manji nearly blacked out.
He stood there, stunned, unable to believe what he had just read.
Earlier, when Uchiha Sa accused him of watching the mortal world burn, she had spoken the truth. He could accept that.
But this kind of teasing poem was provocation.
Even with Manji's detached state of mind, his thoughts stalled. "Indra, is this your descendant? Your reincarnation?"
"Even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya never tried flirting with me like this. You've got more nerve than Kaguya."
Manji looked at the poem again.
He looked over the lines again. The style was bold and free, the rhythm relaxed but sure of itself. There was something charming about it.
Manji fell silent for a moment.
Then, somehow, he gave a slight nod. To be fair, it was decently written. A little like a limerick, maybe, but still. For what it was, it wasn't bad...
Manji clasped his hands behind his back.
..............
"Ah??"
The two elders recovered from their terror.
"CLAN HEAD! THIS IS BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!"
"Clan Head, quickly! Use ninjutsu to erase those lines! If the clansmen see this, the whole clan could riot! If word spreads to the daimyō and the major shinobi clans, the Uchiha will be condemned from every side!"
The two pressed their foreheads to the floor, clasping their hands again and again while cold sweat poured down their temples.
Uchiha Sa lowered her eyes to the poem on the wall. A faint hesitation passed through her cold features.
The anger from old wounds and the pain of the Shinobi world faded away. Now that she was thinking clearly, she realized she had gone too far.
Cursing the Sage of Six Paths was one thing. That was how she felt.
But carving something so bold next to his portrait had clearly crossed a line.
She was the Uchiha Clan Head and had power, but she couldn't ignore the beliefs of half her people without facing the results.
Uchiha Sa felt a bit of regret.
Still, she kept the proud look expected of a clan head. Her voice only softened a little. "Hmph. I know."
The words fell.
She raised the flame war fan. Chakra wrapped around its surface, and with one sweep, blazing fire engulfed the poem on the wall.
The stone turned dark under the chakra flame. In seconds, the poem was gone, leaving just a blurred burn mark.
After finishing, she did not kneel and pray according to clan ritual.
She went to the incense table, took out three sticks, lit them, and placed them in the burner with a quick motion. Without checking if they stood straight, she turned and left the Six Paths Hall.
Manji watched everything from the void.
Watching her go from bold defiance to a hint of regret, he let a small, mocking smile appear.
"Still a little girl in the end."
"She can't hide her feelings. Everything she thinks shows on her face. With that kind of attitude, I doubt she can handle leading the Uchiha Clan." Manji gave a cold snort and flicked his sleeve. His body turned into thick mist and drifted away from the Uchiha's Naka River lands.
Today was the day when the Shinobi world honored the Sage of Six Paths. This tradition had lasted a thousand years and was now a festival for every shinobi clan, as common as New Year's in Manji's old life—no clan dared skip it.
The Uchiha's ceremony had gone way too far.
Curious, Manji wanted to see if the other clans were starting to doubt like the Uchiha.
Light shifted, and Manji appeared at the ceremonial grounds of each major clan, one after another.
First came the shared altar of the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans.
The two clans lived nearby and held their ceremony together. Fire basins burned on the altar as members of both clans performed a ritual dance.
Next came the Hyūga Clan—
Members of the Main House and Branch House gathered in the Hyūga sacred grounds, every head lowered. Led by the head of the Main House, they performed a full prostration ceremony before the Sage of Six Paths' memorial tablet. The ritual was elaborate and solemn. Even the children were held in place by their parents, none allowed to play around.
The Uzumaki Clan's ceremony was even more devout.
In Uzushiogakure, shrine maidens dressed in white held sacred bells and danced across the altar in another ritual performance.
The Ino-Shika-Chō clans, the Hatake Clan, the Inuzuka, Yotsuki, Hagoromo, Kaguya, and the rest were no different.
After watching them all, Manji saw that these clans still showed real respect.
His worry faded. Then he moved quickly toward another great clan of the Shinobi world—
The Senju.
..............
"Uchiha Sa, Indra's reincarnation, is already the Uchiha Clan Head, and she's not young anymore."
"By that logic, Asura's reincarnation should have made a name by now as well. Perhaps, like her, he has taken control of the Senju Clan..." Manji appeared outside the Senju Clan's ceremonial grounds, thinking to himself.
By that time, the Senju ceremony was already over.
Manji decided to go straight to the Senju Clan Head. But when he saw who was leading the Senju, he frowned.
The Senju Clan Head was not Asura's reincarnation.
Manji sent his senses across the Senju compound. His Sage senses spread out like ripples on water, covering the whole clan's territory.
"Found him. There."
A moment later, Manji focused on an old shrine deep in Senju land. The Six Paths Hall there held the faint soul aura of Asura's reincarnation.
Manji's figure flickered, landing outside the shrine. Two hushed voices reached his ears.
"Poor guy. He can't even use chakra. He's almost thirty and still just a civilian..."
"Yeah. The Clan Head couldn't watch anymore, so he sent him to look after the shrine. At least now he has something to do, taking care of the Six Paths Hall every day."
"That's not all bad. Being average has its upsides. At least he won't get pulled into clan fights or die in battle."
"You're wrong. In times like these, if you don't have power, you can't even live in peace. Just surviving is a luxury."
The two voices vanished into the distance.
Earlier, when Manji swept the area with his senses, something had felt wrong. He hadn't detected any chakra from Asura's reincarnation.
At first, he assumed this reincarnation had somehow learned to conceal his aura. Then he realized how absurd that was. No one in this world could hide from him.
Now Manji understood.
It was not that the man was skilled at hiding... This reincarnation of Asura had no chakra at all. He was just an average person.
Manji hid his presence completely and slipped into the Six Paths Hall like a shadow.
The light inside the hall was soft. Incense smoke drifted upward in thin threads.
A thin man stood in front of the Sage of Six Paths' portrait, gently wiping the frame with a cloth. He moved with care and respect.
This was Senju Tsuru.
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