December 31st—New Year's Eve!
This year's cold wave arrived earlier than usual, bringing heavy snow and bone-chilling winds.
People had long since donned their thickest winter clothes to combat the harsh weather.
Yet the bitter cold couldn't dampen the spirits of the bustling, excited villagers who thronged the streets, eagerly anticipating the New Year's celebrations.
This world's New Year's calendar aligned with the Gregorian calendar adopted by Japan after the Meiji Restoration in his previous life.
As twilight deepened, the setting sun painted the horizon with a fading orange glow before vanishing entirely, plunging the sky into inky darkness.
Only the high-hanging moon and the stars scattered across the night sky offered faint glimmers of light.
By now, lanterns had begun to flicker to life throughout Konoha Village. Villagers moved in groups through the streets and alleys, buying New Year's supplies and visiting each other's homes.
The main thoroughfares were filled with young girls dressed in kimonos and shrine maiden attire, waving what appeared to be either toys or ritual implements, mimicking the festivities of the New Year's festival.
At this moment, Konoha Village was a scene of joyous laughter, warm camaraderie, and myriad twinkling lights—a picture of peace and prosperity, as if no worries had troubled them this year.
Within the sprawling expanse of Konoha Village, in a dark, deserted corner along the border, the pitch-black and desolate Uchiha Clan Compound stood in stark contrast to the brightly lit village beyond.
"Compared to that, this is truly pathetic," Sasuke muttered self-deprecatingly as he stood at the Uchiha Clan Compound gate, gazing at the distant sea of twinkling lights across Konoha Village.
No wonder his predecessor had been so melodramatic and consumed by vengeance.
Anyone betrayed by their closest, most revered loved one—forced to return home daily and see reminders of their loss, while simultaneously witnessing the contrast with the thriving, contented Konoha Village—would be fortunate not to lose their sanity.
"Let's go," Sasuke chuckled softly, heading east toward the Naka River. He carried several items in his hands.
These were offerings for the Uchiha Clan's annual ancestral ceremony, the details of which he had gleaned from his memories.
Having taken possession of this body and resolved to live on as Uchiha Sasuke, he didn't mind spending a little time on such ceremonial tasks, doing what he could.
Naka Shrine!
Entering the shrine, Sasuke followed his ingrained memories into the main hall. He first set the offerings aside before taking a moment to survey the shrine.
Come to think of it, Sasuke hadn't properly examined the shrine yet.
In the past five months, he'd only visited twice, each time heading straight to the Uchiha's secret underground meeting place beneath the seventh tatami mat in the side hall.
This was a shrine steeped in Japanese-inspired culture.
Due to prolonged neglect, the main hall was now thick with dust and cobwebs. After a cursory glance, Sasuke decided to clean it up later.
"They're enshrining a black comma-shaped gem?"
The main hall of Naka Shrine didn't enshrine a deity, nor even the Uchiha Clan's ancestors.
Instead, it enshrined a comma-shaped gem, jet-black throughout, its material resembling both stone and crystal.
Roughly the size of an adult's arm, this thick, curved gem was called a magatama.
Magatama typically symbolize the shape of the soul and spirit, and also the shape of the moon—both concepts deeply intertwined with the Uchiha Clan.
This connection was especially evident in the Uchiha's Sharingan, whose tomoe patterns themselves resembled magatama, making the enshrinement of such gems entirely logical.
"Hmm?"
Upon closer inspection, Sasuke noticed something peculiar.
Magatama usually have distinct ends: a sharp, tapered tail and a broad, rounded head. The head typically features a drilled hole for threading a cord.
However, this particular magatama lacked a drilled hole at its head—or rather, the hole was filled with a crimson, glass-like crystal, as wide as two adult fingers.
'This thing is no ordinary gem!'
The moment Sasuke laid eyes on the crimson crystal, he sensed its extraordinary nature. Just moments earlier, as he approached the shrine, he had used Fire Release to light the lanterns.
When he used the Fire Release, he had felt a strange resonance, but he dismissed it at the time, attributing it to the shrine's historical significance as a place of ancestral worship for the Uchiha Clan.
Now, it seemed the mysterious red crystal had reacted to his Fire Release.
Driven by curiosity, Sasuke stepped forward, removed the crystal from its setting, and examined it closely.
The crimson crystal was rhombus-shaped, warm to the touch, and possessed a dense, delicate texture, exuding a soft, oily sheen. Beyond these qualities, it appeared to be an ordinary crystal.
'A Chakra Crystal!'
'This thing is a Chakra Crystal!'
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the crystal for a moment before recognizing its origin.
Sasuke was no stranger to Chakra Crystals.
In his previous life, he had encountered one such artifact: the crystal necklace left behind by the First Hokage.
The First Hokage's necklace was formed from crystallized Wood Release Chakra, sealed with Hashirama's Wood Release Chakra from his lifetime, and possessed the power to suppress the Nine-Tailed Beast.
While the First Hokage's necklace was a crystal of Wood Release Chakra, the one in Sasuke's hand was crystallized Fire Release Chakra.
Earlier, while researching in the Naka Shrine library, Sasuke had glimpsed vague mentions of a Chakra Crystal belonging to the Uchiha Clan.
'So this is it!'
The books were unclear about who left the Chakra Crystal, but it couldn't have been Indra. If it were, the crystal would contain more Yin Release Chakra than Fire Release.
More likely, it was left behind by an Uchiha ancestor who had mastered Fire Release to the point of divine mastery.
'If this red crystal is indeed the Uchiha Clan's Chakra Crystal mentioned in the books, then what about this black tomoe...'
After pocketing the Fire Release Chakra Crystal, Sasuke turned his attention to the black tomoe, scrutinizing it closely.
"Obsidian? Black Chrome?"
Sasuke murmured, stroking the black comma-shaped gemstone that resembled crystal more than stone.
As soon as his hand touched it, the gemstone began absorbing the warmth from his palm and even the light and heat radiating from the surrounding candles.
Obsidian is a natural glass formed when volcanic lava cools rapidly, while black chrome consists of loosely packed, branching oxide crystals.
The gemstone's material resembled obsidian, yet its properties mirrored those of black chrome, which Sasuke had frequently used in his past life for solar energy absorbers and optical instruments.
"It's Fire Obsidian!"
A flash of insight struck Sasuke as he recalled a passage from the clan's book, The Myriad Minerals of the Ninja World.
Fire Obsidian closely resembles obsidian, both forming when volcanic lava cools rapidly. However, unlike obsidian's glassy nature, Fire Obsidian is a metal!
Fire Obsidian originates from Chakra Metal, but its formation requires extremely specific conditions. It can occur naturally or be artificially created.
Natural formation requires two conditions:
Volcanic lava.
The volcanic lava itself must originate from a Chakra Metal ore vein within the volcano.
For artificial formation, Chakra Metal must be submerged in volcanic lava and forged for at least a century to potentially succeed.
Fire Obsidian is the finest material for crafting fire-attribute weapons, without equal.
To illustrate, according to the Uchiha Clan's records in The Myriad Minerals of the Ninja World, the Seven Ninja Swordsman's Thunder Blade: Kiba was forged from Thunder-Patterned Steel, a material nearly identical to Fire Obsidian.
Thunder-Patterned Steel, in turn, originates from Chakra Metal, formed through the fortuitous convergence of natural phenomena, such as the Millennial Lightning-Struck Wood, which endured countless lightning strikes over millennia without being destroyed.
"Looks like I'm about to acquire a divine weapon of my own," Sasuke mused, a faint smile flickering across his face as he sealed the black comma-shaped gem into his ever-present storage scroll.
Clap! Clap!
After securing his loot, Sasuke rose, clapping his hands to dust them off, and prepared to resume his clan duties.
"Uh..."
Staring at the now-empty offering platform in the main hall, even his thick skin couldn't suppress a twinge of embarrassment.
He had genuinely intended to perform the clan rites.
Yet upon arriving, he had promptly swept away all the offerings for the Uchiha Clan's ancestral ceremony.
'Forgive me, ancestors... forgive me...'