The night was cloudless, with moonlight pouring over all of Konohagakure.
In front of the Naka Shrine stood two thick, tall stone pillars, one on each side of the entrance. Atop each pillar, a cluster of crimson flames burned quietly, casting flickering light across a radius of several meters.
Two figures stood beneath the flaming pillars, dressed in the Uchiha Clan's signature high-collared black clothing, silently guarding the entrance to the forbidden area.
"Is it really necessary to be so serious, Inabi?" one of them yawned lazily, his tone full of indifference. "This is the core territory of our Uchiha Clan. Who would dare to break in?"
Uchiha Inabi frowned and glared at him. "Tekka, be serious. This is the duty of our Police Force. We can't afford even the slightest mistake."
Uchiha Tekka shrugged indifferently, forcing himself to perk up a little as he replied perfunctorily, "Got it, got it."
Inabi watched his careless demeanor and felt a headache coming on.
That said, deep down, he actually agreed with Tekka's point.
This was Uchiha territory, heavily guarded, and there was simply no chance of anything going wrong.
Tekka was a junior he had personally brought into the Police Force. Now, both of them served under Elder Yashiro and had quietly formed a faction of their own.
This group admired strength, was fiercely loyal to the Uchiha, and was determined to restore the clan's glory and status.
But they still lacked a true leader.
They had once tried to recruit Shisui, but he always brushed them off with a few words, never truly aligning himself with their side.
At this thought, Inabi narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in contemplation.
"By the way, Inabi, have you heard?" Tekka suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm?" Inabi snapped back to attention.
The dull duty of guarding was boring enough, and he didn't mind chatting a bit.
Tekka curled his lips into a mocking smile. "That Uchiha Shinji actually refused to join the Police Force and instead went off to study Medical Ninjutsu."
He sneered. "Who knows what's going on in his head? I heard the elders are furious."
Inabi leaned back against the stone pillar, his tone indifferent. "Just an ungrateful guy. He's gained some fame recently, maybe…"
Before he could finish, the air suddenly twisted with an eerie distortion.
The next moment, a heavy, dull pain shot through Inabi's right temple. He was flung sideways uncontrollably before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Who's there?!"
Inabi nearly blacked out on the spot. Through the intense pain, he forced his Sharingan open, struggling to get up.
But another violent blow struck his head, accompanied by the crisp sound of a wooden stick snapping. He barely caught a glimpse of a blurry Chakra silhouette before completely losing consciousness.
"Inabi!"
Tekka's expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to rush forward, the space in front of him twisted abruptly.
A black figure emerged from the void, delivering a heavy punch straight to his abdomen.
"Ugh—!"
Tekka instantly doubled over like a shrimp, stomach acid churning, almost vomiting.
Before he could react, his neck was suddenly locked from behind. The other's arm clamped around him like an iron band, making it impossible to breathe.
He desperately tried to pry it off, his face turning red from suffocation, his Chakra completely unable to circulate due to the lack of air.
Tekka pushed off the ground with his feet, straining to turn his head and catch a glimpse of the assailant.
Yet what met his eyes was a pure white, ferocious fox mask.
"You're still wearing a mask, damn it!"
Tekka's eyes gradually rolled back, and with unwillingness, his body went limp, completely losing consciousness.
The flames continued to burn quietly.
Shinji slowly let out a breath, casually tossing the half-broken, fist-thick wooden club aside as he looked at the unconscious Tekka and Inabi before him.
"Just to be safe, it's better to tie you up."
He muttered softly, pulling steel wire from his ninja tool pouch and securely binding the two to the fire pillar, even carefully gagging and blindfolding them.
Seeing the two slumped helplessly and unable to move, Shinji felt quite satisfied with his handiwork.
Over the past three days, he had already familiarized himself with the patrol routes and guard shift changes around the shrine.
It was now two in the morning, the time when people were deepest in sleep and guards were most lax—the period when vulnerabilities were most likely to appear.
Under normal circumstances, the Uchiha Clan's forbidden grounds would naturally be impossible for outsiders to infiltrate.
But he was an "inside thief."
Before, there had been no opportunity. Now, the opportunity was right before him.
Using Transparent Escape to conceal his form, Shinji silently approached the on-duty Inabi and Tekka, just in time to overhear the two discussing and mocking him.
Without hesitation, he seized a momentary opening and decisively launched a surprise attack, knocking both unconscious.
"Two fools."
Feeling pleased, Shinji turned and walked toward the shrine's entrance.
As he stepped onto the stone stairs and approached the wooden door, a faint, pale yellow barrier enveloped the entrance, shimmering with a subtle glow.
"A barrier?"
Shinji raised an eyebrow slightly, instantly activating his Sharingan.
He reached out and lightly touched the barrier, passing through it without any hindrance.
He chuckled softly and stepped inside.
Although he had never been here before, before and after that funeral, he had already subtly extracted many key pieces of information from Shisui.
This barrier could be freely passed through by anyone possessing the Sharingan.
Entering the main hall of the shrine, he saw a central altar bearing the Uchiha Clan emblem.
Shinji walked directly to the right side of the altar, counted to the seventh tatami mat, and stood before a bluestone slab, swiftly forming hand seals.
A low hum resonated as the slab slid half a meter to the left on its own, revealing a pitch-black, seemingly bottomless stone staircase.
Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped down.
Although there was still ample time before the next shift change, the night was long and unpredictable—it was best not to linger.
Reaching the spacious second underground level, two clusters of flames ignited out of thin air, illuminating the entire chamber.
At the center of the flames stood the Six Paths Stone Tablet, revered by the Uchiha Clan for generations.
Shinji was well aware of the tablet's general contents, and precisely because of this, he had no interest in it.
The tablet's contents were nothing more than a deception crafted by Black Zetsu to deceive Madara Uchiha.
His gaze swept the surroundings, quickly spotting a stone door on the left wall.
"This should be it."
Shinji hurried forward, pushed open the stone door, and a narrow corridor appeared before him, connecting several chambers with different functions.
He quickly identified them:
"Clan History Archive, Secret Scroll Archive, Sealing Chamber..."
Having made up his mind, he headed straight for the Secret Scroll Archive.
"First, find the Sealing Jutsu: Transcription."
Pushing open the archive door, he saw rows of neatly arranged bookshelves filled with sealing scrolls.
Suppressing his inner excitement, Shinji carefully began searching through them, one scroll at a time.
Half an hour passed, and his frown deepened, disappointment gradually spreading across his face.
"Are there really this few Ninjutsu scrolls?"
The vast majority in the library were Fire Release techniques, primarily basic C and D-rank jutsu. Other elemental releases were pitifully scarce—not even a single B-rank Water Release scroll could be found.
After all, the Uchiha clan specialized in Fire Release, and most clan disciples didn't bother training in other attributes.
Forbidden Techniques like Izanagi and Izanami were nowhere to be found.
Shinji noticed clear drag marks on several bookshelves, clearly indicating they had been moved away in advance.
"It seems the Forbidden Techniques and high-level secret arts have all been hidden away by Fugaku and the elders."
"Maybe they're stored in the Police Force?"
He rubbed his chin, speculating silently.
His gaze finally settled on an inconspicuous bookshelf in the corner.
Shinji walked over and patiently examined each scroll one by one.
Finally, a deep black scroll made of specially treated beast hide fell into his hands.
He slowly unrolled it, and the vermilion characters "Tensei Fūin" came into view, accompanied by a clear Sharingan pattern.
"Found it."
Shinji stared at this sealing technique scroll, and a long-suppressed smile finally curled at the corner of his mouth.