Fumori Masaki and his group were at the outer perimeter of the old Ninja Sect site, watching as parts of it slowly revealed themselves.
Although they tried to minimize the impact, the Azure Dragon used in the battle with Kakuzu still put immense pressure on the rock wall, forcing them to excavate even more carefully.
Fortunately, Hinata Kai's Byakugan could easily see through the rock wall, discerning its true nature and identifying fragile areas.
Under his guidance, the excavation proceeded without incident.
As the old Ninja Sect site was about to reappear,Fumori Masaki could feel a surge of anticipation.
"Mr. Kazemori, are you feeling nervous?" Kana asked suddenly from beside him.
WhenFumori Masaki turned his head, he saw a certain eagerness in her eyes.
"Of course, I'm nervous,"Fumori Masaki replied.
"Me too," Kana took a deep breath, as if to calm herself.
"I wonder what the millennium-old Ninja Sect site will look like.
I've only read about the Ninja Sect in books; this is my first time seeing the real thing.
I'm really looking forward to it."
"I can understand that; I'm also very much looking forward to it,"Fumori Masaki nodded slightly.
Even the others, despite claiming disinterest, were somewhat curious about a national religion revered across the ninja world a thousand years ago.
Now, Tsunade and the others were whispering about what the old Ninja Sect site might look like, which made Fumori Masaki chuckle inwardly.
"It would be great if they could also come to like the Ninja Sect because of this," Kana looked at the three youngsters discussing, then smiled at Fumori Masaki.
"Indeed, even if they don't embrace the Ninja Sect, I hope they can understand some valuable aspects of its teachings and develop upright values,"Fumori Masaki said.
He wouldn't force anyone to believe in the Ninja Sect; the Ninja Sect was merely an outer shell.
What truly mattered was the ideological foundation of the Ninja Sect and the modern values derived from it.
If one were to excessively pursue organizational faith in the Ninja Sect, it might lead to extremism, potentially producing fanatics like the Jashinist cultists, which would not be a good thing.
At that moment, accompanied by a collapsing sound, a cheer of surprise came from the front.
Fumori Masaki quickly looked over and saw several people gathered around an opened gap.
They had painstakingly excavated it.
The old Ninja Sect site had become very fragile over a thousand years, and simply opening an entrance was no easy feat.
Fumori Masaki and Kana quickly walked to the entrance.
At this time, the excavation personnel from the Land of Demons were checking if the air was breathable.
After all, it was a site that hadn't been opened for a thousand years, and there was no guarantee that people could still operate inside.
Once it was confirmed safe to enter, the excavators immediately sent someone to notify the High Priestess, and then they continued to explore the interior.
Fumori Masaki wasn't in a hurry to go in.
He knew he wasn't skilled in excavation; how to enter an ancient site still depended on these professionals.
He only asked Hinata Kai, who was helping with the perspective (x-ray vision): "Did you find anything?"
"The internal structure is a bit complex, but not too troublesome.
We should be able to find a passable route soon," Hinata Kai replied.
Then he bent down and picked up a fragment from the ground.
"This is important, Captain Fumori, take a look."
The rest of the team and the three students gathered around, curiously staring at the fragment in Hinata Kai's hand.
It was a piece from the collapsed entrance, with some black markings on its surface.
Yamanaka Takuma found it somewhat familiar and mused, "This is…"
"Some kind of jutsu, I suppose,"Fumori Masaki said after observing it for a while.
"This entrance seems to have been protected by some kind of barrier jutsu, but due to a lack of chakra support, the barrier couldn't function and simply collapsed."
"I agree with Captain Fumori.
Legend has it that all ninja clan secret techniques originated from the Ninja Sect.
If the Ninja Sect scriptures here contain never-before-seen or original secret techniques from other countries, that would be a huge gain!"
Compared to Ninja Sect scriptures that merely propagated ideas, Hinata Kai still valued secret techniques that could enhance the village's strength.
Masaki Fumori smiled knowingly at this.
He wouldn't refuse such a thing, and besides, he himself wanted to find records of the Six Paths Senjutsu from the old Ninja Sect site.
By the time the High Priestess arrived, a safe path had already been excavated into the old Ninja Sect site.
After reconnaissance by Hinata Kai and Inuzuka Shigeru, it was also confirmed that there would be no danger.
Seeing Fumori Masaki and Kana waiting at the entrance, the High Priestess apologized, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"It's nothing, High Priestess.
You have your duties, and we also needed them to ensure that the contents inside wouldn't be overly damaged," Kana said.
"While the High Priestess was away, some things have already been unearthed from the old Ninja Sect site.
According to them, they seem to be related to the previous High Priestess of the Land of Demons,"Fumori Masaki added.
"As expected," the High Priestess nodded slightly.
"This old Ninja Sect site is within the borders of the Land of Demons, so I had a suspicion that it was very likely built by the first High Priestess of the Land of Demons."
If the records were accurate, the first High Priestess of the Land of Demons might have been Ashura, the second leader of the Ninja Sect's wife.
After Ashura's death, she came here for some reason, established the Land of Demons, and became a respected High Priestess.
Perhaps to commemorate her husband, or to propagate the way of the Ninja Sect, the old Ninja Sect site before them came into being.
"If it's as we suspect, the contents within might shock the entire ninja world," Kana's voice trembled slightly.
She could imagine the immense impact the secrets within the old Ninja Sect site would have.
After the fall of the Ninja Sect, most of its remaining scriptures went missing.
The scriptures inherited by the Ninja Temple were merely written by later followers of the Ninja Sect, not the original works from the era of the Sage of Six Paths.
If the builder of the old Ninja Sect site was indeed the first High Priestess, then the scriptures it contained could very likely allow people to understand events from the era of the Sage of Six Paths.
Masaki Fumori thought of this and couldn't help but wonder what kind of records the first High Priestess might have left.
Were there detailed accounts of Ashura, his rival brother Indra, their father the Sage of Six Paths, and… their grandmother, Kaguya Otsutsuki!
If there truly was mention of the Rabbit Goddess,Fumori Masaki wondered what it would be like to release those secrets—would it be like Pandora's Box from Greek mythology, or some kind of hope?
When the excavation personnel announced they could enter,Fumori Masaki and his group finally stepped into the old Ninja Sect site.
The interior had already undergone a simple cleaning to ensure that large amounts of dust wouldn't float around.
For some easily damaged artifacts, the excavators also carried out emergency salvage, preparing for future restoration, while those relatively intact artifacts were carefully removed and brought before everyone.
Among them were some tools seemingly used by the Ninja Sect for rituals or other purposes, as well as pottery or stone statues.
Compared to these ambiguously significant items, what truly caught everyone's attention were the secret scrolls that had been unearthed.
It was unclear what material they were made of, but after a thousand years, there was no obvious damage, and the writing was still visible.
"These are the Ninja Sect scriptures, and in their original form.
This kind of paper is probably lost now; at least, I've never seen it," Kana exclaimed, looking at the secret scrolls.
"Indeed, I've seen what were called the earliest Ninja Sect scriptures, but they used paper that exists today.
These are truly the Ninja Sect scriptures from a thousand years ago."
The High Priestess gently picked up a secret scroll, carefully unrolled it, and, looking at the writing, frowned slightly.
The others gathered around, looking at the text on the secret scroll, all with perplexed expressions, because they couldn't understand its content.
The characters seemed to be from a very long time ago, vaguely discernible as having similarities with the characters used today, but with distinct differences that made them undecipherable.
"I've deciphered some old scriptures, and while they aren't as ancient as these characters, there are at least traces to follow; they are at least in the same lineage," the High Priestess said, carefully examining the characters.
"I need time to decipher them."
"We're counting on you, High Priestess," Kana felt a tickle in her heart.
The very thing she cared about was right before her eyes, yet she couldn't know its contents, which was truly frustrating.
The High Priestess felt the same way.
She couldn't even wait to go back and began deciphering on the spot.
Kana also stayed by her side, wanting to help.
Fumori Masaki, being completely clueless about this, and with less literary knowledge than Kana, decided not to join the crowd and went to look at other areas.
After walking for a while,Fumori Masaki suddenly noticed a rather conspicuous object.
Although the other excavators hadn't paid attention to it, he felt there must be something significant about it.
So, he quickly walked over to the object—a stone monument—.
Ordinarily, a stone monument should have some descriptive text carved on it, but the surface of this monument was completely smooth, with nothing inscribed, which was why the excavators weren't very interested in it.
However, the placement of this stone monument was peculiar.
Given its position, the monument should have some important function.
If it wasn't for recording something, it might be the core of some barrier.
In any case, it must have meaning; otherwise, it wouldn't be in this location.
WhatFumori Masaki thought of was the blank stone monument beneath the Naka Shrine of the Uchiha clan.
That was a warning left by the Sage of Six Paths for future generations.
It appeared to have nothing written on it, but in reality, it required dōjutsu to observe, in the order of Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan, and Rinnegan.
Ultimately, it was observed based on ocular power.
Fumori Masaki was somewhat curious.
If this stone monument was specifically left by the Sage of Six Paths for Indra—given that the monument's deciphering condition was ocular power, this possibility was high—then would the Sage of Six Paths also leave a cautionary monument for his second son, Ashura?
If there truly was one,Fumori Masaki felt that the stone monument before him might be it, although he didn't know why it was in the old site built by Ashura's wife instead of being owned by his descendants, the Senju clan.
But that had nothing to do withFumori Masaki; what he cared about was its content.
The Uchiha clan's stone monument was deciphered using dōjutsu, in other words, the Sage's Eyes.
Therefore, the monument left for Ashura should be deciphered using the Sage's Body, and unlike dōjutsu, the Sage's Body primarily manifested in terms of chakra, which meant… "Miss Kana, could you come over for a moment?"Fumori Masaki said to Kana, who was helping with the deciphering.
"Miss Kana, could you come over for a moment?"Fumori Masaki said to Kana, who was helping with the deciphering.