Chapter 159: The Underground Secret Room
Fugaku leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on the faintly glowing panel before him.
It seemed his system lacked any artificial intelligence—it wouldn't issue missions or instructions on its own. Everything had to be discovered manually, or else the system only reacted when very specific conditions were met.
Just like when he had first transmigrated into this world—after obtaining Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan, the system had suddenly activated, talking about fusion and synchronization.
But after that, silence.
Until now.
When he annihilated the Hidden Cloud Village, the long-dormant system had reawakened, announcing that a prerequisite had been met and that an upgrade could be initiated.
Even so, Fugaku wasn't impatient. With his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he was already powerful enough to reign supreme in the ninja world. He had time. The system could be studied slowly.
Closing the translucent blue panel, he turned his focus back to his meal.
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Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Fugaku's forces didn't remain idle. They stayed in the ruins of Kumogakure, organizing the wreckage and collecting resources.
Half the village had already been cleared. The surviving Konoha shinobi carefully catalogued all useful materials, sealing them into temporary scrolls while awaiting the main support convoy from Konoha.
After another day or two of cleanup, they would finally return home.
There was no denying that Kumogakure had possessed many treasures—rare ores, forbidden scrolls, and intricate ninja tools.
But one discovery outshone them all.
While clearing debris around the former Raikage Building, a team found a hidden passage leading underground. Beneath the ruins, they uncovered a vast basement complex—lined with dozens of reinforced doors.
Each door bore both a physical lock and a sealing jutsu.
The mechanical locks were simple enough to handle—but the sealing techniques were another story.
Among the sixty or so Konoha ninja stationed there, a few knew the basics of sealing arts, yet none had the mastery required to disarm such complex arrays.
After all, fuinjutsu was not something just anyone could learn. The barrier to entry alone eliminated most candidates before they even began.
Those who managed to grasp the fundamentals were often recruited into Konoha's elite Sealing Arts Division—a unit whose prestige and pay rivaled even the Anbu.
Uchiha Setsuna, the Second Elder, knew a little fuinjutsu himself—but only enough to recognize its complexity. After several of them took turns inspecting the symbols etched on the iron doors, their expressions turned grave.
The seals were laced with self-detonation triggers.
"If the wrong password is entered three times, the entire chamber will explode," Setsuna muttered. "And based on the chakra residues, these rooms are packed with explosive tags."
Hyūga Hiashi, using his Byakugan, confirmed their suspicions. "There's a strong energy reaction behind these doors. If triggered, the blast would destroy everything within."
It was a vexing problem.
They had stumbled upon something extraordinary—only to be stopped by the most troublesome of obstacles: a lethal seal.
Setsuna scratched his head in frustration. "When did these Kumogakure barbarians learn to use such complex sealing techniques? It's absurd."
He was certain that the most sophisticated sealing arts in history had belonged to the Uzumaki Clan.
Back when the Uzumaki flourished, their fuinjutsu stood unrivaled. But after the mysterious destruction of Uzushiogakure, most of that knowledge had been lost—except for what had been passed on to Konoha through the marriage between the First Hokage and Uzumaki Mito, the first Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
Since then, under the guidance (and relentless training policies) of Senju Tobirama, Konoha had cultivated a new generation of sealing masters.
"I remember the Uzumaki Shrine in the village," Setsuna recalled aloud. "There's a wall inside filled with strange masks. I still don't know what they're for."
Fugaku's calm voice cut through his musing. "The Hidden Cloud must have been involved in the fall of Uzushiogakure. They likely plundered a portion of the clan's sealing knowledge."
Hiashi nodded slightly. "Hokage-sama's reasoning makes sense."
Setsuna agreed, grim-faced. There was no way the Uzumaki Clan could have been destroyed without the cooperation of at least several Great Nations.
Uzumaki Ashina, the clan's patriarch, had been a sealing master of Kage-level strength—arguably the most formidable fuinjutsu user in the entire ninja world.
To defeat such a clan would have required multiple villages acting together.
Fugaku folded his arms, gazing at the sealed doors. "Setsuna, what do you think?"
Setsuna frowned deeply. "If these rooms are hidden beneath the Raikage Building, they must contain the village's greatest treasures. Perhaps even the Sage of Six Paths' Tools we've been searching for. No one would bother sealing useless junk this carefully."
He wasn't wrong.
Even the reckless Kumogakure wouldn't use such complex protection for worthless items.
Fugaku considered for a moment, then spoke. "Send a message to Konoha. Ask whether the Sealing Arts Division is accompanying the next support team. If not, have them dispatched immediately."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Setsuna turned to a communications operative, who immediately began encoding and transmitting the message via carrier summon.
Fugaku exhaled softly.
Originally, he had planned to return sooner. Time, after all, was a precious commodity. The merchants he had deliberately released from Kumogakure would surely spread word of the battle far and wide.
Once the news reached the other villages, spies and scouts would undoubtedly be sent to the Land of Lightning.
Still, he wasn't worried.
Even if another Great Village tried to take advantage of Konoha's temporary absence, none had the power to destroy it overnight. And if something did happen, his Susanoo could cross the continent in a single night.
He smiled faintly. "Let them come."
Two hours later, Uchiha Setsuna returned holding a scroll. "Hokage-sama, a reply from Nara Shikaku."
Fugaku nodded. "What does it say?"
Setsuna's expression was unreadable. "The Sealing Arts Division didn't depart with the support unit…" —he paused— "…but there's a special message attached."
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