Chapter 443: Clues in the Mural

Chapter 443: Chapter 443: Clues in the Mural

Although the murals within the ruins dated back countless years, their colors remained remarkably vivid. Because of this, it was easy to see that the color of the Susanoo was completely different from that of the gourd.

The Susanoo was a slightly greenish blue, while the gourd it held was a striking crimson red. The contrast between the two was so great that it was impossible not to notice.

And as wielders of the Mangekyo Sharingan, both Shisui and Itachi were Uchiha capable of manifesting their own Susanoo.

Therefore, neither of them was unfamiliar with the Susanoo. They knew that this Mangekyo Sharingan dojutsu was, in essence, the product of the user’s ocular power combining with their chakra. The color it manifested corresponded to the nature of the user’s chakra.

Thus, theoretically speaking, the color of each Susanoo should be uniform, because every individual’s chakra nature was unique to themselves.

If multiple colors appeared on a single Susanoo, there was only one reasonable explanation—

Chakra belonging to someone—or something—other than the Susanoo’s owner had merged into it!

Itachi followed the murals along the wall, examining them one after another, and gradually gained a rough understanding of the story they depicted.

The protagonist of the murals was one of the Uchiha clan heads from the Warring States Period.

Not only had he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and manifested the Susanoo, he had also obtained an extraordinarily powerful weapon—the very same red gourd depicted in the murals, held in the Susanoo’s hand.

Relying on his Mangekyo Sharingan and that powerful weapon, this clan head swept across the shinobi world of his era, pushing the Uchiha clan to its peak during that period!

Puzzled, Itachi murmured, "Could the gourd in his hand be the Totsuka Blade...?"

Hearing Itachi’s quiet speculation, Shisui said, "Shouldn’t the Totsuka Blade be... a blade?"

Itachi voiced his conjecture.

"The Totsuka Blade is a sealing blade. Its form may be different from that of an ordinary blade."

Shisui nodded. "Mm. This really is a clue."

Having reached a consensus, the two split up and began searching the ruins for more clues. However, even after searching for a long time, they failed to find anything else related to the gourd depicted in the murals.

When they regrouped, Shisui said, "There aren’t any records of this gourd in the clan. Could it have been buried together with the Uchiha ancestor depicted in the murals?"

Itachi had also considered this possibility.

If the gourd truly was so powerful that it had allowed that Uchiha ancestor to sweep across the shinobi world of his era, then there was no reason for the clan to have absolutely no records of it.

The only possibility was that the gourd had been buried as a funerary object together with that Uchiha ancestor.

And in order to prevent outsiders from disturbing their ancestor’s grave, the clan might have deliberately destroyed all records concerning the gourd, leaving behind only vague legends and these murals commemorating the ancestor’s glorious achievements.

Unfolding the map in his hands, Itachi relied on his memory and drew several circles on it.

"I’ve gone through the clan’s ancient records before. There are graves belonging to our Uchiha ancestors at each of these locations."

After Konoha was founded, shinobi who died in service to the village were uniformly buried in the cemetery near the Memorial Stone, and the Uchiha clan was no exception.

As a result, the Uchiha cemeteries dating back to the Warring States Period had long since been abandoned, and most of them were no longer tended by anyone.

After hesitating for a moment, Shisui said, "Let’s go. We’ll check them out!"

Although disturbing the graves of their ancestors was extremely disrespectful, protecting the village and the clan was far more important by comparison.

If the legendary Totsuka Blade truly lay within the grave of some Uchiha ancestor, then Shisui would rather disturb that ancestor’s eternal rest than give up the chance to obtain the divine weapon capable of protecting both the village and the clan—the Totsuka Blade.

Itachi, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

"Don’t worry, Brother Shisui. Our ancestors won’t blame us!"

......

At one of Konoha’s training grounds.

Having completed her training for the day, Kurenai slowly walked to the edge of the training ground. She picked up a towel to wipe away her sweat while raising her water bottle to replenish her fluids.

Although she had become a member of the ANBU and was burdened with a heavy workload, Kurenai hadn’t relaxed her training in the slightest. Nearly every day, she would carve out some time to hone herself at the training ground.

The previous mission to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage had left a deep knot in her heart.

She couldn’t stand all the special treatment her captain, Hyuga Kagami, gave her, and she especially couldn’t stand the thought that, in her captain’s eyes, she was nothing more than a subordinate who would only get in the way.

"Damn it! You bastard, looking down on me... I’ll definitely surpass you!"

Whenever she thought about it, Kurenai would silently encourage herself.

She wanted to prove to everyone that she was no worse than shinobi who possessed ocular Kekkei Genkai!

Although she harbored thoughts of competing with Kagami, Kurenai also understood that some of his advice to her had been correct. Therefore, during this period, she had been researching ways to combine her clan’s secret genjutsu with taijutsu, hoping to develop a form of nin-taijutsu with greater power and broader versatility.

At that moment, a tall young man walked over and said, "Kurenai, what a coincidence! I didn’t expect to run into you here. Oh, right, I heard a new restaurant opened in the village today. How about we go try it?"

The one who had come over to strike up a conversation was none other than Asuma, who had only recently returned to the village.

After spending the past several years serving at the side of the Land of Fire’s daimyo, Asuma had clearly matured considerably. He was no longer the proud and arrogant youth who had openly clashed with his father during the Special Jonin examination.

Glancing at the overly attentive Asuma, Kurenai shook her head.

"No. I have a mission tomorrow."

Scratching his head, Asuma said, "Oh, really? Then... maybe some other time."

Kurenai didn’t say anything more. After gathering her belongings, she walked straight past Asuma and left the training ground.

Watching Kurenai’s departing figure, Asuma muttered to himself, "Huh? Did I... approach her the wrong way? But this is exactly how Kakashi taught me to do it!"

Dragging her exhausted body back home, Kurenai hadn’t even had the chance to sit down on the sofa and catch her breath when she suddenly felt as though she had been targeted by a sinister, venomous snake!

"Kurenai, it seems you’ve grown as well."

A raspy voice that seemed to possess an almost magical quality drifted eerily from behind her.

Kurenai’s heart jolted in alarm. She whipped around and saw a dark figure standing within the shadows of the room.

"Orochimaru!? Why are you in the village? What do you want!?"

The sun had already begun to set and the sky was growing dark, so Kurenai couldn’t clearly make out the appearance of the figure standing in the shadows.

But from that distinctive raspy voice alone, she immediately recognized his identity.

Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows and smiled.

"There’s no need to be nervous. I simply need you to help me with something."

Suppressing the fear in her heart, Kurenai pulled a kunai from the ninja pouch at her waist.

"You’ve got to be kidding! Why would I ever help a Konoha traitor like you!?"