It was the dead of night but in a specially prepared chamber arranged by Mito beneath the Uzumaki Mansion the ambience remained the exact same as during the day.
A complex sealing formula was carved into the ground with five empty circles arranged in a pentagram formation calling one's attention amidst the densely arranged sealing script.
There was a sealing talisman corresponding to each circle and whenever someone in the chamber activated the sealing formula each talisman holder would feel a pull on their spiritual energy.
All they needed to do was allow this pull to draw their spirit into their talisman, projecting their mind and image into the corresponding circle within the chamber.
This would allow for long distance meetings so long as there was someone within the chamber itself to activate the sealing formation.
Currently, Shiki as well as Mito herself had access to the chamber as for the talisman holders, their identities were obvious.
Mito and Shiki each held one while Uchiha Naori and Senju Toka held two more with the single remaining talisman having no selected holder yet.
For the time being, the formation could only accommodate five spots but considering the exclusivity of their little group, that was not a limitation Mito needed to urgently fix.
The Uzumaki matriarch stood within the secret chamber, on the circle corresponding to her talisman as she activated the sealing formation, calling the other three talisman holders.
With flashes of static, three figures materialized.
A sharp looking young woman with dark brown hair tied in an elaborate topknot, a large bang covering the left side of her face and a cold amber right eye fixed respectfully on Mito's figure, Senju Toka.
Another, a softer looking young woman with wavy long purple hair in a hime cut, her left eye was turvy white, bereft of sight but her right gleamed with a crimson Three Tomoe Sharingan, ominously glowing with an intensity that contrasted with the woman's gentle feeling demeanour, Uchiha Naori.
As for the last figure, it was significantly shorter than the others, sporting a head full of snow white hair tied back and somewhat unsettlingly deep purple eyes, Ryumon Shiki.
"What a fascinating fuinjutsu." Naori broke the silence, looking around the chamber, feeling as if she was there even if limited to her own circle.
"Greeting's Mito-sama, Naori-san and long time no see Shiki-kun." Toka followed up with a more formal greeting to start.
"I see even your newfound youth could not diminish that overly serious attitude, Toka-san." Shiki commented in response.
"Probably made it worse actually." Mito chimed him, leaving the Senju woman a bit embarrassed while Naori smiled at the pleasant atmosphere.
"I believe this is our first meeting. Nice to finally see you, Shiki-kun, though I have heard a lot about you already." The Uchiha smiled in greeting.
"All good things I hope." The boy replied.
"And it is a pleasure to meet you as well." He added.
"It's great to see you all getting along so nicely but this Communication Fuinjutsu is far from perfected so we best get to business, we'll all have time for socializing after this mess is dealt with." Mito interjected, the others nodding in agreement.
"Alright Shiki, share your information on your selected targets." The Uzumaki matriarch commanded.
"Yes, Mito-sama." The boy accepted the order and launched into an explanation.
"The plan is to hit a total of four key locations." He began.
"One for each of us?" Toka inquired.
"No. Mito-sama moving might escalate things. I also suggest keeping your revitalized statuses under wraps for a while longer." Shiki responded.
"Naori-san and Toka-san will be in charge of one location each. Leave the remaining two to me." He added.
"Alone?" Naori inquired, seemingly worried he would be overburdened.
"No, I'll personally hit one location and have a trusted partner hit the other one which happens to be the least important of the four." Shiki explained.
"To be fair, so long and Naori-san and Toka-san handle your targets well, we'll have more than enough to proceed with our plans, the other two locations are just icing on the cake, so to speak." He further broke it down.
"Fair enough. What's my target?" Toka honestly accepted the boy's words and just moved the conversation along.
Being less familiar with Shiki, Naori was still having a bit of a harder time dealing with the fact that a literal child was having this kind of discussion with them as an equal but it was nothing more than a subconscious dissonance.
The Uchiha was fully aware that neither of the two other women would be okay with the boy's participation if he was not more than capable, Mito especially since she was obviously quite protective of him.
"I selected targets for Toka-san and Naori-san where you actually have a legitimate claim to interfere, that is why they are the two most crucial of the four." Shiki began replying.
"But to answer Toka-san's question more directly, your target is a laboratory complex conducting illegal research with the body of the First Hokage." He declared, making the Senju woman freeze in silence.
Beneath that silence however, a raging storm threatened to break out, noticeable only through the fiery gleam burning in Toka's amber eyes.
But while the Senju took the time to settle her bubbling rage, it was the Uchiha's turn.
"For Naori-san there is a similar lab in another location experimenting with Uchiha clan members, stolen corpses declared lost, even a few live individuals captured through various schemes." Shiki spoke.
If the first part of the boy's words angered and saddened the gentle woman from the desecration of her clan's dead, the second part about live subjects stoked the flames of her hate but nothing could be compared to what came next.
"The main subject of this facility's study is the secretly recovered and declared lost body of Uchiha Kagami." The boy concluded his initial overview.
And with those words, Uchiha Naori, a woman who never succumbed to her clan's Curse of Hatred despite awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, felt for the first time in decades, the urge to give in to the notorious Uchiha Evil a certain someone preached about.
'My son's body . . . stolen . . . experimented upon . . . after everything he gave for the village, after all the loyalty he gave to the Hokage, both Second and Third . . . This was how his service was repaid.' Naori forcefully stabilized her thoughts with deep breaths.
She, better than most, knew how disastrous for an Uchiha giving into one's emotions could be.
Calm, she needed to remain calm and think of the next steps . . .
Shiki and Mito gave the two women time to settle their emotions after the shocking reveal of information.
Toka recovered relatively quickly.
Though Hashirama was a relative, an idol and someone she owed a great deal to, ultimately, the shock to Toka of his body being desecrated could not compare to that of Naori's when hearing of her own son suffering that fate.
It was an unexpected familial relation for Shiki when he first learned of it, it was not mentioned anywhere in the original series, manga, novels, anime, games, etc.
That said, the fact that a single line of Uchiha who beat their clan's Curse of Hatred existed unbroken was kind of nice.
Uchiha Naori, her son Kagami and his grandson Shisui.
And it seemed that Danzo could not be satisfied if he did not ruin every good thing going in Konoha, especially when it concerned the Uchiha clan, though his buddies in the Konoha High Council certainly shared some of the blame.
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Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -