Chapter – 24 The Uchiha Compound & the Naka Shrine

Uchiha Compound, Konohagakure

After running along the nearly empty streets (empty because it's midnight) of Konoha for a while in invisibility mode, Sasuke finally arrived at the entrance of the Uchiha Compound, and after making sure that no Anbus or Konoha Ninjas were around the Uchiha Compound using his sensory skills, he went inside through the main gate, after bypassing the 'Keep Out' tapes. 

As he walked through the streets of the suburb, Sasuke noticed that the state of the empty buildings, houses, and shops had worsened compared to the last time he had come to this place. But this is also natural, after all, nothing in this world is eternal except for the Rabbit Goddess, so decay and degradation are bound to happen. Moreover, the people of Konohagakure are also averse to the idea of preserving the Uchiha Compound, since the once prosperous and strongest Clan was almost annihilated in this place by their very own Clansmen, who would want to preserve this kind of place? 

"No one would want to do that." Mumbled Sasuke as he shook his head. In fact, he couldn't blame others as he hadn't done anything to preserve or restore the Uchiha Compound either. 

There are several reasons for this, first, he is always occupied with training and improving his strength for his revenge, so he has neither time nor resources to take care of the Uchiha Compound, second, the Uchiha suburb is a mark of shame, and defeat for the Clan. 

That is correct, the current Uchiha Compound is nothing but a humiliation to the Uchiha name. Its existence is living proof that the mighty and noble Uchiha Clan was 'defeated' and pushed to the edge of the village they co-founded, it's also the place where they nearly perished under the schemes of Konoha higher-ups. Sasuke wishes to restore the Clan to its days of glory, as such, there is no need for the mark of disgrace to continue to exist. Be that as it may, the Uchiha Compound is also the place where he had spent seven years growing up, so he has a lot of memories attached to the Uchiha Compound, and it's also the place where his world suddenly flipped upside down a year ago when he lost everything on the night of Genocide at the hands of Uchiha Itachi. 

Honestly, Sasuke has some complicated emotions for this place. A part of him wants to erase the Uchiha Compound, while another part wants to preserve it. 'Sigh, forget it… there's no point in thinking of these issues right now… I am powerless at the moment… I will think about this issue after I eliminate the four fuckersups along with their Clans and their heritage in its entirety.' He would have ample time to ponder over those matters once he finishes dealing with the main targets of his revenge in Konohagakure.

With that in mind, Sasuke no longer pondered over pointless issues and continued to walk through the desolate streets of the Uchiha Compound, recalling the good and bad memories he had of this place and the people who once lived in this place. After a while of strolling through the Uchiha Compound, Sasuke sighed and went to his house. His house was the same as he remembered from the last time, except for the part where it was very dirty and covered in dust because no one was taking care of the place.

"Kaa-san would have been very angry if she saw the house this dirty…" mumbled Sasuke with a saddened smile. Even if Uchiha Mikoto was a very gentle and kind woman for the most part, she was very strict and rigid on some things, and wouldn't accept otherwise on those matters. Keeping the house clean and tidy was one such matter. No one in their family dared to make a mess in the house on her watch. Thinking of the gentle smile of his mother, Sasuke didn't even realize it as his eyes became wet and tears started to flow down his cheeks.

"I wonder what Tou-san would have said upon watching the current me…" he was no longer the immature and carefree boy he used to be before the night of tragedy. Not only has his demeanor changed completely after experiencing that night of tragedy, but his strength has also improved by leaps and bounds in the past year. Recalling the time, he showed the results of his training to his father, and was praised by him, Sasuke chuckled to himself with tearful eyes, "Knowing Tou-san… he would be reserved, and he wouldn't speak much, but he would definitely praise me, and he would be proud of me… just like he was proud of Nii-san…"

'Nii-san…' Thinking of Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke became silent. Up until now, Sasuke hasn't been able to sort out his emotions for Itachi.

Itachi is the person responsible for lighting the fire of revenge in his heart for he is the butcher responsible for killing the Uchiha Clansmen, yet he is not the prime target of Sasuke's fury. Uchiha Itachi is a fool, a traitor, and a parricide for he raised his blade against his own people, but he did so to protect him.

Don't take it the wrong way, Sasuke definitely hates Itachi for the pain and hatred that he left him with, but he also can't help but not want to hate him upon trying to understand Itachi's reasons.

Sasuke sighed, "Sigh, why did things have to turn out the way they did?"

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Naka River, Konohagakure

After spending some time at the Uchiha Compound, Sasuke left the place and made his way to the Naka Shrine. 

Naka Shrine was not located within the Uchiha Compound after the Uchiha Clan was pushed to the edge of the village, it was somewhere at the center of the village along the bank of the Naka River that flows through Konohagakure. As he was walking along the bank of the Naka River, he couldn't help but momentarily pay attention to the water flowing through the river.

In Sasuke's personal opinion, the Naka River is not just a river through which water flows, it's also a river of time for it has witnessed the history of shinobi and the change of era from the times of the Sage of Six Path to now. It was inside a cave at the bank of Naka River that Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo left behind that stone tablet, and it was also at the bank of this very same river that Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama first met while skipping stones as well as fought their last battle.

During the times of wars in the Warring States Era, the Naka River was often filled with corps of dead ninjas who did not get a proper burial, for those unfortunate dead ninjas, the river acted as the river of crossings as it led their souls to the Pure Land.

'I wonder if Shisui-san managed to find his place in the Pure Land after drowning himself in the Naka River to erase his existence?' thought Sasuke as the Torii Gate of Naka Shrine came into his view.

Contrary to what many might believe, the Naka Shrine was not built to honor Indra, the Sage of Six Path, the Rabbit Goddess or any other Kami, rather, it is a sanctuary to worship the spirit of the Naka River. Dedicating a Shrine to a spirit of nature is nothing strange, as many communities throughout the history of mankind have been known to worship Nature and its spirits, moreover, considering that the Naka River has always been an integral part of the Uchiha history, it's no strange that they created a shrine for the spirit of the river.

That's correct, the Patron deity of the Uchiha Clan is the Spirit of the Naka River. Sasuke hadn't expected the Uchiha Clansmen to be Animists.

'Despite their cold and indifferent exterior, the Uchihas have always been sentimental people… if not for that, they wouldn't have dedicated a Shrine solely to the Naka River…' thought Sasuke as he passed through the Torri gate and walked inside the Shrine. He stayed in the main hall of worship for a while, praying to the Spirit of Naka River, then decided to enter the secret meeting place.

In fact, Sasuke's purpose for coming out this late at night was to visit the Naka Shrine and see the secret gathering place of the Uchiha Clan.

'In the main hall of the Naka Shrine, underneath the seventh tatami mat from the far right is the secret gathering place of the Uchiha Clan…' Recalling the key information Itachi had given him before he disappeared from Konoha, Sasuke found the tatami mat and removed it as a cuboidal slab of rock with a Sharingan mark wrapped in a sealing formula in the center appeared before him.

'To reveal the entrance of the secret gathering place, specific hand seals in the right order must be performed…' With that in mind, Sasuke recalled and weaved the hand signs Itachi had told him. The moment he completed weaving the hand signs, the slab of rock guarding the entrance of the secret gathering place slowly rose in the air, revealing a staircase.

"This is it…" mumbled Sasuke as he took a deep breath and stepped toward the flight of stairs leading toward a dark corridor and soon came to the hall where one of the biggest secrets of the Shinobi World was hidden, the room with the Uchiha Stone Tablet.

After entering the hall containing the Uchiha Stone Tablet, Sasuke lit the two iron torches placed on either side of the Stone Tablet to brighten the dark hall, then focused his gaze on the root of Uchiha's most if not all problems… 'Okay maybe I am exaggerating,' the Stone Tablet is not the root of Uchiha's all problems, rather it's the creator of the current Stone Tablet, 'Or maybe I should say the editor(?) of the Stone Tablet…'

Honestly, Sasuke is not very interested in the Stone Tablet, he would have been interested in reading its content if it hadn't been tampered with by Black Zetsu.

Originally, the purpose of the Stone Tablet was to discourage Indra and his descendants from recreating the Rinnegan as it could unseal the Gedō Mazō. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo feared the revival of the ten-tails as such he left behind a message on the Stone Tablet for Indra and his descendants upon noticing Indra's thirst for power, it's a pity, that Black Zetsu discovered it, and made revisions to it in order to revive 'Mother.'

Be that as it may, Sasuke still decided to read the Stone Tablet. He activated his Sharingan and looked at the Stone Tablet for a while, then shook his head in disappointment, "As expected, I can't decipher it completely… To completely decipher the Uchiha Stone Tablet, Rinnegan is needed…"

In fact, it's a bit strange that the Stone Tablet cannot be deciphered completely with just the Sharingan and the Rinnegan is needed for that. If the Sage of Six Path had intended to tell the descendants of Indra the tale of his and Hamura's fight against their mother and the Ten-Tails, as well as discourage them from recreating the Rinnegan, then it would make more sense to reveal all the information at once, adding layers makes no sense as it does the opposite of what he intends to accomplish through the Stone Tablet.

"Is that also Black Zetsu's handiwork?" mumbled Sasuke with a thoughtful expression.

In Black Zetsu's own words, he had been around for eons and had ample time and opportunity to make multiple revisions to the Stone Tablet. So, it would make sense if he added the concept of the layers to the Stone Tablet according to which a person needs to constantly improve their Visual Prowess to decipher more content on the Stone Tablet. As a person's Visual Prowess improves from the Sharingan to Mangekyō Sharingan to Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to the Rinnegan, they can decipher more and more layers… and in each layer, some key information about the creation of the Shinobi world, regrets of the Sage of Six Path, as well as the method to move to the next stage of Visual Prowess is given.

Upon learning that there is more information hidden in the Stone Tablet people would be tempted to improve their Visual Prowess until their Dōjutsu evolves into the Rinnegan, which is exactly what Black Zetsu desired. After all, humans are creatures curious by nature, they always want to learn more, and if there is something to learn, especially from the likes of the Sage of Six Path, they would definitely want to learn it, as such they would try to improve their Visual Prowess. It's fine if most people fail, but as long as even one person succeeds, then that means Black Zetsu's plan worked, and that's exactly what happened in the case of Madara.

Shaking his head, Sasuke looked away from the Stone Tablet and started to check out the rest of the Secret Uchiha gathering place. His main reason for coming to the Naka Shrine, aside from praying to the Patron Deity of the Uchiha Clan, was to check out if he could find some information about Uchiha's secret treasures like the Sword of Totsuka & Yata Mirror or some forbidden Jutsu like the Izanagi or the Izanami, something, anything that would help him improve his strength.

As for checking out the Uchiha Stone Tablet? That was just out of momentary curiosity.

Sasuke searched for a while using his Sharingan, but couldn't find anything worthwhile, and muttered to himself regretfully, "I guess it was just a fluke in my heart…" It seemed he was hoping too much as despite all the efforts he put into finding clues for more than an hour, he did not find anything simply because no such information was hidden in the Naka Shrine.

Sighing in disappointment, Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan then turned around and left the Naka Shrine.

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