Naruto: Kurotsuchi Mayuri

Reinforcements arrived quickly.

Several Hyuga clan shinobi, under Hizashi Hyuga's orders, carefully scanned everything within their field of vision using the Byakugan.

The wealthy merchant Kalan, due to some sudden incident, had pulled back with his men and taken shelter in the camp.

"Sir, we've found traces of Sand and Cloud shinobi nearby."

Hizashi swiftly jumped across the tree branches and landed in front of Kagetsu, reporting the latest findings.

Clearly, despite all precautions, news had somehow leaked during this time, drawing the attention of both the Sand and Cloud villages.

"Sand shinobi, huh? Who's leading them?"

Kagetsu blinked. At the moment, most of the elite forces from the Hidden Sand Village were focused on locating the Ryūmyaku vein nodes and using the Ryūmyaku vein to create oases.

How could they still spare people to send out on missions?

"It's Baki from the Sand," Hizashi immediately replied, naming the jōnin leading the Sand team.

"What about the Cloud shinobi?" Kagetsu asked with some curiosity.

The actions of the Hidden Cloud Village had indeed been strange lately.

On one hand, they seemed to be signaling their intent to rejoin the Fourth Great Ninja War.

On the other hand, under the cautious eyes of the other villages, they hadn't made any real moves—more like they were just posturing to intimidate others.

As a result, while the other villages still kept a wary eye on the Cloud shinobi, their prolonged silence and unclear stance had made them seem less threatening than before.

Of course, every village wanted to figure out what was actually holding the Cloud Village back—including the Leaf Village, which had already sent several spies into Cloud territory.

However, the defensive strength of the Hidden Cloud Village far exceeded the expectations of all other villages.

Most of the spies were exposed under their intense investigations.

In the end, the only piece of intel the other villages managed to obtain was this — the reason why the Cloud Village had restrained its desire to start a war was because something was wrong with their Jinchūriki.

Because more than one spy had felt the violent power of the Eight-Tails going on a rampage.

Almost every now and then, the Eight-Tails would lose control and go berserk.

The Fourth Raikage, A, who had inherited the title, was pouring nearly all his time and energy into suppressing the beast.

So, after receiving this intel, all of Cloud's unusual movements seemed to point toward one clear explanation.

"I'm not sure, but it seems like they're looking for something too," said Hyuga Hizashi, shaking his head slightly. This indicated that the visitors from Cloud weren't anyone particularly famous.

"Lord, we've discovered an underground ruin. Inside, there's a faint energy reaction resonating with the piece of the Gelel Stone you gave us."

The next moment, a Hyuga ninja came rushing over from the distance, quickly reporting the discovery to Kagetsu.

Kagetsu was immediately pleased. While ordering Hizashi to gather the others, he brought Itachi with him and followed the ninja to the site of the ruins.

Using Earth Release to excavate an underground entrance, Kagetsu led the group through a tunnel beneath the surface.

"Was there really a whole country buried down here?"

Asuma looked around at the clearly man-made architecture and couldn't hide his surprise. He had previously thought the descriptions in that book were somewhat exaggerated.

But based on the magnificent structures in front of them, this was clearly not some small country. It was once a powerful nation, with strength to match.

Because it had been buried underground for so long, with the passage of time and the shifting of the earth's crust, the city had completely fused with the underground.

Passages extended in all directions, and tunnels had been carved deep into the stone walls like a giant maze.

Fortunately, with the help of the Stone of Gelel in his hand, Kagetsu had modified it to work like a compass, constantly adjusting and pinpointing the location of the ore veins.

The Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan's ninja made it even easier to navigate the complex maze, allowing them to find the most direct path to their destination.

Following Kagetsu's guidance, Hyuga Hizashi led the way using his Byakugan, helping the team avoid countless dead ends and long detours, eventually bringing everyone straight to their destination.

At the end of the tunnel, Kagetsu and the group arrived at a vast underground hall that resembled a giant hemispherical plaza.

They stood at the broken edge of the tunnel. Veins bulged around Hizashi's eyes as he scanned the area.

"Down below! There's a platform there!" Hizashi pointed down with his hand.

The broken tunnel and the height below weren't a problem for Kagetsu and the others. With a few quick leaps, they landed on the platform Hizashi had pointed to.

It was a triangular structure made from three circular stone platforms fitted together. Each of the platforms had distinct markings etched on them.

"According to what was written in that book, this should be the place that leads to the final destination," Kagetsu said, recalling the contents of the ancient text as he began searching the stone platforms.

Fortunately, the builders of this place hadn't gone out of their way to hide everything. With some effort, they quickly located what seemed to be the mechanism's control point.

It was a circular pattern slightly different from the surrounding ones—movable and slightly sunken into the surface of the stone platform.

When it was pushed and pressed down, the entire platform began to shake with a loud rumble, and like an elevator, it suddenly began descending into the depths below.

On the stone platform, Kagetsu and the others' feet tightly adhered to the ground. They watched as the stone platform carrying them sank, and a round seal closed off the sky above them.

The stone platform lowered them underground, and soft light spread throughout the area.

"Can the lighting system and machinery still function properly even now?" The sudden burst of light startled everyone, and they shielded their eyes slightly, surprised that the ruins were still operational.

"Look there!" Hizashi pointed to the center of the underground area, where a circular plaza was covered with densely packed runes.

"These are sealing technique runes." Kagetsu stepped forward, crouched down, and examined the runes beneath him, confirming, "Like the Ryūmyaku veins, these are used to suppress and seal a huge source of energy."

"The reaction from the Gelel Stone is getting much stronger! It looks like the deeper part of this place is where the Gelel Stone's vein is located." Itachi sensed the energy from the modified Gelel Stone in his palm becoming very active, and couldn't help but speak out.

"What should we do next? Do we need to break the seal here?" Hizashi looked at the sealing runes beneath him and asked Kagetsu cautiously.

At this point, he and the other Hyuga ninjas had completed their task. Inside this underground space, the Byakugan's power was severely weakened. An invisible force was blocking the Byakugan's detection and observation.

"This is a bloodline seal. Like the Ryūmyaku veins, it requires the bloodline of that kingdom's royal family to open and close it." Kagetsu quickly read through the runes and, based on his knowledge of sealing techniques, determined the type of seal.

"Royal family bloodline?" Hizashi was stunned. The kingdom had been destroyed for at least a few hundred years, possibly nearly a thousand. Even if there was still royal bloodline left, where would they find it?

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