Naruto Immersive Replay, The Curse of the Sharingan

When Orochimaru's gaze fell on the side of the coffin, on the fan-shaped emblem that remained clearly visible even after the passage of time, the excitement on his face was almost impossible to suppress.

“The Uchiha clan crest…” He stuck out his long, thin tongue and licked his dry lips, his eyes gleaming with the light of discovering a treasure. “It seems Kimimaro has indeed found it this time!”

As Kabuto looked at the familiar clan crest, his heart clenched uncontrollably once again, filling him with a strange sense of unease and agitation.

"Open the coffin," Orochimaru commanded, his voice tinged with impatience.

Kimimaro immediately stepped forward, gathered his strength, and slowly pushed open the heavy coffin lid.

The cold scent of ancient dust and special preservatives wafted over us.

When the contents of the coffin were fully revealed to the three of them, even those who were used to seeing all sorts of things were deeply shocked.

A young man lay quietly inside the coffin.

He was dressed in the dark combat uniform typical of the Uchiha clan from the Warring States period, and his figure was upright.

His skin had an unnatural pallor due to long-term sealing and drug treatment, but his facial features were deep and handsome, with a stern and murderous aura between his brows.

He placed his hands folded in front of his chest, his posture serene.

"Truly... a perfect body." Orochimaru carefully scanned every inch of the person in the coffin. "The muscle lines, the skeletal structure, all contain immense power... It's a pity, it's a dead man!"

He smacked his lips, a hint of genuine regret in his voice, and his tongue slid across the corner of his mouth again.

"Who is he?" Yakushi Kabuto couldn't help but ask, his gaze fixed on the intact face of the person in the coffin.

Clearly, someone used extremely sophisticated methods to preserve his body after his death, applying special preservatives to maintain his current appearance even after so many years.

But what Dou cared about even more was that he vaguely saw your shadow in the calm yet sharp temperament of the person in the coffin.

Kimimaro answered on Orochimaru's behalf, "Based on pieced-together information, it is said that he lived in the same era as Madara Uchiha and also possessed the special Mangekyou Sharingan. He was one of the top shinobi of the Uchiha clan at that time, but he died before the founding of Konoha and was unable to witness the establishment of the village."

Orochimaru added with great interest, "His name is Uchiha Reiki. I learned this from the ancient family genealogy that the Uchiha Shrine has preserved after some effort."

"Judging from the few battle records he left behind during the Warring States period, his strength was comparable to that of Tobirama Senju at that time."

After hearing the life story of the person in the coffin, Kabuto unconsciously frowned.

Uchiha Rei... a name that should have been completely lost to the dust of history, yet an inexplicable premonition quietly entwined around his heart.

"Then... let's begin the live experiment of the Impure World Reincarnation with this one." Orochimaru no longer hesitated, his hands quickly forming complex and strange hand seals, causing the dust on the floor of the secret room to rise automatically without any wind.

As the forbidden technique was used, countless fine cracks began to rapidly spread across Uchiha Rei's once perfectly intact face inside the coffin.

His body trembled slightly, as if his soul, which had been asleep for countless years, was being forcibly dragged back to the present world.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the three men, he slowly opened his eyes.

The chilling atmosphere of the Warring States period, mixed with the deathly stillness and ominousness unique to the Impure World Reincarnation, instantly filled the entire secret chamber.

Chapter 354 - Prelude

My vision was a little blurry at first, and the first thing that caught my eye were three people with different appearances and unfamiliar auras.

A pale-faced, effeminate man with undisguised greed and inquiry flashing in his golden vertical pupils; a boy wearing round-framed glasses, seemingly respectful but with shrewd eyes; and a white-haired boy with strange bone spurs.

No, his body's sensations told him with unusual clarity that this was not a true return to life.

He could feel an invisible binding force entangling the core of his soul, forcibly anchoring him to the present world.

This is a technique, a forbidden technique that desecrates the boundary between life and death.

"Senior Lengxi, welcome back to the mortal world!" Orochimaru gazed at Lengxi's scarlet kaleidoscope eyes with delight.

The moment Orochimaru spoke, Leng Xi instinctively sensed that the man before him, with his cold and eerie aura, was the one who had forcibly pulled him back from his eternal slumber.

A murderous intent arose in his heart, but he immediately realized that the contract bound him, preventing him from launching any attacks against the caster and the target he had designated.

He is now nothing more than a puppet controlled by threads.

Forcibly suppressing her surging emotions, Leng Xi's face, covered in cracks from the Edo Tensei, remained expressionless. Only her Mangekyou Sharingan coldly swept over the simple yet taboo-filled furnishings of the secret room before finally settling on Orochimaru.

"What time is it now?" He completely ignored the questions about his identity, those were irrelevant.

He was more concerned with the passage of time, how long he had been silent in the darkness, and what this blood-soaked land had become after his death.

Orochimaru's lips curled into a playful smile, seemingly quite appreciative of Leng Xi's calmness and directness. "It seems that you have accumulated many answers in your heart that you are eager to verify."

He gently stroked his chin with his slender fingers. "But it's alright, we have plenty of time to... answer all your questions."

With a slight thought, he issued a command to Leng Xi through the contract of reincarnation.

Leng Xi's body stepped out of the coffin uncontrollably.

Orochimaru observed Lengxi's every subtle reaction with great interest.

He summoned this powerful figure from the Warring States period not only to test the perfection of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but also to pry open that long-buried history from his mouth.

The true secrets of the Uchiha and Senju clans, the mysteries of lost ninjutsu and bloodline limits from the Warring States period, and... the stories that may be hidden behind the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Decades have passed since the Warring States period you are familiar with," Orochimaru slowly began to explain. "Now, a system called ninja villages has been established on this land. The five largest countries each have their own ninja villages, maintaining a fragile balance."

"And this is the Sound Village, my territory."

Leng Xi listened quietly, her crimson Sharingan revealing no emotion. But Orochimaru knew that this spirit from the Warring States period was greedily absorbing every piece of information, reconstructing her understanding of this strange world.

In my dream, there was a cherry blossom forest, with pink and white petals falling like snowflakes.

Under the tree stood a boy with a blurry figure, dressed in an ancient-style dark blue tribal robe with a familiar flame fan emblem embroidered on the collar.

He waved vigorously in your direction, a pure and warm smile on his face, his voice piercing through the barrier of dreams, clear enough to make your heart tremble, "Sister—!"

A deep sense of familiarity makes you instinctively want to move forward, to see his face clearly, and to respond to his call.

There was no memory of this boy at all.

The next second, the sky and the earth changed color.

The cherry blossom grove collapsed instantly, and in the dim light, the air was filled with a heavy, nauseating stench of blood.

The boy was pierced through the shoulder blade by a rusty iron hook, hanging in mid-air. Blood soaked through his tattered clothes, dripping down his body and pooling into a thick, dark red puddle at his feet.

He struggled to lift his head, his once bright eyes now devoid of light, filled only with endless pain and despair.

With his last ounce of strength, he moved his lips, uttering a faint, almost inaudible whisper, "Quick...go..."

You sit up on the tatami mat, a tearing pain shooting through your heart. Your forehead is covered in cold sweat, which slides down your temples and soaks your disheveled black hair. You clutch your chest with one hand and breathe heavily.

Who is that boy?

Why does his call feel so familiar? Why does his tragic state break your heart?

You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to banish the bloody images from your mind, but those desperate eyes were like a brand, deeply etched into your consciousness.

Moreover, you can clearly sense that the seal within your body seems to have loosened due to the impact of this nightmare.

Sasuke Uchiha entered the old site alone. As was customary, he came on a specific day to burn paper money for his deceased clansmen, expressing his unsettled grief and hatred.

When he reached the Forbidden Pavilion, his steps involuntarily stopped.

The gates of the Forbidden Pavilion, which should have been heavily guarded by chains and sealing talismans, were now ajar.

Sasuke felt a sudden alarm bell ring in his mind, and his Sharingan almost activated on its own.

Who could it be? An intruder coveting the Uchiha clan's secrets? Or perhaps a survivor from within the clan?

He held his breath and pushed open the heavy wooden door. The attic was pitch black inside, filled with the smell of old scrolls and rotting wood.

Using the Sharingan's excellent night vision, Sasuke quickly scanned his surroundings.

The dust showed signs of recent dusting, and the bookshelf appeared to have been rummaged through.

His gaze finally settled on the floor in the center of the room, where an old scroll lay carelessly discarded.

Sasuke's suspicions deepened.

He stepped forward, bent down and picked up the scroll. The scroll was made of ancient material, and the edges were somewhat damaged. It felt cold to the touch.

With a sense of doubt, he unfurled the scroll. By the faint moonlight filtering through the broken window and with the power of his Sharingan, the contents of the scroll were clearly displayed before his eyes.

Sasuke's pupils suddenly contracted.

Is this... Nagi?

The person in the portrait, apart from slight differences in clothing and hairstyle, has the same eyebrows, eyes, expression, and temperament as you do now.

His gaze instinctively tried to ignore the text in the annotation below the portrait, but the Sharingan's exceptional ability to perceive clearly allowed him to see it: "Uchiha Nagi, Madara's beloved, died at the end of the Warring States period, a secret."

Sasuke felt as if his brain had been struck by a heavy hammer, and a loud booming sound filled his ears.

The possibility of them sharing the same name is extremely slim, and the age of the woman's clothing and the scroll clearly points to the Warring States period.

Considering your bizarre Uchiha-style swordsmanship, and your contradictory personality, as if burdened with countless secrets...

An absurd yet incredibly clear conclusion shattered all his confusion.

The girl in the portrait, who was said to be Madara Uchiha's beloved and who died long ago in the Warring States period, is you, the one he knew!

Your background is far more complicated than he imagined. You are not an ordinary Uchiha orphan, but someone who should have turned to dust long ago.

Sasuke forced himself to calm down, gripping the scroll tightly in his hand. Why would this scroll, which contained such astonishing secrets, appear here at such a convenient moment?

And he found out so easily?

He always felt that something, or rather, an invisible force, was deliberately guiding him here so that he could see this secret.

The girl in the portrait had calm, dark eyes that seemed to transcend time and space. When Sasuke looked into her eyes, he felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head.

Chapter 355 The Gift

On the first day of the new day, Uchiha Sasuke stood at the classroom door with one hand in his pocket and a slight frown on his face.

Not just his class, but the entire floor of the teaching building seemed excessively empty.

According to the schedule, today is a normal workday, and at this time it should be filled with the sound of students reading aloud or Iruka-sensei explaining ninjutsu theory.

But now, not only are there no classmates, but even Teacher Iruka is nowhere to be found.

Where did they all go? A subtle sense of unease, of being excluded, crept into Sasuke's heart.

Just as he was about to turn around and look elsewhere, a clear voice came from the end of the corridor, "Sasuke-kun! What are you still doing here?"

Every day, carrying a stack of decorative ribbons and balloons, she walked over quickly.

“Both of our classes are having class in the auditorium today! Didn’t Ms. Iruka tell you?” She blinked her big eyes, her tone natural.

But Sasuke keenly caught the sly glint in her eyes, a look that seemed to suggest she was enjoying a good show.

Notification? He hadn't received any news about changing the class location at all.

Sasuke's mind was filled with suspicion. Tenten's expression was anything but innocent. What... was going on in the auditorium?

He didn't ask any further questions, just gave a curt "hmm," and then turned and walked towards the auditorium.

Tian Tian stuck out her tongue behind him and quickly followed, carrying her things.

The closer they got to the auditorium, the more pronounced the unusual silence became.

Sasuke tiptoed and quietly approached the heavy double doors of the auditorium.

He didn't even need to consciously perceive it to notice the small, obviously mischievous trap set behind the door.

It's probably some kind of triggering device for linked ribbons or buckets.

Behind the door, one could faintly hear many suppressed breaths and subtle commotions.

Sasuke's lips curled downwards.

This childish trick... Instead of pushing the door open directly, he quickly formed a simple hand seal.

The next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot, using the Substitution Technique to instantly pass over the obstruction of the door and appear inside the auditorium, in a blind spot near the door.

As he appeared, a mechanism above the door was triggered, and several ribbon barrels popped open with a "bang," spraying out colorful ribbons and sequins.

Sasuke, who should have been standing below getting soaked, was no longer in the same spot.

Just before the confetti fell, he reached out and caught one of the confetti cans that hadn't been completely emptied.

The auditorium fell into a deathly silence.

All the students and teachers who had been hiding behind their seats, under the podium, or beside the curtain, ready to shout "Happy Birthday," froze on their faces, staring dumbfounded at the unharmed black-haired boy.

Sasuke expressionlessly weighed the bucket of confetti in his hand, then his gaze swept past the stunned crowd and landed on the long table in the center of the auditorium, which was covered with a clean white tablecloth.