That evening, in the rear hall of the Uchiha clan's shrine,
"Release," a kind-faced old man with graying hair said as he formed seals with his hands.
A mild rumbling sound of stone against stone followed. Soon after, a massive stone slab, about a foot thick and nearly two square meters in area, slowly rose.
"Tōshirō, follow me!"
Without waiting for any reaction from Tōshirō, Fugaku Uchiha nodded at the old man beside him and led the way to the basement.
This was the Uchiha clan's shrine, where they worshipped many gods such as the Destroyer Susanoo, the Fire God Kagutsuchi, Amaterasu, and Takemikazuchi, among others.
It was also the clan's ancestral hall. Each family member, upon passing from this world, would have a tablet placed here for their relatives to mourn.
The old man was assigned by the clan to manage the shrine. He had the dual role of head priest, responsible for worshipping the gods over the generations and blessing the deceased family members. He also looked after the clan's secret meeting place and this hidden room.
Of course, he wasn't the only shrine staff. There was also another priest and four shrine maidens responsible for attending to the clan members who came to offer incense, draw fortunes, pray for blessings, and occasionally village tourists.
In the country of fire's shrines, there's generally a high priest, and below him a vice-high priest who acts as a deputy when the high priest is absent. Below them are various ranks including shrine attendants and shrine maidens who typically handled tasks such as selling charms and performing rituals. These ranks were slightly simplified for the Uchiha shrine.
With a hurried bow to the old man, Tōshirō followed after Fugaku's figure, heading down the stairs.
They walked through a dimly lit passageway and arrived at the main room of the basement. The entire space was square-shaped, roughly about fifty square meters in size.
At each of the four corners stood a candelabrum. The candles on them had already been lit by Fugaku, casting a dim light that illuminated the basement fully.
In the center stood two massive sandalwood bookshelves and a granite stone platform adorned with black flame carvings.
Unlike the somewhat chaotic clan archives, every book, scroll, and notebook here was categorized and neatly arranged. The materials used for documentation were significantly more durable, making them suitable for long-term preservation and noticeably more valuable.
"The foundation of the Uchiha clan is indeed extraordinary!" Tōshirō couldn't help but marvel at the arrangements in the basement.
One bookshelf bore labels for Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth, and Water. Beneath each label were numerous scrolls, some in the hundreds, some in the dozens.
Among them were several scrolls that stood out, looking sturdier and made of some sort of unidentified leather, with rollers made of jade-like material. Tōshirō couldn't help but wonder if these might be S-ranked techniques.
The other bookshelf was labeled with Sealing Techniques, Runes, Cursed Seals, and Illusions. It too had many sophisticated-looking scrolls, though without clear labels, it was hard to judge their rank.
On the granite platform in the center were several massive scrolls, each over half a meter long. These scrolls had no labels, but by their size alone, one could tell they were extraordinary.
"These are the jutsus our clan has accumulated over the years!" Fugaku's voice interrupted as Tōshirō's eyes roved over the labels and scrolls.
"The first bookshelf contains common jutsus collected by our clan over the years. The levels range from C-rank upwards, and more than ten are S-rank."
Seeing Tōshirō looking over, Fugaku introduced each one, his eyes filled with pride.
Without paying much attention to the boy's surprised expression, Fugaku continued in a proud tone.
"The second bookshelf holds sealing techniques, barrier techniques, common genjutsu, and some secret techniques collected over the years, though some are incomplete but still highly valuable for reference."
"And the large scrolls on that granite platform contain the secret scrolls for Fire Release, Genjutsu, Yin-Yang Release, and Forbidden Techniques!"
These secret techniques were accumulated by the Uchiha clan from the Warring States Period onwards.
The Fire Release secret scroll was the crystallization of numerous Uchiha ancestors' efforts in Fire Release.
The Genjutsu secret scroll documented genjutsus exclusive to the Sharingan, which could only be used by those who had awakened the clan's bloodline limit.
The Yin-Yang Release scroll, especially the Yin part, was one of a kind in the entire ninja world. Though the Yang part was decent, it still couldn't compare to the Senju.
As for the Forbidden Techniques, it contained not just Izanagi and Izanami but also several other jutsus with extremely high risks and severe outcomes.
"Aside from the Genjutsu and Forbidden Techniques scrolls, which require the Sharingan to practice, you may choose one among the rest, copy it here, and take it home to cultivate."
"In light of your excellent performance in the graduation test, the clan head has specially instructed you to cherish this hard-won opportunity."
Hearing this, Tōshirō couldn't help but glance around at the treasures in the basement.
In the dimly lit basement, surrounded by towering bookshelves and massive scrolls on the stone platform, Uchiha Tōshirō found himself afflicted with a bout of choice paralysis.
He truly wished he could take all the materials in the basement home and spend time meticulously going through them. However, reality rarely works out so ideally.