"Damn… that was a long trip."
Standing before the mountain ridge, Hanzō stretched his stiff shoulders.
After discussing things with Yakushi Nonō, then briefing Rikuto and the others, he had rushed here without stopping.
"Didn't expect it would take nearly four days just to find this place."
"I really don't get it… A site with differences this obvious, yet for countless years no one ever discovered it."
Hanzō unfolded the map and examined it carefully.
"Let me see… the entrance to the ruins should be… over there?"
"No—better head to the highest point first. That'll make things easier."
Before long, Hanzō was already standing atop the ridge, comparing the landscape to the drawings on the map.
"This is definitely the place."
His eyes landed on the thin ribbon of a waterfall in the distance. After scanning the surroundings several times, he finally spotted his target.
"Incredible… an ultra-ancient civilization, surviving who knows how many ages, yet its traces are still this clear."
From afar, the jagged stone mass looked like a collapsed mountain… yet its structure still faintly resembled a palace. Time and weather had devoured most of it, but its past grandeur was still visible.
Descending from the ridge, Hanzō entered the ruins.
"Unbelievable. There's still energy inside these stone walls."
Running his hand over the shattered remains, he let his chakra seep into the stone—instantly detecting something different.
"Weak… barely there at all. A few more years and it'll completely disperse. After thousands of years of erosion, the fact that any energy remains is insane. That must be what preserved this ruin."
The original story never explained when this ancient civilization was destroyed, but Hanzō couldn't help imagining:
"This must have been before the Ōtsutsuki ever descended upon this world… Did they seal themselves away out of fear of their own power?"
The deeper he walked, the dimmer the light became. He had no choice but to take out a torch.
Broken walls, towering columns, endless stone steps—all gleamed faintly under the flickering firelight.
Eventually, he reached the lowest level.
It was—completely empty.
…
"Of course… the anime lied. But the location is definitely correct. I'll just have to put in more work."
"The Gelel Stone vein should be even deeper… So I'll still have to keep descending?"
"There must be another passage here. I need to find it."
"Well then—"
"Water Style: Ripping Torrent!"
As Hanzō formed the seals, the surrounding humidity surged toward him, forming a visible sphere of water that compressed in his palm.
Then—
Boom!
The sphere exploded outward, water rushing across the chamber in massive waves.
The sound of flowing water echoed through the underground space.
After a while, the water level grew high enough for Hanzō to stand on its surface.
Feeling that it was enough, he stopped supplying chakra and quietly observed.
The water began seeping downward…
As the jutsu ended, the previously roaring water slowly calmed—until the sound of water crashing through something reached his ears.
Following the sound and the flow, Hanzō quickly pinpointed the spot.
"There. The water's draining through a fault in the ground."
"Ninja Art: Slash!"
Several arcs of white blade-light cut downward. The ground beneath the crack collapsed instantly, the surge of water pulling the broken stones into the gap.
"Perfect."
As the water vanished, a tunnel revealed itself. Hanzō stepped inside.
Unlike before, the darkness faded. The tunnel grew brighter the deeper he walked.
Eventually, he extinguished his torch.
At last—at the tunnel's end—appeared a wide chamber.
A perfect circular sanctum, with intricate runes spiraling around the center.
"This is it… the altar where the Gelel Stone is sealed—the crystallization of life and energy lies beneath this."
Hanzō clicked his tongue in awe.
"So this is the summoning formula ancient civilizations used to open spatial rifts… Unbelievable."
"Now… where's the key to undo the seal?"
The moment his foot touched the altar, a stone pillar slowly rose from the floor.
Three slanted cylinders rested at the top, with a long central cylinder beneath them—three black rings connecting it to the base.
"A mechanism triggered by proximity?"
The instant he saw the "key," his wariness shot to maximum.
One wrong move, and the Gelel Stone vein would riot. Half the continent would be wiped out…
Only members of the Gelel royal line could summon a spatial rift here to suppress disaster—and obviously, none were alive.
"Whew…"
Hanzō stepped closer, inspecting it carefully.
He couldn't use force—he would need patience.
He released blue chakra into his hands, guiding it along the key, tracing the internal pathways with his senses.
"These three lines… They connect to the three support points of the seal?"
After a long moment, Hanzō looked up.
Every bit of illumination came from above—and the three pathways all pointed toward the ceiling.
"They sealed it on the ceiling?"
He leapt up, sticking his feet to the ceiling, studying it closely.
"The downward-carved runes… This resembles the Sealing Jutsu: Triangle Seal."
"Ultra-ancient sealing arts… so damn complicated. Is this the prototype of the Triangle Seal?"
"But ninjutsu only spread after the Sage of Six Paths… How did this predate him? Is this the world's original native power?"
He studied it for a long while before dropping back down.
He had more or less understood the Gelel Stone seal.
The three cylinders represented the three nodes of the sealing triangle—they had to be opened or closed simultaneously.
If even one shifted early, the entire structure would tilt and rupture, causing the Gelel Stone's energy to surge out of a single point—like a dam cracking open. The pressure would tear the whole seal apart.
If that happened, the normally calm Gelel Stone vein would go berserk, unleashing world-ending power.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told them to search for the Gelel Stone at all… never thought they'd find it—let alone this fast."
Even he felt suffocated by the pressure of what lay before him.
One mistake, and half a continent would be erased. And though he loathed the Five Great Nations, destruction and struggle—revenge and genocide—were not the same thing.
At that point, the war would be irrelevant.
Everyone would be meeting in the afterlife.
"As expected… If you give a ninja a 20% power boost, they grow tempted. A 50% boost, they take risks. A 100% boost, they gamble with death. And a 300% boost? They're willing to trample every law."
"And here before me… is a chance to increase my strength by a thousand percent. What am I afraid of?"
"Let me see… just how terrifying this power truly is."
Hanzō placed both hands on the three cylinders, held his breath, and pushed.
RUMBLE—
The chamber groaned like ancient machinery awakening. The ceiling burst with brilliant azure light.
The runes on the ceiling writhed like living ropes, unraveling and spreading open. They pulled back toward the edges.
Below them, a flat mirror-like plane appeared—a parallel space.
"That's… another dimension? They sealed the Gelel Stone vein inside a parallel space?"
As the seal broke, a torrent of sky-blue liquid gushed out—engulfing the chamber within moments.
"Not good."
Seeing the wave rushing toward him, Hanzō's heart lurched. The key was right beside him—he couldn't let it be damaged.
"Earth Style: Rampart of Flowing Soil!"
A slab of floor surged upward, forming a wall. The wave crashed against it, shattering stone fragments into the air.
"Miscalculated—no time to run!"
While he blocked the wave, water had already filled the chamber.
A pale blue mist rose. Hanzō suddenly felt his body grow weak—heavy—sleepy.
"This vapor… something's wrong. But I have a breathing apparatus!"
His strength drained rapidly. Before he knew it, he was kneeling—then completely submerged.
Endless drowsiness swept over him.
Hanzō's consciousness slipped away.
The water rose… half the chamber was submerged.
Then—
The key he had pushed down slowly began rising back up on its own. The runes on the ceiling reappeared, sliding back toward the center, weaving themselves into knots—restoring the seal.
The parallel dimension retreated and vanished.
Silence fell.
Only Hanzō of the Salamander remained, floating faintly beneath the water, breathing shallowly.
(PS: In the original material, the Gelel Stone is a blue crystal refined from the ancient vein. The Gelel Stone Vein itself is a sky-blue liquid-like thing, known as the source of life and energy.)
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Thx for the powerstones! Bonus chap after reaching 700 earlier.
150 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
300 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
500 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
700 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
1000 Powerstones - Bonus Chap