Later, they arrived at the Naka Shrine, the Uchiha Clan's underground Shinto Shrine. It was a modest, above-ground structure within the Uchiha Compound.
The secret entrance was concealed within the floorboards of the main shrine, covered by a removable tatami mat. This explained why Sasuke had initially been against having Kakashi and Naruto enter it.
Step...
Step...
Step...
They descended the stone stairs, which led down into a subterranean chamber. The main chamber was dimly lit and filled with an ancient, solemn atmosphere.
It was a large, circular room with a high, domed ceiling. In the center stood a large, circular stone pedestal.
Resting on the pedestal was a massive stone tablet. Its surface was engraved with a dense script.
Around the pedestal, several stone benches were carved into the floor, seemingly for clan meetings, with a few ceremonial tools scattered around.
"Wow! This place is more like a secret chamber than a shrine!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide as he looked around.
"It is a secret chamber, in reality," Kakashi stated simply.
That was the truth; he didn't recall any rituals being held there, aside from clan meetings, whose information Itachi had later obediently provided to the Konoha Council.
'If I were to judge Itachi from my anime memories, I would consider him an idiot, even with a sharp mind,' Kakashi thought. 'But with the real Kakashi's memories, I know who Itachi really is. He was a pacifist; he didn't use violence unless necessary, at least during his Anbu time under me.'
Itachi had experienced the Third Great Shinobi War, and that trauma had cemented his extreme aversion to conflict. He had witnessed the senseless death and suffering of war firsthand.
Unlike many, he didn't seek power but rather a world without war. He wasn't manipulated by the Will of Fire; he genuinely believed in peace, and sacrificing a few for the masses was a greater good he was willing to follow.
It was for this reason that he valued the village above his clan. He wasn't manipulated by Danzō, either; he wasn't a simple pawn. While he carried out the missions given by the elders, especially becoming a double agent to monitor the Uchiha's rebellious activities, he did so on his own terms and with his own calculated agenda.
This... aligned with his own pacifist ideals and his goal of preventing war.
'He even planned his death from the time of the Uchiha massacre, wanting to push Sasuke to fight him, and...' Kakashi smiled as he glanced at Sasuke. 'I will help him fulfill his plan... Definitely!'
But there was also another thing that had heavily influenced his actions and his desire to end conflict at any cost.
And that was the Stone Tablet.
"An altered version of Black Zetsu!" Kakashi muttered as he turned his gaze to the stone tablet. He walked toward it. Seeing him, both Sasuke and Naruto followed and looked at the tablet.
Naruto asked, "Sensei, what is it? Why are you looking at this... strange tablet?"
"Hey! This isn't a strange tablet!" Sasuke reprimanded him. "This is the stone tablet of our Uchiha Clan! It's a historical and sacred artifact!"
"Really?" Naruto eyed him suspiciously, arms crossed, not believing any of Sasuke's 'Uchiha bragging.'
"Sasuke, tell me one thing..." Kakashi called him. Sasuke stopped talking to Naruto and looked at Kakashi. "You didn't even know there were other technique scrolls in your house, but you know the secret entrance of the main Naka Shrine's chamber. How? Just How?"
Sasuke's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "I... I know them. I just never bothered with finding those scrolls."
"Excuses, hehehehe..." Naruto immediately mocked him.
"Don't laugh!" Sasuke yelled at him, face half-red.
"Hahaha..." Naruto began to laugh even louder at Sasuke's half tomato-red face.
"You wanna fight?!" Sasuke glared at Naruto, who stopped laughing and glared back with a smirk on his face.
"Anytime!" Naruto tucked up his sleeves, as both he and Sasuke smirking at each other, really ready to fight.
"Oye... Oye... Oye, stop your bickering all the time and come here," Kakashi said, his voice firm and commanding. Naruto and Sasuke immediately stopped and moved back toward the stone tablet.
"Can you read it, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, looking at him. Although he knew Sasuke could read the upper part with his Sharingan now, he was really asking if Sasuke had ever tried to read it.
"Well... I never tried," Sasuke understand his question and shrugged.
Naruto also shrugged. "Then try, because... I don't understand anything. WHAT LANGUAGE IS THIS?"
"Naruto, don't pressure unnecessary stress on your brain," Kakashi said. "You can't read it anyway; it can only be read with the Sharingan."
"Haaa, Sharingan this, Sharingan that~!" Naruto sighed mockingly, receiving intense stares from both Sasuke and Kakashi and immediately put his hands over his mouth, turned his head.
"My father took me here to the main chamber of the Naka Shrine a few times before..." Sasuke began.
"During clan meetings?" Kakashi asked.
"...No, just casually," Sasuke shook his head. "And at that time, he once told me that to read this, I needed to awaken our clan's Dōjutsu, the Sharingan."
"But you never tried after you awakened your Sharingan, huh?" Kakashi asked.
Sasuke nodded. "To be honest, I remember awakening it from the time... Itachi left, but I was never able to use it again. It was only a few days before the team assignments that I had a dream about... that night again, and I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with my Sharingan activated."
Kakashi nodded. "Oh, I see. Alright, then try reading this stone tablet now!"