"Spectating all the way!" Sakura flew through the window, asking with slight confusion, "Why would the Third let him get away with this? The Uchiha are a key combat force in Konoha. If Danzo wipes them out, Konoha's military strength will drop drastically!"
Sakura wasn't just making this up. Although the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha had always been strained, whenever Konoha faced a crisis, the Uchiha never stood by idly. Losing them would greatly weaken Konoha's military might.
"Danzo... is my friend!"
The Third Hokage gave a bitter smile. How could he not understand? But Danzo was his comrade. Could he really bring himself to punish him?
"Friend? More like 'special buddy,' right?"
Sakura muttered under her breath. The depth of this so-called friendship was beyond words. In the original story, despite Danzo committing countless atrocities—even sending assassins after the Third—the Third simply laughed it all off in the end. This bond was truly indescribable.
"Do you have something important to say?" The Third didn't want to talk further—it was too painful.
"Gramps Third, you still haven't paid me! I prevented a full-blown war, you know!"
Sakura gave an eye-roll behind his back. Was the Third trying to dodge payment?!
Chapter Forty-Three: The Scroll of Seals – Third Update
"Let's go. The Scroll of Seals isn't here!"
The Third stood up and walked outside with Sakura.
As they reached the room where the Scroll of Seals was supposed to be kept, realization flashed in Sakura's eyes. Of course—just as she suspected. In the original storyline, Naruto obtaining the Scroll of Seals must have been deliberately arranged by the Third. Furthermore, that so-called Scroll of Seals was likely fake. As for the reasons—
Outside this very room, Sakura could sense dozens of spiritual fluctuations. These individuals were stationed around the room, clearly guarding the Scroll of Seals. With so many guards present, unless the Third intentionally allowed it, how could Naruto—who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy and hadn't even mastered the basic Transformation, Clone, and Substitute techniques—possibly obtain the Scroll? After all, only the Hokage and the guards knew where the Scroll was stored. How could Mizuki, a mere chunin at the Ninja Academy, possibly know its location?
Most importantly, in the original plot, the moment Naruto opened the Scroll of Seals, the first technique he saw was Shadow Clone Jutsu. That was obviously suspicious. The Scroll contained countless ninja techniques, secret arts, and forbidden jutsu. What were the odds that upon opening it, he'd instantly stumble upon the perfect technique for someone like Naruto, who overflowed with chakra? Moreover, Sakura doubted the Scroll of Seals would lack any protective measures whatsoever. Even Danzo used the Inner Four Symbols Seal on himself as a last resort to take enemies down with him—how easily could the Scroll really be opened?
Standing before the door, the Third Hokage swiftly formed several hand seals. He then slapped his palm squarely in the center of the door. Tadpole-like seal characters swirled outward from his palm. Once these symbols vanished, he finally reached out and pushed open the door.
"This is the Scroll of Seals!"
Sakura followed the Third into the room. Inside, the only thing present was a massive scroll resting on a shelf in the center; nothing else occupied the space.
"So many sealing formulae? For just one scroll? Is this really necessary?"
A slight twitch pulled at Sakura's lips. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all engraved with tadpole-like runes. She carefully extended her senses and detected faint waves of energy radiating from them. Though these runes appeared chaotic and scattered, they actually formed an interconnected whole — disturbing even one would activate them all simultaneously. As to what exactly that activation would do, she had no idea.
"This isn't an ordinary scroll," the Third explained with a smile. "It's the Scroll of Seals created since the time of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. It records nearly every ninjutsu, hidden techniques, kinjutsu, and sealing techniques in Konoha. In principle, only the Hokage is allowed to view it. You wouldn't have been given access here if you hadn't resolved the conflict with Cloud Village."
As he spoke, the Third began forming hand seals at an incredible pace. The complex sequence overwhelmed Sakura, so she gave up trying to keep up and just looked away.
Even for someone as skilled as the Third, it took over a dozen seconds to finish all those seals. When he finally slammed his hands onto the wooden shelf holding the Scroll of Seals, all the runes throughout the room began shifting and shrinking until they vanished entirely into the wooden frame.
"This bookshelf was specially crafted by Hashirama Senju himself specifically for storing the Scroll of Seals. Unless you use the exact hand seals to disable the sealing formulae, approaching this room will trigger its defenses and kill the intruder instantly."
Noticing Sakura's curious look, the Third decided to explain.
"No wonder!" Sakura nodded understandingly. It was clear now that this wooden bookshelf must have been made using Hashirama's Wood Release techniques. The defensive arrays within the room itself likely originated from either the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju or Hashirama's wife, Mito Uzumaki.
"All right, you may take a look if you'd like — but you must stay here. Don't even think about taking it outside!"
Naturally, something as valuable as the Scroll of Seals could never leave this room. This further confirmed Sakura's suspicion that the Scroll of Seals Naruto obtained in the past must have been fake.
Sakura stepped forward, concentrated her will, and the Scroll of Seals unfurled on its own. The scroll was enormous — larger than her body.
As soon as it opened, she quickly skimmed through it at lightning speed. There was no need for her to understand everything recorded here immediately — that wasn't even possible yet. She simply wanted to memorize all the contents first for deeper study later.
By the time she flipped through the entire Scroll of Seals, several hours had already passed. After carefully returning it to the shelf, Sakura massaged her temples. Her mind felt overloaded after absorbing so much information in such a short time. Without the Soul Stone constantly nourishing her spirit, she wouldn't have been able to remember everything she saw at a glance.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
The Third asked casually.
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