"So, how are we going to tell the clan about this?" Hiro said, scratching his hair in annoyance. "Should we find someone to redesign the spell, or just pull some strings with the stele?"
"Our clan isn't good at spells in the first place. Since this unknown enemy comes and goes without a trace, modifying the defensive spell won't make much difference," Uchiha Akihiko frowned as well. "But we could try pulling some strings with the stele...
I've looked into it before. There's a Sealing Jutsu in the clan called Transcription Seal, which requires Mangekyo pupil power to activate and can engrave one's own Mangekyo jutsu and a portion of Mangekyo pupil power onto inanimate objects, or even a certain part of a living being. You can also set the trigger conditions.
Although it consumes Mangekyo pupil power, in the face of this completely unknown enemy, this should be the best solution. It's a pity that none of my Mangekyo jutsu are offensive. Even if I engrave them on the stele, they won't be of much use. How about you, then?"
"Me too. I don't have offensive Mangekyo jutsu either," Hiro shrugged. "And even if we had offensive Mangekyo jutsu, it would be hard to catch something as sneaky as this, right?
Look at these spells around here that haven't changed at all. If it weren't for the change in the content on the stele, who would have known there was something fishy going on here?
This enemy is so cautious. Do you really think we can take them down with just one offensive Mangekyo jutsu? That sounds kinda naive, doesn't it?
Moreover, with this enemy's ability to appear and disappear at will, even if we set up Mangekyo jutsu, they'll probably notice and find a way to avoid it. In the end, we'll just be wasting the Mangekyo pupil power used to engrave the Mangekyo jutsu.
Oh, right, there's one more thing. I'm not being biased, but let's be honest. If it weren't for Uchiha Ryo, would the two of us have any other interactions besides sparring? Would we come here for a stroll over and over again for no reason? Would we tell each other right away if we noticed something wrong with the stele?"
Uchiha Akihiko frowned even more tightly, but he also agreed with Hiro's words - the two of them really didn't get along well. Just like now, even though they were both researching the Mangekyo Sharingan, they didn't tell each other about their Mangekyo jutsu. At most, they exchanged some tips on using Susanoo.
The Uchiha clan was naturally arrogant, and those who could awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan were even more outstanding. As the top-ranking members, their arrogance wouldn't allow them to humble themselves to the other first - even if that person was a recognized clan member.
Thinking of this, Uchiha Akihiko and Hiro glanced at each other. They could both see the disgust and helplessness in each other's eyes, and they both sighed inwardly.
"Although we don't have offensive Mangekyo jutsu, we can actually do something to the stele before telling the clan."
Hearing this, Hiro looked up at Uchiha Ryo, who was standing there with a staff-sword in both hands and a cold expression. "What kind of tampering? Leave some trigger-based Sealing Jutsu on the stele? If we really want to do this, we should let the elders handle it. Anyway, the half-baked Sealing Jutsu that our clan knows won't make much of a difference no matter who uses them."
"If there isn't a suitable Sealing Jutsu, we could capture a few Uzumaki clan ninja and interrogate them," Uchiha Akihiko stroked his chin. "After all, their Uzumaki Clan is truly unparalleled in this aspect.
However, the most crucial thing is that it's extremely difficult to secretly steal things from their clan territory. There are sentries every few steps. Didn't something like that happen before? Someone tried to sneak into the Uzumaki clan grounds, but before even getting in, they were trapped by a Sealing Jutsu..."
"Ah, I heard about that from my Aniki," Hiro turned his head. "It seems that something needed for a mission was taken away by the Uzumaki Clan by chance. A peer of his, relying on his excellent Concealment technique, wanted to steal it back secretly. But as soon as he got near, he triggered a Sealing Jutsu from who - knows - where. If it weren't for the timely rescue, he would have been captured alive by the other side."
Uchiha Akihiko shook his head. "I really don't know how they can live with so many dense Sealing Jutsu set up in their clan territory... Just thinking about it makes me feel like it would be impossible to move forward."
"Maybe it's the same as our clan territory being filled with genjutsu?" Hiro replied uncertainly, but then quickly shook his head. "If that were the case, I think I'd directly apply for a long - term mission and never come back. Even if we can break them, no one likes that kind of environment, right?"
Uchiha Akihiko nodded and his gaze fell on Uchiha Ryo, who was facing the stele and seemed to be lost in thought after saying that. "So what does Uchiha Ryo think? Does he really want to set up Sealing Jutsu?"
"No, as you said, if we want to catch this sneaky thing, the Sealing Jutsu level of our Uchiha clan alone is far from enough..." Uchiha Ryo raised his hand again to touch the stele. "By the way, how much does it consume you to leave a record of eye jutsu on the stele?"
"Compared to using Susanoo and Mangekyo jutsu, it's almost negligible," Hiro folded his arms. "If I have to describe it, the pupil power consumed in using Susanoo for one second is enough for me to engrave all the things recorded on the stele with pupil power."
"Do you want us to directly use pupil power to leave something else on the stele?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Ryo nodded slightly. "Besides, I also want to ask you to repair the known eye jutsu whose records on the stele have been damaged."
"This isn't difficult, and the other side should also get a warning if they come again... But how should we report this to the clan?" Uchiha Akihiko raised his hand and rubbed his forehead. "Even though we have Mangekyo, we're just immature kids in the eyes of the adults. So if we tell the truth about the unchanged spell and rock structure here, we won't be trusted or taken seriously."
"Just say that Hiro sensed an ominous aura on the stele, which might subtly affect people's minds through pupil power. But as long as someone wakes them up in time, there won't be any Mondai. Let the clan members come here in groups of at least two from now on.
The creation time of this stele is untraceable, but the clan has gone through many changes, and the stele has never been damaged. This is enough to show the extraordinary nature of the stele."
But that person — or perhaps those people — clearly had the ability to move freely within the Uchiha clan, yet they chose a subtle and imperceptible way, gradually influencing our thinking by altering the inscriptions on the stele.
However, this might indicate that the other party is not good at combat, or there could be some reason preventing them from appearing openly in the ninja world. This could also be our chance to break through this difficult situation."
Uchiha Ryo half-crouched in front of the stele. His fingers slid down from the top, gently stroking the inscriptions on it. "But most importantly, without the ability to kill or expose the other party, the only option we have is to stay vigilant...
Hiro, Akihiko, please write the following sentence for me after you've restored the records of the eye jutsu."
Hearing this, both of them looked towards Uchiha Ryo. Hiro even spoke up, "What are you going to write? Are you going to put out a threat?"
"No, you could say it's a compliment... Please tell the other party this," Uchiha Ryo stood up, the gentle smile on his lips curving up again, but the voice that came out was filled with bone-chilling killing intent. "[Those who dare to plot against the Uchiha clan... have quite some nerve.]"