Chapter 174 The Last Legacy

The Killing Stone made a loud cracking sound, which echoed in the short space like thunder.

It split straight in the middle, and the astonishing power contained in it threw the ancient scroll at the top into the air, drawing a silver-black arc.

This scroll was the only thing the ancient Hatake clan thought worth keeping, and now it hangs in the air.

Kakashi grabbed the scroll that fell from the sky without hesitation, ignoring its sharp edges and heavy weight.

The sharp curve cut deeply into his palm and he endured the pain, holding it tightly to prevent it from slipping.

He stared at the scroll for a long time. He had never seen such a beautiful yet hostile treasure.

The black obsidian formed into spiky curves like sharp teeth, and the jagged edges protected the inner shell of the scroll.

Kakashi recognized it as Vein Steel, an extremely rare and difficult metal to work with, with no craftsmen able to forge it today.

The scroll pulsed slightly in his hand, emitting a strange warmth in this cold place.

Kakashi shook his head, looking at the scroll in disbelief, the most important treasure of the Hatake family, the most sacred relic for a nation that regarded war as a religion.

It's too easy.

"You mean they chose me?" Kakashi muttered, turning the scroll over and examining it from every angle.

Blood dripped from his wrists and fingertips, making a "tick, tick" sound, but he didn't care and was concentrating on looking at the blood-stained scroll.

"I've never been here before," he reminded the boulder, looking up at it again, "This doesn't make sense."

[The…thunder…of…the…sky…is…connected…to…the…blood…of…the…flag…wood.] the boulder spoke slowly, its strange rumbling sound fading with each word, each syllable becoming quieter and quieter.

Something oozed and flowed from the gaping crack, dark and sticky.

[You…don’t…need…to…understand…them…because…they…understand…you.]

To Kakashi's surprise, the scroll's metal and crystal casing grew warmer in his hands, changing from the temperature of a sword in the sun to something entirely different, like living skin, like the internal heat rising from muscle and tendon and blood.

Kakashi could feel the blood leaking out of his hand now, the dripping sound fading away.

He saw the blood being greedily absorbed by the crystal shell, as if with human desire, trembling and devouring his vitality, drop by drop of crimson liquid.

As the blood was absorbed, the obsidian spikes began to shrink towards the center of the scroll, slowly expanding, changing shape like mercury and widening like an unfurling leaf.

Kakashi adjusted his grip, letting it shift.

More blood spilled onto the scroll, and it accepted it like dry land soaking up rain.

The fragments grew larger, curled tighter, touched and fused together, transforming from many razor-edge arcs into a solid shell, smooth as a mirror.

For a while, nothing happened, and the shell stopped changing, remaining pleasantly warm against Kakashi's stinging palm.

But soon, the temperature changed again, and the glittering crystal became scalding hot, instantly changing from mammalian body temperature to burning pain.

Kakashi's reaction was as quick as instinct, the result of long training, from the damage to the sensitive nerves in his hands, from the scroll that emitted a blue-white light and was as hot as a burning coal.

But when he wanted to throw away the burning object, he found that he couldn't do it, he couldn't even move a finger, as if the scroll had become one with him, and an invisible force welded the crystal and flesh tightly together.

Kakashi gasped in pain as the pain intensified, the burning sensation becoming so intense that he was sure his bones were burning.

But then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the burning sensation disappeared, and with it the pain.

Kakashi endured the pain and finally pried his hand away from the strange shell. The scene before him shocked him.

In the gleaming obsidian crystal, the shape of Kakashi's palm was clearly imprinted, flawless, even the smallest details were clearly visible: the fine lines at the bend of the knuckles, the pattern of fingerprints, even the pinhole marks hidden under the nails, made ten years ago.

When he removed his other hand he saw the same thing, a perfect imprint of his left hand, the lines of his fingertips and palm imprinted on the crystal in amazing detail.

He looked down at his hands and found that they were smooth and intact, and the wounds on his palms and fingers had completely disappeared, as if they had never existed, erased by some force, leaving only his mark, engraved on the surface of the scroll.

Mark. Kakashi realized, this thing just left a mark on me.

This is one of the two important steps in Contract Summoning, the other being Blood Sacrifice.

An initial blood and chakra sacrifice is used to establish a connection with the summoned creature and grant it power.

Each summoning requires a blood sacrifice, but the mark only needs to be made once, when the connection is first established.

The purpose of a mark is to provide the summoned creature with the summoner's unique physical characteristics to anchor the new connection, while also serving as proof of the summoner's identity.

If the scroll is lost or destroyed, the archived sigils and chakra signatures can be used to reactivate dormant or broken connections.

This is an elaborate safeguard that ensures that ninjas with the ability and desire will always be able to summon their summoned beasts.

In modern times, summoning scrolls have simplified this process, with the blood sacrifice and sealing being performed simultaneously, with the blood and chakra-infused sealing ritual being inscribed on paper.

This makes the initial binding process much smoother and significantly reduces the amount of blood required.

This advancement, achieved by the Sealing Masters of the Hidden Uzushio Village, has been widely adopted over the past fifty years, and Summoners have become commonplace, and can be found in any ninja team.

Things are not always easy, and there is no gain without a price.

Most shinobi didn't remember this, it was the Uzumaki clan that made them forget this luxury.

While summoning techniques were once compared to forbidden techniques, the contract has its roots in an even older, bloodier ritual as old as the nine tailed beasts themselves.

As far as Kakashi knew, there were only six ninjas in the five great nations who still knew what it truly meant to be a psychic.

The legendary Sannin were three of them. Sarutobi-sensei was the fourth. Kakashi knew a thing or two about this, but only guessed from his father's numerous warnings.

Even rarer than this knowledge are the scrolls themselves—those old enough, dark enough, to still follow the ancient laws.

Just like the one Kakashi is holding now.

With a loud bang, a tiny crack appeared on the surface of the scroll, spreading as fast as lightning, covering the entire scroll like a spider web. The crack became larger and larger, and finally the outer shell of the scroll broke in Kakashi's hand, breaking into black powder, like a broken hourglass, and fine sand flowed from between his fingers to the ground.

When the last bit of dust settled, the scroll in Kakashi's hand was less than one-seventh of its original size.

The heavy outer shell had completely fallen off, leaving only the solid metal inner shell protecting the scroll inside.

To be honest, Kakashi originally thought that he would have to fight and pay some price before he could open the scroll.