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Chapter 22: Choosing Artifacts (2)
🕑 Added 2025-06-12 19:08:52 +0000 UTCKakashi's Sharingan locked onto the Ancient One, his gaze sharp and unyielding. "You knew these artifacts would respond to me," he said, his voice calm but carrying the weight of certainty.
The Ancient One's smile deepened, her ageless eyes twinkling with a mix of amusement and confirmation. "I had my suspicions, which seem to have been correct. These artifacts are tied to the Japanese pantheon, the Amatsu-Kami, which your Sharingan appears to be connected to."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, but there was a spark of intrigue, as if she'd anticipated this moment since their first spar.
Kakashi's eye narrowed, processing her words. 'The Shinto gods again.' The library's texts had linked his Sharingan to Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, and Izanagi, but the idea that artifacts in this world resonated with those same deities was unsettling.
'I am not even a birth Uchiha. Why do I have to be the one investigating these things about the Sharingan?' Kakashi sighed
He shifted his focus to the artifacts, his curiosity outweighing his caution. "What are they?" he asked, his tone direct, sidestepping the implications for now.
The Ancient One stepped forward, her gaze settling on the scroll, its black silk replaced by a red ribbon embroidered with golden foxes chasing each other in a spiral. "This is the Vulpina Pactum, tied to Inari of the Amatsu-Kami, the god of rice and messenger of the pantheon. We call it the 'Fox Pact of Divinity,' a spirit scroll."
Her voice took on a storytelling lilt, rich with reverence. "It was discovered in a remote dimension, sealed within Mount Inari and guarded by nine fox spirits, each more cunning than the last. The scroll is a contract, forged by Inari for mortals who embody discipline and mischief—a rare balance. Kamar-Taj considers it a sentient relic; it chooses its wielder, and it has chosen you. Well, the scroll itself is not sentinent, it just has the essence of Inari to guide it."
Kakashi's eye crinkled, a faint smirk beneath his mask. "A kitsune pact, huh? Summoning foxes sounds… familiar."
Memories of Konoha's Nine-Tails flashed through his mind. 'Why does this world keep reminding me of home?' He sighed, his tone dry. "So, what's the catch? These foxes aren't going to me sealed inside me, are they?"
The Ancient One looked confused at that but none the less replied "No, kitsune are mischievous and cunning, Mr. Kakashi. They're loyal to their summoner, but they love a good prank. In ancient times, their antics toppled kingdoms and empires, often by accident."
She leaned forward, her eyes glinting with amusement. "Once, in the Heian period, a kitsune disguised itself as an emperor's concubine, whispering absurd decrees to the court. By week's end, the empire was taxing rice by the grain and mandating square wheels for carts. The emperor abdicated in shame before the kitsune grew bored and vanished, leaving a fox-shaped hole in the palace wall."
Kakashi's lips twitched, his Sharingan still active. 'Sounds like something Naruto would accidentally summon.' He pictured his student grinning amid the chaos, ramen in hand.
The Ancient One's smile widened. "Another tale involves a kitsune in ancient Babylon. Tasked with guarding a treasury, it decided to 'improve' security by enchanting the gold to sing love ballads. Thieves were so charmed they forgot to steal, but the city's merchants rioted, claiming the gold was cursed. The wielder had to flee, pursued by a mob and a giggling fox spirit."
Wong snorted, breaking his silence. "Don't get any ideas, Hatake. If you summon a fox that sings, I'm locking you in the mirror dimension."
Kakashi's eye crinkled, his tone teasing. "No promises, Master Wong. A singing fox might liven up your library."
Wong's frown deepened, but the Ancient One waved a hand, her laughter soft. "The kitsune will test you, Kakashi-san, but their power is formidable. Treat them as allies, not tools, and you'll find them invaluable."
Kakashi nodded, his gaze shifting to the second artifact—a jagged shard of obsidian floating within a crystal prism, its colors shifting from blood red to indigo blue.
Ancient kanji and Sanskrit glyphs flickered along its edges, fading in and out like a heartbeat. "And this?" he asked, his voice quieter, sensing its weight.
The Ancient One's expression grew solemn, her voice lowering. "This is the Nexus Genesis Reliquary, or as some call it, the Izanagi Stone—'Fragment of Creation.' It's said to be a crystallized droplet from the tears of Izanagi, shed after he used forbidden power to briefly resurrect his wife, Izanami. It was found beneath the Shrine of Alternate Dawn, in an interdimensional fracture, a place where realities bleed into one another."
She paused, her eyes locking onto his. "Kamar-Taj treats it as a 'Cursed Gift'—immensely powerful, but dangerous for those unable to bear the burden of rewritten fate. No sorcerer has unlocked its secrets, and even I don't know its full capabilities. Perhaps you, with your Sharingan, can uncover what we could not."
Kakashi's eye widened, 'Izanagi.'
The name echoed Danzō's forbidden technique, a reality-altering jutsu that cost a Sharingan for it's use according to interrogation of Karin who was present during the battle between Sasuke and Danzo and has seen him use the technique.
'Tears of creation? Rewritten fate? Yeah, I don't get it. But might as well keep it in my pocket. It might come in handy someday.'
He reached out, his fingers hovering near the artifacts, their glow intensifying. "A fox pact and a stone that somehow alters reality," he murmured, his tone dry but thoughtful. "You don't do subtle, do you, ma'am?"
The Ancient One's smile returned, a spark of mischief in her eyes. "Subtlety is overrated, Kakashi-san. These artifacts suit you."
Wong cleared his throat, his voice gruff. "And don't break them. The last idiot who mishandled a relic turned himself into a toad. Permanently."
Kakashi's mind was elsewhere. 'The more I hear about these Shinto Gods, the more I think that they are connected to my world. Not just with the Sharingan but some of their tales are familiar in my own world. The Nine Tails fox was created by the sage of six paths, did he create it with the story of Inari in mind?'
Inari was a god that was worshipped by many people in his world and her followers named a country after her, the land of rice which hosted the village hidden in Sound.
'Was there another Inari in our world or did the Inari of this multiverse find a way to reach ours?'
There were too many questions in Kakashi's mind but no answers.
