Heart of Sunagakure

Sabaku followed the ANBU deeper into the Kazekage's building. The corridors grew tighter, the staircases endless, leading them further and further underground, deeper beneath the sand.

The ANBU moved silently ahead of him, his steps smooth and completely devoid of sound.

Sabaku remained quiet as well. He knew this wasn't the place, nor the time, to ask questions.

For almost half an hour, they walked like this—together, yet entirely alone. But Sabaku hardly registered his surroundings. His mind was too preoccupied with something else.

'It just doesn't make any damn sense.

It feels completely scripted.

Why did Sabaku develop a jutsu that fits so perfectly with his special condition? Can that even be a coincidence?'

Because if the Kazekage and Chiyo's suspicions were correct, then the original Sabaku had basically left him with an entire survival package.

Not being seen. Not being sensed.

In a world like Naruto…

That sounded way too good to be true.

'Did I actually get a cheat after all when I reincarnated?

No.

It was the original Sabaku who had caught Chiyo's attention.

That meant this body had always possessed this ability.

Was it fate? Or some other kind of cosmic bullshit?

His thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

His feet froze in place, his jaw dropped, and for a brief moment, he genuinely feared his eyes might fall out of his head.

Then, even that feeling was washed away by the sheer awe of the sight before him.

The ANBU, noticing that Sabaku had stopped, halted as well.

For a moment, the masked shinobi simply admired the view alongside him.

"This," the ANBU said, his voice filled with quiet reverence, "is the heart of Sunagakure. And at the same time, the original village—hidden beneath the sand. No matter how often I see it, it always takes my breath away."

The narrow tunnels they had been navigating for the past thirty minutes had suddenly opened into an enormous cavern.

Above them, thousands of tons of sand rested, held up by hundreds of massive pillars and an intricate network of seals that bathed the entire cavern in an ethereal blue glow.

The pillars, carved from sandstone and gold, shimmered in the soft light, giving the entire space an almost dreamlike atmosphere.

And in the very center of the cavern stood a colossal pyramid.

Its surface was polished sandstone, so smooth and perfect it could have only been shaped through Earth Release.

The very peak of the pyramid was pure gold, engraved with thousands of intricate seals, glowing faintly.

Particles of sand and golden dust swirled around the structure like an eternal, slow-moving storm, drawn into delicate, shifting patterns by unseen forces.

And the sheer size of it nearly broke Sabaku's mind.

Estimating the height of both the cavern and the pyramid, he guessed…

At least 600 meters.

'Holy shit! They never showed anything like this in the manga!'

That was his first thought as he slowly regained his senses.

The ANBU turned to him and chuckled softly.

"Heh, it's always fun watching people see this place for the first time."

His voice carried something between amusement and pride.

"This is the true center of our village. We don't even know exactly how old it is. There are records and inscriptions dating back to before the Warring States Era—and even before that."

He let the words sink in before continuing.

"Sunagakure was built on top of this temple, to protect and maintain it. Long ago, this place wasn't underground. It stood in the open, beneath the sky… at least, if you believe the temple priests who live down here."

Sabaku listened.

Or, at least, he tried to.

But his eyes were still locked onto the massive pyramid in front of him.

Hidden beneath Sunagakure. Beneath the desert.

A structure so ancient, so beyond anything he had imagined, that even the shinobi of the present day only spoke of it in legends.

And in that moment, a thought crept into his mind.

Was this still the Sunagakure he knew from Naruto?

'Fuck is this even the same world?!'

The ANBU continued walking, his voice echoing softly through the vast cavern.

"There are only two ways to reach this place. The first, the one we took, leads through the Kazekage's building, hidden behind locked doors and secured corridors. The second is through the temple above, the one where our Jinchūriki resides. But what people see on the surface is nothing more than a fraction of what truly exists."

Sabaku listened closely, his gaze sweeping over the immense underground space.

"The temple above is little more than an outer shell," the ANBU continued. "The true temple stretches deep beneath the sand. It is far older than Sunagakure itself—older than our entire village. The scholars believe this place has existed long before the first shinobi roamed the world."

A chill ran down Sabaku's spine at that thought.

'That would mean older than the Sage, even older than Kaguya...'

"Sunagakure was built around this temple," the ANBU explained. "The village you know is barely a few decades old. It was created to unite the scattered clans of the desert, to give them strength through organization. But the true roots of our people lie here. The first settlements of the desert nomads, the first attempts to preserve order and knowledge… it all began in this place."

Sabaku remained silent, letting the words sink in.

"That's why this place is so important," the ANBU said, his voice quieter now. "We aren't just protecting a cavern. We are preserving our legacy. This is where the oldest records are kept, the ones that tell us who we were—and what we may one day become."

The ANBU gestured toward the massive pyramid standing at the center of the cavern.

"Inside that structure lies the Great Library," he continued. "The temple scholars spend their entire lives trying to decipher the seals carved into these walls. And yet, after all these years, they have made little progress. They say that knowledge is hidden here—knowledge that should never have been lost. Knowledge that may be more dangerous than anything we have ever understood."

Sabaku felt an odd sense of unease settle in his gut.

"Beyond the library are the puppet workshops," the ANBU went on. "The true masters of the craft work here. Not the ones who produce tools for the common shinobi, but those who create masterpieces—puppets that will be remembered in history."

Sabaku could picture it clearly—engineers and craftsmen working in the shadows of the cavern, creating figures that seemed more alive than some shinobi.

"The most influential families of the village also have their roots here," the ANBU continued. "Many of them still live in this cavern. While life on the surface fights against the harsh desert, here, there is stability, protection, and permanence. The founder clans of Sunagakure do not see this as just a secret base. They see it as their home."

The ANBU's gaze turned toward another section of the cavern, where heavy sandstone buildings stood in the shadows, surrounded by thick seal-covered walls.

"And then there is us," he added.

Sabaku frowned. "Us?"

"The ANBU headquarters," the masked shinobi clarified. "This is where we train, where we prepare, where we become what we must be. It is separate from the surface. Hidden, untouchable. We exist in the shadows, just as this place does."

Sabaku swallowed. That meant he was going to be stationed here as well.

It was not just a headquarters. It felt like a cage.

He furrowed his brow.

"Why have I never heard of this place before?" he finally asked.

The ANBU let out a quiet chuckle. "Because you weren't meant to. Sunagakure may be young, but this place is older than all of us. Not everyone is granted this knowledge. Only few Jonin and the highest-ranking officials know of its existence. We ANBU are one of the few exceptions."

Sabaku thought for a moment, then slowly asked, "And how do you make sure spies from other villages don't discover it?"

The atmosphere changed instantly.

The ANBU stopped abruptly and, in a slow, deliberate motion, removed his glove.

"Quite easily…"

Sabaku's eyes locked onto the back of the ANBU's hand.

A seal had been tattooed into his skin.

It was a burning sun, its flames curling into intricate patterns, twisting into symbols Sabaku couldn't read.

He didn't know exactly what it was.

But he knew what it meant.

"A… cursed seal?" he murmured, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

The ANBU nodded, sliding his glove back on before looking at Sabaku with the same unwavering gaze.

"A cursed seal," he confirmed. "Not even the Kazekage or the temple elders can speak of this place once they leave these walls. The seal binds their tongues, erases their memories of the pyramid. It is one of the oldest and most powerful safeguards our people have preserved."

Sabaku swallowed hard.

"And that means…?"

The ANBU's voice turned sharp as a blade.

"It means that our next destination is one of the temple scholars. He will brand you with the seal."

Sabaku felt his throat go dry.

So this was it.

Not just a mark of inclusion.

A final, inescapable chain that would bind him to Sunagakure, or at least to it's secrets forever.

He forced himself to stay calm, to keep his instincts from screaming at him to run. But he knew there was no escape from this.

So he smirked, tilting his head slightly.

"I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a while now… so what are we waiting for?"