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Uchiha Kiyo temporarily ignored the affairs of the Sage of Six Paths. No matter what he did, Kiyo didn't care—his path was cultivation. As long as his training wasn't hindered, nothing else mattered.
"Well, yes, that's it."
After persuading himself for a long time, he tried to believe there weren't so many conspiracies in the world. Yet in truth, Uchiha Kiyo couldn't lie to himself—no conspiracy in the shinobi world? Do you really believe that?
He finally chose the next best thing—ignore it all for now. That way, at least he could still focus on training.
After all, his recent theories about the Sage were only speculation without proof.
Uchiha Kiyo didn't go to Loulan's palace. After learning the dragon vein's location from the Loulan people, he went straight there.
"What rich natural energy!"
Stepping into the dragon vein chamber, Kiyo's first impression was the density of energy. It was richer than even the natural energy outside in the wild.
"Natural energy this concentrated… if it were any denser, it might solidify into matter itself. That must mean the dragon vein has a core—natural energy condensed into one point."
Though people called it natural energy, Kiyo knew the truth—it was chakra.
The principle was the same as tailed beast chakra.
Tailed beast chakra was born directly from natural energy. Unlike ordinary chakra, where spiritual and physical energies fused with only sparse traces of nature's power, bijū chakra retained natural energy in its purest, most concentrated state. This was essentially senjutsu chakra.
The difference was method. Senjutsu chakra was drawn in and balanced by a shinobi, while tailed beast chakra was condensed by the beast's own will—their soul serving as the anchor. This made bijū chakra incredibly powerful but also volatile and far harder to control than normal chakra, even more than senjutsu chakra.
This, Kiyo realized, was why tailed beasts rarely advanced in techniques despite their intellect. Beyond their natural abilities like the Tailed Beast Bomb and their unique bloodline-like powers, they never trained in finer chakra control. Thousands of years, and their progress had stagnated. That was the cost of such overwhelming but unstable energy.
The dragon vein's chakra was no different—raw natural energy condensed into chakra. In essence, the vein itself was like an artificial tailed beast.
"Although I don't know where the dragon vein core lies, following the densest flow of natural energy should lead me there."
He began moving deeper into the underground tunnels. With every step, the concentration grew. Whenever he sensed it thinning, he adjusted his path.
This was one of his advantages—his perception of natural energy was so sharp that he didn't need to search blindly. Few would imagine that such perception could be used this way.
Finally, the density became overwhelming.
"This is close to the core."
Kiyo steadied himself. "No rash movements. If I'm accidentally drawn in, I could be pulled through time. I don't know if I could return… and what would happen to my clones? Would they vanish? Continue to exist?"
He wasn't here to time-travel. Not yet. He wanted to study the dragon vein, not disrupt his years of preparation. If his network of clones collapsed due to a sudden shift in the timeline, he'd lose everything.
Still, accidents could not be prevented. That's why he had prepared a contingency—though whether it would hold remained to be seen.
"Focus. The core is near. Caution above all."
Kiyo knew time travel through the dragon vein wasn't always guaranteed. It was luck. Sometimes the surge destroyed everything in its path.
After several minutes of moving deeper, Kiyo froze. His expression darkened.
There's someone ahead.
Anrokuzan.
The future traitor of Loulan.
"So this is the same man I'd encounter in the Naruto timeline. When I saw him before, he looked shocked by me, yet didn't seem to recognize me at all… meaning, ten or twenty years from now, no one even knows who I am? No one knows my face? My existence?"
Kiyo's heart sank.
Impossible. In his plan, he was never meant to remain hidden forever. Once his foundation was secure, he intended to emerge openly, perhaps even establish an organization. After all, the Uchiha massacre would happen before that future—would he really not act? Impossible.
Unless his cultivation failed… unless something went wrong later.
"Damn it. What happened in that future?"
Shoving aside his racing thoughts, Kiyo focused on Anrokuzan. First, gather information. Verify. If he really has never heard of me or my clones' deeds, then something went terribly wrong in the future.
At this moment, part of him even considered using the dragon vein to travel.
But for now, he observed.
Anrokuzan, still early in his schemes, hadn't revealed his ambitions. With Queen Sāra's support, he had access to the dragon vein, but his body hadn't yet undergone transformation. He merely had a handful of Loulan shinobi under his command.
"Who is this? How could an outsider come into the dragon vein chamber?" Anrokuzan's eyes narrowed.
"Stop him!" he ordered his guards.
More than a dozen Loulan ninjas rushed toward Kiyo.
"Perfect."
Kiyo's hands blurred through seals.
"Sand Release — Gundam Mode."
A towering sand giant, twenty meters tall, rose around him. Kiyo's eyes stayed fixed on Anrokuzan, gauging his reaction.
These guards were weak; the sand construct was enough. More importantly, he had to be careful not to destabilize the dragon vein. One wrong move, and he might be hurled through time uncontrollably.
He had used Sand Release instead of Lava Release deliberately. Anrokuzan was tied to Sunagakure's rebellion in the other timeline. It made sense to use a technique tied to Suna's reputation—something he should recognize.
If the future unfolded correctly, by now Sunagakure should have known about the Sand Release Gundam Mode. But…
To his disappointment, Anrokuzan only stared with wide eyes, shocked and afraid, showing no recognition at all.
"Damn it."
Kiyo's heart tightened.
What happened in the future?
What happened to the time and space where Anrokuzan came from?