Yukihime stole a few glances at Uchiha Nagi.
Hmm, he's handsome, his height is good, his build is neither tall nor thin but very strong, and he dispatched my father's guards as easily as chopping vegetables. If he can defeat a Jonin, does that mean his strength is above the Jonin level?
What a headache. If only he were the Fourth Kazekage. I'd marry him in a heartbeat. But no, it has to be an old man. A widower with three children, at that.
At that thought, Yukihime tapped her own head with her finger. Ugh, forget it. The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.
"Why are you hitting your head?" little Kimimaro asked, looking at Yukihime with a puzzled expression.
"Uh, it's nothing, haha…" Yukihime laughed awkwardly.
"Kimimaro, you've learned how to wall-walk, right? If any enemies appear, your job is to protect Yukihime while I fight," Uchiha Nagi said.
"Okay, sensei," Kimimaro nodded.
Before Yukihime could even feel touched, Nagi added another cutting remark.
"Your own safety is also very important. If you encounter a danger you can't handle, prioritize protecting yourself before you worry about Yukihime."
Yukihime was speechless.
Uchiha Nagi continued scouting ahead on his own. He paid no mind to the girl behind him, who was now biting her finger and staring at him with a look of pure resentment. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have changed what he said. In his eyes, Kimimaro was indeed far more important than her.
Her value was merely a few Ninshu scriptures he couldn't understand or learn from, while Kimimaro was a future Kage-level prospect. It was obvious who was more valuable. Moreover, Kimimaro had the potential to surpass the ordinary Kage level in the future, as long as Nagi could find a way to get him a pair of pure Byakugan.
The inside of the structure went deep underground. Or rather, it was a tall tower, and the ground level outside had been raised by the shifting sands.
The path inside wasn't difficult, because ninja could walk on walls as if on flat ground.
Nagi lit a torch and led the way. His Sharingan could see in the dark, of course, but the torch wasn't for illumination. It was to test the oxygen levels.
Without oxygen, even a ninja would collapse. What's more, in ancient buildings, the most dangerous thing wasn't a lack of oxygen, but poisoning from various hazardous gases.
Fortunately, the journey down was smooth. When they reached the bottom, they saw signs of a massive battle. Puppet parts were scattered all over the floor, clear evidence of a fierce fight.
The perceptive Kimimaro spotted a kunai on the ground, picked it up, and handed it to Nagi.
"Sensei, look. This kunai is so strange."
Nagi took it and examined it closely. It was a three-pronged kunai, engraved with an incomprehensible sealing formula.
Could it be a Flying Thunder God kunai?
"Help me look for more of these three-pronged kunai with curse seals on them. If you find one stuck in some kind of formation, tell me."
Just then, Yukihime's voice piped up. "Hey, are you talking about this?"
Nagi turned to look. Yukihime, at some point, had also picked up a three-pronged kunai. She had just pulled it out of the ground. It was engraved with the same kinds of curse seals as the one in his hand.
"You…"
Before Nagi could finish his sentence, the ground began to glow. A massive amount of chakra surged forth. Only then did Nagi see it clearly: the three of them were standing in the middle of a complex sealing formula. The accumulated dust of years had obscured the formation on the floor.
A vast wave of energy erupted, enveloping the three of them. A moment later, after a flash of light, they vanished from the spot.
Relying on his powerful spiritual energy, Nagi tried his best not to pass out. He saw a glimpse of the river of time…
A second later, he succumbed to the dizziness. When he woke up again, he was in a different place.
"Ugh… my head hurts. What happened?" Yukihime murmured, clutching her head as she slowly came to.
Nagi looked at Yukihime in surprise. She had woken up even before Kimimaro.
"Huh? Where are we? How did we end up in a different place?" Yukihime looked around and saw that they were no longer where they had been. This place was fragrant with the songs of birds and the scent of flowers, lush with vegetation, like a green city. There were even tall buildings all around. This was a sight that was completely impossible in the Land of Wind. Even in Sunagakure, the most densely populated and water-rich place in the country, there were very few green plants to be seen.
"I'm… I'm sorry. I think I did something wrong. You're not mad at me, are you?" Yukihime cautiously handed the three-pronged kunai to Nagi. She now understood that it was her pulling the kunai from the ground that had caused this.
"It's not your fault. The formation was buried under dust. You couldn't see it and pulled it out by accident. The same thing would have happened if it were me or Kimimaro," Nagi comforted her.
It was the truth. The formation was hidden by dust, its colors faded. He would have accidentally pulled it out himself. He just hadn't expected the Ryumyaku within it to transport the three of them through time. The only reason Yukihime had been able to pull it out was because the seal had weakened over time.
If he wasn't mistaken, this should be the ancient Land of Roran from many years ago.
Because right in front of him, a little blondie with whiskers on his face was fighting a horde of puppets.
Before Nagi could even consider whether to go and save him, the damn blondie saw them and charged right over.
Nagi was speechless.
Just then, Kimimaro also woke up. He was a bit dazed to find himself facing a horde of puppets and a blond kid.
"Kimimaro, prepare for battle. Protect Yukihime." Uchiha Nagi, at some point, had already activated his Sharingan.
"Yes, sensei."
The blondie, being chased by a swarm of puppets from behind, shouted as soon as he got close, "Hey! Are these puppets yours? I'm not a bad guy!"
Uchiha Nagi resisted the urge to curse him out. You damn blondie, which one of your eyes sees us as puppeteers? Why would you think these puppets are under our control?
Fortunately, the blondie paused when he saw Yukihime and Kimimaro, and finally realized his mistake. An ordinary person, a child, and an adult—this combination didn't look like people who could control so many puppets.
Faced with the numerous puppets, Uchiha Nagi crouched low and took a deep breath. The blondie didn't have the Sharingan, so he couldn't see the chakra threads on the puppets' bodies.
Dealing with these kinds of puppets was actually quite simple. As long as you cut the chakra threads on their bodies, they were basically just a pile of scrap metal. Or you could use Tsunade's Monstrous Strength Fist and smash the whimpering things to pieces, one punch at a time.
And both the Byakugan and the Sharingan could see the invisible chakra threads.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Thirty-Two Fold…"