Sara was a little unconvinced.
If they were talking about who was cuter, shouldn't the current her obviously be cuter?
After thinking for a while, Sara couldn't help asking curiously, "What kind of person am I in the future?"
Ryosuke recalled Queen Sara and the survivors of Roran digging through the ruins together, rescuing the injured.
Then he remembered her worsening physical condition every time they met.
But Queen Sara had never cared about her own body. The only things she cared about were the Dragon Vein seal and the remaining people of Roran.
"She is a true ruler."
"But you said the Land of Roran has already been destroyed," Sara asked.
"Yes, but whether someone is a king has nothing to do with how magnificent the throne they sit on is. It's here, "
Ryosuke subconsciously reached out to tap Sara's chest, but after glancing at the rise and fall of her chest, he snapped back, withdrew his hand, and tapped his own heart.
"It's full of fearlessness, responsibility, and resolve."
Sara lifted her chin slightly. "Future me is doing pretty well! What about the current me?"
"You also have resolve."
Sara's lips curled up in a smile.
Ryosuke gave her a sideways look and added, "The resolve to drown in sewage."
If Ryosuke hadn't pulled her back in time just now, given the depth and flow rate of the waste water below, without the Moon's Power she definitely wouldn't have survived.
The only question would've been whether she died from choking or swelling.
Sara's smile froze on her face. Her face flushed red, and she turned her head away, not wanting to acknowledge Ryosuke.
After a moment, she asked again, "How long do you plan to keep me kidnapped?"
"Once I kill Itachi, you'll be free," Ryosuke said.
During the chase between Ryosuke and Itachi, Itachi had escaped several times through extremely bizarre methods. There were even several instances where Ryosuke had already begun to activate his time stop, but Itachi slipped away by just a tiny bit.
Itachi practically predicted all of Ryosuke's methods.
And now, considering Itachi had just replaced his Mangekyō Sharingan, it was obvious this guy had gained some kind of intelligence-type ability.
The only uncertain part now was the accuracy and length of that foresight.
'Accurate down to the second, or just fragmented scenes?'
'Able to see one or two minutes ahead, or farther, days, months, even years?'
Because the intel was unknown, Ryosuke could only think as cautiously as possible.
If Itachi could foresee that "Queen Sara would send Ryosuke here," then as long as he killed the young Sara, Ryosuke would never appear in this world.
Minato listened to Ryosuke's analysis and asked, "Do you think if Itachi kills the young Sara, the ending where 'the older Sara sends you over' will be erased, and you'll be forced back to the past again, unable to affect history?"
Ryosuke nodded.
When the cause is erased at the source, the effect naturally cannot occur.
"Assuming Itachi really can see that far into the future, and he came three years early but didn't kill young Sara, I think there are two possible reasons."
Minato raised two fingers, "First, once he kills young Sara, you would be sent back, and he would be sent back as well."
"Meaning, the time-travel seal is strongly bound to Sara from the start."
"If she dies, this passage that connects back to the historical timeline will close."
Ryosuke thought for a moment and nodded slightly.
Sara was the last queen of ancient Roran. The Dragon Vein seal was closely tied to her, so this was indeed possible.
"The second reason is that it simply doesn't matter. Killing her or not killing her won't affect you or Itachi."
Ryosuke couldn't understand, "Why?"
He had seen movies like The Butterfly Effect and Triangle. Death was the simplest method to interfere with a timeline.
Not only Ryosuke, everyone else also leaned in curiously. Akimichi Choza even subconsciously pulled out a bag of chips.
"In the field of time-space ninjutsu, there is a term called the 'black box.'"
"It refers to the moment a time traveler returns from the future to the past, a sealed, pitch-black box is formed."
"Only when the time traveler dies or returns to their original time does the black box open, revealing the unknown history inside."
Minato pointed at Ryosuke, then pointed deeper into the passage.
"The appearance of you two means the black box is already sealed."
"Before the box opens, all the 'causes' you create will not affect the future 'results.'"
"Only at the moment the box opens will the original timeline be overwritten."
After speaking, Minato glanced at his already-confused companions, then asked Ryosuke, "Understand?"
Ryosuke nodded, "So basically, the two of us have kidnapped 'history.' And whether we tear up the hostage ticket, chop fingers, pour cement, or draw a turtle on the hostage's face, no one will know until the kidnapping ends."
"Mm… yes."
Minato couldn't help asking curiously, "What did you do for a living before?"
"I was a bounty hunter for a while."
Hearing the words "bounty hunter," everyone suddenly understood.
No wonder he talked about kidnapping so smoothly, it was his line of work.
Akimichi Choza didn't understand any black box stuff, but he understood the information about Itachi.
"If this 'Mr. Crow' is really as godlike as you say, doesn't that mean he already knows we're coming?"
Everyone's footsteps paused slightly.
Ryosuke and Minato exchanged a look. After a brief silence, they both let out a soft laugh.
The laugh was to calm their companions and also because they had confidence in their own strength.
Right now, Ryosuke was widely recognized across the ninja world as "invincible," the most terrifying "demon."
And before Ryosuke, the last person to be called something similar was Namikaze Minato.
If Itachi really did know they were coming, the one who should be afraid was Itachi.
The group continued deeper underground. After Ryosuke casually tore open several walls and defensive barriers, he finally reached the end where the Dragon Vein converged.
What appeared was a massive set of armor submerged in water.
The armor was over a hundred meters tall, completely black, styled like an ancient warrior. Everything below its shoulders was submerged in the liquefied Dragon Vein. Only the helmet and faceplate were exposed.
Through the hollow, pitch-black eye slits, it felt as if a pair of cold, sinister eyes were watching them from a distance.
"What the heck is that?!"
Choza's lips went dry.
Even with Super Expansion Jutsu, he couldn't possibly wear armor this gigantic.
No, even if he could get big enough, he still wouldn't dare to wear this thing.
The armor was covered in countless white "little bugs" as thick as arms. While absorbing the Dragon Vein's power, they continuously squirmed.
The tails of the bugs were sharp like steel needles, and they even had barbs.
Once someone wore this armor, these bugs would bore into the skin and flesh, anchoring tightly, making it impossible to take the armor off ever again.
Ryosuke saw more clearly than the others.
The immense power radiating from the armor wasn't just Dragon Vein energy, it also contained a thick, overwhelming vitality.
Dragon Vein energy could be extracted from underground.
But vitality wasn't crops, nothing like that grows in the soil.
Thinking about it like that, the source of this life force was obvious.
The people of Roran.
"The Moon's Power, huh..."
Ryosuke loosened his sleeve, rolled it up, and let out a faint sigh, "Really, nothing new under the sun."