Half a month later.
The journey was perilous but without mishap; the two successfully reached this desert region via the route Kakashi had chosen.
The military ration pills had indeed come in handy.
Under Mei Terumi's resentful gaze, she popped two military ration pills into her mouth, used a large amount of chakra to perform Water Release, filled both their canteens, and even managed to take a bath.
Even before seeing the ancient city of Rouran, Kakashi could already sense the chakra underground, so abundant it was unlike anything he had ever encountered.
"This power…"
The closer he got to the Dragon Vein, the stronger the silver-haired youth's sense of crisis became. Underneath his Kumogakure-standard attire, he activated Lightning Release to stimulate his cells, preparing to flee at any moment.
「History has been changed.」
"Be careful, something's not right."
"Mm."
Mei Terumi covered Kakashi's rear. If Sunagakure ninja were ambushing them in this terrain, it would be a huge threat to them both.
「According to the timeline, this place should have been sealed by Minato Namikaze before I even became a Konoha Jonin. Why is the chakra leakage underground so severe now?」
Exchanging a single-use instantaneous teleport, drawing two Kcal, the youth sensed the remaining two-thirds of his chakra and slowed his pace.
"Give me two military ration pills."
Taking them from Mei Terumi's hand and crushing them in his mouth, the two saw the tall buildings in the desert from afar. They had a rather modern style, with a unique architectural distribution.
From the sand dunes, they could even see green trees and fountains lining the streets within the city. To be able to establish a country of this scale in such a place, Rouran's true national strength might be much stronger than Kakashi had imagined. At least, when they passed through Sunagakure, such a degree of greenery and architecture was impossible to find within Sunagakure itself.
"Is there danger?"
"No danger detected in my senses."
"Then shall we go directly?"
"There's a barrier. We need to break through the barrier to get there. The energy source for this barrier should be the Dragon Vein. As long as we find the barrier's energy core, we can find the entrance to the Dragon Vein."
Mei Terumi hesitated for a moment, stopping Kakashi as he was about to infiltrate.
"This barrier should be what Rouran uses to block sandstorms, right? If we just barge into the core area and the barrier gets deactivated, won't this country be unable to survive?"
"The Dragon Vein's energy is immense. Even if Kumogakure's sealing team came, they could only seal one of its exits. Extracting a portion of its energy won't affect it. A barrier of this level can be powered solely by the chakra leaking from the seal."
"Mm."
Donning desert cloaks resembling ghillie suits, the two lurked outside the barrier. Kakashi observed a corner and quickly used Raikiri to cut an opening in the barrier large enough for both of them to pass, just as he had done in Kirigakure.
"Let's go."
Passing through the barrier, Kakashi retracted his Raikiri the moment they entered. The opening behind them sealed itself a second later.
Upon entering the inner city, Mei Terumi clearly felt the moisture in the air increase. Extremely sensitive to humidity, she regained some vitality, perked up her spirits, and followed the youth over the wall.
Kakashi's expression gradually worsened. He had felt something was off when they entered the inner city. Now, pushing his senses to the maximum, there were at least several hundred chakra signatures patrolling the streets…
"It's impossible to sense the reactions inside the barrier from outside. The inner city has been occupied by ninja from another country."
"Which country's ninja? Sunagakure?"
"I think, apart from them, no one else would dispatch so many ninja to this place. Nearly 30 Jonin-level reactions, enough to fight a small-scale war. For them to send so many ninja here while confronting Konoha, it must also be for the Dragon Vein."
"Could this barrier also be theirs?"
"Unlikely. The technique is crude, its only function is to block sand and wind. It should have been here before."
Following his senses, he came up behind a weaker ninja. This ninja was dressed no differently from ordinary residents, likely in plain clothes specifically to blend into the streets. If not for his senses, it would be impossible to tell he wasn't an ordinary person.
Waiting until he reached a less crowded area, Kakashi knocked him out with a single chop. He searched the ninja's hidden scroll and ninja pouch, finding a Sunagakure headband and a mission letter.
「Hijack the Queen of Rouran, kill the rogue ninja, control the Dragon Vein.」
"In a way, this fellow's mission is the same as ours."
"Kill the rogue ninja, does that mean some of them here are Sunagakure rogue ninja?"
"Mm, and from the looks of it, there isn't just one or two Sunagakure rogue ninja, but a group. They are outnumbered, but their chakra quality is superior, around twenty-five of them. The Sunagakure ninja outnumber them three to one, with reactions concentrated in the royal palace."
Moving to a high point, he looked at the royal palace building not far away. The tower-like royal palace was visually estimated to be about eighty meters tall. The lower part showed signs of ninjutsu bombardment; clearly, this wasn't their first clash.
"Are we going to save the Queen?"
Mei Terumi felt a pang of sympathy. A kidnapped queen, this was too unjust.
"Yes, and we were originally going to talk to her anyway, to ask about the Dragon Vein."
"A queen, huh? I've never seen one. I wonder what she's like."
Mei Terumi pressed down on her hat to keep the wind from blowing it away.
"Very beautiful."
"Have you seen her?"
"No."
"Hmph~"
Ignoring the youth who was deliberately teasing her, Mei Terumi took off her cloak, changed into a normal coat, and pretended to be an ordinary person approaching the royal palace tower.
Kakashi didn't move with the young woman. Infiltration and assassination weren't his style. Most of the ninja reactions inside were concentrated on the first and second floors, with a few strong reactions on the top floor. Logically, they were the ones guarding the kidnapped queen.
"The ones below are weaker. Hold them off. I'll take care of the ones upstairs."
Using ninja hand signs to convey the message to the young woman, and after receiving a reply, the youth moved to a blind spot behind the tower and ran vertically upwards at a 90-degree angle with great speed.
Mei Terumi, having followed Kakashi all this way, had already become much stronger. This time, most of the ninja below were Chunin or Genin level, posing no threat to her. As long as she was careful, she could deal with all of them.
Among the Jonin upstairs, only one was slightly troublesome, with a chakra reaction close to the level of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen she had once seen.
Activating the second level of Body Activation, the youth, whose speed suddenly increased, broke through a window from the outside of the top floor. Lightning flashed in his hand, and two unsuspecting Sand ninja were instantly pierced through the heart before they could react.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
An attack of wind condensed into a blade arrived in an instant. Wind, being a speed-type element, countered the lightning element in terms of chakra quality. But Kakashi was no longer the Kakashi who fought to a draw. The lightning dimmed for a moment then cut through the wind blade, and he rushed unimpeded towards the Sand Jonin.
Clack
The youth's right hand pierced through a table. Two shuriken flew from his right side, and the youth knocked them down with two clangs of his kunai.
"To react with a Substitution Jutsu in this situation, quite fast. But my target isn't you."
Scooping up the red-haired young woman beside him, who looked agitated and was clearly the one who had been kidnapped, Kakashi leaped from the high altitude, using a kunai and steel wire to land like Spider-Man.
"Mei Terumi, stop fighting, let's go!"
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