The starry sky above the desert is always so brilliant. But for the Rouran remnants living here, no matter how beautiful the resplendent river of stars above, it couldn't compare to a piece of bread in hand to sate their hunger.
For Saji's family, today was a bountiful day. Gazing at the incredibly sumptuous food on the dining table, Saji felt even more fortunate—fortunate that he had taken a liking to Mr. Wolf at first glance and had volunteered to be his guide. A generous guest was always worthy of respect.
"Where is Mr. Wolf?" Saji's daughter-in-law asked, placing the last dish of lizard meat on the table.
"Who knows? Perhaps he went home," Saji said, ushering everyone to sit down and eat. His head, however, involuntarily turned towards the direction of the Dragon Vein ruins. Perhaps he went there, he thought. Regarding such matters, he should have reported it to Queen Sara, but looking at his grandchildren feasting with great relish, he chose to remain silent. So many people had come searching for the Dragon Vein, but all had arrived full of hope only to leave in disappointment. Mr. Wolf was probably just going to take a look, he mused.
Deep underground within the dome-shaped building.
Mukade skillfully navigated the pitch-black passage, avoiding one obstacle after another. Gazing at the suspended altar, his heart couldn't help but beat faster. Though it wasn't his first time seeing it, whenever he imagined himself standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world, looking down upon all living beings, an uncontrollable tremor ran through him. The four solemnly faced stone statues at the corners of the altar did nothing to suppress his presumptuous ambition; instead, like a teacher's uniform on a girlfriend, they excited his emotions to another new height.
Mukade gently caressed the protrusion at the center of the altar. He knew this was the core of the Dragon Vein's energy. And the reason he couldn't feel the Dragon Vein's power was entirely due to the Fourth Hokage's Flying Thunder God Kunai stuck in it—or rather, the sealing formula inscribed on the kunai.
Mukade nervously placed his hands on the sealing formula. He didn't know if his idea was correct: to seal the Dragon Vein, along with its seal, into his own body, much like the symbiotic relationship between a Tailed Beast and its jinchuriki. But this was undoubtedly the most efficient method he could devise to undo the Dragon Vein's seal. Perhaps his current age was similar to that of the Fourth Hokage when he had set the Dragon Vein seal, yet he couldn't even solve a sealing jutsu that had been in place for nearly twenty years. Sometimes he truly wondered, could the gap between people really be that vast?
"I can feel it! I can feel it!!" A pale purple chakra seeped out from the slightly loosened seal. To Mukade, this was nothing short of a guiding beacon. Years! He had spent nearly two years investigating and understanding everything about the Dragon Vein. Just when he had figured everything out and believed he could rule the ninja world, the Fourth Hokage's Dragon Vein seal had appeared, deadlocking his grand ambitions at the very entrance. For the sake of his ideals, for the sake of reaching the pinnacle of life, he had been forced to endure what he himself found to be disgusting sycophancy, continuing to bury his head in books and practice sealing jutsu. Life is short, but Mukade felt that the bitterness he had endured was longer than anyone else's.
However, it no longer mattered. Past hardships would become the victor's medals. Mukade gazed at the gradually loosening Dragon Vein chakra, his eyes filled with excitement. After I unify the ninja world, what should I do? Use precious materials I never even dared to dream of before to create an ultimate, top-configuration puppet? Or marry Temari?
Just as he began to fantasize about his future, the Dragon Vein seal suddenly emitted a repulsive force, sending him flying backwards. Mukade quickly came to his senses. Gazing at the bottomless abyss behind him, his heart felt as if it had been viciously squeezed by an icy hand.
"Why? Why did it fail? Every part of the design was reasonable…" How could the brush with death compare to the agony of years of hard work being destroyed in an instant? Mukade clutched his head, his eyes vacant, staring at the seal not far off and muttering to himself.
Above, Naruto, his presence concealed, watched the Suna ninja below with a thoughtful expression. Although he didn't understand sealing jutsu either, his chakra perception, which surpassed that of ordinary people, allowed him to see the reason for that Suna ninja's failure. The Suna ninja's method and approach to dealing with the Dragon Vein seal were correct, but his failure lay in the insufficiency of his subsequent chakra input. The weak follow-up chakra input allowed the sealing jutsu to resist, leading to his failure.
Of course, this was from his perspective. In terms of the average ninja's chakra capacity, Mukade's chakra, while not among the largest, wasn't in the worst batch either. A mid-tier chakra capacity already placed Mukade ahead of many people. While a ninja's strength isn't solely judged by the amount of their chakra, ample chakra reserves were an indispensable asset for any powerful ninja. You might not always use all the oil in the engine's crankcase, but you absolutely cannot afford to have none.
Step~
Mukade turned his head to see a youth slowly leap down from above and walk steadily towards him.
"Who are you?" Mukade asked, warily eyeing the newcomer. His hands quickly retrieved two sealing scrolls, releasing the puppets sealed within—Crow and Salamander. Before Suna puppeteers reached a certain level of mastery, these two were the puppets they most commonly used. Perhaps for their creator, Sasori of the Red Sand, puppets of Crow and Salamander's caliber were merely transitional products. But for commoner puppeteers like them, they were truly the cream of the crop. Mukade had dared to tamper with the Dragon Vein seal largely because of the strength these two puppets afforded him.
"No need to be tense. I just want to help you." Naruto merely glanced at the two puppets before dismissing them from his attention. Perhaps for other ninjas, such puppets were extremely threatening, but for him, it was merely the difference between one more swing of his sword or one less.
"Now this is interesting. We are strangers; why would you want to help me for no reason at all?" Chakra threads flew from Mukade's fingertips, connecting to the torsos of the two puppets. "A rookie's help… I don't think I need it." With weapons in hand (via his puppets), Mukade's tone hardened considerably.
Naruto didn't say anything more. His left hand lightly gripped his scabbard, his thumb gently pushing. Kusabimaru's bright silver blade added a touch of brilliance to the dim subterranean space. "We are all adults; mere words are powerless. For someone you can't persuade, the best way to make them submit is to beat them into submission."
Kaka! Seeing this, Mukade immediately manipulated his two puppets to charge forward, while he himself quickly dodged behind a stone statue.
Ting, ting! With light flicks of his blade, Naruto knocked away the incoming senbon. Seeing Crow rushing towards him, he instantly gathered a large amount of chakra in his foot and delivered a kick.
BOOM!!
The immense force directly kicked apart Crow, a puppet renowned for its sturdiness. Senpou Temple was not only excellent in its fist techniques; its footwork was also first-class!
Mukade's pupils contracted. He seemed to have provoked an existence he shouldn't have.
__________________
+50 chapters on: patreon.com/Shinobi_Scrolls