Chapter 75: Dragon Vein
In the ruined Kingdom of Roran, Queen Sāra frowned as she stared at the scroll before her.
With the dragon vein sealed and Roran's resources dwindling, she had already begun relocating the population in waves.
But relocating tens of thousands of people across a desert wasn't a simple task. It would take years—even decades.
So far, only half the population had successfully migrated. The rest were still trapped in Roran, clinging to survival.
After all, oases were rare and already occupied by native tribes. Welcoming outsiders wasn't common.
In these moments, Queen Sāra couldn't help but miss the era of the dragon vein. But she never regretted sealing it.
No matter how tough the environment, dangerous ninja were worse. Once word of the dragon vein got out, every major power would descend on them.
Harsh weather could be endured. But political chaos and war? That was far worse.
Naruto's world wasn't truly feudal—it had modern technology. And in times of peace, people rarely starved to death. It was ninja conflicts that caused disaster.
Roran had once been prosperous, with stockpiled wealth and stable leadership. Though Queen Sāra wasn't a genius ruler, she was competent. She had kept her people going.
"Your Majesty! Two more ninjas just arrived!" A villager came rushing in.
Roran no longer had formal guards. Since the chaos years ago, villagers passed messages themselves.
With only a few tens of thousands left, Roran functioned more like a large tribe than a kingdom.
"Ninja again? What do they want now?" Sāra's expression darkened. Even though Konoha's ninja had once helped her, she couldn't afford more contact with these dangerous people.
It had nothing to do with good or evil. It was just the natural fear the weak had for the powerful.
"They're heading straight for the dragon vein," the villager added.
Sāra's face went pale. That was her worst fear—if the dragon vein were disturbed again, Roran could be obliterated.
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At the ancient ruins beneath Roran…
"This is it. The Dragon Vein," Ayaan muttered, inspecting the intricate seal placed at the site. In its center was a Flying Thunder God kunai.
"See anything?" he asked, glancing at Nagato.
Nagato blinked, clearly at a loss. Raised in the wild and taught by Jiraiya for only three years, Nagato knew little about sealing techniques.
Although he had full chakra nature affinity and was trained in elemental ninjutsu, Jiraiya hadn't taught him sealing arts. And even though Jiraiya himself was Minato Namikaze's teacher, his skills in fūinjutsu paled compared to Minato's mastery—especially in space-time sealing.
And, Nagato's focus had been entirely on the Rinnegan. He wasn't clueless about seals, but this level of complexity was beyond him.
"Forget it. I thought you might know Uzumaki-style sealing," Ayaan said, sighing.
Nagato twitched in annoyance. "I have the bloodline but not the clan's training. I know as much as a street magician."
Ayaan eyed the seal with concern. Tampering blindly with a time-space fūinjutsu could be catastrophic.
If the dragon vein went berserk, Roran getting vaporized would be the least of their problems.
What if his head was transported to a parallel world, but his body stayed behind?
This was why, even with the power of the Yami Yami no Mi, Ayaan didn't dare absorb the entire thing recklessly.
Space-time power was dangerously advanced. Even Obito's Kamui was one of the few techniques capable of affecting Truth-Seeking Orbs during the Mangekyō Sharingan stage.
Some powers just defied logic.
Suddenly, a voice called out from behind.
"Who are you? What are you doing near the dragon vein?"
A young woman with regal attire and fiery red hair entered—the current Queen Sāra of Roran.
Ayaan and Nagato turned to face her. They'd heard her footsteps earlier, but didn't bother reacting to a non-threatening individual.
"So that's the Queen?" Nagato asked, eyeing her. "They say Roran queens have some strange connection to the dragon vein. Maybe she can help."
"If she could, the people wouldn't have needed to migrate," Ayaan replied flatly. "Without undoing the space-time seal, nothing will work."
Sāra's heart chilled. These men spoke so casually about such dangerous matters—and dismissed her role outright.
But she dared not act rashly. Their chakra pressure alone made it clear—they were no ordinary shinobi.
Terrified they might disturb the seal, she quickly warned, "That seal was placed by Konoha's Fourth Hokage himself. Even he admitted it would be difficult for him to break it."
"If you try to force it open, the dragon vein will go berserk. Roran will be wiped off the map—and the one breaking the seal will die too."
Nagato scoffed, unconvinced. But Ayaan took her words seriously.
The dragon vein was a bugged entity—limitless energy, spatial distortion, and time-travel potential.
And if anyone understood its danger, it was Minato Namikaze, the world's foremost space-time jutsu master. He wouldn't have sealed it so tightly otherwise.
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