Shamu's Space-Time.
Near the Dragon Vein.
Sasuke and Itachi had already been waiting here for an hour.
Yet there was still no sign of Shamu.
The crucial point was that Itachi had taken out the Reverse Summoning scroll Shamu had left behind.
It had actually failed!
This was extremely serious. Either Shamu had gone somewhere Reverse Summoning could not reach.
Or it meant that Shamu was already dead.
Itachi was a very rational person. Shamu had told them before leaving that he would return soon.
So instead of blindly grieving, he activated the Summoning Technique and summoned Crow.
Shamu had signed a contract with it.
Therefore, Crow could tell whether its contractor was alive or dead.
"Caw... caw... caw..."
Though Crow was not a sentient species, it was still very intelligent.
After questioning it, Itachi received the answer: "None."
In other words, Shamu was in a state of "nonexistence"—neither alive nor dead.
Itachi inwardly relaxed. If that was the case, then Senior was surely fine.
"Brother, where exactly did Master go?"
Sasuke was younger and less composed than Itachi.
Itachi rubbed his little brother's head. "It's fine. Senior was merely transported somewhere rather far away."
"If there's still no news today, we'll go back and wait."
Seeing that Sasuke was still uneasy, Itachi changed the subject. "Has your affinity with Natural Energy improved?"
Sasuke suppressed the agitation in his heart. Though he knew his brother was changing the subject.
Seeing how calm Itachi was, he steadied himself as well.
"I haven't tried yet. I'll test it now."
Just then, Itachi suddenly looked toward the entrance of the altar.
Three ordinary people were cautiously making their way inside: two men and one woman.
The two men were clearly guards, while the other was a girl of fifteen or sixteen with a