"Naruto, how are you? Are you okay?" Sakura shook the unconscious Naruto Uzumaki and asked.
Hearing his teammate's calls, Naruto Uzumaki opened his eyes in confusion. Sakura and Sai, both wearing worried expressions, came into view.
"Sakura, are you two okay?" Naruto Uzumaki asked with concern when he saw his two teammates, whom he had not seen in a long time.
"You idiot, what could possibly have happened to us? You and Captain Yamato were the ones caught in the Dragon Vein's energy." Sakura rubbed her forehead speechlessly.
Sakura quickly checked Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato over. Once she found that both of them were perfectly healthy, she relaxed.
Naruto Uzumaki scratched his head and chuckled. "Sakura, you must have gotten really impatient waiting for us, right? Mukade has been defeated. We can go back now."
Naruto Uzumaki felt a little embarrassed. They had eaten and played in the Rōran of the past, while Sakura and Sai could only wait amid these ruins.
Sakura crossed her arms, looking displeased. "Do you think I'm that impatient? That I can't even wait a few minutes?"
"A few minutes?" Naruto Uzumaki froze, then looked at Yamato. He remembered spending a whole month in Rōran.
Yamato was equally puzzled and immediately asked Sakura to explain the Mukade pursuit mission from her perspective.
"You and Mukade were engulfed by the Dragon Vein's energy. I nearly got caught up in it too, but Sai rescued me in time. A few minutes later, the energy faded, and I only saw you two lying on the ground," Sakura answered.
Sai nodded, indicating that Sakura's account was completely accurate.
"Naruto, what did you mean when you said Mukade was defeated? We never even saw him," Sakura asked, equally confused.
Naruto Uzumaki grabbed at his hair with both hands, not knowing