The guardian beast fell to the ground after losing Energy Core, and its huge body turned into dots of starlight and dissipated. Sasuke flashed out of the monster's body, holding the core that exuded the power of time and space in its hand.
"You're crazy! You were almost trapped in there just now!" Karin rushed over to check Sasuke's injuries.
"It's worth it." Sasuke put the core into the ninja bag, "This thing may be useful in the future."
The space-time rift became much more stable after the guardian beast disappeared, the blue light was no longer mixed with black air, and the voices coming from inside also calmed down.
"You can go in." Naruto rubbed his hands excitedly, "Here we come to the legendary Rōran ancient city!"
The three of them looked at each other and jumped into the crack at the same time.
In an instant, a spinning weightlessness came over me. Naruto felt like he was being swallowed by a huge whirlpool, and the surrounding scenes were constantly changing. Deserts, oasis, cities, ruins, and images from countless eras flashed before his eyes.
"Sasuke! Karin!" Naruto shouted, but the voice was torn apart in the turbulence of time and space.
He tried hard to catch his companion, but the power of the turbulence of time and space was too strong. The three were forced to separate and fly in different directions.
"Kurama!" Naruto called in his heart.
"Don't panic, kid!" Nine-Tails's voice rang in his mind, "I feel the Chakra of that Uchiha boy, it's not far away!"
Sage Fox Mode was activated instantly, and Naruto's perception ability was greatly improved. In the chaotic flow of time and space, he vaguely felt the Chakra Wave movements of Sasuke and Karin.
"That's the direction!"
Naruto mobilized Chakra in his body and forcibly changed his flight trajectory. After some struggle, he finally passed through the last barrier of the turbulence of time and space.
The sight in front of him completely shocked Naruto.
A huge ancient city appeared in front of us, with a gorgeous and mysterious architectural style. Tower, palaces, and gardens were scattered in an orderly manner, each exuding the atmosphere of ancient civilization. In the center of the city stood a huge pyramid-like building, with a soft light shining at the top.
But the most surprising thing is that the entire city is suspended in mid-air. Below is an endless sea of clouds, and occasionally colorful energy flows pour out from the clouds, providing power for this city in the sky.
"This is Rōran ancient city?" Naruto murmured to himself.
He landed on a Tower on the edge of the city, looking around for his companions. Although the city was majestic, it was deserted, with only the low hum of the breeze blowing through the pillars.
"Sasuke! Karin! Where are you?" Naruto's shout echoed in the empty city.
The only response he received was the sound of machinery running in the distance. Naruto followed the sound and saw several humanoid puppets patrolling the streets. These puppets were beautifully shaped and moved smoothly, completely unlike traditional wooden puppets.
"Automatic defense system?" Naruto jumped off Tower carefully, preparing to bypass those puppets.
But the moment his toes touched the ground, all the patrol puppets stopped moving at the same time and turned in his direction.
"Oops!"
The puppets' eyes lit up red, and they rushed towards Naruto at an alarming speed. Their movement method was extremely unique, not simply running, but gliding in the air through some kind of energy propulsion system.
Naruto hurriedly dodged, and a puppet's fist flew past his cheek, and the strong wind left deep cracks on the stone floor.
"Is it so powerful?"
More puppets came from all over the city, and their attack methods were different. Some fired energy bombs, some waved lightsabers, and some directly engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
Naruto retreated while fighting, and soon discovered the key to the problem. Whenever he used Nine-Tails Chakra, the attacks of these puppets would become more crazy, as if they were stimulated by something.
"Kurama, did you find anything?"
"The energy source of these puppets is very strange." Nine-Tails said in a deep voice, "It has some kind of Resonance with my Chakra, but there is also a rejection reaction."
Naruto could only suppress the leak of Nine-Tails Chakra, and only relied on Sage Fox Mode to fight. But even so, he gradually fell into a disadvantage in the face of a large and well-coordinated puppet army.
"We must find a way to get rid of them!"
Naruto jumped onto the roof of a palace, using the complex terrain to deal with the puppets. While running, he suddenly felt the familiar Chakra Wave movement.
"It's Sasuke!"
At the other end of the city, Sasuke and Karin were standing in front of an abandoned research institute.
"These equipment are very new." Karin checked the instruments scattered on the ground, "Someone must have been here recently."
Sasuke picked up a book Logbook, which was filled with dense research data. The cover had the badge of Sky Country printed on it.
"It's indeed them." Sasuke turned over Logbook, "Let's see what they are looking for."
The content of Logbook made Sasuke more and more frightened. Sky Country's researchers not only recorded the structure of the ancient city of Rōran in detail, but also conducted an in-depth analysis of the "dragon veins" underground in the city.
"The core of the dragon vein is located on the seventh floor underground of the pyramid and requires a special key to open it." Sasuke read the record, "The key must be the bloodline of the Rōran royal family, and no one else can activate it."
"Rōran royal family?" Karin asked doubtfully, "Didn't you say that Ancient Kingdom of Roran has been destroyed long ago?"
"Look here." Sasuke pointed to another page of Logbook, "They mentioned a plan called 'Queen's Heart'. It seems that they want to resurrect the last queen of Rōran."
Karin turned pale. "Resurrection of the dead? Is this possible?"
"If it's an ordinary resurrection technique, of course it's impossible." Sasuke closed Logbook, "But if you combine the power of dragon veins with some special Kekkei Genkai..."
He thought of Rinnegan's heretic·Rinne Rebirth. Theoretically, as long as there is a strong enough vitality as a price, the deceased can indeed regain life.
"Then what should we do now?" Karin asked.
"First find Naruto, then..."
Sasuke's words were interrupted by the sound of an explosion in the distance. The two looked at each other and immediately rushed towards the direction of the sound.
Soon, they saw Naruto being besieged by the puppet army.
"Heavenly Hand Power!"
Sasuke instantly swapped the position of a puppet attacking Naruto with a distant stone, creating a breathing space for Naruto.
"Sasuke! It's great that you are okay!" Naruto waved excitedly.
"Deal with these puppets first!" Karin took out the kunai, "There are too many of them!"
But Sasuke noticed something more important. "Naruto, have you noticed that these puppets reacted strangely to Nine-Tails Chakra?"
"Have you noticed it too?" Naruto nodded, "When I use Nine-Tails's power, they act like crazy."