The Mysterious City

"Did you shake off the pursuers?"

"We did."

Mo Jingxian had run all night and finally reached the agreed meeting point before dawn.

At the weathered stone pillars, the squad had made its first stop to rest after entering the Land of Wind.

The moment Ayako Hyuuga saw him, the worry in her heart finally eased.

"Shinju's poison has been cured, but he'll probably need a few more days to recover."

Mo Jingxian glanced at Shinju Ishikawa, who was unconscious. His face was no longer so pale, and his breathing had become more even.

A few of Ayako's clothes had been laid beneath him. The furrow in his brow as he slept had visibly relaxed.

He still hadn't woken up, but he was getting better.

Mo Jingxian felt the night's fighting had been worth it. At least all that effort hadn't been wasted.

"Let's go. The sooner we get into the desert, the safer we'll be."

"Mm." Ayako Hyuuga rose and went to Shinju's side. "I'll carry him. Your injuries..."

"My injuries are fine."

The trouble with the Byakugan was that it left no secrets. Ayako had spotted his injuries the moment he appeared before her.

"I set up some false trails. Hopefully, they'll lead the pursuers toward the border."

The two of them were heading in the exact opposite direction from the border. The pursuing Sand shinobi would likely see through the simple ruse soon enough.

It was better than nothing. Every moment they could buy was worth it.

That was what Mo Jingxian thought.

From that moment on, the three of them had escaped the net the Sand shinobi had woven around them.

Now it was a race against time. They had to reach the desolate desert before the Sand shinobi could react.

Mo Jingxian and Ayako Hyuuga took turns carrying Shinju. Every so often, an eagle cried out overhead.

They weren't afraid of being spotted. As long as they moved faster than the Sand shinobi could organize a blockade, the enemy wouldn't catch them.

Perhaps their direction had taken the Sand shinobi by surprise. On top of that, there simply hadn't been enough people sent this way.

It took Mo Jingxian and the other two only a day to shake off their pursuers.

They continued across the desert for three more days and never saw another Sand shinobi.

The desert's temperatures varied greatly between day and night.

The scorching sun baked them all day, but once night fell, the temperature plunged.

The three of them huddled in a sheltered spot, sitting around a small fire.

Mo Jingxian tossed the last handful of dry plants into the fire. The flames leaped up for a moment.

"Cough! Cough."

After several days of recovery, Shinju Ishikawa was almost back to normal, aside from the occasional cough.

"You know..."

Ayako Hyuuga sat beside the fire with her arms around her knees, her chin resting on them.

She sounded as if she were asking them, but also as if she were talking to herself.

"How did the Sand shinobi know to ambush us in advance? And how did they fool my Byakugan?"

Her voice was soft, but to Shinju Ishikawa, it rang like a great bell.

Shinju looked up at Ayako in shock, then turned to Mo Jingxian in disbelief.

Ever since the attack began, they had been pursued relentlessly.

He hadn't even had time to think before he was injured and knocked unconscious.

After waking up, he'd been groggy and hadn't given the matter much thought.

He'd simply assumed the mission had failed.

Ayako's reminder made him consider a chilling possibility. He felt as if he'd plunged into an icy pit.

Was the Byakugan powerful?

Without a doubt.

There were ways to block it, but they all required elaborate preparations in advance.

At that thought, he didn't dare take it any further.

Mo Jingxian knew what Ayako meant. The pieces had already fallen into place.

"How many supply convoys do you think the Sand shinobi have?"

He prodded the flames, and the firelight brightened for a moment.

The light played across their faces, brightening and dimming.

"I don't know how many convoys there are, but I doubt this is their only one."

Shinju answered casually. He already understood what Mo Jingxian was getting at.

"Exactly. They have to make the whole act convincing. We'll know the answer when we get back to camp."

Reality was cruel. Once you eliminated every possibility, whatever remained was the truth.

For a while, none of them felt like talking. They watched the last glimmer of light slowly die out.

Mo Jingxian took the first watch while his two companions rested.

He focused part of his attention on the two injured ribs in his chest, carefully sensing how they were healing.

The stabbing pain had disappeared two days ago, replaced by a faint ache.

In the past, an injury like a fracture would have taken at least half a month to heal.

Now, he'd recovered completely in just three days.

Not only had he healed, but the bones were even tougher than before, and they absorbed the elements more efficiently.

Quietly, Water Scale Armor covered his entire body. He had created the technique by using water and wind elements to imitate Long Yunzhi's transformation.

It combined water's persistence, wind's fluidity, and ice's sturdiness.

It was his strongest defensive technique so far.

Before, Water Scale Garment had simply covered the surface of his body. If it shattered, he had to form it again.

But now things were different. The technique clung to his chest, and the two healed ribs continually supplied it with elemental energy.

In other words, a bridge had formed between the technique and his body.

Of course, with Mo Jingxian's current strength, he still couldn't control it at will. But its potential for growth had become clear.

The technique wasn't what Mo Jingxian was focused on. It was the sudden change in his body.

He carefully went over everything that had happened after he was injured, ruling out one possibility after another until he finally fixed on the Breathing Method.

Ever since he'd obtained it, he'd practiced every day without fail and hadn't noticed anything unusual.

Now, after putting it to the test, Mo Jingxian had finally discovered how extraordinary it was.

First, Long Yunzhi's transformation ability came from this method, and it was clearly different from ninjutsu.

Second... while they'd been fleeing two days ago, he'd suddenly gained twenty reputation points from Orochimaru.

Their only connection at present was the deal they'd made.

Given how aloof Orochimaru was, he must have found something valuable in Long Yunzhi's body.

That was further proof the method was anything but ordinary.

Along with what he'd experienced over the past few days, he reached a conclusion.

Unlike ninjutsu, the Breathing Method was slowly changing his body.

It wasn't making him much stronger. Instead, his coordination and recovery were improving.

Mo Jingxian remembered Long Yunzhi once saying that this inheritance could extend one's lifespan.

He hadn't noticed any increase in his own lifespan yet, but all the signs suggested Long Yunzhi hadn't made it up.

The direction of the changes was clear: his body was becoming more attuned to the basic elements of the world.

The Breathing Method was steadily altering him, making him better suited to these fundamental elements.

Little by little, Mo Jingxian came to a bold hypothesis.

Perhaps the fundamental forces of this world were the basic elements.

After all, Chakra had come from outside. The God Tree had absorbed the world's local energy and transformed it.

Those supernatural energies had existed long before Chakra appeared.

So why did the two forces seem to blend with each other while still remaining clearly distinct?

A flash of insight crossed his mind, but he couldn't grasp it.

He scratched his head.

Forget it. As long as he kept going, he'd learn the truth someday.

Come to think of it, the idea did make him feel a little excited.

It was as if he were gradually uncovering a deeply buried secret.

"Get some rest. I'll take over the watch."

Ayako Hyuuga sat beside Mo Jingxian and draped a piece of clothing over him.

"Sure. I'll rest for two hours, then we'll set out again."

The long night passed, and a red sun rose above the horizon of the sand sea.

The shimmering air distorted the sun's outline until it looked like rippling water.

Across the endless yellow sands, three dark specks moved along. They were Mo Jingxian and the others.

"There's nothing here but sand. I don't know how the Sand shinobi survive."

Shinju Ishikawa had narrowly escaped death and was recovering well.

He was even in the mood to complain about how barren the Land of Wind was.

"Obviously, the Sand shinobi are poor. Why else would they start a war? They must have nothing better to do."

The journey was so dull that bickering with Shinju had become Mo Jingxian's only source of entertainment.

"Look! There's a city over there!"

Ayako Hyuuga's excited shout interrupted the two bickering men. They both looked in the direction she was pointing.

"No way. There really is!"

"I'm not seeing things, am I? How could there be a city in the desert?"

Shinju Ishikawa seriously suspected there was still poison in his system. Otherwise, why would he be hallucinating?

"Could it be a mirage?"

But that didn't seem right either. The city looked strange, and he'd never heard of any country with buildings like those.

"Are you two idiots? We'll know if we go take a look!"

"Oh—right, right!"

As the saying went, a mountain that looked close could take a horse half to death to reach.

The city looked nearby, but the three of them ran for half a day before reaching its gates shortly before noon.

The walls weren't very high, built from stone mixed with sand. The gate was wide enough for two rows of carriages to pass through.

Several strange characters were written above the gate. They were curved and looked like symbols, and none of the three could read them.

The clothes of the people coming and going were also noticeably different from those in the wider world.

The women wore light clothing, mostly made of sheer fabric. Their faces were veiled, and jeweled ornaments hung from their ears and noses.

The men, on the other hand, wore long robes, and many went barefoot.

The three exchanged glances. Since they were already here, they might as well go inside and rest.

Beyond the gate, a bustling scene unfolded before them.

The city had been built around an oasis, spreading out beside a crescent-shaped lake.

Residents streamed through the streets, while vendors hawked their wares along the roadsides.

Mo Jingxian moved along with the crowd. At the top of Crescent Lake, he spotted a tall building.

Unlike the other low buildings, it stood nearly twenty meters high and had four floors.

"What are you looking at?"

Ayako Hyuuga followed his gaze.

On the rooftop of the four-story building stood a beautiful young woman in her twenties.

A green veil hid her face, but her graceful figure alone was enough to tell that she was beautiful.

Ayako glanced down at her own chest and pursed her lips.

"What? What's so great about her?"

The girl was still young, after all, and that was a disadvantage.

Mo Jingxian couldn't recall any such place in the world of Naruto. He searched his memories, but found no clues.

As they approached the tall building, a shout rose from the crowd:

"Queen..."

Hm? A city ruled by a woman.

That was unusual. In the countries of the Ninja World, men controlled most of the economic and military power.

But everything about this place was strange, as if it didn't belong in this world.

Wait!

Mo Jingxian remembered seeing some discussions about it online.

He hadn't paid much attention to them at the time, so they'd made little impression.

He glanced around, and a name gradually surfaced in his mind.

—Rōran.