Time Travel?

The Gobi Desert, shrouded in yellow sand, was desolate and barren, with howling winds carrying gusts of sand and stones.

The Land of Wind has the largest land area, but the vast majority of its land is desert.

The climate here is arid with little rainfall throughout the year and extremely low vegetation coverage. During the day, the sun shines directly on the earth, and solar radiation hits the ground without reservation. Sand also conducts heat quickly, so the daytime temperature is high, sometimes even exceeding 60 degrees Celsius.

At night, the air contains very little moisture and does not retain heat well. Furthermore, because the heat radiated from the ground is directly emitted into space, sand loses heat quickly, resulting in low temperatures at night, often below 10 degrees Celsius.

In such a harsh environment, getting lost would be fatal for ordinary people. Without large camel caravans to guide them, most merchants would not be willing to go to the Land of Wind to do business.

However, it is precisely because of this kind of living environment that most of the ninjas of Sunagakure have a resilient character.

Because the Third Shinobi World War did not achieve the expected results and resulted in heavy losses, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind began to cut funding for Sunagakure, forcing the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, to reduce the size of Sunagakure's ninja force. At the same time, he used his Magnet Release to mine gold in the desert to supplement the village's funding.

Because of the decrease in the number of ninjas, in order to avoid a significant decline in the village's combat power and defeat in the future Ninja World War, Sunagakure was forced to embark on the path of elite training, focusing on cultivating ninjas with outstanding talent.

With Iwagakure acknowledging the Demon Country' status and establishing trade relations with it, Kumogakure and Konoha followed suit. Kirigakure, having fought a major battle with the Uzumaki Clan, but remained in a state of non-interference.

When the Demon Country expanded its commercial territory to the Land of Wind, it encountered tremendous resistance.

It wasn't because of the harsh environment of the Land of Wind. After all, no matter how harsh the environment, as long as there is enough profit, merchants will come with the smell of money. Moreover, caravans need to hire ninjas every time they go out.

When trading with Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Konoha, the caravans would hire local ninjas on their return journeys, which increased the workload of the villages to some extent.

It's important to understand that, under conditions of large-scale trade, the rewards for escort missions are quite substantial.

However, the Land of Wind refused, or more accurately, the Sunagakure refused.

Because the various medicines from the Serpent Spirit Corporation are impacting the pharmaceutical market in Sunagakure.

Since the Puppet Technique, Sunagakure has been at the forefront of the Shinobi World in the research of poisons.

Medicine and poison Branch Family. The Medical Ninjutsu system of Sunagakure was established and perfected right after Konoha. If Konoha hadn't produced Tsunade, a medical expert who pushed Medical Ninjutsu to another peak, Sunagakure's advanced medical technology wouldn't have been much worse than Konoha's, and the puppet army wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses at Konoha's hands during Second Shinobi World War.

However, what truly gave Sunagakure a headache was Yagami Shiraha, who drastically lowered the barrier to entry for using Medical Ninjutsu by several levels.

Traditional Medical Ninjutsu, even when combined with medicinal herbs and medicines for treatment, still revolved around the Medical Ninja.

However, since Yagami Shiraha invented the Medical Scroll and established the Serpent Spirit Corporation to mass-produce Medical Scroll and various medicines, the profession of Medical Ninja has been impacted to some extent.

Many injuries that require a certain level of Medical Ninjutsu to heal can be cured with Medical Scroll and medicines from the Serpent Spirit Corporation. Moreover, the cost of purchasing Medical Scroll and medicines is much cheaper than training Medical Ninja.

Unless one is a highly skilled Medical Jonin, they cannot be easily replaced by scrolls and medicines.

However, even in Konoha, such high-level talents are few and far between.

Besides, which Jōnin didn't start as Genin and gradually rise through the ranks?

If large-scale trade were to begin with the Serpent Spirit Corporation of the Demon Country, the Medical Ninjutsu system that Sunagakure had painstakingly built would completely collapse.

Unlike Iwagakure and Kumogakure, although their land is not as fertile as the Land of Fire, they still have large tracts of land available for development and abundant natural resources. The Medical Ninjutsu of these two villages was not advanced to begin with, so they could simply choose to lie down in the face of the Serpent Spirit Corporation's Medical Scroll and medical drugs.

In any case, the Earth Country and the Land of Lightning were not bad in terms of commercial development. Strictly speaking, the Iwagakure and the Kumogakure only suffered setbacks in the Third Shinobi World War, rather than being completely defeated like the Sunagakure. They did not lack funds.

Because the village itself has abundant natural resources, they are not as dependent on the daimyo's funds as Sunagakure.

As long as enough Medical Scroll and medicines are stockpiled during peacetime, there is no need to worry about the Serpent Spirit Corporation stopping the supply of medicines during wartime.

The effects of the Third Shinobi World War continue; Konoha has utterly crippled Sunagakure, and Kirigakure is in no better shape.

Furthermore, with the rise of the Uzumaki Clan, the Shinobi World is still nominally comprised of the Great Nations and the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but in reality, the strength of the military alliance led by the Uzumaki Clan is constantly catching up with Sunagakure and Kirigakure, and is already comparable to Konoha, Iwagakure, Kumogakure.

In order to prevent the Serpent Spirit Corporation's products from completely destroying the Medical Ninjutsu system of Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and the Sunagakure leadership strongly resisted business cooperation with the Demon Country.

Even the Daimyo of the Land of Wind couldn't sway the Fourth Kazekage Rasa's, decision. The Serpent Spirit Corporation's products were primarily geared towards ninjas, and with Sunagakure refusing to cooperate, their market in the Land of Wind was indeed very small.

In fact, Sunagakure had sent spies to infiltrate the Serpent Spirit Corporation in the Demon Country more than once, attempting to steal their Medical Scroll and methods for making medical potions, but all of them had never returned.

Besides Sunagakure, even Iwagakure and Kumogakure, which had extensive business dealings with the Demon Country, sent spies to infiltrate the village. Konoha was no exception, but all attempts failed.

After the kidnapping of Shion, the Demon Country has strengthened its defenses. Kakuzu and Sasori dare not provoke Shiraha again, so they are basically protecting Shion and the Serpent Spirit Corporation with the utmost vigilance.

At this moment, deep in the desert of the Land of Wind, a young man in a black cloak slowly walked steadily on the soft sand beneath his feet.

Through the sandstorm, you could see that he was holding a thin rope in his hand, and at the end of the rope was tied a middle-aged man with a rugged face and a thick beard, who was stumbling behind him.

Strangely, the swirling sandstorm seemed to encounter an invisible barrier and was completely stopped when it was about twenty centimeters away from the young man's body.

Because of the sandstorm, the world was a yellowish-orange color. Despite the low visibility, the young man walked with a clear goal in mind, without stopping for a moment.

Until he came to a group of ruins, broken walls, and buildings eroded beyond recognition by wind and sand.

The young man was none other than Shiraha's Wood Spirit Avatar, "Uchiha Issei." After using "Soul Projection" to create a soul clone and merging it with "Uchiha Issei," he had completely acquired some of Shiraha's characteristics and abilities. He could even use Shiraha's Innate Spell from his Third-Class Apprentice stage, "Sixth Sense," "Eye of Truth," and "Super Brain Deduction."

The current "Uchiha Issei" can act independently and maintain a closer connection with Shiraha's main body through the "Soul Projection" soul clone.

The things that Kakuzu and Sasori reported also greatly interested Shiraha.

They captured a missing-nin from Sunagakure named Anrokuzan. After being captured, in order to save his life, Anrokuzan revealed a huge secret.

That is, by activating and absorbing the dragon Dragon Vein deep in the desert of the Land of Wind, one can travel through time and return to the past.

Although it sounded like a fantasy, Kakuzu and Sasori reported it to Shiraha immediately.

After learning about the situation, Shiraha used "Soul Projection" to strengthen "Uchiha Issei" and sent him to the Demon Country, along with Anrokuzan, to the Dragon Vein to investigate.

The situation in the other world where the Mōryō resides is unknown. Creating a "Soul Projection" would be quite taxing on Shiraha. Moreover, "Uchiha Issei" is one of the avatars he has carefully cultivated. Sending him directly to the other world would be too dangerous.

Some higher beings can even track each other across dimensions through their soul aura.

Therefore, Shiraha plans to reach Third Level, or try to explore Alternate Dimension when he encounters a bottleneck.

Moreover, the experiments on the Mōryō are still in their early stages, and it may not be possible to develop them effectively in the short term. Only after the power of the Mōryō has been fully developed will it be the turn of the other world to be developed.

Now that Shiraha has learned the secret of being able to travel through time, he is naturally very interested and wants to find out more.

If such miraculous power truly exists, it would be safest to keep it in one's own hands.

"Is this the Ruins of Loulan, the location of the dragon Dragon Vein you mentioned?"

After stopping, Uchiha Issei looked at Anrokuzan behind him and asked.

"Yes, yes." Anrokuzan looked meek and submissive. At first, he was very stubborn, but after experiencing Kakuzu and Sasori's methods, he was finally persuaded. Now, following the obviously higher-ranking "Uchiha Issei," he was even more cooperative, at least until he found a way to escape.

"Let's go."

Uchiha Issei opened his senses but found no traps or barriers, so he walked deeper into the ruins buried by sand.

At this moment, he could vaguely sense the Chakra reaction underground. It was very strong, but it was still not very reliable to say that it could travel through the world and return to the Anrokuzan. The Chakra contained in it did not seem to be much stronger than the original body.

With doubts in their hearts, Uchiha Issei and Anrokuzan walked to the underground entrance, cleared away the sand and gravel on the surface, and then entered the underground.

After walking through the narrow and cramped passage, a huge underground space comes into view.

In the center of the open space was a circular barrier that occupied most of the ground space. On the stone platform in the center was a specially made Kunai that resembled a trident. The spell symbols wrapped around the handle were extremely familiar to "Uchiha Issei".

This is clearly Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God Kunai!

The entire circular barrier emitted extremely strong Sealing Jutsu Chakra fluctuations.

Moreover, according to Uchiha Issei's perception, there seemed to be terrifying Natural Energy beneath the barrier.

"This place was sealed by the Fourth Hokage of Konoha using the Dragon Vein Seal. Only by opening the barrier can the Chakra accumulated beneath the entire earth vein be released, and this power be used to return to the past."

Anrokuzan stepped forward to explain, and then put forward his conditions.

"Currently, the only people who can break the Dragon Vein Seal are myself and the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, who is already unconscious. If you can promise to let me go after I break the seal, I will help you break the seal."

"Of course." Uchiha Issei nodded, his dark eyes suddenly turning crimson, and three Tomoe appeared. He activated his Dōjutsu the moment he spoke.

Anrokuzan, who had just shown a look of joy, suddenly became dazed.

Dragon Vein Seal may be a high-level technique, but both Shiraha and Kushina are experts in Sealing Jutsu. Even Minato Namikaze is inferior to him in terms of Sealing Jutsu.

If even a regular Jōnin from Anrokuzan like An Sunagakure could learn Sealing Jutsu, Uchiha Issei, who had merged with Shiraha's soul clone, could naturally master it as well.

Under the influence of Genjutsu, Anrokuzan explained in detail the complete method for breaking the Dragon Vein Seal, and revealed all the secrets he had kept hidden in his heart.

It turns out that he planned to pretend to teach the method of breaking the Dragon Vein Seal, then secretly activate the seal and take advantage of the moment when the Dragon Vein Chakra erupted to travel back to the past through the Dragon Vein.

As long as he and "Uchiha Issei" do not enter the Dragon Vein at the same time, even if there is only a few seconds between them, there will be a huge time difference. In this way, he can take advantage of the time difference to avoid "Uchiha Issei's " pursuit.

This was top-secret intelligence obtained by Anrokuzan, and he did not reveal it even when he was severely interrogated by Kakuzu and Sasori.

"I see."

Uchiha Issei understood, and then, relying on Shiraha's profound Sealing Jutsu, he learned the Dragon Vein Seal in less than a day.

After learning the Dragon Vein Seal, Uchiha Issei did not rush to open the seal. Instead, he took out a small bottle containing Shiraha's Blood from his Storage Scroll and injected the blood into Anrokuzan's body using a syringe.

Under the control of the Genjutsu, Anrokuzan's mind was completely in a daze, but his body continued to twitch.

For many, Shiraha's blood can be a source of strength, or it can be a deadly poison.

The pain of fusion is something most people cannot bear.

However, under the care of "Uchiha Issei", Anrokuzan quickly integrated with Shiraha's blood.

At this moment, not only "Uchiha Issei" clearly sensed the blood connection between himself and Anrokuzan.

A week later, Uchiha Issei set up a barrier Sorcery Array around the entire Ruins of Loulan before activating the Dragon Vein Seal.

Boom--!

The violent Chakra filled the entire underground space the moment the seal was broken, as if the earth's veins had been connected.

After enhancing the Genjutsu on Anrokuzan with his Mangekyō Sharingan, "Uchiha Issei" threw him into the Chakra Uzumaki at the center of the Dragon Vein.

After waiting for about five minutes, "Uchiha Issei" could no longer sense Anrokuzan's presence, but he could still detect that An Lushan was still alive through a faint bloodline connection. So, just as he was about to give up, he also leaped into the Chakra Uzumaki at the center of the Dragon Vein.

Without the support of "Uchiha Issei", the Dragon Vein instantly stopped gushing Chakra, but the raging Chakra beneath the earth veins continued to accumulate, waiting for the next eruption.

At this moment, Shiraha, far away in the Uzumaki Clan grounds, opened his eyes in a room in the underground laboratory.

PS: This is a transitional chapter; I'll update it tomorrow.