Traveling

Before dawn, the desert glimmered with a cold silver-blue light. Fine grains of sand swirled in the wind, occasionally striking the bamboo sedan's curtains with faint rustling sounds.

Neji carried the specially made bamboo sedan on his back, his steps steady on the soft sand. Even with someone on his back, he showed no sign of strain.

Ever since successfully mastering Sage Mode, Neji's strength had firmly entered the Jonin level. All he lacked was the experience of a Jonin, and that could be made up for by taking on more missions.

A corner of the sedan curtain was lifted by the morning breeze, revealing Tsunade's sleeping profile, which looked especially pale in the dim light.

Her breathing was faint, nearly inaudible.

Only the slight rise and fall of her chest proved that she was still holding on.

Neji's Byakugan swept over her body. Only after confirming that her chakra flow showed no abnormalities did he relax slightly.

Shizune walked beside the sedan, holding a medical scroll in her arms. From time to time, she looked up at the sky, her brows faintly furrowed.

"At this pace, we'll reach the Loulan ruins in another day," she said softly. There was a trace of exhaustion in her voice, but even more determination.

Xiao Xi walked on the other side, gripping a kunai as she vigilantly scanned their surroundings. The desert's silence unsettled her, as though enemies might be hiding behind every dune.

"Shizune..." After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked, "What happened to Misaki afterward...?"

Shizune's steps faltered slightly, and her eyes dimmed for an instant.

Shizune's voice was soft, carrying the restraint unique to a healer, yet beneath it lay unmistakably suppressed sorrow.

"She was taken back by the village's ninja," Shizune said quietly, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the scroll. "But her younger sister... was never found."

Her tone was not as gentle as usual. Instead, it carried a heavy helplessness, as though she were recounting an ending she had witnessed countless times before.

"That child didn't hold on until we arrived..." She paused and did not continue.

Neji listened in silence, his gaze still fixed ahead, though the fingers gripping the sedan straps tightened slightly.

"Is this the real Ninja World?" Xiao Xi's voice trembled. "Why are there so many tragic things? When will all of this finally end?"

Shizune drew a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound calmer.

"The Ninja World has always been like this, Xiao Xi," she said softly, her tone carrying the weariness of someone who had lived through it. "War, hatred, plunder... these things will never disappear. All we can do is protect the people around us as best we can."

Her gaze unconsciously fell on Tsunade, softening for a moment.

After a brief silence, Shizune added, "Perhaps the Ninja World truly needs a change, just as Neji said!"

Neji did not respond, but his Byakugan flickered slightly, as though he were staring at some distant point.

"Misaki's eyes... have already lost their light," Xiao Xi repeated softly, her voice filled with anger and helplessness she could not hide.

Neji finally spoke, his voice low and calm.

"Light does not disappear," he said. "It is merely covered."

Shizune and Xiao Xi looked at him at the same time, confused.

Neji did not explain, but his gaze was sharper than ever.

"Don't worry. Someone will always rise from adversity and cast off the oppression above their head. Even if he only does it because he does not want to be bound, the light he fights for will still shine evenly upon the people at the bottom."

His voice was soft, yet it fell into the desert wind like a weighty oath.

Shizune froze for a moment, then revealed a faint, happy smile.

"Young Master Neji... sometimes, you really resemble Lady Tsunade when she was young."

Neji did not respond and simply continued onward.

The tranquil desert resembled a frozen silver sea, with fine sand flowing in the breeze like countless tiny stars whispering.

Moonlight spilled over the dunes, outlining gentle curves like the backs of sleeping beasts.

In the distance, the wind swept sand into a hazy mist that drifted uncertainly along the border between dawn and night.

Neji's footsteps sank into the sand. Every step stirred up fine dust, leaving shallow footprints behind him, but the wind soon smoothed them away, as though the desert rejected all traces left by outsiders.

Occasionally, rustling sounds came from beneath the sand—perhaps sand scorpions lurking in their nests, or perhaps some more ancient creature awakening deep below the dunes.

The sky showed a strange gradient, shifting from deep indigo to pale silver-gray before taking on a faint orange-red hue in the east.

The morning star had not yet faded, still stubbornly hanging in the sky like some sign of fate.

Suddenly, a strong wind swept past, and the surface of the dunes rose and fell like rippling water. The sound of sand rubbing together was like a low chant.

Neji's Byakugan flickered slightly. Beneath the layers of sand, he could see corners of ancient buildings occasionally revealed by the erosion of the wind and sand—the ruins of Loulan, remnants of a civilization forgotten by time.

Shizune pulled her cloak tighter, the sound of sand striking the fabric like fine raindrops.

She looked into the distance. On the horizon, the outline of a ruined spire appeared and disappeared, as unreal as a mirage.

"Is that Loulan?" Xiao Xi asked softly, her voice nearly swallowed by the wind.

Tsunade slowly opened her eyes. The blowing sand blurred her vision, but she could still sense a massive chakra pulsing in the distance—the Dragon Vein, like a sleeping dragon breathing slowly beneath the sea of sand.

At the edge of the desert, the rising sun finally appeared. Golden light flooded over the dunes like a tide, dyeing the entire wasteland a blazing orange-red.

The sand glittered beneath the sunlight, like a road paved with countless tiny gems, leading straight toward that forgotten ancient city.

"We're here!"

Neji stopped walking and gazed at the spire ahead.

"Whew, we finally made it. Lady Tsunade, we'll soon find a way to treat your injuries!"

Shizune looked happily at the distant ruins.

"Don't be so optimistic. We didn't have to take such a risk. The danger of the Dragon Vein is unknown, yet you all rushed here so recklessly. You really aren't following even the most basic ninja rules! Hahaha..."

By the end, Tsunade had amused herself and started laughing.

"Hahaha..."

"Hahahahahaha..."

Seeing that Tsunade was still in the mood to joke, everyone laughed happily.

"Isn't that what ninja are? Even when we know there is little hope ahead, we still fight for that sliver of survival. We never give up. That is our ninja way!"

The howling wind made Neji's voice somewhat hoarse, but his Byakugan shone exceptionally brightly beneath the yellow sand. Boundless strength seemed reflected in his faintly blue pupils.

"Youth really is wonderful," Tsunade sighed.

"Everyone, be careful. There's a Sand Shadow patrol ahead!"

Neji's gaze pierced through the yellow sand, watching figures flash behind a dune several kilometers away.

"Sand Shadow Village is Konoha's ally, but the Dragon Vein is no trivial matter. Neji, take everyone around them as much as possible!"

"Yes, Teacher!"

Afterward, Neji led everyone through a weak point in the patrol's formation.