At that moment, Qingyun still had no idea that, thanks to his butterfly effect, Minato Namikaze had fought A and Bee ahead of time and won far more easily than he had in the original story.
With the Divine Condor leading the way, he finally found the Country of Roran in the heart of the desert after three days of searching. Below him, the Rōran Villagers went about their own business, far removed from conflict, as though they lived in a secluded paradise. Yet life in the middle of the desert was especially harsh, and the Dragon Vein's occasional rampages made survival even harder.
The closer Qingyun drew to the Dragon Vein, the more clearly he sensed an immense reserve of energy deep beneath this land. Within that vast energy lurked a trace of savage mental power. Clearly, after countless years of nourishment from the Heavens and Earth, the Dragon Vein had developed a spark of intelligence. But because it had absorbed the Turbid Energy underground, that intelligence was vicious and bloodthirsty.
Moreover, the Queen of Roran's royal scepter could restrain the Dragon Vein. Together with the underground Seal, it had kept the Dragon Vein trapped here all this time, deepening its hatred of Rōran. From time to time, it battered the Seal, bringing earthquakes upon the people who lived here.
Standing on the Divine Condor's back, Qingyun met the Dragon Vein's gaze from afar. The Dragon Vein seemed to sense him as well, fixing its bell-sized eyes on him. After a long moment, it let out a roar that sounded somewhere between a dragon and a flood dragon.
The Dragon Vein's roar startled all the Rōran Villagers. Thinking it was rampaging again, they hurried toward the Shelter.
For a time, Qingyun's arrival threw peaceful Rōran into chaos. Amid the