Windblown sand swept through the ruins of the ancient city of Rōran, where broken walls cast mottled shadows beneath the moonlight. At the city's center, the site of the legendary Dragon Vein altar had been sealed off by layers of Konoha Anbu. The Barrier Team was urgently setting up powerful isolation and protective barriers to prevent leaking energy from attracting unwanted attention.
Deep within the altar lay not a traditional stone structure, but an enormous cavern of seemingly natural energy crystals. At its center, a thick current of pale golden energy surged from underground like a living creature, shot toward the cavern ceiling, and vanished into the void-this was the manifestation of the dragon vein's energy. Powerful, unnerving space-time fluctuations filled the air, as though the slightest touch could tear through the fabric of reality.
Orochimaru stood beside the energy current, excitement and caution gleaming in his golden serpentine eyes. "Minato's seal was indeed exquisite, but I've found a way to undo it, thanks to Lord Second's help."
Various precision instruments and scrolls inscribed with intricate runes lay beside him. Tobirama, in his White Zetsu body, sat cross-legged directly before the energy current, his eyes closed in concentration. He adjusted the alignment between his soul and this temporary body while drawing on his profound understanding of Space-Time Ninjutsu to sense and analyze the patterns governing the dragon vein's energy.
Tsunade stood a little farther away, watching everything with a grave expression. Conflict and worry filled her heart. She hoped this insane plan would succeed and offer a turning point for Ling and Konoha, yet she feared the dreadful consequences of failure-the annihilation of Tobirama's soul, or even an unpredictable space-time catastrophe.
"The energy spectrum is stable. The space-time anchor has been provisionally locked onto Konoha's first year, on the third