At night, Mokgetsu was interrogating An Lushan alone.
"Tell me the Secret Technique for absorbing Dragon Vein Power, and I can let you die a little more peacefully," Mokgetsu said calmly.
An Lushan's value was limited to just that.
"Hahaha, is that it? So you also want the Dragon Vein's power," An Lushan laughed heartily.
Finding himself in such a dire situation, he was already resigned to his fate, believing he was doomed to die, but unexpectedly, there was a chance for survival.
Although Mokgetsu's words were harsh, An Lushan didn't mind; he understood people like Mokgetsu who pursued power all too well.
"Release me, and then we can kill the Queen of Loulan together. Her daughter can also control the Dragon Vein Power and is easier to manipulate. At that time, I can give you 60% of the Dragon Vein ability, and I'll only take 40%," An Lushan proposed temptingly.
"With your immense strength, absorbing such a large amount of Dragon Vein Power could surely make you invincible in the Ninja World. At that point, you'd be its sole ruler, almost like a second Six Paths Sage."
If Mokgetsu accepted his terms, An Lushan would indeed teach him the Secret Technique to absorb Dragon Vein Energy.
Of course, An Lushan wasn't that trustworthy, and only half of what he said was true. If Mokgetsu dared to use the Secret Technique with a regular body to absorb Dragon Vein Energy, it would only lead to his demise.
By then, An Lushan wouldn't need to do anything; he'd just wait for Mokgetsu to die and then absorb the Dragon Vein Energy from his body.
"You still want 40%?" Mokgetsu smiled while looking at An Lushan.
He thought An Lushan was quite the dreamer to propose a 60-40 split under these circumstances.
"Then it's 80-20, no less. That's my bottom line," An Lushan said sternly.
In truth, even 0.5% would have been fine for him, since after Mokgetsu's death, he'd get it back anyway, but he feared Mokgetsu would see through the ruse.
"I don't have time to play games with you. If you won't talk, I'll have to use Ninjutsu to dig through your memories myself," Mokgetsu said, his smile vanishing as he looked at An Lushan expressionlessly.
Mokgetsu would never trust An Lushan. With such a great advantage, there was no way he'd waste time engaging in futile conversations with him.
While grinding for intermediate course rewards, Mokgetsu had unlocked a Secret Technique of the Yamanaka Clan. However, due to his lack of proficiency, he wasn't confident he could find the information he wanted accurately.
Moreover, An Lushan's current state was somewhat special. In strict terms, he was no longer human, and Mokgetsu wasn't sure if the Secret Technique would work on him.
"If you can do it, give it a try," An Lushan retorted without backing down.
Extracting information directly from a ninja's mind was an exceedingly rare Secret Technique, and he didn't believe Mokgetsu could actually know how to perform it, especially given his current state.
Mokgetsu said nothing further to An Lushan, leaving only some torturous arrangements before departing.
If An Lushan were willing to speak of his own accord, that would be ideal. If not, Mokgetsu planned to wait for his mental state to deteriorate before using the Secret Technique to invade his mind.
In the following period, Mokgetsu's activities in Konoha were similar, consisting mainly of teaching and research.
However, due to time constraints, Mokgetsu temporarily shelved his study of Fuinjutsu, focusing entirely on the development of Breath of Yang.
With the added benefit of classes and Mokgetsu's full dedication, progress with Breath of Yang was promising, already showing tangible hope for real cultivation.
At this time, Jiraiya arrived in Loulan.
Mokgetsu's Shadow Clone escorted Jiraiya's Shadow Clone into Loulan and then cancelled itself, leaving only a Flying Thunder God Kunai on the ground.
Of course, Mokgetsu couldn't personally go to Jiraiya; after Uzumaki Naruto expressed his request, Mokgetsu immediately dispatched a Shadow Clone to find Jiraiya.
This way, he wouldn't delay the progress of developing Breath of Yang and could quickly reunite Naruto with Jiraiya.
After receiving the Shadow Clone's memories, Mokgetsu promptly used Flying Thunder God to teleport to Jiraiya's side.
"Lord Jiraiya." Mokgetsu greeted Jiraiya with a warm smile.
"Mokgetsu, you've also learned the Flying Thunder God Jutsu," Jiraiya said in surprised astonishment.
Flying Thunder God was no ordinary Ninjutsu; its difficulty was staggering. In Jiraiya's memory, only Namikaze Minato had learned it since the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, developed it. He hadn't expected Mokgetsu to become the third person so quickly.
"Yes, and I owe it to Minato's guidance. Without him, I wouldn't have mastered Flying Thunder God Jutsu so quickly," Mokgetsu nodded with a smile.
After some brief pleasantries, Mokgetsu didn't waste further time and used Flying Thunder God to reach Uzumaki Naruto, bringing him before Jiraiya.
"Big Brother Mokgetsu, how come..." Uzumaki Naruto started to ask why Mokgetsu had come so suddenly, but when he saw the familiar yet foreign figure in front of him, he couldn't continue.
He felt familiarity because their white hair, the marks around their eyes, and their aura proved that this was indeed the pervy sage he missed dearly.
Yet at the same time, Uzumaki Naruto felt estranged because the pervy sage in front of him wasn't wearing his usual red robe, but gray armor instead, and his face was devoid of any wrinkles, differing significantly from the image he remembered.
Looking at the younger version of Jiraiya, Uzumaki Naruto felt a sense of dissonance; he was a traveler from another time.
Realizing this, Uzumaki Naruto tried to control his emotions, striving to keep his eyes from reddening and tears from falling, keeping his voice from choking.