In front of the towering structure of the kingdom of Roran, a slender figure was slowly walking down the stone steps.
Several years had passed, leaving only faint traces of time on her face. The youthful innocence that had once lingered between her brows and eyes had faded, replaced by the calmness, dignity, and composure befitting a queen.
Sāra walked up to Kiyohara and stopped in front of him. She raised her head and looked at him.
"It has been a long time, Kiyohara."
"It really has been a long time."
Kiyohara looked at her and gave a slight nod.
The last time they had met, he had still been an ordinary shinobi. At that time, he had accompanied Tsunade and Minato to Roran to carry out a mission.
Back then, Sāra had still been a flustered and inexperienced girl. Now, she was already capable of standing on her own and handling matters as a true queen.
Kiyohara's gaze passed over Sāra and landed on the crystal at the top of the tower in the center of the plaza.
The chakra of the Dragon Vein flowed through that place, supplying the entire ancient kingdom of Roran and allowing it to operate normally.
"Sāra, I need to borrow some of the Dragon Vein's chakra."
Kiyohara got straight to the point.
Sāra was somewhat surprised.
However, she had already realized that Kiyohara would never come to Roran for no reason.
"All right."
Sāra nodded, stepped to the side, and made an inviting gesture.
She turned around and led Kiyohara and the others toward the interior of the tower.
Tsunade and Pakura followed behind Kiyohara, their eyes repeatedly scanning the walls covered in densely packed fuinjutsu seals.
Pakura's aura was still somewhat weak, but her injuries had already stabilized.
This was also her first time entering the kingdom of Roran, so she was extremely curious about everything along the way.
The interior of the tower was much wider than it appeared from the outside.
The inner walls of the tower were covered with countless fuinjutsu formulas. These formulas extended downward from the crystal at the top of the tower, following the stone walls all the way down before ultimately converging on the altar at the exact center of the tower's base.
The altar was circular, approximately five meters in diameter, and its surface was sunken into the shape of a shallow bowl.
The bottom of the bowl was carved with layer upon layer of fuinjutsu formulas. The outermost layer was a contract seal, while the innermost layer was the Four Symbols Seal. The layers were intricately intertwined, firmly locking the power of the Dragon Vein beneath the ground.
All of this had been created by Minato.
When Kiyohara had observed it back then, he had thought the arrangement was extremely ingenious.
Looking at it again now, however, he suddenly understood everything.
In terms of fuinjutsu techniques, he had perhaps surpassed Minato without even realizing it.
The current Minato had devoted himself entirely to his family. He had already become a model family man.
Kiyohara stopped at the edge of the altar.
He raised his right hand, and a layer of chakra flames extended from it.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The chakra shot out and struck several crucial nodes.
At the same time, an invisible ocular power surged from his eyes. The pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotated within his pupils.
The first thing he dealt with was the contract seal.
Kiyohara's chakra transformed into threads finer than strands of hair, following the direction of the patterns as he peeled away the layers one by one.
The structure of this seal was extraordinarily complicated, but to Kiyohara, who had mastered fuinjutsu techniques, unraveling it was nothing more than a matter of thought.
The patterns of the seal began to loosen.
It was like a knotted rope being taken apart, with the seal collapsing layer by layer from the outside inward.
Purple light began to seep through the cracks created by the collapse.
Next came the core Four Symbols Seal.
Kiyohara took out a sealing scroll, unrolled it, and spread it flat along the edge of the altar.
The scroll was covered in complicated fuinjutsu formulas. At its center was a blank circular area, surrounded by the trigrams representing the Four Symbols.
He formed a series of hand seals.
When the final seal was completed, he slammed both hands against the edge of the altar.
The four positions of the Four Symbols Seal simultaneously lit up with different-colored radiance.
Four pillars of light shot into the sky from the edges of the altar, converging at the top of the tower.
The transparent barrier shattered with a crisp sound, transforming into countless tiny points of light that scattered through the air.
The seal, at this moment, completely collapsed!
BOOM!
In that instant, a violent surge of chakra erupted from beneath the altar.
The entire tower began to shake violently.
The fuinjutsu formulas carved into the walls began disappearing one after another.
Purple light surged from the cracks at the center of the altar. A hurricane suddenly appeared out of nowhere, sweeping broken stones and dust into the air.
Queen Sāra stumbled.
The violent wind made it difficult for her to keep her footing, and her body began falling backward.
A hand firmly supported her back.
Tsunade stood beside Sāra. Her long blonde hair was blown backward by the hurricane, yet both of her feet remained firmly planted on the ground without moving an inch.
Her other arm was positioned in front of Pakura, protecting her behind her body.
"Move back."
Tsunade spoke in a deep voice.
She protected Sāra and Pakura as they retreated, continuing backward until they reached the stone pillars near the entrance of the tower.
Sāra held onto one of the pillars and finally steadied herself. Her eyes remained fixed on Kiyohara standing before the altar.
The violent wind caused her skirt to flutter wildly, while several strands of red hair scattered across her cheeks.
Kiyohara stood within the hurricane.
His robes billowed violently behind him, and his long black hair danced wildly in the wind.
The pattern within his Mangekyo Sharingan rotated slowly. His ocular power continued pouring outward without pause, suppressing the Dragon Vein chakra that was on the verge of becoming uncontrollable.
"Not enough."
Kiyohara continued increasing the intensity.
Then, he completely released the seal.
Crack!
A crisp sound of something breaking came from beneath the altar, as if something had snapped apart at that very moment.
Immediately afterward, the ground began to tremble.
The stone slabs across the plaza cracked under the shaking. Cracks spread outward from the base of the tower, resembling a gigantic spiderweb.
From beneath the originally dried-up altar came a deep, resonant dragon roar.
Pakura instinctively covered her ears, but the sound still echoed clearly within her mind.
Her face became even paler than before, and her eyes were filled with shock.
"What is this...?"
Before she could finish speaking, a sharp sound interrupted her.
A Flying Thunder God kunai was blasted out from the center of the altar. It spun through the air before embedding itself into a distant wall.
Immediately afterward, an enormous amount of purple chakra erupted from beneath the altar.
The chakra was so dense that it was almost condensed into liquid. It poured out from the cracks in the altar like a purple waterfall flowing upward, shooting straight into the sky.
The top of the tower was directly blown away.
A pillar of purple light pierced through the ceiling and shot straight into the sea of clouds.
The clouds were pierced by the enormous pillar of light and began rolling outward in all directions, forming a gigantic vortex.
The entire sky was dyed purple.
Above the desert, the purple pillar of light resembled a gigantic sword stabbing into the heavens. It could be clearly seen from hundreds of kilometers away.
Sāra raised her head and stared at the pillar of light that seemed to connect heaven and earth. Its dazzling purple radiance was reflected in her eyes.
"This disturbance..."
Tsunade frowned.
There was no way such a massive disturbance could go unnoticed by Suna.
Although Roran was hidden deep within the desert and was some distance away from Suna, a pillar of light of this scale was far too conspicuous. Not only would Suna notice it, but even people in the Land of Rivers would probably be able to see it.
"The shinobi from Sunagakure will arrive soon."
Tsunade's voice was solemn.
Kiyohara naturally realized this as well.
He did not waste any time. He took a step back from the edge of the altar and formed hand seals in front of his chest.
From the sealing scroll, he took out a specially designed spherical container.
He held the container in his palm and aimed it at the purple pillar of chakra erupting from the center of the altar.
This container was precisely the artificial Tailed Beast vessel that he had spent a great deal of time continuously perfecting.
The surface of the container possessed a strange texture that seemed to exist somewhere between living tissue and metal.
The moment those patterns came into contact with the Dragon Vein chakra, they began writhing like blood vessels, continuously drawing the purple chakra into the interior of the container.
Boom!
At that moment, the Dragon Vein chakra suddenly split off from the pillar of light.
It condensed into the shape of a gigantic purple chakra dragon.
The enormous dragon opened its jaws and lunged toward Kiyohara, attempting to tear him apart.
Golden chakra suddenly erupted behind Kiyohara.
The enormous form of the Complete Body Susanoo rose from the ground behind him, its golden armor covering its entire body.
Beneath the Tengu mask, two Mangekyo Sharingan stared coldly at the purple dragon.
One of the gigantic hands of the Complete Body Susanoo reached over from the side and grabbed the purple chakra dragon by the neck, lifting its entire body into the air.
This Dragon Vein had remained in a dried-up state for many years. Although it had accumulated some chakra again, it was nowhere near its peak condition.
With this level of power, the purple dragon could not even break free from one hand of the Complete Body Susanoo.
The fingers of the Susanoo tightened.
The purple dragon let out a shrill cry before transforming into countless purple points of light and scattering into the air.
Kiyohara continued advancing his artificial Tailed Beast project.
Under his control, the spherical container began actively absorbing the Dragon Vein chakra. The more chakra it absorbed, the more the container expanded.
Originally, Kiyohara had designed it as a sphere.
However, as more and more Dragon Vein chakra poured into it, irregular bulges began appearing across its surface.
The bulges became increasingly obvious, gradually forming a recognizable outline.
It was the shape of a dragon.
The artificial Tailed Beast continued expanding.
One meter.
Two meters.
Three meters.
Four meters.
Five meters.
In the span of only a dozen breaths, the spherical container had expanded to nearly ten meters in diameter, and it was still continuing to grow.
The surface of the container had already changed from its original milky white color to a deep purple.
At the same time, a sandstorm began sweeping across the outskirts of the kingdom of Roran.
The disturbance of the Dragon Vein chakra had triggered chaotic chakra currents in the surrounding area. The wind and sand across the desert were swept into the air, forming a wall of sand dozens of meters high.
The sandstorm advanced toward the city of Roran from every direction. Wherever it passed, sand dunes were flattened.
Sāra stared at the approaching wall of sand in the distance and clenched her fists.
"These sandstorms..."
She knew very well that Roran's barrier could not withstand a sandstorm of this scale.
Once the wall of sand reached the city, the reconstruction that Roran had spent so many years carrying out would be destroyed in an instant.
Tsunade noticed the expression on her face.
She patted Sāra on the shoulder and said solemnly, "Don't worry. He will have a way to deal with it."
Tsunade did not believe that Kiyohara had failed to make preparations.
Based on everything she knew about Kiyohara, he always made thorough preparations for everything he did.
The next moment.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four soft sounds rang out almost simultaneously.
Four shadow clones appeared beside Kiyohara and immediately shot toward the east, west, south, and north.
East, west, south, and north.
The four shadow clones stopped simultaneously, each standing at the corresponding position around the outskirts of the ancient city of Roran.
They raised their hands at the same time and formed the exact same hand seal.
Four Red Yang Formation!
Four walls of crimson flames emerged from the palms of the four clones and converged above the ancient kingdom of Roran.
A gigantic rectangular barrier formed, enveloping the entire city together with the tower.
Crimson flames burned fiercely across the walls of the barrier, making the radiance of the purple pillar of light appear even more dazzling.
The sandstorm slammed into the barrier.
The violent storm continued crashing against the barrier walls, but the barrier remained completely unmoved.
Kiyohara stood before the altar and continued controlling the container as it absorbed the Dragon Vein chakra.
The Four Red Yang Formation was even more powerful than the Uchiha Flame Formation.
However, it required four Kage level shinobi to activate it together. The technique required the casters to simultaneously release chakra from the east, west, south, and north, forming a rectangular barrier made from red flames.
The barrier possessed the ability to seal in both directions. It could isolate external attacks and prevent outside interference while also preventing targets inside from escaping. Anyone who touched the barrier walls would suffer burns from the flames.
Kiyohara possessed an enormous amount of chakra.
Even after splitting off shadow clones, he could still guarantee that every single clone possessed a chakra reserve above the Kage level.
Meanwhile, the artificial Tailed Beast vessel in Kiyohara's hands continued to expand.
Fifteen meters.
Twenty meters.
Twenty-five meters.
The dragon-shaped outline on the surface of the container became increasingly distinct.
The head, torso, limbs, and tail gradually took shape.
The Dragon Vein chakra was reshaping the container from within, transforming it from a sphere into the form of a dragon.
Another ten minutes or so passed.
The artificial Tailed Beast finally approached its limit.
Fine cracks began appearing across the surface of the container.
The Dragon Vein chakra inside had already reached a state close to saturation. If more chakra were injected, the container would face the risk of collapsing entirely.
At the same time, the Dragon Vein chakra beneath the altar was almost completely exhausted.
The purple pillar of light that had been shooting into the sky began to grow thinner and fainter.
It changed from a waterfall into a stream.
Then, from a stream into a thin line.
Seeing this, Kiyohara decisively stopped the absorption.
"Seal!"
Fuinjutsu formulas emerged from Kiyohara's palm and transformed into countless chains.
The chains wrapped around the artificial Tailed Beast's shell from every direction.
They tightened more and more, forcibly compressing the swollen shell inward.
However, during the compression process, an unexpected change suddenly occurred.
The Dragon Vein chakra inside the artificial Tailed Beast had already formed the shape of a dragon, while the fuinjutsu on the outside was forcibly compressing it back into a sphere.
The two opposing forces began clashing with each other, causing the shell to twist violently.
The dragon shape struggled to break free from the spherical shape, while the spherical shape attempted to flatten and suppress the dragon.
The two forces fought fiercely across the surface of the artificial Tailed Beast.
Kiyohara frowned and increased the output of his fuinjutsu technique.
More chains surged from his palm, wrapping around the artificial Tailed Beast layer after layer.
Crack!
Under the regulation of the fuinjutsu, the two opposing forces somehow reached a strange balance.
The dragon shape and the spherical shape were no longer fighting against each other. Instead, they began to fuse together.
Under the suppression of the fuinjutsu technique, the shell slowly shrank.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three meters.
One meter.
When the shell had shrunk to only the size of a palm, its form finally stabilized.
It had become a completely purple jade disc, approximately five centimeters in diameter.
The relief carved into the surface of the jade disc depicted a dragon's head biting onto the dragon's tail at the opposite end of its body.
The dragon's mouth held its own tail, with its head and tail connected to one another, forming a perfect closed loop.
Kiyohara held the jade disc in his palm and lowered his head, carefully examining this unexpected creation.
Its form was somewhat similar to a magical artifact, much like the artifact Miroku had left behind for Shion.
However, this artifact was filled with an enormous amount of Dragon Vein chakra.
"It is finally complete. I suppose I can now be considered a Jinchuriki of the Dragon Vein."
Kiyohara put the purple jade disc into his clothing and then raised his head.
After the top of the tower had been blown away, the sky had already returned to its original clear blue color.
The clouds slowly gathered again, covering the sun.
The flames of the Four Red Yang Formation were still burning around the city.
Sāra supported herself against a stone pillar and stood up, her deep red eyes turning toward Kiyohara.
"It will not affect Roran."
Kiyohara looked at her and took the initiative to reassure her.
"I only drained the Dragon Vein chakra from the surface layer. The true source of the Dragon Vein is deep beneath the earth, and the Dragon Veins throughout the entire planet are interconnected."
"It will not take long for new Dragon Vein chakra to flow here and replenish the altar."
As he spoke, Kiyohara took the purple jade disc out of his clothing.
His chakra adhered to the surface of the purple jade disc.
A strand of faint purple chakra was drawn out from the dragon-shaped disc and, under his guidance, slowly floated toward the altar.
Although that strand of chakra was extremely weak, its quality was exceptionally pure.
It was the chakra of the Dragon Vein's origin.
The chakra fell into the dried-up cracks at the bottom of the altar.
A moment later, a faint purple glow appeared once again beneath the altar.
The radiance was much weaker than before, but it was slowly growing stronger.
The dried cracks were gradually being filled with fresh Dragon Vein chakra.
Sāra watched the faint purple light reigniting beneath the altar, and her tense shoulders slowly relaxed.
"So Roran will not be affected?"
Queen Sāra asked.
"It will be weakened for a while, but it will recover soon."
Kiyohara withdrew his finger and placed the dragon disc back into his clothing.
"However, the disturbance this time was far too great. Suna will definitely react."
He looked at Sāra.
"From today onward, the kingdom of Roran will become a protected country under Konoha's highest level of protection. Konoha will increase the number of shinobi stationed in Roran to assist with its defense."
Kiyohara paused before stating the most important condition.
"In exchange, Roran will provide a certain amount of Dragon Vein chakra samples every year for research purposes."
Sāra remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"I agree."
She knew that this was the best possible outcome.
Without Konoha's protection, Roran would have no way of surviving independently while under the covetous gaze of Suna.
Kiyohara nodded and then turned around, walking toward Tsunade and Pakura.
...….
Konoha Village.
Hokage's Office.
When Kiyohara pushed open the door and walked inside, Konan was standing by the window with a scroll in her hand.
Hearing the footsteps, she turned her head, her gaze falling upon him.
"Why did you call me here?"
Konan's voice was cool and calm.
"Help her complete the procedures for joining the ANBU."
Kiyohara nodded toward Pakura behind him.
Pakura stood at the doorway. She had already changed into that silver-white set of Chakra Armor.
Her long green hair was tied into a high ponytail with a hair tie.
Konan glanced at Pakura.
She had already grown accustomed to Kiyohara occasionally returning from outside with another person.
At this point, she was almost completely numb to it.
"Follow me."
Konan put away the scroll and walked toward the door.
When she reached Pakura, she stopped and looked her up and down.
"What can you do?"
"Killing people."
Pakura answered without hesitation.
The corner of Konan's mouth twitched slightly.
This person really was just like Uchiha Hikari.
She turned around and walked out of the office.
"Follow me."
Pakura glanced at Kiyohara.
Kiyohara nodded at her.
She took a deep breath and stepped forward, following Konan's retreating figure.
The door closed behind them.
Only Kiyohara remained in the office.
He sat down in the Hokage's chair and reached for the purple jade disc on the desk, gently turning it over in his palm.
The dragon disc rotated between his fingers, its dragon's mouth still holding its own tail.
"Then, let's begin."
Kiyohara tried eating a small piece of the jade disc.
Once the Dragon Vein chakra entered his meridians, it began penetrating his cells in a manner similar to Tailed Beast chakra, but it was considerably more overbearing.
When ordinary Tailed Beast chakra entered the human body, the cells would reject it like an invading foreign substance. The body needed to continuously adapt before the cells could gradually accept the new chakra properties.
Dragon Vein chakra was different.
After entering the cells, it immediately began changing their maximum capacity for containing chakra.
It was as though a container could originally hold only one barrel of water, but the Dragon Vein chakra changed the material from which the container itself was made, transforming it into a much larger container.
Moreover, this transformation was primarily concentrated in the body's physical energy.
Kiyohara could clearly feel that his muscles were becoming denser under the infiltration of the Dragon Vein chakra.
"No wonder Anrokuzan was able to use it to create an immortal and indestructible puppet army."
Kiyohara secretly pondered the matter.
The enhancement Dragon Vein chakra provided to physical energy was far more direct than that of any Tailed Beast chakra.
The reason Anrokuzan's puppets, which were powered by Dragon Vein chakra, were practically immortal and indestructible was because Dragon Vein chakra could continuously transform the structure of the puppets, allowing them to heal and reassemble themselves even after being shattered.
If it were used on a human body, the effect would only be even more pronounced.
At the same time, however, the domineering nature of Dragon Vein chakra was also far beyond that of Tailed Beast chakra.
For an ordinary person, coming into contact with Tailed Beast chakra was practically equivalent to touching a deadly poison.
Dragon Vein chakra was even more difficult to tame than Tailed Beast chakra.
It would not actively merge with the host's chakra. Instead, it would forcibly alter the host's cellular structure.
If the host's body was not sufficiently powerful, the cells would collapse during the process of transformation.
"It seems that completely adapting to Dragon Vein chakra will probably take even longer than adapting to the Nine-Tails."
Kiyohara put the dragon disc back into his clothing and moved his wrist slightly.
However, time was not a problem for him.
His physique was constantly evolving. Every time he completed an adaptation, the speed at which he adapted to the next type of chakra became faster.
After completely inheriting the Jōgan (Pure Eye), there would probably be further evolution within his body.
By that time, perhaps even the time required to adapt to Dragon Vein chakra would be greatly reduced.
Kiyohara put those thoughts aside, stood up, and walked toward the window.
…
Three months later.
Konoha Village.
Training Ground Three.
Kiyohara stepped across the ground covered in fallen leaves and walked toward the training field.
Under the large tree in the training ground, Uchiha Izumi was leaning against the trunk with her eyes closed.
Today, she was wearing a dark blue Uchiha clan outfit, with a small Uchiha war fan emblem embroidered on the sleeve.
A sheet of paper rested on her knees.
It was covered with several construction formulas for fuinjutsu techniques.
It was obvious that she had been practicing for quite some time. She had probably only leaned against the tree and fallen asleep after drowsiness finally overcame her.
Kiyohara stopped beneath the tree and looked down at her.
Izumi had developed very quickly.
Her facial features had become more refined and defined than when she was younger, while the cool and sharp quality between her brows and eyes had become increasingly prominent.
Yet, while she was asleep, she looked considerably softer than she normally did whenever she actively approached him to ask for guidance.
Kiyohara reached out, preparing to wake her.
Before his hand could touch her shoulder, Izumi's eyelashes suddenly trembled.
Her pair of beautiful, almond-shaped eyes snapped open.
Three tomoe began spinning rapidly within her pupils, while her right hand had already reached into the shinobi tool pouch at her waist and drawn out a kunai.
However, her wrist stopped halfway through the motion.
Her Sharingan had recognized the face of the person standing before her.
The three tomoe quickly faded away.
The crimson color of her eyes returned to black, and the killing intent in her eyes disappeared without a trace.
"Sensei!"
She immediately swept the papers from her knees to the side and jumped to her feet.
Her movement had been too hurried.
The white hair ribbon tied behind her head caught on a tree branch and slipped loose.
Her long purple hair suddenly came undone, cascading over her shoulders.
She did not even have time to pick up the fallen ribbon.
Instead, she raised her face and looked at Kiyohara, her beautiful eyes filled with delight.
"When did you get here? Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I just arrived."
Kiyohara looked at her excited expression and smiled slightly.
"You were sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bring myself to wake you."
Izumi's cheeks flushed faintly.
"I was thinking about fuinjutsu techniques just now, but I made a mistake in one of the formulas. I originally planned to close my eyes for a little while and then continue, but I ended up falling asleep."
Kiyohara's gaze passed over her shoulder and landed on the sheet of paper she had swept onto the ground.
The paper indeed contained a construction formula for a fuinjutsu technique.
Although there were several obvious mistakes, the overall framework had already been constructed quite well.
An ordinary person of this age would not even understand the basics of fuinjutsu.
Yet Izumi was already capable of independently constructing a sealing formula.
Such talent was exceptionally rare even within the Uchiha clan.
"You have already done very well."
Kiyohara spoke calmly.
"Fuinjutsu are not something that can be mastered in a short period of time. Take your time and continue learning step by step."
Izumi shook her head firmly, a trace of determination in her voice.
"I am still not good enough. The Chunin Exams are coming soon, and I don't want to embarrass you during the examination."
Kiyohara looked at her serious expression before speaking.
"Izumi, have you really decided that you want to graduate early?"
"The Chunin Exams are not sparring matches on a training field. The examinations will involve genuinely dangerous missions. With your current level, it would be safer for you to remain at the Shinobi Academy and continue polishing your skills for another year or two."
Izumi raised her hand and tucked several loose strands of hair away from her cheek and behind her ear.
Then she raised her head.
Her beautiful eyes looked directly at Kiyohara.
"I want to become more like you, Sensei. Even if I can only get a little closer to you, that is enough. I want to use my own strength to help you instead of hiding behind you forever and always being protected by you."
"If that is what you truly want, then go."
A bright smile immediately blossomed across Uchiha Izumi's face.
"Really?"
"Really."
Kiyohara nodded.
"With your current strength, you really are not weaker than the Chunin of previous generations. Experiencing more actual combat will also help you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. Since you have made up your mind, I naturally will not stop you."
Izumi had received his guidance and had personally been implanted with his Yang Release curse seal.
As a result, both her physique and chakra reserves were far beyond those of her peers.
Therefore, what Izumi lacked the most was experience.
More experience in real combat would only benefit her growth.
"That is wonderful!"
Izumi's face was filled with happiness.
"However, there is one condition."
Kiyohara continued.
Izumi's smile froze slightly.
A trace of nervousness appeared in her beautiful eyes.
"What condition?"
"For the next half month, I will give you one-on-one special training. Whether you can pass the examination will depend on yourself."
"I will definitely pass!"
(End of Chapter)