Grandma Chiyo flicked her wrist, and a drop of tea flew out, dripping onto Rasa's forehead as he peeked.
From the moment the two began their conversation, Rasa had been hiding in the corner, afraid Grandma Chiyo's blood pressure would rise, that she would get too angry and kill someone.
After all, Kakashi was Ryosuke's close friend and relative. If something really happened, how was Rasa supposed to explain it to Ryosuke?
Grandma Chiyo gave a cold snort.
"Carry him back."
Rasa went over and hoisted up the stiff-bodied Kakashi. Only after listening closely and hearing the still-strong heartbeat did he finally breathe a sigh of relief. Looked like Grandma Chiyo only wanted to vent a little anger.
Rasa carried Kakashi back to the camp and laid him on the blanket.
But no matter how he placed him, Kakashi always ended up in the same position, head tilted to the ground, butt sticking up. Rasa could only scratch his head and leave him like that.
After finishing, just as he was about to go back and rest, suddenly he felt a gaze. Turning his head, he locked eyes with Gaara, who was hiding behind a camel.
Without a word, Rasa walked over and kicked Gaara's butt.
"It's late. Go to sleep."
"Oh."
Gaara drilled into his blanket. Closing his eyes, the day's exhaustion washed over him, and before long he really did fall asleep.
In his dreams, he hazily heard Rasa, sitting beside him, saying many things, telling him to behave once he went to Kirigakure, saying he had been too strict with him, and so on.
Gaara couldn't remember how many years it had been since he had heard his father speak to him so gently. In a daze, he opened his eyes and saw Rasa covering him with a blanket.
"Dad… Dad…"
Before Gaara could finish speaking, a slap landed on his forehead.
"I knew you were faking sleep!"
Gaara was slapped awake.
So… what he heard just now, that really was a dream, right?
On this calm night, everyone was thinking about the things weighing on their hearts.
Many times, people are like fish, tugged forward by the worries in their hearts.
Ryosuke sat cross-legged, using Ripple cultivation to ease his physical fatigue.
Time flowed, stars shifted. At the edge of the eastern desert, a trace of dawn appeared.
Ryosuke suddenly opened his eyes. His calm breathing rippled slightly.
Everyone present was either a ninja or a Ripple user, sharp-eared and keen-eyed. The moment they sensed the shift in Ryosuke's aura, they opened their eyes and looked toward him.
Ryosuke stretched out a finger and lightly tapped the ground.
The movement was like a stone thrown into a calm lake. With his fingertip as the center, waves spread outward across the desert.
After waiting a few seconds, another set of ripples appeared, spreading inward from outside. The two opposite ripples collided and wove into complex patterns.
"What is this?" Kakashi tilted his head.
Ryosuke said, "There's a special power underground."
Normally, the earth's power he sensed was like air, everywhere, invisible. But now, as the morning sun rose, the force flowing beneath the ground was like highly compressed pure oxygen.
This power flowed along a specific trajectory, faintly trembling. It was simply,
"Like the pulse of the earth."
City Blind smacked his thigh, "Damn! Dragon Vein?"
"What's the Dragon Vein?" Kakashi tilted his head again.
City Blind explained, "I've wandered far and wide, only heard of it. The so-called Dragon Vein lies buried beneath the ancient kingdom of Rōran. Simply put, it's nature's 'infinite chakra.' But…"
He turned his hollow eyes toward Kakashi, "Youngster, why are you always tilting your head at me? Looking down on me? Or do you think I can't see you?!"
Kakashi speechlessly looked at Grandma Chiyo.
Anyone who slept a night with head tilted and butt stuck up would look like this.
Grandma Chiyo raised her fist and slowly extended her middle finger.
Ryosuke brushed the sand from his legs and stood.
The earth itself contained endless natural force. The Dragon Vein must be a condensation of that force, only richer and more powerful.
If the White Snake Sage had built Ryūchi Cave atop the Dragon Vein, who would win, who would lose, hard to say.
Ryosuke said, "We still have time. Let's stop by and take a look."
The group set out again, continuing their journey to find the Dragon Vein.
This time, it was a full day and night.
At noon on the third day, they found an ancient Rōran ruin half-buried in sand.
Walking through the rubble, Ryosuke could faintly see the grandeur Rōran once had from the architectural style.
But no matter how much prosperity, time had worn it down. Only broken walls and shattered stones remained.
Ryosuke knelt, pressed his right hand to the ground, and carefully sensed. "The source of the Dragon Vein is here."
He frowned.
From far away, his sensing had been unclear. But now, at the ruins, he felt the Dragon Vein clearly, it was broken, fragmented, as if its very 'root' had been cut.
After hearing his account, City Blind scratched his face, "So in the end, just a crippled dragon."
Grandma Chiyo said, "When I was young, I visited Rōran. They prided themselves on mastering infinite energy. But 'infinite' is either false or full of risks. They prospered from the Dragon Vein, and they were destroyed by it too."
As they spoke, Takeshi suddenly said, "Someone's coming."
Silent and alert, Takeshi turned toward the ruins' edge. His hand gripped the huge sword on his back, watching the direction of the approaching footsteps.
A girl of eleven or twelve appeared.
With so many eyes on her, she grew flustered, forgetting even the words she had prepared.
Behind her came several adults. Judging by their simple, cautious movements, they were just ordinary farmers.
Grandma Chiyo suddenly asked, "What's your relation to Sara?"
"Grandma, you know my mom?"
Grandma Chiyo showed a trace of nostalgia and nodded slightly. Decades ago, she had indeed met Princess Sara once.
After introductions, Ryosuke learned their identities. They were descendants of Rōran, living in a small nearby oasis. Besides daily life, their most important duty was to check the Dragon Vein's seal.
This time, they had sensed fluctuations and came to investigate.
"Got it."
Kakashi tilted his head and said, "After the war decades ago, the Dragon Vein became damaged and dangerous. If the seal is undone, it can't be used as an energy source again."
"Rather than a 'seal,' it's more like maintenance. Wait a dozen or so years for the Dragon Vein to repair itself, then it can be used again as natural energy."
Ryosuke sighed, feeling he was born in the wrong time.
If the Dragon Vein still existed, combined with the Dragon-Snake Pearl's power, he could absorb immense natural energy in a short time, perhaps breaking through his body's limits.
He shook his head.
Hoping everything would go your way, that itself was an unrealistic luxury.
Checking the time, Ryosuke planned to set off for Warsaw City after lunch.
Since they'd met locals, the group couldn't be bothered to light a fire. City Blind eagerly volunteered to trade with the Rōran survivors.
He bought food, then bargained for a pile of small gifts.
"Boss Ryosuke always sleeps sitting up. Gotta buy him a thicker mat, or when he's old he'll suffer with hemorrhoids…"
"That brat Kakashi's got a stiff neck, better buy him a pillow…"
"Gaara's a bit withdrawn, buy him some toys…"
City Blind picked them one by one.
He truly liked his current life. A group of fun teammates, carrying out a meaningful mission, at his age, as a blind sensory ninja, this felt like life's final train ride.
So, City Blind really cherished the time spent with Ryosuke and the others.
Finally, he picked out a brass hairpin.
"Your wife must be very lucky," Sara's daughter said.
City Blind chuckled, "That woman was talking divorce not long ago. But when I go back with a pile of gifts, let's see if she can still bring it up."
Sara's daughter covered her mouth with a shy smile.
BOOM!
The explosion's fire blinded the eyes. The roar shook their eardrums.
In just an instant, everyone was turned to charcoal.
Too sudden.
So sudden that Ryosuke didn't even have time to shout "Star Platinum, The World" in his mind before the explosion had already ended.
Obito glanced at the burnt corpses on the ground, then looked at Ryosuke standing a dozen meters away.
"The targeting was a little off. First strike missed. Fine, let's just call it a clean-up."
He said, taking a step forward.
Suddenly, he felt something underfoot. Lifting his foot, he saw... a burnt hairpin.
"Heh, "
Obito sneered, and crushed it underfoot.
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