After spending a few days, the rented boat reached the southeastern coast of the Land of Wind. After paying, Uchiha Yoichi disembarked and headed toward Loulan.
Before setting off, he had already obtained a map of Loulan and checked Namikaze Minato's mission in Loulan.
Amidst a desolate desert, Uchiha Yoichi traveled with threads of lightning arc coursing around him, not planning to rest in such a place, so he made rapid progress thanks to his abundant Chakra.
In less than a day, he arrived in Loulan.
"The desertification is so severe? It doesn't match the mission report. Has the desertification become this serious in only a few years..."
Uchiha Yoichi suddenly thought of the Dragon Vein. If the Dragon Vein were continuously absorbing the energy of this land, that could explain Loulan's desertification; however, it seemed incredible that the Queen of Loulan didn't manage it, and then moved away a few years later.
The infiltration was very smooth. Loulan had no ninja, posing no threat to Uchiha Yoichi at all.
After using the Sharingan to hypnotize a few guards, Uchiha Yoichi learned the location of the Dragon Vein's seal.
Upon infiltrating here, Uchiha Yoichi directly used the Sharingan to control nearby guards, then split off a few Wood Clones to ensure his safety.
One Wood Clone could handle everyone in Loulan; the other Wood Clones were meant for cultivation.
While martial artists who devour worlds absorb cosmic energy, most absorb planetary energy; there are few who truly cultivate in the cosmos, so Uchiha Yoichi thought of the Dragon Vein.
"Dragon Vein Seal, Release!"
After using a Sealing Technique to release the seal, Uchiha Yoichi immediately sensed a vast energy beneath the seal; this energy was so immense that even his Sage Mode couldn't fully perceive it.
Fortunately, he set up a barrier to cover the commotion before breaking the seal; while spending time with Tsunade, he learned a barrier and the technique to release the Dragon Vein seal.
Due to the vast commotion from the Dragon Vein energy, he dared not fully release the seal, only letting it crack a little, but even so, energy was continually leaking out.
"It seems twenty Wood Clones are far from enough. I should split out more."
Deciding so, Uchiha Yoichi split out fifty more Wood Clones, which then assumed the Five Hearts Facing Heaven position to begin cultivating Genetic Primordial Energy; however, their cultivation was staggered, with batches in turn transmitting back the Genetic Primordial Energy.
Before cultivating Genetic Primordial Energy, Uchiha Yoichi's body was already very strong; even without chakra, just by body strength alone, he ranked between Intermediate and High-Level War Generals.
Upon beginning to cultivate the Genetic Primordial Energy, each cell in his body felt as if it was having its first meal.
Having tasted fullness, when hunger struck again, there was a desire to cultivate 'eating' once more; however, this time, the Dragon Vein energy allowed Uchiha Yoichi to have his fill.
As time slipped by, Uchiha Yoichi left one Wood Clone for vigilance, controlling guards with the Sharingan and disguising the place with a barrier, so Loulan's people remained unaware.
Bang!
A Wood Clone exploded, and the chakra and Genetic Primordial Energy cultivated returned to Uchiha Yoichi's body.
The surplus Genetic Primordial Energy was quickly used by Uchiha Yoichi to enhance each part of his body, including muscles, bones, organs, etc.
Bang!
Another Wood Clone exploded, its chakra and Genetic Primordial Energy returning to the body.
Repeating this process, once all Clones had exploded, Uchiha Yoichi would pause, eat something or indulge in physical exercises outside to allow his body to gradually adapt to becoming stronger.
Then he would return to continue cultivation.
Cycling through this pattern for a month, until the Research Assistant's abilities had expired, Uchiha Yoichi began to slow down.
"I should have reached a bottleneck now; the cultivation speed is slowing down again..."
Uchiha Yoichi threw a punch, feeling it; even without using full strength, the punch wind caused the barrier to ripple.
Without using any chakra to enhance speed, Uchiha Yoichi moved as fast as the Instant Body Jutsu.
The changes to his body... it seemed to have become even stronger. Now, his skin couldn't be pierced by the firearms of the Ninja World, and even Kunai and Shuriken thrown by ninja without Chakra posed no threat to him.
"I should probably head back; the cultivation speed is slowing, and I've successfully researched the Spiritual Clone. It's time to create the Cloned Avatar..."
The only thing Uchiha Yoichi was reluctant to leave was this Dragon Vein, with its dense energy; even breathing here absorbed Dragon Vein energy.
"If only I could conquer the Land of Wind, linking Fire, River, and Wind, the Dragon Vein would then become the Uchiha Race's Cultivation Sacred Land."
Once he becomes Hokage, he certainly plans to formulate a plan to eliminate the Land of Wind.
Before leaving, Uchiha Yoichi resealed the Dragon Vein, removed all traces, and left Loulan.
He retraced his path, but before coming, he had already marked the Flying Thunder God Mark, so he expended chakra to arrive at the seaside directly.
However, upon reaching the place where the boat was docked, Uchiha Yoichi suddenly noticed a number of ninjas in the distance: "There are quite a few hidden Chakra signatures, including Hidden Mist and Hidden Sand... The strongest of them, a female, could it be Pakura of the Hidden Sand?"
Uchiha Yoichi activated the Sharingan and quickly spotted the strongest among them, whose appearance matched the Pakura he remembered, and her Chakra amount was significant.
Putting away the binoculars, Uchiha Yoichi decided to follow and see; if he remembered correctly, Pakura was betrayed by the Hidden Sand's high-ups and handed over to the Hidden Mist, directly meeting a tragic end, even more so than Hyuga Hizashi.
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"Why are we going this way?"
Pakura, puzzled, followed the Hidden Mist ninjas to a mountain pass and asked with some suspicion; there was a clear path, yet they chose to go through the forested area.
"This is a shortcut, and for a ninja, these paths aren't difficult to traverse."
The Hidden Mist ninja answered calmly, but outside Pakura's line of sight, he wore a sinister smile.
'Fool, betrayed by your own Hidden Sand village, you who killed so many of our Hidden Mist ninjas, soon you shall die!' the leading Hidden Mist ninja thought to himself, continuing his sinister smile as he moved forward.
Upon entering the ambush area, the two guiding Hidden Mist ninja suddenly used Instant Body Jutsu to leave. The abrupt change left Pakura unresponsive.
She was there to sign a peace treaty—two great ninja villages had already declared a ceasefire. How could Pakura have imagined being betrayed by her own Hidden Sand?
After the guiding Hidden Mist ninja suddenly left, more Hidden Mist ninjas emerged on both sides of the mountain pass. Despite not knowing the full picture, Pakura realized something was wrong; swiftly drawing a kunai, she sternly asked, "What are you doing? I'm an envoy from the Hidden Sand..."
"You fool, you're the tribute sent by the Hidden Sand. Without your life, how could we possibly agree to sign a peace treaty?"
"What are you saying!?"
Pakura, hearing this, was incredulous, shaking her head and shouting, "You're lying, the Hidden Sand would never..."
"Believe it or not, today you're doomed; only your death can secure a peace agreement between the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Mist!"
Upon receiving the signal, the Hidden Mist ninjas on either side threw a storm of Kunai and Shuriken at Pakura, armed with information about her.
Renowned for the Scorch Release Bloodline, known as the Scorch Release Master Pakura, her speed and Ninjutsu were formidable. But here... surrounded by Shuriken and Kunai, without Earth Release, Pakura was doomed.
Boom!
To the Hidden Mist ninjas' surprise, four stone walls suddenly rose around Pakura, forming a sealed cube, securely protecting her inside.
Meanwhile, the Shuriken and Kunai clattered harmlessly against the iron-hard stone walls.