After digesting the remaining will of the Dragon Vein.
Sora looked at the small dragon of the Dragon Vein inside his body. A previously overlooked question suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Wait. This is not right."
Sora suddenly sat up straight, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.
He remembered in the original "plot," Namikaze Minato sealed the Dragon Vein during the Loulan mission. About twenty years later, Naruto traveled through time via the Dragon Vein and met a young Minato.
"If Namikaze Minato sealed the Dragon Vein, that means Naruto has already traveled through time."
"But now, the Dragon Vein has already been absorbed by me. How did the future Naruto travel through time then."
This was clearly a time paradox.
If the past is changed, the future will inevitably be overturned.
If the very source of the Dragon Vein is gone, Naruto simply could not complete the time travel.
Sora sat in place, lost in thought.
Eliminating all impossibilities, the remaining answer, no matter how unbelievable, must be the truth.
"Unless. the world I am in, and the world the 'time-traveling Naruto' is from, are not the same one."
"That is to say, there are at least two parallel worlds."
"In my world, the Dragon Vein was absorbed by me, so Naruto cannot travel to a different parallel world. In the world where the 'time-traveling Naruto' is from, the Dragon Vein is intact, Minato successfully sealed it, which led to the later time travel event."
Right. Even Sora himself was a traveler from another world. So what is strange about the existence of parallel worlds.
Thinking of this, a faint curve appeared at the corner of Sora's mouth.
"This world is even more interesting than I imagined."
...
Arriving at the main island of the Land of Whirlpools, Sora went straight to that blacksmith shop.
The dark-skinned blacksmith owner recognized this generous customer upon seeing him and hurriedly brought out the finished weights.
Sora picked them up to gauge their weight and injected a trace of chakra to feel their conductivity. He nodded in satisfaction.
The texture and properties of the star-patterned iron were well preserved. The blacksmith's craftsmanship was solid, fully meeting his requirements.
After paying the balance, Sora did not linger. He headed towards the concealed Ascension Island base.
...
Ascension Island Underground Laboratory.
In the dim space, only the seals maintaining the barrier and the basic lighting seals emitted faint light.
Upon arriving, Sora first checked the alert and sealing barriers placed throughout the laboratory.
Everything was intact, with no signs of being tampered with or invaded.
'It seems safe.'
Sora felt slightly relieved.
This secret base located deep in the vast sea still appeared to be his most reliable hiding place.
He roughly estimated the time.
About fifteen days had passed since he left Konoha until today.
"There are still about a week left of the twenty-plus day vacation."
Time was still ample, enough for him to conduct some preliminary research.
Thinking of this, Sora concentrated his thoughts and took out the scroll sealing the Third Kazekage human puppet.
Releasing the seal, the black-cloaked human puppet appeared on the experiment table.
Sora extended his hand, his fingertips covered with a thin layer of chakra, and began carefully examining the structure of this puppet.
However, the more he examined, the tighter his frown became.
The craftsmanship of this human puppet was the pinnacle of perfection, completely surpassing the scope of ordinary puppets.
It not only perfectly preserved most of the body tissues from when it was alive but also, through an extremely complex method, perfectly integrated the chakra network, blood flow, and even some organ functions with puppet mechanisms, venom sacs, hidden weapon launchers, and more.
The seals and mechanisms forming its core drive and energy circuits were delicate, intricate, and carried a strong personal style, clearly Sasori's unique technique.
'Troublesome.'
Sora withdrew his hand and rubbed the space between his eyebrows.
His original plan was to try to extract still-active Third Kazekage cells from this puppet. Then, using cloning techniques, he would attempt to cultivate his own 'Wind Release clone' embryo.
But reality gave him a hard blow.
Sasori's technique was too masterful, or perhaps too extreme.
He integrated biological tissues and puppet components so tightly that attempting to safely separate pure original cells without triggering internal self-destruct mechanisms was alarmingly difficult.
This required an extremely deep understanding of puppetry, especially Sasori's unique bio-puppet techniques.
And Sora, he was precisely clueless about this.
He excelled in taijutsu, fruit abilities, and combinations of sealing techniques and ninjutsu based on his own conditions. His knowledge reserve was severely lacking in this 'scientific research' field that required meticulous operation and specialized knowledge.
"As expected, professional matters should be left to professionals."
Sora sighed helplessly and resealed the Third Kazekage puppet back into the scroll.
Forcibly disassembling it carried too much risk. He would likely end up with only a pile of scrapped parts and thoroughly contaminated tissue fragments. The gain would not be worth the loss.
'It seems I still have to wait for Kabuto to develop.'
Properly storing the scroll, Sora temporarily suppressed his thoughts about the Third Kazekage cells.
Fortunately, this point in time was early, with about twenty years left before the later 'Mummy' incident.
Since puppet research was temporarily not feasible, there wasn't much point in staying on Ascension Island.
After some thought, Sora decided to return to Konoha ahead of schedule. On one hand, to check on Kabuto's growth. On the other hand, to see if he could obtain some needed techniques from the Anbu.
Thinking of this, Sora did not delay further.
He carefully checked the laboratory once more, confirmed all important items were stored and the barrier was functioning normally. Then, his figure flashed, and he left Ascension Island.
...
Sea breeze brushed his face, waves churned underfoot.
Sora was both adapting to the heavy feeling of the new weights on his legs and dividing his attention to sense the interaction between the small Dragon Vein dragon inside his body and the external natural energy.
But then Sora's eyebrows furrowed. He perceived an unusual aura rapidly approaching from the side and rear.
This aura was quite peculiar. It did not feel like a pure human. The chakra carried a kind of cold, slippery sensation.
More like. some kind of cold-blooded animal that had taken human form.
Sora immediately became alert. He did not reduce his speed, but his sensing power instantly spread out, carefully scanning the surrounding sea and sky.
'Only one. strength doesn't seem too strong, roughly elite jonin to Quasi-Kage level.'
Preliminary judgment: the threat level of the approaching individual was limited. Moreover, no other hidden chakra sources were detected nearby. It did not seem like an ambush.
Sora considered for a moment and decided to stop and see.
The other party's target was clear, heading straight for him. They were obviously coming for him.
Avoiding the meeting would instead seem guilty. It was better to make contact directly and see what the other party truly intended.
...
Not long after, a purple streak of light arrived at an extremely fast speed.
The light dispersed, revealing a slender figure.
It was a woman with a bewitching and charming appearance, fair skin, and long brown hair with straight bangs.
She wore a white long shirt that exposed her fragrant shoulders and back, with a purple long skirt below. She exuded an aura that was both sinister and alluring.
Her round pupils were fixed on Sora with undisguised curiosity and scrutiny.
Seeing this characteristic appearance, even though the pupils were round, Sora immediately recognized the identity of the visitor.
A high-ranking member of the Ryūchi Cave, one of the three Snake Maidens under the White Snake Sage, Tagitsuhime.
'Why is she here. And, she came for me.'
Several thoughts instantly flashed through Sora's mind, but his expression remained unchanged on the surface. He just looked at the other party calmly.
Tagitsuhime landed lightly on the sea surface, about ten meters away from Sora. She looked Sora up and down, a smile full of sinister charm gradually appearing on her face. Her vermilion lips parted slightly, her voice carrying a hint of temptation.
"Hehehe. finally found you, this. little brother carrying the dragon's majesty."