Just as the Dragon Vein's immense power tore open a passage through time in an instant, vast, surging, boundless spatial fluctuations swept across the entire shinobi world like raging waves.
At this moment, inside a hidden base, Jigen was leisurely savoring a glass of rich red wine.
However, this sudden, enormous disturbance made him snap his head up, the wineglass in his hand nearly slipping free.
'Such violent space-time fluctuations? Who on earth is performing space-time travel?'
he thought to himself.
Immediately after, Jigen rose to his feet. The air before him suddenly rippled, and a red-black, mysterious portal slowly emerged.
His figure flickered as he stepped into the portal, vanishing from that space as if he had never been there.
The very next second, Jigen stepped out high above the shinobi world.
He did not stop, but instead quickly closed his eyes, focusing his mind to sense the source of the space-time disturbance.
A moment later, he opened his eyes again, a sharp glint flashing within them.
Clearly, this time he had precisely locked onto the target location.
With a sweep of both hands, another spatial gate opened before him.
As light flickered, he took a single step into it.
When he stepped out again, he had already arrived at the site where the Dragon Vein had just erupted.
However, by the time he got there, the place was already completely deserted.
Everyone had been transported away by Namikaze Minato's technique.
All that remained was sand and dust filling the sky, stretching endlessly and howling in the wind.
Jigen frowned slightly and flew to the spot where Rengoku had previously teleported away.
He then extended his right hand and lightly touched the surrounding space, attempting to sense the residual energy fluctuations.
A moment later, the corners of his mouth lifted into a faint cold smile:
'So it was interplanar teleportation… heh. I really don't know which ignorant fool that was. Wanting to come back to this world won't be so easy.'
Thinking this, Jigen lifted his head to glance at the sky, quietly weighing the situation in his mind, 'The spatial curvature can't keep increasing. If it draws those people's attention, it'll become troublesome.'
Having made his decision, he casually opened another spatial gate with a wave of his hand, turned around, stepped into it, and vanished without a trace.
In the next instant, Jigen's figure blinked back into existence inside his subspace base.
———
This subspace was a small pocket of space on the surface of the shinobi planet, on the same level as the Three Great Sage Lands.
However, unlike those sacred lands filled with vitality and life, the subspace controlled by Jigen was utterly dead and desolate.
As far as the eye could see, there were only jagged, bizarre rocks, with no other signs of life at all.
In the central region of this barren subspace stood several buildings of strange shapes and vastly different styles.
They radiated an intense sense of science fiction. Their design concepts and architectural styles were completely out of place in the shinobi world, as if they came from some distant, unknown world.
This was the secret base that Jigen had constructed over a thousand years, relying on the advanced technology of the Otsutsuki clan.
Jigen strolled into the core area of the base. Beneath his feet, the ground was covered with intricate, dazzling technological formations.
These formations were like a massive spiderweb, flickering with faint, mysterious light.
Jigen moved with practiced ease to the control console ahead and began operating it skillfully.
As his fingers lightly tapped, a deep mechanical rumble echoed out.
Three metallic spikes emitting a cold gleam slowly rose up from within the formation.
Immediately after, Jigen swung his arm forward, releasing an invisible force in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, a ripple appeared in the empty void, and a human figure materialized without any warning.
This person was none other than Sarutobi Ryunosuke, who had earlier been taken in by Jigen's dojutsu "Daikokuten".
His dojutsu could drastically shrink objects and place them into a special space where time was completely frozen.
Not only that, for opponents who had lost their ability to resist, Jigen could just as easily imprison them there as well.
Of course, with a mere thought, he could instantly summon out anything trapped inside.
Because time was frozen, Ryunosuke's appearance was nearly identical to how it had been when he was sealed away.
At this moment, Ryunosuke was still deeply unconscious, completely unaware of the outside world.
This did not matter to Jigen, because he did not care whether Ryunosuke was awake or not. What he needed was the Bull-Headed Heavenly King formation hidden on Ryunosuke's back, which contained immense spatial power.
Jigen grabbed the still-unconscious Ryunosuke and, as if tossing an object, hurled him straight toward the center of the formation.
In an instant, the three sharp metal spikes at the formation's center suddenly fired a dazzling beam of light straight at Ryunosuke.
Despite being unconscious, struck by such an impact, Ryunosuke could not help but let out a low, muffled groan.
Immediately after, an incomparably massive force of space surged forth like a roaring tide, endlessly pouring out from the Bull-Headed Heavenly King formation on his back.
This utterly terrifying power slammed wildly into Sarutobi Ryunosuke's body, causing his physical form to resemble soft rubber clay, gradually dissolving bit by bit.
In the end, right at the exact center between the three metal spikes, Sarutobi Ryunosuke completely transformed into a mass of blood-red energy.
"Hm… so little spatial energy. Barely passable. Still, it'll do for now."
Watching the scene before him, Jigen could not help but frown slightly, a trace of dissatisfaction appearing on his face.
After that, he stepped over to another control console, his hands moving swiftly as he skillfully carried out a series of complex operations.
Along with his actions, that mass of blood-red energy seemed to receive some kind of command and suddenly turned into a streak of light, shooting toward the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the blood-red light vanished beyond the horizon.
High above the distant shinobi planet, a strange ripple like a water ring quietly appeared, slowly spreading outward.
This energy was extremely concealed. Only a very small number of people were able to sense this space-time fluctuation.
[🎉 Shoutout to Fanisa & Luck for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.