Hikaru couldn't deny it—he was worried.
Worried about whether he could truly control a power as terrifying as the Dragon Vein.
In the past few days, he hadn't even stepped into Loulan itself, yet from far away he could still feel that strange, eerie chakra pulsing from the tower. That alone said everything about its intensity.
Sometimes dreams were beautiful.
Reality was not.
The Dragon Vein was indeed ownerless. Hikaru had never taken the people of Loulan seriously as "stakeholders."
After all, he knew the future: Loulan would become ruins. Even its residents would eventually abandon it—otherwise, there wouldn't be that later incident where Naruto and "Mukade" (Anrokuzan) ended up entangled in time.
"…But this thing really is violent."
Standing at the sealed chamber, Hikaru stared down at Minato's seal formula, watching chakra slam against it with a roar. His brows tightened.
Violent was the only word that fit.
Minato had used the Four Symbols Seal.
Hikaru had found that technique in his clan's records and learned it as well. He was still only at a beginner level in sealing arts—Four Symbols wasn't hard to start, but mastering it and drawing out its full power was another story entirely.
Minato's "handwork" wasn't flashy.
What made it terrifying was this—
He had layered multiple Four Symbols Seals, interlocking them so perfectly that if one node weakened, the others would compensate. Even more than that, the system borrowed Dragon Vein chakra to repair itself.
That was why the Dragon Vein—despite its absurd strength—couldn't break free.
Of course, there was another reason.
The Dragon Vein had no true consciousness.
If it did, sealing it would never have been this easy.
Minato had also left a Flying Thunder God formula here.
If the Dragon Vein ever surged too violently, Minato could sense it through that mark—and potentially return to deal with the problem.
"…Too reliable."
Hikaru glanced at the special kunai embedded in place.
Minato had been dead for over a decade—yet this seal remained intact.
Hikaru had infiltrated Loulan and found this location precisely because of that Flying Thunder God mark. Without it, he wouldn't have located the chamber so quickly.
He might've been forced to "visit" the Queen of Loulan directly.
"But since I'm already here… I can't leave empty-handed."
After studying the seal for a long time, Hikaru finally made his decision.
No matter what—he was taking something.
He was realistic. He knew he couldn't absorb all of that chakra.
But taking a small portion?
That was possible.
Still, even that wasn't easy.
First, he needed a way to make the chakra "spill out" without breaking Minato's seal system.
Second—
He needed to deal with the Flying Thunder God formula, or else this could expose far more than he wanted.
Hikaru's mastery of Flying Thunder God was excellent, but he couldn't "mute" another person's formula.
If Dragon Vein chakra surged into that mark, the person who placed it could sense something had changed.
Loulan was far from Konoha, yes.
But Minato had dared to leave a mark here in the first place—which already said something.
Even if he couldn't arrive instantly, he would still know this place had been disturbed.
And Hikaru didn't want anyone detecting the truth.
He'd already revealed too much—Gekkōmaru, Flying Thunder God…
Those brought him prestige, but they also made it easier for others to read him—and find his weaknesses.
That was why he'd kept Sage Mode as a true trump card.
Other than Minato, nobody knew.
And the Dragon Vein?
He intended to keep it hidden as well.
Even if he only obtained a tiny amount.
"So… don't trigger Flying Thunder God. Don't damage the seal. Make the chakra leak on its own…"
Hikaru's eyes stayed fixed on the formula.
Then he moved.
A thin thread of chakra formed at his fingertip.
He gently pressed it onto the innermost node of the Four Symbols Seal—the weakest point.
The moment his chakra intruded, the seal wavered.
This was deliberate.
If that node destabilized, Dragon Vein chakra would violently surge toward it like a beast smelling blood.
But no matter how hard it pushed, it still wouldn't fully escape—because there were multiple outer seals waiting to restrain it.
That was exactly what Hikaru wanted:
Let the Dragon Vein exhaust itself against the layered system.
A tiny "gap" would form, and the Dragon Vein would frantically struggle toward it.
During that struggle, part of its chakra would be forced out—
And when that happened, Hikaru would snatch it, preventing it from touching the Flying Thunder God formula, and seal it inside his own body.
The rest would be swallowed back into the system.
He couldn't take it all today.
Then he'd take more next time.
Rushing was pointless.
Besides, once he obtained even a portion, he'd need time to study it properly before making further plans.
"…So it's waiting again."
Hikaru watched the seal patterns swirl like tadpoles, while the chakra beneath roared as if it had found a crack.
He nodded lightly.
Then he turned to leave.
And at that moment—
The stone door behind him creaked open.
"What am I supposed to do now…?"
Sara sat in her room, staring at the report in front of her, and let out a deep sigh.
As the Queen of Loulan, she had to protect every citizen in the city. It wasn't just duty.
It was her life.
But Loulan had been declining for years.
Ever since the Third Great Ninja War began—and even as it neared its end—Loulan's situation had only worsened.
War had devastated the Land of Wind.
And Loulan, though within its borders yet not truly under its direct rule, suffered a blow almost beyond imagination.
Loulan was poor now.
Shockingly poor.
A city that had once stood at its peak had, in only a few short years, reached the edge of collapse.
Worst of all—
Sunagakure had begun to turn its eyes toward Loulan.
As if they intended to pull it into their grasp.
And they had been "coincidentally" ignoring bandits along several major trade routes.
The result was simple:
Loulan's already fragile economy was being crushed.
Sara had done the math.
If this continued, in just a few years, Loulan would become history.
And she was powerless.
Because Loulan had no military system of its own.
No army.
No ninja.
That meant they couldn't clear the bandits or reopen the routes—even if they wanted to.
Their voice couldn't travel far.
If this were earlier, they might have been able to send a message to another village—like Konoha.
But after that past incident, the Kazekage seemed even more distrustful of them.
Loulan's cries for help had nowhere to go.
Sara had tried everything.
She'd even personally taken part in trade dealings.
But nothing stopped the decline.
As the city worsened, her chest filled with helplessness.
And yet—
She could do nothing.
Then—
She felt it.
A violent tremor of chakra.
Sara shot to her feet.
She knew that chakra.
She knew it instantly.
Dragon Vein.
She had lived through the sealing incident long ago. Many details had faded, but Dragon Vein chakra was burned into her bones.
"Damn it… did something happen again?"
She didn't hesitate.
She sprinted toward the sealed site—
The Thousand Towers.
Ever since the Dragon Vein had been sealed by Konoha's Fourth Hokage, she had never returned there.
She didn't know why.
Perhaps because every time she approached that place, she felt a painful emptiness—like she had lost something precious there.
As she ran, the unease grew.
And the Dragon Vein grew more violent.
Worse—
It began to leak outward, faintly affecting Loulan itself.
Sara's face turned pale.
The seal was failing.
Or at least, something was pressuring it hard enough that the Dragon Vein looked like it was trying to break free.
But it wasn't fully escaping.
Something was still holding it down.
"…The Fourth Hokage's seal is still restraining it. Then what changed? What happened?"
Sara's mind raced.
She was no ninja, but she was still strong enough in body.
And her palace wasn't far from the tower.
Within minutes, she arrived.
The chakra pouring from within the Thousand Towers was powerful—almost suffocating.
Sara gritted her teeth and pushed open the sealed stone door.
As Queen, she had that authority.
But the moment she stepped inside—
A hand clamped around her throat from behind.
Another covered her mouth.
Her body froze.
A gentle voice whispered by her ear—
"Stay quiet. If I apply a little pressure… a tragedy might happen."
Sara's blood ran cold.
So that was it.
Someone had entered.
Someone had tampered with the Dragon Vein.
This person was here for it.
To release it?
To use it?
Was he another Anrokuzan—another monster who wanted to turn Dragon Vein chakra into disaster?
"Close the stone door," the gentle voice said again. "I'll remove my hand. If you obey, you'll be fine. If not… the ones who die won't be just you."
This time, even though the voice remained calm, Sara heard the ice beneath it.
Not just her?
That meant her citizens.
Her city.
This person wasn't merely greedy.
He was cruel.
And yet—
She had no choice.
Loulan's people mattered more than her life.
"…Good."
As Sara forced herself to calm down and closed the stone door, Hikaru released her.
He had expected this.
If Dragon Vein reacted, the one person most likely to feel it was the Queen. No guardian could ignore that kind of surge.
So yes—
It was her.
It was inconvenient. He didn't want anyone knowing what he was doing here.
But he wasn't worried.
Through sensory perception, he could tell—
Sara's health wasn't good.
Her blood flow was sluggish. Her body was worn down.
Whether from exhaustion or illness, it didn't matter.
Without proper treatment, she didn't have long to live.
And as Hikaru realized that—
A faint smile appeared beneath his mask.
Because suddenly, he knew exactly how to handle this situation.
"You're the Queen of Loulan, right?" Hikaru asked softly.
He wore a mask. He wasn't afraid of being identified.
Then he added, casually—
"Your body is in bad shape. If you don't treat it soon… you won't live much longer."
Sara backed up until her spine nearly touched the stone door, eyes locked on him like a cornered animal.
"…Thank you for your concern," she said carefully.
"But who are you?"
"And why are you here?"
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