Although he had obtained a Gold-tier card, the aftermath of Roran still required Shiraishi's management. After setting the card to its "reading" state, Shiraishi blinked, stepping out from the depths of the Dragon Vein's core.
"Shiraishi, you okay, man?"
As he emerged from the sealing zone, Shikasa was the first to step forward, patting his partner's shoulder with concern.
Shiraishi gave a brief nod and turned his gaze toward the survivors of Roran. "The Dragon Vein has been successfully sealed."
"Thank you..."
As the Queen of Roran, Sara still harbored resentment toward the Sand, yet she bowed her head in gratitude. Without Shiraishi's intervention, her people would have been consumed by the spatio-temporal disaster.
The Dragon Vein's rampage had leveled Roran's architecture and released toxic gasses; only Shiraishi's silver sand walls had prevented a total catastrophe.
With the Dragon Vein gone and the city in ruins, Roran would eventually fade into the "Roran Ruins" of legend. Sara felt a wave of profound sorrow.
Shiraishi, however, had no time for her grief. He advised that the survivors migrate to nearby cities and petitioned the Land of Wind's Daimyo for their resettlement.
While the original mission was to dismantle Roran's military ambitions, Shiraishi saw no point in bullying widows and orphans now that the culprit, Anrokuzan, was dead. However, as a sovereign state, the Kingdom of Roran effectively ceased to exist.
For Shiraishi, the true prize lay in the secret military factories. The number of unactivated puppets was staggering—high-quality units that rivaled the Hidden Sand's own arsenal.
Shiraishi used the Sand's specialized storage techniques to collect every piece of equipment, data, and finished puppet. It took over a hundred sealing scrolls and massive amounts of chakra to finish the transfer.
Beyond the hardware, he meticulously gathered research on the high-speed regeneration technology. While Anrokuzan had used it crudely, the potential for this tech to solve the Sand's resource and equipment shortages was immense.
"I should thank you as well, ninja from the future Leaf—Naruto Uzumaki."
Alongside Naruto, his companion Yamato had finally regained consciousness after being treated by Arashi. Seeing Shiraishi and the Sand ninjas, Yamato eventually accepted the reality that they had been displaced in time.
"You'll be returning to your original timeline shortly," Shiraishi said calmly. "To avoid unnecessary complications and paradoxes, certain memories of this encounter must be sealed."
Shiraishi's primary concern was the existence of Naruto. He had already sensed that the boy was the future reincarnation of Ashura, and that Tsunade—one of the Legendary Sannin—would eventually become Hokage.
To think that the woman with hemophobia would lead the Leaf... Regardless, the memories had to go.
"Thanks for everything," Naruto replied without resistance. Completing the mission was his priority, though his heart twinged at the sight of Sara's lingering gaze.
Shiraishi fired a needle of silver sand into Naruto's head, initiating the Hidden Brain Sand Control (Senna Sousha no Jutsu), a specialized Sand sealing technique.
As he sealed Naruto's memories, Shiraishi quietly allowed a sliver of his own chakra to weave into Naruto's.
This maneuver was executed with absolute silence. Because the primary function of the jutsu was the memory seal, even the target didn't notice that Shiraishi had effectively "hitched a ride" on Naruto's consciousness, invading the world-line of the future.
Hm?
In the darkness of the mental plane, Shiraishi's consciousness coalesced into a pile of sand within Naruto's mindscape.
There, he discovered a massive cage. Behind the bars lurked the strongest of the nine-tailed beasts: The Nine-Tails!
The Nine-Tails opened a single eye to glance at the grain of silver sand entering the boy's mind.
Seeing it was just a memory seal and not an attack, the fox snorted and went back to sleep. What does it matter if the brat's mind is poked? Not my problem...
Monitoring a future Jinchuriki would provide Shiraishi with invaluable intelligence to layout his own era.
He manifested a small, specialized Triangular Sand Tower in the corner of Naruto's consciousness to act as a permanent observer.
But Naruto wasn't the only person of interest.
The Jonin, Yamato, possessed unique natural energy fluctuations—a seemingly "diluted" version of a Sage Body.
As a fine needle pricked Yamato's temple, Shiraishi's eyes flashed with a cold light. Unlike Naruto, who was protected by the Nine-Tails' massive presence, Yamato was easy to penetrate.
Shiraishi injected a newly awakened Moon-Wheel Bat (a spiritual manifestation) into Yamato's mind. Instantly, in his internal world, Yamato found himself beneath the crimson glow of a blood-moon genjutsu.
"A genjutsu?"
Before Yamato could evade, silver sand bound him tightly. "Sand? What are you doing?"
"Sleep for a while," Shiraishi's voice echoed in the void. "I am merely curious about your future world."
Yamato's pupils flickered as his consciousness plunged into a deep coma. The chakra from the silver needle successfully established a Regeneration Core within Yamato's brain—a tiny seed of Shiraishi's own memory and thought-process.
Yamato had been caught off guard. He believed Shiraishi's claim about "not affecting history" and underestimated the "unnamed" Sand ninjas before him, assuming they were merely ordinary Jonin.
The entire process took only a split second. A pillar of brilliant light enveloped Naruto and Yamato, pulling them back to their own era.
With the guests gone, Shiraishi turned to Arashi and Shikasa. "I need to seal your memories regarding Naruto as well."
"No problem!"
The two trusted Shiraishi implicitly. He fired two more sand needles, locking away the memories of the future ninjas. With that, the mission of the Ancient Kingdom of Roran was complete.
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