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In the blink of an eye, a month passed quickly. The mirage of the Loulan city ruins appeared for longer periods each time and became inc
In the blink of an eye, a month passed quickly.
The mirage of the Loulan city ruins appeared for longer periods each time and became increasingly solid.
Five days ago, little Yayuki also saw the mirage of the Loulan city ruins.
At the same time, Kenshi sensed the dragon vein energy growing stronger, even influencing the nearby weather across the world barrier.
Today.
Now.
Endless fierce winds, driven by the dragon vein's power, whipped up swirling yellow sand.
Amid this sandstorm, a ruined city stood firm. Without close attention, one could hardly tell it was just a mirage-it looked very real.
"One day already."
In the swirling wind midair, a spherical barrier enveloped a clay puppet bird, shielding Kenshi and Yayuki from the raging winds. Kenshi furrowed his brows, murmuring as he gazed down at the city ruins.
The Loulan city ruin mirage had lasted a full day without fading.
The dragon vein's energy fluctuations seemed at their strongest recently.
But the sealing jutsu locking the dragon vein within the mirage remained intact. Unless that seal was broken, the dragon vein's energy couldn't fully erupt and cross worlds to be sensed by Kenshi.
"What to do?"
Kenshi felt anxious but helpless. Separated by a world, he could only observe, unable to affect the sealing jutsu Minato had placed there.
If this continued, the dragon vein's energy would peak and then decline, causing the city ruin mirage to vanish forever from this world.
Who knew how many years until it appeared again.
Kenshi didn't want to wait that long.
"Amazing-a mirage across worlds. Incredible-the power of the dragon vein! The power of time!"
"If only…"
Yayuki stared at the city ruin mirage below, a sudden thought flashing in her mind. But recalling Kenshi's explanation of parallel worlds, her heart darkened.
The mother in a parallel world was not the same mother she lived with daily.
Thinking this, Yayuki averted her gaze from the mirage, turning away as if to forget.
"Huh… what's that?"
As Yayuki shifted her gaze from the city ruin mirage, her peripheral vision caught a figure at the edge of the mirage, prompting her surprised exclamation.
She focused and saw a black line-like a puppet-rushing rapidly toward them.
"Uncle, there's something like a puppet coming this way!"
Yayuki quickly warned.
Kenshi frowned. With his chakra and soul sensing abilities, no one was within fifty kilometers except some small desert animals.
How could a puppeteer sneak into Yayuki's sight unnoticed and unperceived by him?
Puzzled, Kenshi turned to follow Yayuki's gaze, his heart skipping a beat as surprise filled his eyes.
There really was a puppet coming here!
But it wasn't from this world-it was from the Loulan city ruin mirage world.
"More people!"
Yayuki called out.
Behind the puppet were four others. Squinting, Yayuki said, "They're from Konoha. How did they… wait, no!"
Suddenly, Yayuki realized that at such close range, she should have sensed their chakra.
"Uncle, they're people inside the mirage!" Yayuki excitedly said.
She understood now-the puppets and people she saw weren't from this world but another.
It was incredible.
She had thought the city ruin mirage was just a static image, like a photo, with no moving things.
Unexpectedly, living people and moving puppets appeared inside the mirage.
Kenshi fixed his gaze on the four people fighting alongside the puppet, his eyes shining.
One had distinctive blond hair and six thick black whisker marks on his face-if not Naruto, then who?
The other three, judging by their appearance, were Sakura, Yamato, and Sai.
"Them?"
"Could it be…"
Kenshi's heart suddenly pounded fiercely. He stared intently at the altar below. If he guessed right, the mirage's Naruto world was currently experiencing the plot of The Lost Tower movie.
That meant the Fourth Kazekage's sealing jutsu inside the mirage would be undone. When the dragon vein erupted, it might break the world barrier and reach Kenshi here, allowing him to use the dragon vein's power to time travel into that Loulan world and find the true dragon vein.
"Yayuki, you should leave here first."
Kenshi turned to Yayuki.
"Uncle, look!" Yayuki pointed toward the direction the puppet was rushing from.
"Hm…?" Kenshi was stunned.
As Naruto and the others fought alongside the puppet, the city ruin mirage in Kenshi's eyes changed-it became clearer, or rather, multiple city ruin mirages merged into one.
Previously, Kenshi thought the ruin mirage was from a single Naruto parallel world's Loulan ruins, but it was actually a combination of many.
He hadn't minded before, thinking the ruins looked disjointed.
Now, with Naruto and the others' arrival, multiple Loulan ruin mirages were converging into one.
Thus, the surrounding city ruin mirages were changing as Naruto and the others advanced.
Soon, Naruto and the puppet reached the altar.
The area quickly turned into flat land buried by yellow sand with only a few ruins exposed. The altar Kenshi saw before disappeared.
Shortly after, during the battle, Naruto shattered the puppet with a Rasengan, causing the explosive tags on the puppet fragments to detonate.
Whoosh!
An ink-painted tiger rescued Naruto and brought him and Sakura to a collapsed wall, where Yamato and Sakura were talking to Naruto.
Kenshi couldn't hear their conversation and had no time to listen.
"Yayuki, leave here first."
Kenshi prepared to see if he could enter that Loulan world from The Lost Tower through the dragon vein. There might be unknown dangers.
"No, I want to go too."
Yayuki's eyes were determined. She understood Kenshi's thoughts but couldn't bear to see him venture alone.
Especially if Kenshi couldn't return from that world, what would she do without him?
She couldn't imagine living in a world without her uncle.
"Fine, suit yourself."
Since Yayuki wanted to follow, Kenshi didn't stop her. He respected her choice.
Boom!
Kenshi created a shadow clone outside.
He and Yayuki quickly followed the large hole the puppet tore open in the mirage, entering below with Naruto and the others, arriving inside a building.
A huge circular pit with a raised central pillar surrounded by four humanoid stone statues. A Flying Thunder God Kunai was stuck into an eye-shaped object on the pillar, connected by black jutsu patterns.
That was Minato's sealing jutsu on the dragon vein.
Inside the mirage, a pale man stepped from behind a statue, placing his hands on the eye-shaped object, beginning to absorb Minato's sealing jutsu.
Kenshi and Yayuki floated above the seal, waiting for it to break so the dragon vein's power could erupt and they could travel into that world.
Naruto and the others inside the mirage couldn't see Kenshi and Yayuki. Seeing the pale man's actions, Naruto charged first, followed closely by Yamato and Sakura.
But it was too late. The pale man pulled out Minato's Flying Thunder God Kunai.
The dragon vein's seal was broken.
In an instant.
White-purple dragon vein power burst forth, a massive white-purple energy pillar shooting upward.
Kenshi and Yayuki at the center were instantly pierced through by the dragon vein's power in the mirage.
"No!"
"How can this be impossible!!"
Kenshi's expression changed instantly. Though he sensed the dragon vein's energy fluctuations as if truly inside, the fact remained: the dragon vein's power did not directly affect him and Yayuki.
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