Hearing this, Aoba looked at the Roran.queen leaning on his shoulder and reached out to stroke her hair.
"In this last stretch of time, I'll teach you how to truly use the Dragon Vein's chakra. At the same time, I'll set up a barrier around Roran's perimeter."
"After I leave, before I return to Roran again, don't come looking for me!", Aoba spoke his warning.
Seramu obediently nodded, just like a well-behaved little girl.
"I'll listen to you."
"Oh, right, actually, twenty years later you aren't an old granny."
Aoba suddenly added.
"Eh?"
Seramu froze, the corner of her mouth twitching, "Don't tell me by then I'll already be dead?"
"Of course not. I'll teach you a ninjutsu. As long as your chakra is enough, you'll be able to maintain your youth."
"What?", Seramu's eyes widened.
———
Months passed again, and Aoba had taught everything he could to Seramu and Sara, mother and daughter.
He was ready to leave.
Speaking of methods to return to the future, what Aoba had was, in truth, only a guess.
Although he could now roughly control the Dragon Vein and had even developed his own ninjutsu through it, he still couldn't use it to return to his future time-space.
From what Seramu's words had hinted at back then, his return to the future should have been triggered by the Dragon Vein's rampage.
But why would the Dragon Vein rampage?
He had already been training with it for quite some time, and he could control it steadily.
After so many years, there had never been the slightest sign of rampage.
It seemed that just using it wasn't enough to trigger any abnormalities.
He had also tried forcing his way out of Roran, but that clearly hadn't been the Dragon Vein rampaging, it was spatial turbulence. He couldn't guarantee in that situation whether he'd reach the future or an even older past.
So, he thought of a rather extreme method.
———
"You want to seal the Dragon Vein inside your own body?", When Seramu heard Aoba's request, she instinctively cried out in shock, staring at him in disbelief.
But three years of companionship, coupled with her trust in him, quickly brought her back to reason. Aoba wasn't the kind of man who lusted after the Dragon Vein's power.
"Aoba, can you tell me the reason?", Aoba looked somewhat helpless, "To be honest, right now I haven't found any concrete method to return to my time-space."
"Really?"
Though Seramu asked this as a question.
Could she not hide the gleam of secret delight in her eyes?
Though speechless, Aoba still continued, "But the you of the future gave me a bit of a hint. It led me to suspect that I only returned after the Dragon Vein went berserk."
"..."
The gleam of delight faded from Seramu's eyes. She muttered in a low voice, "The future me is really hateful!"
In the quiet office, Aoba heard it crystal clear, his mouth twitching.
'Is she angry at herself?'
After venting, Seramu sighed lightly, "So you're planning to absorb part of the Dragon Vein to force it into rampaging?"
Aoba nodded.
"I only need to seal a portion within myself. That should be enough to provoke it into rampage. Before returning, I'll calm it back down."
Though the Dragon Vein lacked self-awareness, if part of one's body was forcefully taken away, it was only natural to thrash about a bit.
"Then let's try it. When the time comes, I'll gather the people into a safe place."
Seramu agreed decisively, she trusted him.
She also knew he had a terrifyingly strong space-time ninjutsu. As long as that existed, Roran wouldn't suffer any destruction.
Aoba smiled softly, sincerely thanking her for her trust, "Thank you."
But Seramu shook her head. She rose from her seat, walked up to him.
"The one who should be thanking is me. These three years, it's all thanks to you."
She raised her hands, cupped his face, and on tiptoes kissed his forehead.
"Seramu?", Aoba was startled by her action.
Seramu only smiled, "The Dragon Vein, and this, consider them Roran's gift of gratitude."
"Don't tell Sara."
The Dragon Vein as a chakra mass was enormous, and it could recover over time. Just a portion was enough to sustain Roran's functioning.
"Oh, right, speaking of Sara…", Aoba remembered something crucial. He told her that Sara might end up traveling to the future with him, and finally reminded her, "When the Dragon Vein goes berserk, take Sara far away."
Seramu's face froze, "You don't want Sara to go to the future with you? If that's the case, then she…"
Aoba looked at her silently, "Do you really want to be separated from your daughter for over twenty years?"
Seramu froze. Aoba came from the future, where he had his own family and friends. She had no reason to hold him back.
But Sara was her daughter. She couldn't accept her child leaving for over twenty years.
So what if Sara chose for herself?
Aoba saw through Seramu's thoughts and added, "If you let Sara choose, that would be too cruel for her."
Seramu was silent, "At least… let her know you're leaving."
"I will tell her," Aoba nodded, then added, "Actually, I don't really mind age differences."
[T/N: 😐 NOOO! GOD PLEASE NOO!]
"Eh?"
Seramu's expression was puzzled.
Aoba turned his face away and explained, "In my time-space, I actually had a few girlfriends much older than me."
Thinking of Tsunade, he added, "One was about forty years older. So even if Sara is older than me at the time…"
"..."
Before Aoba could finish, his words died in the face of deathly silence.
When he turned back, all he saw was Seramu's crumbling expression.
Aoba was thrown out of the office.
Seramu hadn't expected that he'd been hiding something so important all along.
He already had girlfriends, and yet…
Even though her daughter Sara had never voiced her feelings, wasn't this obvious enough at a glance?
'This guy, he really is a bastard, far too hateful!'
If Sara followed him to the future, who knew how he might trick her?
That kind of scumbag, Sara could never handle him.
And he even had one nearly forty years older.
———
Leaving the office, Aoba had no idea what Seramu was thinking.
He had already arrived at the Dragon Vein's forbidden grounds, where Sara was controlling chakra into all sorts of strange shapes.
Compared to the little Sara back then, who could only summon a breeze with all her might, she had no doubt grown tremendously.
Yes, in every sense of the word.
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