Change in the Dragon Vein

"Is this Rōran? Looks like Sandstorm Erosion hasn’t reached this place yet, but it probably won’t be long."

Hyuga Mirai looked at Rōran, which still retained some greenery, and could not help sighing.

"At this rate of erosion, in less than ten years, this place should become a desert. By then, if Rōran doesn’t relocate, its only option will be to perish as a country and merge into the Land of Wind."

Ordinary people had no means of surviving in the desert. Sunagakure had ninjas working to ensure the supply of Supplies; otherwise, a large village rooted in the desert would never last. If Rōran’s green land were eroded by the sandstorms, they would not even be able to guarantee a source of food. At that point, the entire country would have to relocate.

Hyuga Mirai followed the caravan into the city, then separated from the group.

Now that he was here, he had matters of his own to attend to.

Arriving atop a rooftop, Hyuga Mirai directly activated his Byakugan and extended his vision to its limit.

"Puppets? They seem to be technology Anrokuzan left behind a few years ago. Rōran really put it to good use after picking it up."

"No Chakra visible. Has it been sealed away?"

Hyuga Mirai scanned the area and discovered some interesting things, but he could not find the most important thing—the Dragon Vein.

Still, the people of Rōran more or less knew how to use puppets, and these puppets were controlled with Liquid Batteries as their power source. They even showed a degree of automation, making them far more convenient than Sunagakure’s puppets.

"Come to think of it, I could promote batteries and Fusion Power Plants. Things at the level of Liquid Batteries and Thermal Power Stations should have long been swept into history."

The power-generation equipment used by Hyuga Mirai’s Experiment Base was relatively advanced, but the computers sold by the Uzumaki Company throughout the Ninja World came equipped with comparatively outdated generators.

Moreover, when it came to electricity as an energy source, the Five Great Nations and the other ninja villages only built facilities when they needed them. When they did not, the idea never even crossed their minds.

The ninja villages might have focused their attention only on visible resources such as land, food, and minerals, while somewhat overlooking energy resources.

Hyuga Mirai felt that he could seize this blank market. By the time the Ninja World realized the importance of electricity as an energy source, he might already have captured the entire power-generation market.

First seize it, then squeeze out the existing power-generation equipment. Once the old Liquid Batteries and Thermal Power Plants were replaced, Hyuga Mirai would control one of the foundations of everyone’s livelihood in the Ninja World.

After sending Android 18 an email explaining the matter, Hyuga Mirai prepared to search for the Dragon Vein.

He remembered that the Dragon Vein was sealed within a High Tower. It seemed to have been built by Rōran Ancestors. He did not know whether they had discovered the Dragon Vein but chose not to use it, or whether they simply lacked the ability to do so.

There were only a few High Towers in Rōran. Although soldiers guarded them all, such defenses were practically nonexistent in Hyuga Mirai’s eyes.

"Shadow Clone Technique."

After creating four shadow clones, Hyuga Mirai had them head toward the center of Rōran to search for the Dragon Vein.

There were no sensory-type ninjas here. Before long, through the memories of the dispelled shadow clones, Hyuga Mirai confirmed the Dragon Vein’s location.

After several uses of the Body Flicker Technique, he arrived at the High Tower where the Dragon Vein was sealed. Then, with a little Genjutsu, he hypnotized the Guards outside.

Hyuga Mirai rarely used Genjutsu under normal circumstances, but after learning the Spirit Transformation Technique, his mastery of Yin Release Chakra had already surpassed Yuhi Kurenai’s. Simple hypnotic Genjutsu was easy enough for him to use.

"So this is the Dragon Vein’s seal. It doesn’t look easy to break."

Hyuga Mirai frowned slightly as he began studying it. This sealing technique appeared to be a modified application of the Four Symbols Seal, mixed with many other techniques.

"First, I’ll seal off this place. As long as I don’t alert the people outside, I can study it at my leisure."

Hyuga Mirai set up a Genjutsu Barrier around the area. Anyone who entered it would be hypnotized by Genjutsu, then turn around and leave. Unless they were ninjas, they would not be able to detect the barrier at all.

Hyuga Mirai had just used his Byakugan to check, and there were no ninjas in Rōran. As long as no one came from outside, he could research it without worry.

"If I absorb and refine it myself, who knows how long it would take. Android 18, do you have any ideas about the Dragon Vein?"

Hyuga Mirai carried a small survey equipment device on him, but the energy contained within the Dragon Vein was too great, exceeding the device’s detection limit. So he directly asked Android 18 through his wristwatch. If she needed it, she could use Star Stones to store the Dragon Vein’s power.

"Sir, increasing my energy limit would not be of much help to me. However, the Dragon Vein Energy can be extracted, making it convenient for you to use at any time in the future."

"Other than your Star Stone Energy Furnace, there doesn’t seem to be any equipment capable of storing so much energy right now."

Android 18’s voice echoed through the empty High Tower. "I will immediately manufacture a batch of Energy Transmission Equipment. The estimated production time is four days. I will arrive in Rōran in five days, sir."

"Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll study how to break the seal first."

In the end, he still had to trouble Android 18. If Hyuga Mirai had been willing to wait longer, he could have had the Yasunori Trading Company enter Rōran. While changing the people’s way of life, it could gradually infiltrate and seize Rōran’s political power.

No matter how much Queen Sara cared for her people, if she could not give them better lives, her subjects would not hesitate to turn to the other side.

However, that method would take too long. Hyuga Mirai still decided to extract the Dragon Vein’s energy first, then slowly consider how to use it.

Hyuga Mirai’s skill in sealing techniques was not low at all. Back when he was at Konoha Hospital, he had learned every low-level sealing technique in the village, and he had also consulted Tsunade for a period regarding advanced sealing techniques.

Later, Uzumaki Ayaka brought back several sealing techniques from the ruins of Whirlpool Country, further rounding out Hyuga Mirai’s mastery of sealing techniques.

He spent half a day and more or less figured out the sealing technique on the Dragon Vein.

Besides the technique used to seal the Dragon Vein, there were also several techniques that sealed soul memories.

"As long as I avoid this part, I should be able to alter the sealing technique here."

After thinking it over, Hyuga Mirai decided to break the seal.

"Sealing Technique: Release!"

As Chakra flowed into it, the reverse sealing runes on the ground instantly changed. The square sealing array became circular. Although many of the Sealing Runes had changed, there were some that Hyuga Mirai had not touched at all.

But a sudden change occurred. Several Sealing Runes spread out from the Flying Thunder God Kunai at the center of the Dragon Vein, directly throwing all of Hyuga Mirai’s plans into disarray.

"Why is there another seal here?!"

Hyuga Mirai was startled at the sight. He had noticed that Flying Thunder God Kunai as well. Aside from the Flying Thunder God Mark, there had not seemed to be anything special about it. Moreover, Hyuga Mirai rarely used the Flying Thunder God Technique, so he did not know much about the mark on the kunai.

‘Namikaze Minato hid a contingency for sealing the Dragon Vein on the Flying Thunder God Kunai?’

Hyuga Mirai had altered the Sealing Technique left behind by Namikaze Minato, but this triggered the contingency on the Flying Thunder God Kunai. The Sealing Technique inscribed on it suddenly activated, disrupting Hyuga Mirai’s plan.

"Not good."

The collision between the two Sealing Techniques created a slight breach in the Dragon Vein’s seal. Energy pouring from that breach instantly filled the tower’s interior, then shattered the barrier Hyuga Mirai had set up. A blinding purple light shot through the High Tower and straight into the sky.

The Dragon Vein Energy poured out far too quickly. Hyuga Mirai was still maintaining the Sealing Technique, and just as the thought of withdrawing crossed his mind, his entire body was engulfed by the Dragon Vein Energy.

"What is that?"

"Mom, come look! The high tower in the middle is glowing!"

The disturbance in the Dragon Vein instantly drew the attention of many Rōran citizens. Not only ordinary Civilians, but even Queen Sara, who had been resting, was called by her attendants to the palace balcony, where they saw the abnormal change in the High Tower.

"Something happened to the Dragon Vein!"

Queen Sara immediately thought of that possibility. She promptly gathered soldiers and hurried to the High Tower where the Dragon Vein was sealed.

"Your Majesty."

The guard at the entrance immediately bowed in greeting upon seeing Sara.

Sara had no time for pleasantries and hurriedly asked, "Why is there purple light inside? Did anyone enter the tower?"

"No one entered, Your Majesty," the guard quickly replied. "We have been standing watch here the entire time. No one passed through the entrance. As for the purple light inside the tower, we do not know either." They were merely guards; they had no idea what was happening inside.

"I need to go in and take a look."

Sara spoke at once, but the Guards beside her immediately stopped her. They had no idea what was happening inside, and if something was wrong, Her Majesty would be in danger.

After much persuasion, they finally managed to talk Sara out of it.

Then everyone waited outside for a while until the purple pillar of light slowly faded away.

The moment the purple light vanished, Sara led her Guards inside, pushing open the doors.

The High Tower was extremely quiet. Other than the sounds made by Sara’s group, there was utter silence. They searched all around but found no one. In the end, they followed Sara to the place where the Dragon Vein was sealed.

"Your Majesty, it seems there is no one here. Everything is normal."

They inspected the Dragon Vein at regular intervals. Because of what had happened several years ago, Sara attached great importance to the Dragon Vein. She did not want villains to use its power to commit evil again.

But now, the seal on the ground appeared unchanged, and there was no one in the High Tower. Everything was as usual, with nothing out of the ordinary.

"Strange. Why did a purple pillar of light suddenly appear here?"

Sara was not a Ninja and could not make sense of the situation. Still, she had the Guards search the tower once more. Only after confirming that no outsiders had been found did Sara leave with her group.

"Sir? Sir?"

Android 18 called out three times in a row, but received no reply at all.

Just now, Android 18 had noticed that she had suddenly lost all signal contact with every device on Hyuga Mirai.

The next second, Android 18 immediately allocated 95% of her computing power and began calculating all data related to the Dragon Vein.