Chapter 95: Stealing the Dragon Vein

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Stealing the Dragon Vein

Beneath the demon mask, Hyuga Kagami’s Tenseigan shimmered with brilliant light, as though he intended to see through every last secret of the Dragon Vein.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Amid the howling winds, the hurricane grew fiercer and fiercer!

Loose stones all around were swept into the air, spinning rapidly around the altar like a tornado. Whenever they struck anything, they produced deafening crashes.

Even the earth began to tremble.

As the ground shook, cracks split open across the brick floor, rapidly spreading outward. In mere moments, the entire surface resembled a tortoise shell, fractured into countless pieces.

The Queen of Roran staggered several steps before finally falling to the ground.

The hurricane was so fierce that she could barely keep her eyes open. Shielding her face with both hands, she struggled to say, "The Dragon Vein is becoming more and more violent. I... I can’t control it at all!"

Kagami flickered in front of the Queen of Roran, shielding her from the storm.

In a calm voice, he said, "Don’t panic. It’s breaking free of the seal. It’s only natural for it to become a little violent."

Shielded behind Kagami, the Queen of Roran barely managed to climb back to her feet. Her expression was filled with bewilderment and suspicion. "Why aren’t you afraid at all?"

The scene before her looked as though the end of the world had arrived.

In an environment like this, the Queen of Roran felt that no one in the world should have been able to remain calm. Yet Kagami, standing before her, had remained composed from beginning to end.

She couldn’t help but grow suspicious of his identity.

In her eyes, perhaps the only shinobi in the entire shinobi world who could face the Dragon Vein with such composure were those who bore the title of "Kage."

By now, only a handful of the Fourth Hokage’s sealing formulas remained intact.

ROAR...!

As the final few sealing formulas shattered one after another, a soul-shaking dragon’s roar erupted from the abyss beneath the altar!

Kagami’s gaze sharpened. "It’s about to break free."

Hiding behind Kagami, the Queen of Roran tightly clutched his robe. Struggling to speak against the howling hurricane, she said, "I... I can already feel it!"

Clang...!

The instant the final sealing formula shattered, the Flying Thunder God kunai that served as the keystone of the Dragon Vein’s seal was blasted away from the altar.

An enormous torrent of chakra erupted from the abyss in an instant, smashing through the altar’s dome and transforming into a pillar of chakra that shot straight into the heavens, illuminating the entire night sky!

Kagami immediately frowned.

Through the vision of his Tenseigan, he could see that the Dragon Vein’s chakra was not only incredibly vast, but also contained some strange, indescribable power that made even him feel faintly wary.

At the same time, the commotion caused by the Dragon Vein’s release far exceeded his expectations.

Staring at the towering pillar of Dragon Vein chakra before him, Kagami knew that it wouldn’t be long before Sunagakure sent someone to investigate.

He didn’t have much time left.

Suppressing the various speculations running through his mind, Kagami began the final step of his artificial tailed beast plan.

As his hands rapidly formed a series of seals, the purple clay shell gradually began to swell, growing larger and larger.

"Open!"

After channeling the guiding chakra into the purple clay shell, Kagami shouted softly.

Following his command, a flash of light swept across the sealed opening of the purple clay shell. Immediately afterward, the opening covered in intricate sealing formulas slowly spread apart, resembling a gigantic mouth opening wide.

"Th-This...!?"

The Queen of Roran was so stunned by the sight that she was rendered speechless.

At that moment, Kagami formed another hand seal, then pressed one hand against the ground.

In an instant, rings of sealing formulas spread outward across the ground like a spiderweb, covering the entire altar.

This technique was the "Chakra Sealing Method" recorded in the artificial tailed beast scroll. According to Orochimaru’s deductions, it had been specifically developed by the Second Hokage for the artificial tailed beast project.

Taking a deep breath, Kagami activated the Chakra Sealing Method while shouting to the Queen of Roran behind him, "Now! Help me suppress the Dragon Vein!"

The Queen of Roran looked up and saw the purple clay shell, resembling a massive sphere with its mouth stretched wide open, hurling itself toward the pillar of Dragon Vein chakra soaring into the heavens.

"It’s devouring the Dragon Vein’s chakra!"

Even through her shock, the Queen of Roran found herself hesitating.

The Dragon Vein was the symbol of the ancient city of Roran, a treasure passed down through generations of Roran’s queens. Now that the moment had actually arrived, she couldn’t help but feel reluctant to simply stand by and watch as someone stole it away before her very eyes.

But then she thought of the people who had followed her, and her heart stirred once more.

"The true treasure of Roran should be its people!"

Gradually, the Queen of Roran’s expression grew resolute, and all hesitation vanished from her eyes.

By this point, Kagami was already beginning to struggle.

The sheer quantity of chakra contained within the Dragon Vein had completely exceeded his expectations.

In only a brief span of time, the purple clay shell had expanded to more than ten times its original size. Its enormous body even burst through the surrounding tower walls, tearing apart the entire upper half of the altar tower.

With the tower walls no longer providing any shelter, the hurricane swept up clouds of yellow sand, unleashing a sandstorm that engulfed the entire ruins of ancient Roran!

Kagami urged, "What are you waiting for? Hurry!"

No longer hesitating, the Queen of Roran immediately shouted, "In the name of the Queen, I command you—restrain your power! By my command, obey!"

Under the Queen of Roran’s soothing influence, the surrounding hurricane noticeably weakened. The pillar of chakra soaring into the heavens also shrank considerably, and the entire situation seemed to finally come under control.

"It’s working!"

Secretly delighted, Kagami hurriedly asked, "Can you suppress the Dragon Vein any further?"

The Queen of Roran shook her head. "This is as far as I can go."

"Alright. Keep a close eye on it. Don’t let the Dragon Vein act up again."

After giving her that brief instruction, Kagami devoted his full attention to operating the Chakra Sealing Method.

Under the Queen of Roran’s soothing influence, the Dragon Vein gradually calmed down, making it much easier for Kagami to steal its chakra. After all, subduing gentle chakra was far easier than subduing violent, rampaging chakra.

Driven by Kagami, the purple clay shell continued greedily devouring mouthful after mouthful of the Dragon Vein’s chakra.

Its entire body continued swelling along with it, growing larger and larger until, gradually, its colossal form seemed almost large enough to blot out the sky.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten minutes passed.

"The shell is almost at its limit..."

Staring at the purple clay shell, which had nearly expanded to its absolute limit, Kagami’s expression grew more solemn.

Fortunately, the Dragon Vein’s pillar of chakra had already become extremely faint, and even the surrounding hurricane had died down. It seemed that the Dragon Vein deep underground was finally nearing exhaustion.

A melancholy expression appeared on the Queen of Roran’s face.

She could feel the connection between herself and the Dragon Vein gradually fading away.

Whoosh...

Accompanied by one final gust of wind, the Dragon Vein’s pillar of chakra completely dissipated.

Seeing that the job was finally done, Kagami immediately formed a hand seal and shouted, "Seal!"

Every sealing formula covering the purple clay shell lit up simultaneously.

Under layer upon layer of sealing formulas, the enormous purple clay shell that had swollen large enough to blot out the sky gradually began to shrink...