Queen Sēramu of Rōran gently held her daughter Sāra's hand.
Together, they led Yamanaka Shinno, Tenten, Hinata and Saya toward the heart of the Dragon Vein.
Though she was reluctant to part with the three girls, Sēramu knew all too well that these children had spent countless nights staring up at the stars, longing for the families they left behind.
Someday, they would surely meet again.
Bright white lights lit up the dim underground corridor.
As they walked, Tenten, Hinata, and Saya trailed their fingers along the walls, eyes filled with emotion. It was hard to say goodbye.
This entire place—every wall, every beam—had been built together with the people of Rōran, bit by bit, over the years.
Six years...
How many stretches of six years can a person really have in a lifetime?
Well, considering how absurdly long the high-ranking officials of Konoha tend to live in the future, maybe quite a few.
Still, those six years were full of laughter, tears, triumphs, and moments of hardship—memories they'd treasure for the rest of their lives.
...
They emerged from the long underground passage, hundreds of meters in length.
A massive subterranean complex came into view.
In the towering underground cavern, thick chakra conduits over a meter wide ran in neat rows.
In well-organized factory rooms, the strong and industrious citizens of Rōran worked with purpose—some using the Dragon Vein's power to drive heavy machinery and forge components, others mass-producing all kinds of everyday goods.
It all seemed rather basic on the surface.
But Shinno knew—whether it was the unification of the Land of Wind, Land of Fire, and Land of Earth, or the battles with Kirigakure and Kumogakure—war would always impact civilians.
And these everyday goods would be exactly what people needed most in the aftermath.
Shinno gave a thumbs-up to Tenten, Hinata, and Sēramu—three girls who looked delicate at first glance.
But they had done a truly outstanding job on this mission.
As for whether all this would ripple into the future...
Well, as long as a ninja's productivity was unleashed, the only difference might be a slight population bump. Nothing unmanageable.
...
They passed through the dense manufacturing zone.
Queen Sēramu, still holding Sāra's hand, led the way deeper underground—toward a structure clearly not from this era.
"From the light rising above Rōran, feelings overwhelm the heart, guarding the Dragon Vein is our vow…Blades fall from the sky, storms of sand and wind converge…Oh radiant sun, oh dancing petals…The golden light passed down through time… cuts through darkness and brings life to bloom…"
The mother and daughter softly hummed a song—its melody ancient, its tone reverent.
It was as if the Dragon Vein, buried deep beneath the earth, was answering their call. Violet chakra pulsed with a rhythmic glow, brightening the dark corridor.
"Hmm?"
Shinno glanced at Sēramu and Sāra up ahead.
The lyrics they sang were slightly different from what he remembered from his past life.
In his memory, the final lines were, "The light passed down through the spiral… severs the dragon's hand to reach the inner sanctum."
But now it had become, "The golden light passed down through time… cuts through darkness and brings life to bloom."
Was this a change caused by his time travel?
No… probably not.
In the original timeline, Namikaze Minato sealed away the Dragon Vein at the end of the Third Shinobi War. It wasn't until Mukade later broke that seal that the Dragon Vein was active again.
And after that, it went completely dormant.
Which meant Minato most likely never used its power—nor did he go back in time and change anything.
"So... could it have been someone from an ancient era? Someone who, like Gamamaru, had the power to glimpse the future by connecting with the Dragon Vein?"
Shinno's thoughts drifted, chasing theories he couldn't prove.
In the world of shinobi, secrets were endless. Whether it was the Moryō, the Grell Stone, or the so-called Sky Ninja Fortress—if he tried to trace the origin of every mystery, he'd probably die of exhaustion.
...
Sāra, who was still holding her mother's hand, kept sneaking glances at Shinno.
From head to toe. Then toe to head.
On her youthful face—no more than thirteen or fourteen—emotions flashed constantly: hope, hesitation, confusion, curiosity.
Compared to the Sāra in the original timeline—whose mother had died early, who had been manipulated like a puppet—this version of Sāra was clearly more innocent, more expressive.
Every thought showed on her face.
When she noticed Shinno looking back at her, she bit her lip, hesitated, then cautiously asked:
"Sir... are you the Golden Light?"
"Well... I don't want to sound arrogant, but if everything lines up, then probably, yeah."
Shinno rubbed his nose awkwardly. He assumed she was talking about the "Golden Light" mentioned in the song.
"Ohhh~ So you're my future husba—mmph!"
Sāra's mouth was quickly covered by her mother's hand.
Queen Sēramu, usually composed and graceful, turned bright red and gave Shinno an apologetic smile.
"Lord Shinno, I'm sorry. Because of Tenten and the others, I've learned a few things about the future... Sometimes I tell my daughter stories about the Golden Light in the prophecy—how he'll become Rōran's new king. I think she may have misunderstood."
"It's fine. Sāra's an adorable child."
Shinno waved it off with a chuckle. He understood now what Sāra had almost said.
A shame, though.
Sēramu reacted too fast. Would've been fun to hear it out loud.
Tenten laughed so hard her eyes turned into little crescents, Hinata giggled behind her sleeve, and Sēramu was straight-up slapping the wall in amusement.
...
Sēramu gave the trio a playful glare, then grabbed her daughter's ear and hurried off toward the Dragon Vein's depths.
Shinno followed behind, grinning. Sāra looked back at him with a betrayed, pitiful expression.
He simply spread his hands and shrugged as if to say, "Wasn't me!"
...
Eventually, they reached the Dragon Vein's core.
Sēramu and Sāra worked together to activate the seal. The massive stone doors slowly opened, releasing a blinding surge of violet light.
When the glow finally faded—
Shinno stepped forward.
They now stood inside a massive, well-like structure.
At the center, the Dragon Vein's energy had fully liquefied, bubbling like boiling water as it surged and roared, exuding an overwhelming sense of power.
A stone bridge extended from the doorway to a platform at the center of the chamber.
That platform was the focal point of the Dragon Vein's energy—and the main control mechanism of Rōran's most powerful secret.
"To sever the dragon's hand... So this is one of its claws reaching out?"
Shinno stepped onto the bridge. Behind him, Sēramu, Sāra, and the girls followed and shut the door.
The moment they sent Tenten and the others back to their timeline, a huge energy surge was sure to follow.
And the Dragon Vein's power could be dangerous to normal people.
Shinno stood in front of the eye-shaped control node.
He waved at Tenten, Hinata, and Saya.
Then, channeling senjutsu chakra, he tapped Tenten's forehead three times.
With a puff of chakra smoke, a large bowl-sized device appeared in his hand—the time travel controller, perfectly shaped to fit the Dragon Vein mechanism.
He placed it in the center.
As purple energy flared around the controller, Shinno quickly adjusted the settings for the exact time of return, then stepped away from the platform.
"Sēramu-san, Sāra-chan, we'll come find you again after we get back, okay~?"
Tenten waved goodbye cheerfully.
"You've got the titles backwards again~" Sēramu sighed, waving too.
Hinata quietly pulled out a pair of treasured gloves and handed them to Sāra, eyes full of emotion.
"No fair, Hinata! You brought a gift without telling us!" Sēramu pouted. "Now I feel unprepared!"
"I-I didn't... I just..."
As the three girls said their heartfelt farewells, Sēramu and Sāra gave parting blessings of their own.
Then—
The Dragon Vein roared to life.
A tremendous burst of energy engulfed the platform.
In just a few seconds, Tenten, Hinata, and Saya had vanished.
The Dragon Vein's power slowly receded back into the well.
Shinno narrowed his eyes, silently analyzing every detail of the time-space transfer.
After a while, he looked down at the still-boiling Dragon Vein below—its power hardly depleted—and couldn't help but marvel at the sheer magnitude of its energy.
"Give me one minute."
He turned to Sēramu and Sāra with a calm smile.
Then walked back to the control node and, guided by memories from the genjutsu transmission, reprogrammed it for a jump into the past.
Rising to his feet, he waved farewell to the mother and daughter.
And as the Dragon Vein erupted once more, Yamanaka Shinno disappeared into the light.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (258 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)