Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

"Alright, enough with the formalities. You've only come to see this old man twice, so you must have something important to say. Just get to the point."

Grandma Cat shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning back against the cushion, and then waved her hand and said.

"Yes, here are some medicinal herbs and essential supplies that I need for my cultivation. I would like to trouble Granny Cat to prepare them. Also, there is some intelligence that I would like to trouble Granny Cat to help me keep an eye out for and collect."

Jiang Si smiled slightly, then took out a scroll from his pocket that recorded the various supplies needed, along with a deliberately folded dark cardboard sheet, and handed them to Granny Cat in the opposite seat.

After Granny Cat reached out and took the scroll, she first glanced at the required supplies. Upon seeing this, even Granny Cat couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. If the Uchiha clan needed these supplies, Granny Cat wouldn't be surprised, as they were a powerful ninja clan with a population of four figures. But it was clear that these supplies were only needed by Shoji.

"You actually need so many supplies? This will take some time to prepare, especially the sealing scroll you need, and some special chakra tools, which are very difficult to obtain these days! Even for other ordinary supplies, the amount you need is really too much. It's absolutely impossible to prepare them in just a few days. You need at least half a month to prepare them!"

"Yes, I understand that. Grandma Cat doesn't need to worry. As long as it can be prepared within a month, that's fine. These are the costs for supplies and labor."

Jiang Si smiled lightly, and then took out more than a dozen stacks of banknotes from his pocket. The face value of these banknotes was all 'ten thousand taels', and each stack contained a hundred bills. However, it must be said that purchasing supplies from Granny Cat was already considered a very cheap price. If Jiang Si really wanted to buy these supplies outside, he would have to spend at least a third or more of the money, not to mention much, and it would also take much more time!

This is why Granny Cat holds a very important position in the Uchiha clan; she is able to consistently provide the Uchiha clan with a large amount of resources.

"Hmm, a month shouldn't be a problem. But what do you mean by the intelligence you asked me to find? Could it be..."

Grandma Cat nodded first, then gently shook the small piece of paper in her hand, and said with a very serious expression.

And it's unclear when it started, but the spacious room that was once filled with dozens of animals is now empty except for Shoji and Granny Cat. Shoji seems to have been prepared for this, and he doesn't show any sign of panic when Granny Cat asks him a serious question.

"Grandma Cat, all I can say is that this is my personal plan, and I hope you can help me. Also, please keep this a secret from everyone in the clan, including Chief Fugaku and the others!"

Although he holds a high position of power, there are some things that cannot be made public yet. Therefore, Shoji cannot use the power of Iwagakure or his own clan. However, if he were to rely on himself alone, not to mention anything else, just finding that luminous water space passage leading to the moon would take Shoji at least several months. You must know that this world is very large. The only thing Shoji can be sure of is that this space passage is probably located in the area from the northern part of the Land of Fire to the Land of Iron.

This area is also very large, and Shoji cannot waste that much time searching. Moreover, this is only one target in the plan. There is other information, such as the whereabouts of the tailed beasts. Shoji needs someone to assist him. Since the power of the village and the clan cannot be easily used, the ninja cat clan here with Granny Cat is the only source of information that Shoji can rely on.

Furthermore, Shoji believed that Granny Cat would not leak his information.

Granny Cat frowned upon hearing Shoji's words. The Uchiha clan had been allies of the Ninja Cat Clan for hundreds of years. Granny Cat had personally witnessed the Uchiha clan's most glorious and most difficult periods, and had met all sorts of Uchiha clan members. But she had to say that among these people, Shoji was definitely the most special one. If she had to give an example, it would only be Uchiha Madara from fifty or sixty years ago!

Of course, what I'm talking about here is the special feeling he gives off to others. To be honest, Shoji gives off a very comfortable feeling. Madara was fine when he was young, but ever since he awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, Granny Cat feels that Madara gives off a very gloomy feeling, which makes Granny Cat feel very uncomfortable.

Even so, Granny Cat still witnessed Madara's growth. However, there seemed to be a strange turning point in the process of Madara's growth that caused him to undergo a dramatic change. But because Madara was not one of the most outstanding people in the clan, Granny Cat hardly noticed him. The first contact between Granny Cat and Madara was indeed before the clan left Konoha.

Therefore, Shoji really has a kind of feeling that Granny Cat can't see through, but it must be admitted that Shoji is definitely one of the most outstanding members of the Uchiha clan in the hundreds of years of history that Granny Cat has seen. As the greatest ally, Granny Cat knows very well how bad the situation of the Uchiha clan in Konoha was more than two years ago. To be able to lead the clan out of such a dangerous situation, Shoji's excellence is self-evident!

Grandma Cat sometimes really has the urge to thoroughly understand Shoji, but in the end she always manages to restrain herself. They are allies, that's true, but they also have to abide by certain principles!

"Yes, I understand. I will verify this information for you as soon as possible. I won't say anything more about what you're going to do. But, young Jiang Si, you must remember this: you now bear the responsibility and hope of your clan. You must think carefully before you act!"

Grandma Cat gave Jiang Si a deep look, but still didn't say the question she wanted to ask. She simply nodded slowly and then gave him a serious admonition.

"Yes, Granny Cat, I will certainly remember Granny Cat's teachings!"

At this moment, the general also showed a solemn expression, bowed slightly, and replied.

An old house where a treasure.

This is an age-old philosophy, especially for someone like Granny Cat, whose life experience—no, to be precise, her 'cat life'—is hundreds of years or even longer. She's speaking these words with the attitude of caring for a junior, so Shoji naturally has to listen attentively. Besides, what she says does make sense. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Uchiha clan has settled down smoothly in Iwagakure and seems to have completely integrated into the community; at least half of their success depends on Shoji alone. If another ten or twenty years pass, the Uchiha clan will indeed no longer need to worry about any hidden dangers. But as things stand, if something were to happen to Shoji...

It could very well shake the clan's position in Iwagakure.

This truly makes the Si the most important communication bridge between the clan and the village, and every step must be carefully chosen and taken.

"Yes, I'm glad you understand!"

Seeing that Shoji really took her words to heart, Granny Cat's wrinkled face showed a look of relief. Young people should be energetic and vigorous, but they also need to be careful about their limits!

You must not actually cross certain boundaries that should not be crossed!

That could easily lead to disaster.

"Yes, then I'll leave these to you. I have other things to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer!"

"Okay, once you have everything you need ready, I'll have Bai Yu let you know. Also, don't bring those kids any more of those catnip drinks; they're getting more and more picky about food!"

Grandma Cat said irritably.

"Yes, yes, Granny Cat!"

Jiang Si laughed, then stood up, bowed to Granny Cat, and then darted towards the exit.

Watching Jiang Si's smooth departure, Granny Cat shook her head slightly with an amused expression, then stood up and went to call her little ones.

"Hey little rascals, come out here! We're going to be busy again today!"

"Meow meow!"

"Meow meow!"

And so, as Granny Cat finished speaking.

The once quiet room was suddenly filled with soft, meowing sounds.

Leaving aside the fact that Granny Cat had to arrange work tasks for her little ones for at least half a month based on the list and information provided by Shoji, Shoji, after walking along a dimly lit underground passage for nearly five minutes with ease, finally arrived at the exit.

As he stepped out, a slightly dazzling light shone down, causing Jiang Si, who had been in the dim underground environment, to subconsciously squint.

After Shoji's eyes adjusted to the bright light, all he saw was that familiar scene of ruins. This region was even further south than the Land of Wind, bordering the sea directly. There had once been a relatively prosperous small country here, but it was completely destroyed during the wars of forty or fifty years ago. Later, it became the site of a battle between Sunagakure and Kirigakure during the Fourth Shinobi World War. The ninjas extensively destroyed the environment, further leading to the desolation of this area. What was once a fertile land was completely abandoned, and now there are very few humans living in this area!

The city ruins chosen by Granny Cat were devoid of any humans, and there was a barrier personally set up by Granny Cat on the outer edge. Anyone who stepped into the area would be immediately sensed by Granny Cat.

In addition, there are hundreds of cats scattered throughout the ruins. Being seen by them means that your whereabouts have been exposed. Although the number of real ninja cats seems to be very small, there are a lot of these very intelligent cats. Granny Cat can help the Uchiha clan gather a lot of intelligence, and it is these cats that help them.

They can be found all over the ninja world. Of course, to accurately transmit messages, it takes those true ninja cats. Ordinary cats are not capable of traveling such a long route to collect and report intelligence. Usually, after the cats in their respective areas receive the message, the ninja cats like Hakuyu will personally go out to bring the information back.

This also shows how terrifying the number of cats under Granny Cat's command is; those living in this ruined city are just the tip of the iceberg.

Therefore, Jiang Si was not worried at all about whether Grandma Cat could fulfill his request; it was just a matter of time. Jiang Si was ready to get up anytime soon.

"Next, should we go north or east first? Well, the north seems closer. I'm still quite interested in that thing!"

A faint light flickered in Jiang Si's pupils.

"Whoosh!"

After determining the direction, he leaped into the air and swiftly disappeared towards the due north.

North.

It is the territory of the Land of Wind.

Heading north from the ruined city where Jiang Si was located, at Jiang Si's speed, it took less than half a day to cross the border and enter the territory of the Wind Kingdom. As the southernmost region of the Wind Kingdom, even in the impoverished and rugged Wind Kingdom, this place is considered one of the most barren places. There are almost no large cities to be seen here, mostly just villages, and you can only encounter one from a great distance.

It took Jiang Si a great deal of effort to enter the southern region of the Land of Wind before he finally found a place that could barely be called a town.

In order to avoid attracting attention and unexpected situations, Shoji had already changed out of his Iwa ninja uniform before entering the town, and even used the Transformation Jutsu in advance. The arrival of an Iwa ninja in the Land of Wind region was a rather sensitive matter, especially since he was currently the most famous person in the ninja world.

If their whereabouts are exposed, it could easily cause problems!

392. An ancient kingdom

In this town, Jiang Si took a short rest. Although there was convenient food to carry with him, he could eat cooked food. Who would want to eat cold, dry rations? Moreover, unless it was an extremely poor and remote place, even if a town looked dilapidated, it was still a town. The wealthy could still enjoy more luxurious experiences.

Another important reason for entering this town was to find an accurate map of the surrounding area. The Land of Wind is really big. In terms of land area, it is about two to three times the size of the Land of Fire. However, there are many useless areas. Even the official maps of the Land of Wind only depict the details of the most important areas. The rest are basically just a rough outline. Sometimes, the maps of some special areas are not as detailed as those of some caravans!

Although I'm not entirely sure, the town where Shoji is currently located must be the largest gathering place for people in the surrounding area, so it shouldn't be difficult to buy a fairly detailed map here!

This can save the officers a little time; otherwise, it might really take three or four more days to search them one by one.

As the general expected, this regional map could be easily purchased in the largest shop in the town. It really did mark some important areas and main roads in the surrounding area in detail, as well as some special landmarks. These maps were originally prepared for passing caravans, so naturally they were made to be as detailed as possible!

Jiang Si easily found his target on the map: the ancient kingdom of Loulan, which was destroyed in the Third Shinobi World War!

That's right, Jiang Si's target this time is the power of the Dragon Vein, which was sealed by the Fourth Hokage and was the greatest asset that enabled the ancient Loulan Kingdom to prosper!

The original work doesn't really explain how strong the power of the dragon vein is, but it is certain that it is a special energy body, and can even be described as an existence with certain life characteristics. In Shoji's future experiments, the dragon vein can be used as a special energy source. Even putting aside these benefits, the existence of the dragon vein itself is enough to interest Shoji.

To be more precise, the Dragon Vein is only one aspect. The others include the power of the priestess of the Land of Demons, the power of the demons, the possible evil god mentioned by Hidan, the so-called 'Grim Reaper' that can be summoned using jutsu, and the artificially cultivated 'Zero-Tails', etc. In Shoji's view, these special energy entities, which are different from chakra, are all connected to the 'truth' of this world to some extent. Unlike when he first arrived in this world, when Shoji's only concern was how to save his clan from crisis.

In a sense, Shoji is somewhat similar to Orochimaru, having developed a strong interest in the existence and truth of this world. Because, if you really want to talk about it, chakra is the true extraterrestrial entity, a result of the fruit produced by the divine tree planted by Kaguya Otsutsuki. Before Kaguya Otsutsuki, the humans of this world did not possess the power of chakra.

Studying the existence of seemingly unique energy entities such as dragon veins can greatly help Jiang Si to delve deeper into the truth of this world and truly understand its essence.

The dragon vein is merely the first target for the general.

'The distance is still a bit far, slightly towards the Land of Rivers. Even starting from here, it will take most of a day to reach the destination!'

Look at the exact location on the map.

Jiang Si's eyes flickered slightly as he silently calculated the approximate distance and the time required.

It was already dusk when they arrived at this town, and seeing how far away they were, Jiang Si decided to spend the night in this town. Traveling through the night was not impossible, but the Land of Wind was mostly desert and Gobi, and the temperature would drop sharply at night, which would be severe even for ninjas. Since they were not in a hurry to travel, there was really no need to suffer such hardship!

Staying an extra night in this town won't take up too much time.

The next day.

Jiang Siye woke up almost at dawn.

Without disturbing anyone, they quietly left the town and hurried towards the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom. Although it was also a ruin, it was different from the country where Granny Cat and her family lived, which had been destroyed decades ago. The ancient Loulan Kingdom had only been destroyed eight or nine years ago. Even though Loulan was just a small country, it had prospered for a short time because of the power of the dragon vein.

In the years following the fall of this country, there were still some inhabitants in the surrounding area, but as time went on, it was foreseeable that this region would become as desolate as that small country.

However, some figures can still be seen. The area where the ancient Loulan Kingdom once stood has not been completely abandoned. The young queen still lives with her subjects in the surrounding corners. Of course, the city of Loulan is completely abandoned. Moreover, for a period of time, it was completely sealed off by Sunagakure, prohibiting outsiders from entering, including the former queen of Loulan Kingdom and the subjects of Loulan.

The reason is simple: the power of the dragon vein is still very tempting. Unlike the star stones in Xingyin Village, which all the major powers know have obvious side effects and can't think of any particularly useful value, the dragon vein is a power that can be extracted and used as an energy source. The ancient kingdom of Loulan prospered because of this. All the machinery in this country can be powered by the power of the dragon vein, without needing other energy sources. Moreover, Loulan also created a large number of special puppet warriors with the power of the dragon vein!

This is what Sunagakure most wanted. The reason why Loulan was destroyed was largely due to Sunagakure's greed. It was the young queen who made a decisive move and led tens of thousands of people in the country to leave Loulan.

The Sand Village was naturally happy to take over the entire Loulan Kingdom, which would save them a lot of trouble. However, when they excitedly tried to bring the power of the Dragon Vein back to their own ninja village, they discovered that the Dragon Vein had been sealed. The 'culprit' was none other than the famous Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze!

Of course, when Minato sealed the Dragon Vein, he wasn't yet the Hokage. In fact, the Third Shinobi World War hadn't even fully broken out yet; it was the last period of calm before the war. Minato was only seventeen or eighteen years old, about the same age as Shoji now, but he already possessed Kage-level strength. Furthermore, thanks to his girlfriend, Kushina Uzumaki, even at seventeen or eighteen, Minato's mastery of sealing techniques was extremely profound. With the extremely crude sealing techniques of Sunagakure, which often caused the One-Tail to go berserk, it was simply impossible to break Minato's seal!

At the time, the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had considered using brute force to break the seal, but this could easily cause the dragon vein to go out of control, resulting in a counterproductive outcome. After much deliberation, Rasa had no choice but to temporarily set aside the dragon vein, hoping to see if his own ninja village could develop a solution in the future, or if they could defeat Konoha in the war and offer Minato Namikaze the condition to personally unseal it!

The subsequent events need no further explanation. Sunagakure suffered a crushing defeat in the war, and Rasa simply had no energy left to attend to the so-called power of the dragon vein. Over time, it wasn't that he completely forgot about it, but rather that he chose to leave it aside. Since he had neither the time nor the ability, he simply put it aside for the time being!

As for why Konoha never considered bringing the power of the Dragon Vein back to their own village after winning the war, well, that's a matter of opinion. In any case, Konoha has made some questionable moves more than once or twice!

Now, more than four years have passed since the end of the Third Shinobi World War. The ancient kingdom of Loulan, which had been guarded by at least a hundred Sand Shinobi for a long time, is now truly deserted. Apart from the occasional visit by some subjects of the ancient kingdom of Loulan, led by their former queen, to pay homage to their ancestors, the ancient kingdom of Loulan has become a true ruin.

However, this is also very beneficial to the general's actions.

There was no need to worry about being discovered. After spending almost half a day, in the afternoon, Jiang Si arrived outside the ruins of the ancient Loulan Kingdom. Unlike the original story, which was almost 20 years after the destruction of Loulan, this place still retains a considerable number of magnificent buildings left by the Loulan civilization.

Seeing the towering buildings everywhere, even though they were all ruins, still brought a certain degree of shock to Jiang Si.

'This is the ancient kingdom of Loulan!'

Jiang Si raised an eyebrow and murmured to himself.

The overwhelming metallic feel of Loulan makes it feel less like a city suitable for human habitation and more like a large thermal power plant, lacking any sense of livability whatsoever.