I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

Naruto didn't know whether Danzo was in Loulan or not, but to make the most of the Dragon Vein, he had to find the Loulan Queen. Only the Loulan Queen, who had signed a contract with the Dragon Vein, could make the most of its power.

Not long after, Naruto and Shisui infiltrated the oasis.

Many Root ninjas are lurking within the oasis, restricting the oasis residents from leaving.

With a wink, Naruto and Shisui knocked out the Root ninja and rescued the oasis residents.

According to the oasis residents, they are remnants of Loulan who are unwilling to leave, and they stay here to protect the last queen, Sarah, hoping that one day Loulan can be restored to its former glory.

People always reminisce about the good old days. Zhi Shui thought of his past self and had the illusion of looking in a mirror.

Naruto then inquired about the Root organization. Root had been there for over half a month and had spent most of their time active in the ruins of Loulan, but they had still managed to control this oasis.

Their leader, Sara, had been taken hostage by outside ninjas a few hours earlier.

After exchanging a glance, Naruto and Shisui disappeared from the spot and found Queen Sara being held hostage in the largest tent.

Without further ado, Naruto activated his Sharingan, using genjutsu to control the Root ninja and force them to commit suicide. He then looked at Queen Sara, who appeared to be in her thirties, lying on the ground, and stared at him warily: "Thank you all for your help, but why are you here near the ruins of Rouran? Do you also intend to steal...?"

Just then, Sara noticed Naruto's mask, and her expression softened considerably: "You must have come for the Dragon Vein, right? The Dragon Vein has been sealed by the Fourth Hokage, and even though I was once the Queen of Loulan, I couldn't control it."

“We are not here for the Dragon Vein. Although the Dragon Vein is powerful, it is nothing more than a dispensable force to me. We are here to hunt down our enemies. Have you seen the leader of this group of ninjas? A one-eyed old man wrapped in bandages.”

Sitting on the soft couch, Sarah gently shook her head: "I haven't seen the old man with bandages, but their target is very likely the dragon vein. Their purpose in taking me hostage is also to seize the power of the dragon vein."

Where is the dragon vein now?

Sarah hesitated for a moment, then said, "The Dragon Vein is in the Lost Tower, the tallest building in the ruins of Loulan. The core of the Dragon Vein is stored inside."

"Thank you, Queen Sara..." After obtaining the information he wanted, Naruto patted Shisui on the shoulder and headed towards the location of the Lost Tower.

Shisui glanced at Queen Sarah behind him, a thoughtful expression on his face.

After Naruto and Shisui left, a little girl of about eight or nine years old crawled out from under the tatami mat and pointed outside the tent, saying:

“Sarah’s mother, that ninja with the fox mask, you always mentioned him to me when I was little, is he the one you always talked about?”

Sarah patted her adopted daughter's head and shook her head: "I don't know either, maybe it's that person."

The little girl said with some confusion, "Maybe... doesn't Mother Sarah often talk about him? She also taught me to be a courageous child. Why didn't I have the courage to speak up just now?"

Sarah fell silent; the only sound in the tent was the rustling of the yellow sand.

……

As the only tower that stands tall amidst the ruins, the Lost Tower is quite easy to spot.

As Naruto and Shisui walked toward the Lost Tower, they looked at the ruins that were mostly buried and only a corner was exposed. Just by observing these ruins, they could get a glimpse of the former prosperity of Loulan.

Shisui said with great emotion, "Lord Menma, I had only heard that Loulan was very prosperous before, but I did not expect it to be this prosperous. It is comparable to the capital of the Land of Fire. The power of the dragon vein is really strong."

Naruto said dismissively, "The ninja force is not much weaker, but if they put all their points into military affairs, and develop for another year or two, Uzushio Village and the Land of Waves will be much more prosperous than Loulan."

Zhi Shui nodded; he had witnessed the changes in Wochao Village firsthand.

In just two years, the small fishing village has been transformed into a modern port city, all thanks to Master Mianma.

As they drew closer, Naruto and Shisui both sensed the aura of the dragon vein sealed within the Lost Tower. This power was no less formidable than that of the tailed beasts, and because it was rooted in the earth, it was continuous.

According to Naruto's memories, the Dragon Veins are not a native power of the ninja world; like the Divine Tree, they originated from the stars.

A few minutes later, Naruto and Shisui appeared at the Lost Tower. Several hundred meters away, they could vaguely see Danzo and several Root ninjas, who seemed to be breaking the seal on the Dragon Vein.

As Naruto spotted Danzo and his group, Danzo also noticed Naruto and Shisui, his eyes filled with apprehension.

Breaking the seal set by the Fourth Hokage is not easy. It took him and his subordinates several hours to finally make some progress, and it will take about two more hours to completely break it...

Just then, the leader of Wochao Village and Shisui came to their door.

Danzo ordered his subordinates to form a defensive formation. His expression was uncertain as he kept glancing at Naruto and the Dragon Vein Core beside him. At this point, the only option left was to reveal the way to break the seal.

However, the nature of the dragon vein is unstable, and it is unknown what will happen after it is subjected to severe external stimuli.

But the consequences would certainly be no less than the Tailed Beast Ball exploding on the spot, which made Danzo somewhat conflicted.

When did I become as hesitant as Hiruzen Sarutobi...? Is it because I've been lurking in the shadows for so many years, or because I've lost the backing of Konoha? As the Hokage in the darkness, I absolutely cannot back down.

As Danzo hesitated, a red-haired figure appeared on the other side of the Lost Tower, stretched out his palm, and whispered, "Feel the pain, Shinra Tensei!"

With the violent fluctuation of chakra, the air was rapidly compressed by the repulsive force.

It crashed down on Danzo with unstoppable force, causing the Dragon Vein Seal to become shaky and on the verge of being violently destroyed at any moment.

Before the attack could kill Danzo, the Six Paths of Pain emerged from behind Nagato and pounced on Danzo, intending to block him on the spot and give him no chance to resist.

Upon seeing the Rinnegan, Danzo's face darkened, and he began circling around the Dragon Vein Core.

Five seconds later, the repulsive force of Shinra Tensei erupted once again, sweeping across the entire Lost Tower.

This time, the dragon vein seal could not withstand the pressure, and the enormous repulsive force struck the core of the dragon vein directly. The immense power erupted in an instant, forming a huge vortex that covered an area of ​​tens of meters around it, constantly devouring external objects.

The immense attraction instantly engulfed Danzo. Although Nagato and the Six Paths of Pain resisted with all their might, they were swallowed up by the Dragon Vein a few seconds later and disappeared into the void.

What the two of them didn't notice was that there was another unfortunate soul lurking in the ceiling who was also caught up in it.

Faced with such a commotion, Shisui and the Root ninjas looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

Looking at the vortex generated by the dragon vein's energy, Naruto glanced at Shisui beside him and said, "Shisui, after you've dealt with the remaining Root members nearby, stay put and don't let anyone else get close to this place. I'll be back soon."

After saying that, Naruto stepped forward and walked into the Dragon Vein vortex.

In addition to providing energy, the power of the dragon vein can also unleash a power that can travel through time and space in an instant, but it is unknown at what point in time it will travel to.

Chapter 200 Encounter with People from the Past (Part 1)

When Naruto opened his eyes again, he found himself hundreds of meters in the air.

Using Wind Release ninjutsu to slow his descent, Naruto glided smoothly to the ground and looked out at the city shrouded in yellow sand in the distance, the Loulan city that had not yet been buried by the sandstorm.

Judging from the prosperity of Loulan, the time travel went very smoothly, and I successfully arrived in the past Loulan.

Brushing the dust off his robes, Naruto put on his signature black fox mask and headed towards Loulan, recalling the plot related to the Lost Tower.

In the Lost Tower storyline, the one who travels back in time is the Sand Village rogue ninja, Hyakuju, who becomes An Lushan, a minister of Loulan.

This time, however, the people who returned to the past were Danzo, Nagato, and themselves.

Leaving aside the weak Danzo, Nagato possesses enough power to disrupt spacetime. Hopefully, their journey will not cause widespread spacetime distortions.

At that moment, Naruto and his companion remembered something extremely important and immediately began to check the sealed space.

The sealed space within his body was still there, and some of the Nine-Tails and Three-Tails' chakra remained, but the Nine-Tails' true form had disappeared, as if it had never been sealed within him.

This is because there cannot be two Nine-Tails in the ninja world at the same time.

Or is it because the Nine-Tails' power is too great, making it impossible for the Dragon Vein to allow the Nine-Tails to pass through?

Naruto was secretly puzzled, but no matter which possibility it was, he would not be able to borrow the Nine-Tails' power in the short term. After losing this power, his strength would drop to Jiraiya's level...

If he were to be besieged by powerful figures, he could very well perish in this unfamiliar space-time.

Without further thought, Naruto infiltrated the city of Loulan, transformed into a passerby using the Transformation Jutsu, and began gathering information and conducting investigations.

With his Kage-level strength, he could crush most who disagreed, but with his Five Kage-level strength, he could only try to keep a low profile.

If he were to accidentally encounter Nagato, he would be no match for him now, provided that Nagato's Rinnegan had not been weakened by time travel.

Taking advantage of the shift change, Naruto used genjutsu to control one of the guards.

According to the guards, it is currently the Third Shinobi World War, and the current prosperity of Loulan is due to a minister named An Lushan.

An Lushan met with the current queen a few years ago and persuaded her to use the power of the dragon vein.

Not only did he create a puppet army to resist the invasion of Sunagakure, but he also established the modern city of Loulan.

These messages made Naruto ponder deeply, wondering if Danzo had traveled through time and space, transforming into An Lushan to control the Queen of Loulan, or if the rogue ninja Centipede still existed in this timeline. It was truly something to look forward to.

After erasing the guard's memory of seeing him, Naruto went to the balcony and looked down at the Loulan below.

Unlike the sealed dragon vein, Loulan in this time and space is filled with the aura of the dragon vein. The entire city's operation depends entirely on the dragon vein, so it's no wonder that the dragon vein will be much weaker than it is now after more than ten years.

Carefully sensing the aura of the dragon vein, Naruto quickly located the tower where the core of the dragon vein was stored.

Just as Naruto was deciding whether to explore the royal palace or the tower, several sneaky figures caught his attention. Although these people had disguised themselves using transformation techniques, their walking posture revealed them to be Konoha ninjas.

One of the blond ninjas seemed to sense something and looked in Naruto's direction, but saw nothing.

Wearing a mask, Akimichi Choza addressed the blond-haired ninja, "Minato, have you made any important discoveries? Have you found the ninja who was plotting against the Queen of the Tower?"

Minato Namikaze shook his head slightly: "I only sensed a familiar chakra, but his perception is stronger than mine. He left before I could find his location."

Choza Akimichi was taken aback: "Your perception is even stronger than yours. Could you be a Kage from another village? But apart from the Kazekage, the other Kage probably wouldn't care about Roran."

Minato Namikaze smiled and said, "It's not a Kage from another village. This chakra is very gentle and gives me a sense of closeness. Maybe it's just my imagination. Let's continue our mission and find the ninja who intends to harm the Queen of Loulan."

“That’s true…” Choji Akimichi said casually, “However, after this mission is completed, the village should be able to sign a treaty with Sunagakure, and Minato, you might even get nominated for the Fourth Hokage.”

"I'm far from being Hokage. Jiraiya-sensei is more suitable to be Hokage."

"..." The taciturn Yu Nu Zhiwei put his hands in his pockets and stared at the sky expressionlessly. He hated chatting and all talkative behavior.

……

Several tens of minutes later, Naruto and Minato's team finally met.

On his way to investigate the Loulan Royal Palace, Naruto encountered the Dragon Vein Puppets, which were far more powerful than the Sand Village Puppets, with strength even approaching that of a Jonin.

With these dragon vein puppets closing in, Naruto was forced to take action to destroy them, which attracted the attention of Minato's team.

Finally, in a small alley, Naruto met the young version of Minato Namikaze, as well as two Jonin of considerable strength, Choza Akimichi and Shiki Aburame.

Ding Zuo and Zhi Wei stared solemnly at the mysterious man wearing a black fox mask.

They could sense the surging amount of chakra within Naruto's body, which was no less than that of the renowned Sannin. Why would such a mysterious and powerful figure appear in the territory of Loulan?

After a long stare, Minato Namikaze slowly spoke: "Why did you appear in Loulan and trigger the Loulan guards' attack? We need a reasonable explanation."

Naruto calmly looked at Minato and the others, and said indifferently, "This is Loulan in the Land of Wind. It doesn't seem to be Konoha's territory. And shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking others' identities? Yellow Flash."

After his identity was revealed, Akimichi Choza's expression changed.

Minato smiled and began to formally introduce himself: "We are Konoha ninjas invited by the Queen of Loulan to carry out her mission of protecting her. Your actions may threaten the Queen."

“My objective is different from yours. I am here to kill, but my target is not the queen you are protecting, but An Lushan, the minister of Loulan, who is secretly manipulating the Loulan queen.”

Did An Lushan manipulate the Loulan Queen?