From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Sasuke's gaze sharpened, and he leaned forward slightly while sitting.

The task Sasuke had previously entrusted to Yuuyajo En was to find the remnants of the ancient Loulan Kingdom.

To be more precise, it's the dragon vein within Loulan!

After understanding the path to the advanced awakening of the Rinnegan, Sasuke devoted himself to collecting the five elemental artifacts.

Lightning and fire have been combined, and a target has been set for wind-attribute artifacts.

Although the water-attribute artifact is illusory and elusive, we have at least begun to see some progress.

Sasuke has been searching for artifacts that match only those with earth-attribute attributes.

One day, Sasuke had a sudden inspiration and thought of the incredibly mysterious Loulan Dragon Vein from the original work.

Dragon vein! Dragon vein!

Soil forms the dragon's flesh, solid rocks form its bones, vegetation constitutes its body and hair, mountains, rivers, and streams form its meridians and blood vessels, and the overall undulating mountain range resembles a dragon soaring gracefully. Its fleeting and elusive form is the dragon vein!

In the past, in the traditional Chinese geomancy, "dragon veins" were regarded as a special geographical feature, a place where the earth's spiritual energy gathered.

In Feng Shui, this type of terrain is considered an auspicious location. The earth's veins are marked by the direction of mountains and rivers, hence Feng Shui practitioners call them dragon veins, which are the energy veins that follow the movement of mountains and rivers. Feng Shui masters of the past believed that this could be used to identify auspicious locations that are sheltered from the wind and retain water, bringing great wealth and prosperity.

Moreover, Sasuke had seen this movie in his previous life, and he clearly remembered that the description of the Loulan Dragon Vein was that the dragon vein contained powerful underground energy and chakra.

Therefore, the dragon vein of the ancient Loulan Kingdom in this world is very likely related to the earth element.

This discovery has given Sasuke, who had been struggling to find a solution for earth-attribute artifacts, some direction.

Although the effects and power of the dragon vein in the original timeline are more related to time and space, they are not so much related to earth escape.

However, the dragon vein of Loulan did not appear out of thin air. According to the words of the Loulan Queen in the original work, the ancestors of the ancient Loulan Kingdom built the central tower, namely the Lost Tower, and the dragon vein only began to appear.

After the Lost Tower was built, it was able to gather the energy of the earth in a barren and dead desert, turning Loulan into an oasis, a land of auspicious feng shui, and even blossoming and bearing fruit, forming the Loulan Dragon Vein.

Therefore, the so-called Lost Tower is quite interesting.

Or perhaps the materials used to construct the Lost Tower are unusual.

Or perhaps the Lost Tower possesses some kind of treasure capable of gathering the earth's spiritual energy.

Or perhaps the ancestors of the ancient Loulan Kingdom were proficient in some kind of sealing formation that gathers the energy of the earth, and they inscribed it on the Lost Tower.

In short, it doesn't matter whether it's the material, the treasure, or the formation.

If Sasuke can find the secret of how the Lost Tower gathers the earth's energy, then his Earth Release artifact will be solved.

Unfortunately, the ancient Loulan Kingdom disappeared completely into the desolate desert after its destruction more than a decade ago.

Like a mirage, even if people follow a map from more than ten years ago to the location of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, they will not see the so-called ruins of the ancient kingdom.

Instead, there was only a desolate desert, as if some mysterious force had erased the location of the ancient Loulan Kingdom.

This is completely different from what Sasuke saw in his previous life.

Sasuke didn't know why, but he knew that the remnants of the ancient Loulan Kingdom were still active in the ninja world, living a life of anonymity and unknown to others.

So he asked Miyajo En to help him find the whereabouts of the Loulan survivors, if anyone in the entire ninja world could find the location of the mysteriously vanished Loulan.

That leaves only Sarah, the former Dragon Vein Contractor and Queen of Loulan!

"As expected of Mr. Cheng Yan, his speed has greatly exceeded my expectations."

Sasuke leaned forward slightly and said in a deep voice, "So where are they now?"

Miyajo En took a sip of tea and smiled slightly: "The Land of Rivers!"

...............

In the Land of Rain, inside a dark cave.

With his hands behind his back, Obito Uchiha watched Zetsu slowly rise from the ground and said in a deep voice, "Haven't you found Sasuke Uchiha yet?"

It's been over a month!

More than a month has passed since the incident in the Land of Swamp. During this time, Obito and Nagato have mobilized a large intelligence network to search for Sasuke Uchiha.

Among them, the most important one is naturally the country where the Sound Village was once located—the Land of Rice Fields.

However, despite their great efforts, they still couldn't find Uchiha Sasuke in the Land of Rice Fields.

Not only was Nagato, who had lost his best friend's body, extremely anxious, but Obito, who was eager to find Uchiha Sasuke and avenge his humiliation, was also extremely anxious.

"No." Black Zetsu shook his head and said in a deep voice, "For the past month, I have used all my robe clones to search every place in the Land of Rice Fields, big and small. Apart from finding a few abandoned experimental bases left by Orochimaru, I haven't found a single guy from the Sound Village."

Upon hearing this, Obito Uchiha's gaze darkened: "So, you mean they're no longer in the Land of Rice Fields?"

nonsense!

Why are you asking about something so obvious?

Black Zetsu cursed inwardly and said, "Both Uchiha Sasuke and Orochimaru should clearly realize that they are no match for us now, so they should have already withdrawn from the Land of Rice Fields and moved their base to other countries."

Obito Uchiha pondered for a moment, then asked, "Where do you think they are right now?"

“I don’t know!” Black Zetsu shook his head and answered directly: “You are well aware of Orochimaru’s ability to hide. After he defected from the organization, Nagato and I have been looking for his whereabouts, but we have not been able to find him until a few months ago when Orochimaru attacked Konoha during the Chunin Exams. That’s when we learned that his base was in the Land of Rice Fields.”

"While we did partly shirk our responsibilities in the search for Orochimaru, the fact that we managed to keep it a secret from the organization for several years and remain unharmed fully demonstrates the hidden strength of this old viper, Orochimaru."

After a pause, Black Zetsu continued, "The Gedo Mazo has not yet fully awakened, nor has it collected the Tailed Beasts. Therefore, we don't have many White Zetsu that we can mobilize right now. The entire ninja world is so vast, and with Orochimaru's ability to conceal himself, if Sasuke Uchiha doesn't appear, or if the people from Otogakure don't show up, finding them with our current number of White Zetsu would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Upon hearing this, Obito Uchiha's expression beneath his mask turned extremely grim. He clenched his fist, then relaxed it, and asked, "What about the Ninja Cat Clan? Has Sasuke Uchiha contacted them these days?"

"Based on my observation, there is none."

Black Zetsu shook his head and said, "After Sasuke Uchiha defected from Konoha, he never contacted the Ninja Cat Clan again."

“However…” Black Zetsu’s tone shifted, becoming somewhat strange as he said, “According to the information I extracted from several members of the Ninja Cat Clan, although Sasuke Uchiha didn’t contact them after defecting from Konoha, he did entrust them with a mission before that.”

Obito Uchiha's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "What mission?"

"A chakra stone containing powerful chakra energy."

"Chakra Stone?"

"Ok!"

Black Zetsu continued, "Yes, the Chakra Stone. It seems that Sasuke Uchiha believes that the Chakra Stone he obtained came from a huge mineral vein or something similar."

"Even if there really is a huge chakra mine, what use would he have for it?"

Obito Uchiha's eyes flickered, a sense of doubt creeping into his mind.

There are indeed some natural creations in the ninja world that contain chakra energy.

For example, chakra metal.

Obito Uchiha was not surprised by this kind of thing.

What puzzled him was why Uchiha Sasuke wanted to find such a thing.

These things could greatly enhance the strength of an ordinary ninja.

However, for Sasuke Uchiha now, similar beings should no longer have much of an amplifying effect.

Could it be that he wants to forge another divine weapon?

You already have two, isn't that enough?

Obito Uchiha was somewhat puzzled when Black Zetsu continued, "Obito, I think this is an opportunity."

"Huh?" Obito Uchiha was taken aback, then suddenly realized and said in a deep voice, "You mean we should go and capture the Ninja Cat Clan now, so that we can force Sasuke Uchiha out, right?"

"Forehead?"

Black Zetsu was slightly taken aback, and cursed inwardly.

Damn it, are you an idiot?

"No! I don't think someone who would desecrate the corpses of his parents and gouge out their eyes while their parents' warmth is still lingering would care about the life or death of the so-called Ninja Cat Clan."

Black Zetsu paused for a moment before denying it.

"That's true. If they treat their own parents this way, they can certainly treat outsiders like this."

Obito Uchiha nodded somewhat hesitantly and asked, "So, what you mean by 'opportunity'?"

"Judging from this intelligence report, Sasuke Uchiha seems to attach great importance to that chakra mine."

Black Zetsu pondered for a moment before explaining, "As long as there is news of this chakra mine, Sasuke Uchiha will definitely show up."

"So not only can we not stop the Ninja Cat Clan from finding this chakra mine, but we also can't kill them. On the contrary, we should help them find the so-called chakra mine as soon as possible, and then inform Uchiha Sasuke through them. At that time, Uchiha Sasuke's whereabouts will inevitably be exposed!"

Upon hearing this, Obito Uchiha's gaze sharpened as he considered the feasibility of the idea. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "That's right, let's do it this way. We'll send some of the White Zetsu clones to secretly follow the ninja cat clan's intelligence agents, gather information, and find the so-called chakra mine first."

"However, we cannot stop our search for Uchiha Sasuke during this time."

“Of course.” Black Zetsu nodded, paused for a moment, and then said, “Obito, I remember that there are still some of our hidden agents left behind in the Land of Water.”

"Huh? Yes!"

Obito Uchiha's gaze sharpened, and he asked, "You mean, Sasuke Uchiha might be overseas right now?"

"Yes. That's possible."

Black Zetsu nodded and said in a deep voice, "Mobilize them and have them search overseas for any unusual places. Most of the overseas areas are isolated islands, and the number of people in Otogakure is not small. If they want to maintain their necessary daily lives, they will inevitably have to make some purchases!"

Kirigakure was controlled by Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha for a long period of time, and even after Yagura was overthrown in a coup, the poison still lingers.

The entire Water Kingdom still possesses considerable resources and manpower that can be mobilized.

However, after Yagura stepped down, Obito Uchiha basically stopped focusing on the Land of Water, and those resources and manpower were left idle.

Now it seems we can't afford to waste it, even if we don't use it.

"Okay! Sure. If necessary, I'll also go overseas to take a look myself."

Chapter 247 Speculation on the Dragon Vein, Queen of Loulan.

Ghost Island, inside the base lobby.

"The Land of Rivers?"

After giving the information to Sasuke, Miyajo En took his leave without hesitation.