From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

Through the information from Yuujou En, Sasuke learned that after the destruction of Loulan, the remnants of Loulan went into hiding and became a large merchant caravan.

The business delegation traveled to several countries, including the Land of Wind, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Fire, and started doing business.

Although life was not wealthy, and could even be described as rather difficult, the Loulan survivors were able to make ends meet and have enough to eat and drink.

This group of Loulan survivors was extremely united and also extremely cautious, never revealing their Loulan origins to anyone.

Miyajo En was able to locate them because he had heard that the owner of the merchant corps was a red-haired woman.

Through photographs and portraits, Miyajo En was able to discern some outlines of Queen Sara of Loulan from many years ago.

In addition, Yuya Chengyan specifically checked and found that the time and trajectory of this merchant group appeared just after the fall of Loulan.

Therefore, he confirmed that this merchant caravan was indeed the remnant of the Loulan people.

However, according to Yuya Shiro's intelligence, Queen Sara of Loulan seems to be in very poor health and rarely appears in public anymore.

Most of the matters concerning the merchant corps were handled by Bella, the daughter of Queen Sara of Loulan.

Sasuke wasn't too surprised by this. When Naruto from the original timeline returned after traveling through time, he encountered Sara's daughter, Bella.

According to Bella's account, Sara had already passed away at that time, and Bella succeeded to the throne of the Loulan Queen, which must have happened within the last year or two.

"Loulan...the dragon vein..."

Sasuke sat in the chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the headboard, his eyes closed, his mind flashing back to memories of the Dragon Vein and Orochimaru from his past life.

In the 47th year of Konoha, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, dispatched a group of four—Minato Namikaze, Shiki Aburame, Choza Akimichi, and Kakashi Hatake—to the ancient kingdom of Loulan.

The details of the mission are unknown, and the outcome of the mission is unknown.

All that is known is that after the four returned from their journey to the ancient kingdom of Loulan, the kingdom completely disappeared from the world's sight.

These are memories from Orochimaru.

In Konoha Year 47, the Third Shinobi World War was drawing to a close. Although small-scale battles still raged in some areas, the overall situation had become calm and peaceful.

At that time, Minato Namikaze had not yet become the Fourth Hokage, and Orochimaru had not yet defected. He was considered one of the high-ranking officials of Konoha and a strong contender for the Fourth Hokage.

Orochimaru naturally knew some things about the village, such as the mysterious journey of the four members of the Namikaze, Minato, Aburame, and Shimi group to Loulan.

It is said that when the Third Hokage questioned the Fourth Hokage, the Fourth Hokage declined to answer, citing the seriousness of the matter and that he had sealed away his memories.

The Third Hokage was extremely confident in Minato Namikaze's character, as he had already chosen him as his successor.

Seeing this, they stopped asking the group about their trip to Loulan.

Thus, the mysterious disappearance of the ancient Loulan Kingdom became even more perplexing.

Sasuke, who had read the original work, naturally knew that during that mission, the Fourth Hokage and his team must have encountered Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato from Konoha 65.

In the original timeline, the Fourth Hokage said that their timeline was 20 years different from the timelines of Naruto and Yamato, who had traveled from the future.

But Sasuke, who possesses Orochimaru's memories, knows that it wasn't twenty years, but eighteen years!

The Fourth Hokage's journey to Loulan took place in Konoha 47, while Naruto Uzumaki's journey should have taken place in Konoha 65, which is the middle of Shippuden.

After the Kakuzu and Hidan incident, and before Pain's attack on Konoha.

The time difference between the two timelines is eighteen years!

"So it's time travel? Or a parallel universe?"

Sasuke frowned slightly, pondering to himself.

If it's about time travel, Sasuke feels there's something that doesn't make sense.

After all, the world now has an outsider soul like him, and the butterfly effect he creates will only grow larger.

The current time is early February of Konoha Year 62, while Naruto Uzumaki, who has traveled through time, comes from Konoha Year 65.

There was a three-and-a-half-year gap.

Two years later, Sasuke planned to completely overturn the table. With such a drastic change in the course of history, how could Naruto possibly travel back to eighteen years ago as before?

Moreover, given the strength that Centipede displayed, three years later, with Sakura and Naruto joining forces, who have greatly improved their strength, and possibly with Yakumo also present, such a lineup would likely be able to instantly defeat it.

How could we possibly let the centipede delay us and activate the dragon vein to travel through time?

Through Orochimaru's memories, Sasuke also learned that there was no rogue ninja named Centipede in Sunagakure at all. Instead, the ancient kingdom of Loulan had a chief minister and prime minister named An Lushan fifteen years ago.

So, it's not time travel, but travel to parallel worlds?

Sasuke's expression was solemn, his eyes flickered, and he let out a soft sigh, thinking to himself.

Although Sasuke couldn't understand why the dragon vein, which was clearly formed by the gathering of earth energy, didn't exhibit many characteristics of Earth Release, but instead revealed spatial effects, becoming a parallel bridge between two worlds and enabling people to travel through parallel worlds—an unbelievable feat.

But Sasuke knew that no matter how unbelievable it seemed, fifteen years ago, the ancient kingdom of Loulan did indeed welcome several uninvited guests from a parallel world!

Moreover, the world and timeline that Sasuke is currently in is very likely the same timeline that Naruto Uzumaki traveled from in Konoha 65.

In other words, Sasuke's world is in the past, while Naruto's world is in the future.

The future eighteen years after the original timeline, without the unexpected butterfly effect of Sasuke's flapping wings!

'An eighteen-year time difference? I hope my guess is right. If the bridge built by the dragon vein really leads to a parallel world eighteen years in the future, then...'

Thinking of this, a fiery glint flashed in Sasuke's eyes.

If Sasuke can truly travel to a parallel universe eighteen years in the future through the Dragon Vein, then all the problems and bottlenecks that are currently troubling him will be easily resolved.

Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself down.

The idea of ​​traveling to parallel worlds is vague and uncertain; whether it's true or not can only be determined by going to the scene and experiencing it for yourself.

Compared to traveling to parallel worlds, the Lost Tower, which can gather the earth's energy, is a tangible and real benefit!

Once he deciphers the secrets of the Lost Tower, he can resolve his issues with his Earth Release attribute.

The Rinnegan has five flowers representing lightning, fire, wind, earth, and water; it can resolve three of these five elements!

"Let's not delay, let's set off now!"

Having made up his mind, Sasuke didn't delay. After giving a few instructions to the Sound Ninja, he left the hall.

As soon as he arrived outside the island, Sasuke immediately entered his "Enlightenment" form, which featured black wings on his back, and flew towards the Land of Rivers.

According to previous intelligence from Yuya Shiro, the caravan of the Loulan remnants has stopped in the River Country, and as usual, they should stay for two to three days.

At Sasuke's current speed, even if he were to fly from the Land of the Sea to the Land of the River, it would only take him half a day.

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

Kawa no Kuni

It is a small country located in the southern part of the Land of Rain, sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

The Kingdom of Wind, the Kingdom of Sichuan, and the Kingdom of Rain are both neighboring countries.

Ironically, the Land of Wind is perpetually rainless, with vast stretches of barren desert as far as the eye can see. Land suitable for planting is scarce, and in times of natural disaster, even water is scarce.

The Land of Rain is perpetually shrouded in rain, so unlike the Land of Wind, where one can see the scorching sun, they rarely even get to see sunlight.

As for the land of rivers, it is full of rivers and streams of all sizes, and every rainy season it suffers from the damage caused by floods.

Sasuke, who had set off at dawn and traveled for nearly three hours, finally stepped into the flooded country.

Upon arriving in the Land of Rivers, Sasuke paused in the sky, closed his eyes, and carefully recalled the map of the Land of Rivers.

He drew a circle around the location of the Loulan people's caravan, then opened his eyes, chose a direction, and continued flying rapidly forward.

Several more hours passed, and the sun began to slowly set while the moon gradually rose.

In a mountainous plain in western Sichuan, a caravan of nearly a thousand people is making a fire to prepare dinner for the day.

Behind this caravan was another tent that looked much larger than the others, with several armed guards standing in front of it.

Occasionally, soft coughs could be heard from within, causing the guards outside the door to involuntarily tense up.

"Cough cough cough..."

Inside the tent, Queen Sarah of Loulan coughed softly a few times. At this moment, her face was deathly pale, without a trace of rosy color, and her bright red hair had become dry and withered.

It is unknown what Sarah has experienced in the fifteen years since the destruction of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, which has caused her, who is only in her early thirties, to look like she is about to die.

It's so quiet!

Suddenly, the Queen of Loulan frowned, startled, and quickly stood up, supporting herself with her hands. Then she stared intently at the tent entrance.

It seemed she was certain that someone would walk in from there soon.

Sure enough, in no time at all, a pale-skinned, muscular man with delicate features and a broad back appeared.

Or rather, the boy stepped into the tent.

"Huh?" As Sasuke stepped into the tent, he saw the Loulan Queen staring at him warily, as if she had expected this.

Sasuke let out a soft exclamation, somewhat puzzled that the Queen of Loulan had sensed his arrival beforehand.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Your Majesty."

Sasuke glanced at Queen Sara in front of him. In Sasuke's perception, Queen Sara felt very similar to the priestess of the Land of Demons he had encountered before.

He looks frail, but there seems to be some kind of mysterious power within him.

"who are you?"

Queen Sarah took a few steps back, staring warily at the burly, handsome young man before her, and demanded, "Where are my people? What have you done to them?"

The Sasuke we see now is, of course, a disguised form, or rather, a reverted form to his ancestral state.

"Your Majesty need not be too nervous. I have no ill intentions, and your people are not in any danger. I simply let them take a short nap."

Sasuke smiled slightly, revealing his gleaming white teeth, and gave what he considered an extremely friendly and approachable smile.

Unexpectedly, in Queen Sara's eyes, Sasuke's smile appeared somewhat sinister and eerie.

"I am here only to ask Your Majesty for a favor. Of course, once it is done, there will be a reward..."

"You bastard, what do you think you're going to do to my mother?!"

Before Sasuke could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a sharp shout. A red-haired girl, who looked remarkably like Queen Sara and was a year or two younger than Sasuke, rushed in from outside the tent, stood in front of Queen Sara, and glared fiercely at Sasuke.

"Huh? It actually dispelled my illusion?"

Sasuke's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the fierce-looking girl in front of him.

He now possesses the power of three Sharingan eyes at the Eternal level. Although he is far from being able to hypnotize and seal the nine tailed beasts in an instant like Six Paths Sasuke, he can still easily make hundreds of ordinary people fall into a coma with a single glance.