Two fingers pressed against his right eye, the Fourth Kazekage's expression mirrored the gloom of the surrounding environment—dim and heavy with an indescribable sense of foreboding.
At that moment, Sand Village elder Chiyo walked over slowly, asking, "Did you find any clues?"
The Fourth Kazekage shook his head.
He had used his "Eye of Sand" to scan several miles of the surrounding desert but found no useful traces.
Chiyo wasn't surprised. That was the nature of the desert. As time passed, the ever-blowing sandstorms would naturally cover everything. Even if the mysterious intruder had left traces, they'd soon vanish into the sands.
Canceling his Eye of Sand technique, the Fourth Kazekage walked toward a narrow crevice with a grim expression.
This crevice had been left behind when Hyuga Kagami used the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion to kill the giant sandworm. Blood and thick fluid from the worm had splattered out, solidifying around the edges. As a result, the crevice remained clearly visible, not yet buried by sand.
Kneeling by the crevice, the Fourth Kazekage pressed his hand lightly to the sand and closed his eyes to sense. "The sandworm died down there. Completely dead."
Beside him, another Sand Village elder, Ebizo, frowned deeply. "Even if a sandworm were cut in half, it wouldn't necessarily die."
Sandworms were unique ninja beasts, known for their incredible regenerative abilities. Even if half their body was lost, they still had a chance of survival.
What's more, once buried deep under the dunes, sandworms were nearly invincible. With all his years of experience, Ebizo couldn't imagine what sort of attack could kill one so deep underground.
Chiyo asked uncertainly, "In our village, I think only you have the power to do something like this, right?"
The Fourth Kazekage hesitated, then shook his head. "It was over ten meters underground. I could trap it, but killing it would be extremely difficult."
At this, both elders fell silent.
With just a few words exchanged, they had already deduced most of the mysterious intruder's capabilities.
After a moment, Ebizo asked, "Who could it be?"
To the Sand Village's leadership, anyone who could steal the Dragon Vein had to be Kage-level. Such a figure wouldn't be unknown in the ninja world.
Chiyo reaffirmed her earlier suspicion. "To undo the Fourth Hokage's seal on the Dragon Vein, the culprit almost certainly came from Konoha."
Just then, a Sand Village ANBU appeared and reported, "Lord Kazekage, elders, we followed the trail and discovered the caravan of the Roran survivors has entered the Land of Rain."
The Fourth Kazekage's gaze sharpened, and he murmured, "Could it be that so-called 'Demigod,' Hanzo of the Salamander from Amegakure?"
Ebizo added, "If it's really him, then this situation just got a lot more complicated."
Due to Pain's isolationist policies, all external communication from the Land of Rain had been cut off. As a result, the ninja world still believed Hanzo was the leader of Amegakure.
In the original timeline, Hanzo's death had been concealed by the Akatsuki for many years, only coming to light when Jiraiya infiltrated the Land of Rain to gather intelligence.
The ANBU asked, "Lord Kazekage, should we infiltrate the Land of Rain to continue the pursuit?"
The Fourth Kazekage shook his head.
Even as one of the Five Great Nations, the Sand Village dared not underestimate Hanzo, known as a "Demigod."
After weighing the risks, the Fourth Kazekage turned to his two advisors. "Let's inform Konoha about the theft of the Dragon Vein and observe their reaction."
Both elders nodded in agreement.
With the culprit's identity still uncertain, the Sand Village could only probe and gather information from various sources.
Meanwhile, on Hyuga Kagami's side...
Sitting cross-legged on the back of the Third Kazekage human puppet, Hyuga Kagami headed toward the village while reflecting on the battle's gains and losses.
"Truth-Seeking Orbs have incredible defensive power, but when under heavy attack, chakra consumption skyrockets. I can't rely on them as my sole defense."
"They're also a bit slow for offense. Fine for ambushes, but in a direct confrontation, enemies can easily evade them. Not efficient."
"Maintaining five orbs is too draining. Three is optimal. Whether it's the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion or the Silver Wheel variant, their power exceeds what I currently need. No point investing too many orbs."
After reviewing these insights, Hyuga Kagami glanced at his right arm.
There was no doubt—ever since becoming the Dragon Vein's jinchuriki and gaining abundant chakra, he'd grown overconfident. The sudden surge in power affected his mindset, causing him to underestimate his opponents and make a critical error with the final strike.
"This is the ninja world. A single moment of carelessness can get you killed!"
He silently warned himself.
The ninja world was full of such cautionary tales: Orochimaru being instantly defeated by Itachi twice, both Obito and Madara—Ten Tails jinchuriki—dying from surprise attacks, even the mighty Kaguya fell victim to Naruto's Reverse Harem Jutsu.
No matter how powerful you were, underestimating your enemy could be fatal.
Still, the mistake wasn't entirely a bad thing. It made Kagami realize something crucial: the chakra of the Dragon Vein could act as a medium to sense natural energy.
Senjutsu wasn't a singular, unique technique. Any method allowing safe absorption of natural energy could be considered a form of senjutsu.
Hence, there were various types of senjutsu: Mount Myoboku's Toad Sage Arts, Ryuchi Cave's Snake Sage Arts, and likely the Slug Sage Arts from the sacred land of Shikkotsu Forest.
Even Jugo and the Curse Mark techniques derived from him fell into the senjutsu category.
Regardless of how diverse senjutsu became, mastering it required a medium. For example, learning the Toad Sage Arts required using the unique toad oil from Mount Myoboku.
Naruto, by applying the toad oil, gained assistance in absorbing natural energy from the air.
Since Dragon Vein chakra contained massive amounts of natural energy, directly absorbing it was akin to applying toad oil.
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Kagami continued to ponder.
Those who trained in Mount Myoboku's arts developed toad-like features in Sage Mode. Similarly, Ryuchi Cave's users gained snake traits.
This clearly implied one thing: these senjutsu techniques were most compatible with the races that created them—not with humans...
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