After a moment, Kaito discovered a pitch-black cave entrance nearby.

He pulled out the torch he had prepared earlier and stepped inside.

The dim flame flickered against the stone walls of the narrow, winding tunnel. As the shadows danced along the walls, Kaito pushed deeper into the rugged passage.

The further he walked, the more he sensed how deep the tunnel went. The passage descended straight down into the earth, its depth seemingly endless. Kaito's eyes lit up with excitement.

According to the original record, this path led directly to the Dragon Vein.

He pressed on.

At the end of the descent, he found a familiar sight: a sealing formation engraved in the ground, with a unique, aged kunai stuck in the center.

Kaito recognized it instantly—it was one of the Flying Thunder God kunai used by the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

From beneath the seal, Kaito could feel a massive surge of chakra radiating upward.

He gripped the kunai, pulled it free, and swiftly formed hand seals.

These seals were part of the unlocking method devised by Minato himself. For this moment, Kaito had done his homework thoroughly. He'd even visited the Nara Clan's archives for insight into the seal's structure.

"Release!" Kaito declared as he completed the final sign.

A rush of white light erupted from below.

Without hesitation, Kaito leapt down into the abyss.

The next instant, it felt as though he'd arrived in a completely different space.

A sea of purple chakra surrounded him, thick and turbulent like a living tide. The energy surged and crashed like waves, testing anything within.

To any ordinary Jōnin, it would've been fatal—but not to Kaito. His chakra and physique had long surpassed the Super Kage level. Combined with the enhancements he'd gained over time, even this pressure felt like nothing more than heavy wind.

He stood firm, like an immovable boulder in the heart of a storm.

"So this is the Dragon Vein?" Kaito whispered, his expression lit with awe.

He could feel it—chakra that was vast, rich, and immeasurably pure. The energy here was multiple times greater than even Shukaku's.

If he had to compare, it would rival the chakra of Four or Five Tails—perhaps even more.

The only key difference was that the Dragon Vein lacked consciousness. It couldn't be wielded like a Tailed Beast, couldn't move, and couldn't be shaped into a weapon.

Which was likely why none of the great villages bothered to claim it. Power without control was a liability.

But Kaito wasn't here to use it like a Tailed Beast.

He had come to absorb it.

His body shifted slightly, moving deeper into the purple tide. The deeper he went, the denser and more pressurized the chakra became.

After a while, he reached the core—the heart of the Dragon Vein.

Here, time and space seemed warped. He could feel it pulling and twisting the fabric of the world around him. Thankfully, the Dragon Vein was dormant now. If it had been active, it could easily distort reality, just as it had in the past.

"It's time to begin," Kaito muttered, closing his eyes.

A soft hum echoed.

As soon as he did, the chakra around him surged as if seeking a vessel. It rushed toward him in waves.

Kaito refined the energy as it entered, breaking it down and purifying it with his chakra control before letting it integrate with his core. His body absorbed it, piece by piece.

Boom!

The Dragon Vein roared to life.

The once-stable energy now trembled with violence, reacting to his presence.

Purple light flooded the space, becoming brighter and wilder. Energy burst forth like a volcanic eruption.

Kaito's eyes snapped open. His face turned serious.

"Seriously? It's already going berserk? Just when I started?" he muttered bitterly.

Crack! Crack!

Fissures appeared around him, echoing like shattering glass.

The space began to fall apart, chunks collapsing like broken mirrors. All around him, the world turned blinding white.

He had no choice—he closed his eyes and waited.

. . .

When the light faded, Kaito found himself lying on rocky terrain.

He blinked and slowly rose to his feet.

"Where am I?" he murmured. "Wasn't I just in Rōran?"

He spread out his electromagnetic field to scan his surroundings.

One meter… ten… a thousand…

Soon, his senses picked up dozens—hundreds—of human magnetic fields nearby.

"So many people… Are they fighting?"

He frowned, and in a flash, vanished from where he stood.

Even if it was a battlefield, Kaito felt no pressure. With his current power, even if he were thrown into the Warring States Period, there wouldn't be many capable of challenging him.

. . .

In a barren battlefield, a dark-skinned old man with wild white hair stood at the center, his body cloaked in lightning. Every step he took cracked the earth, and every movement sent tremors through the land.

Fallen Iwagakure shinobi lay scattered at his feet, their blood soaking into the scorched ground.

Facing him, a sea of Iwagakure ninja raised their kunai with trembling hands. Some looked terrified, others enraged. But all of them waited—hoping that soon, the mighty Third Raikage would collapse from exhaustion.

Above them, the Tsuchikage himself, Ōnoki, hovered on a stone platform, his eyes cold and calculating.

"It's been three days," he muttered. "Let's see how much longer you can last, Third Raikage."

To Ōnoki, this was simple math. Sacrifice enough soldiers, and even a shadow-level powerhouse would fall.

Boom!

Another thunderous roar erupted.

The Third Raikage unleashed a furious punch, sending out a shockwave that plowed through the enemy ranks. The ground split in its wake.

Bodies flew.

The battlefield filled with the smell of burning and blood.

Despite his exhaustion, the Third Raikage's voice still boomed like thunder. "Ōnoki! You scheming coward! If you've got the guts, come down and fight me yourself!"

Ōnoki's reply echoed calmly, amplified by chakra: "Take out my men first, Raikage-dono."

The Raikage cursed under his breath and lunged forward again, fists blazing.

But this time… his pace was slower.

His breathing was heavier.

And his punches—once unstoppable—had begun to weaken.

He was reaching his limit.

---

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