Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 370 "Passing By"

"Hello, when we got nearby, my mother sensed the low hum of the dragon vein, so she came to check on it. I'm sorry, my mother isn't feeling well and can't meet you, so I'm doing this on her behalf." The girl spoke in a refined manner, with a maturity beyond her years.

"A low murmur? Does that mean the moment it broke the seal and erupted?" Ding Zuo, as the captain, naturally had to step forward to negotiate. He also felt that the girl looked very familiar. The trip to Loulan had been washed away by more than twenty years of time and was now blurred.

The little girl was stunned for a moment, completely unexpected that the dragon vein was in such a bad state that it had erupted. She asked nervously, "Has the dragon vein ever erupted? Is the seal still secure? Do you need me to go and take a look?"

"Do you know sealing techniques?" the priest asked after holding back for a long time.

The little girl shook her head and said very frankly, "My mother was once the queen who ruled the land of Loulan, so my mother and I can appease the dragon vein and let it continue to sleep."

"It's just a minor issue, not enough to break the seal. You should be able to sense that the dragon vein has subsided again." Naruto's gaze wasn't on the little girl at all, but fixed on the carriage in the distance. He was damned to be unable to use his super senses right now, so he couldn't get any more detailed information.

"That's good. I'm really sorry to have bothered you. I'll take my leave now." The girl breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to the three of them in apology, and was about to leave when she was called back.

Is that your mother in that carriage?

The girl looked up at the smiling boy, instinctively feeling that he meant no harm, and nodded in agreement.

"I don't mean anything by it, I just can sense that her life force is very weak. Take this and take it according to the instructions, she will get better."

After watching the caravan depart, Ding Zuo, who was desperately digging into his memories, tapped his head and called out a name.

“Queen Sarah… I knew that child looked so familiar; he was clearly a carbon copy of Sarah.”

"Huh? The captain knows that girl?"

"To be precise, I know that girl's mother, the former queen of Loulan. As you know, I've been here on a mission before, and it was an exceptionally exciting one."

The ruins under the sunlight remain dilapidated and full of signs of destruction, but the Loulan people who waited for dawn in the past night felt that leaving this city with its towering towers was the only way to be free.

Without the power of the dragon vein as its energy source, the city can still sustain itself, but it's not a long-term solution. Leaving her home is terrifying, but Sarah is inexplicably filled with confidence, firmly believing that she can find a new home before the resources run out.

As for the Konoha ninjas who played a significant role in this battle, they exposed An Lushan's plan to destroy the world, completed their mission, and naturally disappeared into the night as quietly as they had arrived.

In a corner unknown to anyone, the human body abandoned by the centipede also emitted a white light when the dragon vein slumbered. However, when everything returned to normal, he was still buried deep in the darkness of the earth, unknown to anyone.

"Speaking of which, this mission was issued by Sunagakure, right? Are we going to report to Sunagakure?"

"Yes, that's clever. We really need to go to Sunagakure."

"Sunagakure, it has my mark, but the mark is on Gaara. I heard he's about to become Kazekage, so we definitely can't just fly there."

Dingza and Ji suddenly stopped in their tracks, looking at him with an expression that seemed to say...like they were looking at a god, which gave Naruto goosebumps.

Why are you looking at me?

"Sunagakure Village".

"mark."

"Wind Shadow~"

These two people, who usually have no contact at all, somehow reached a tacit understanding, each reading out the key points of the entire sentence word by word. Matsuri's face was full of a standard fake smile, already somewhat resembling "Sai," while Choza made no attempt to hide his thumbs up, practically praising him verbally.

Leaving the Flying Thunder God mark in other villages is a major taboo; even Minato couldn't do it back then. But Naruto did it, and even left the mark on the future Kazekage. As Konoha people, they would naturally only offer their sincerest praise.

"Naruto, you're amazing! I'm starting to believe you can become the Sixth Hokage."

However, Naruto, who was being praised, was completely bewildered. Because, in the future, Naruto had indeed left the Flying Thunder God Mark on the other four Kage. He'd only conquered the first one; what was there to be proud of?

The road to Sunagakure was extremely difficult. The desert there was sparsely populated, and there were no well-maintained supply stations or road signs. Naruto wasn't one to endure hardship, so he eventually led them to a place closer to Sunagakure. At least there were inhabited cities there, and the environment was finally somewhat decent.

"Just how many marks did you leave in the Land of Wind?" Dingza realized something was wrong; this seemed to be a bit too much.

“I passed through the Land of Demons last time and just stopped by…” Naruto blinked innocently. “Actually, there are even more in the Land of Fire. The Land of Wind is too big for humans to live in.”

Good heavens, this is practically a walking teleportation platform! And it's the kind that doesn't even risk running out of chakra. It makes me wonder, if the ninjas really did go to war again, Konoha would definitely win!

Despite the banter, the mission still had to be completed. After a short rest, the three set off again, arriving at the gates of Sunagakure in less than half a day. The road was covered in yellow sand, with nowhere suitable to make a mark. Naruto was overjoyed to finally see some rocks, but he patiently waited for the guards to announce their arrival before going in and quietly placing the mark in a safe spot.

Gaara is indeed about to become Kazekage; his appointment will be announced before the Chunin Exams, ensuring that the opportunity Sunagakure has worked so hard to secure for hosting the exams won't go to waste. However, no matter how busy Gaara is, the moment he hears Naruto is at the door, he becomes restless, his mind solely focused on ending this tedious and lengthy meeting as quickly as possible.

The tripartite talks back then gave him a good start. It was only then that the Daimyo of the Land of Wind truly recognized Gaara and began to listen to his ideas and grant him authority. It didn't matter what the Daimyo's real intentions were, as long as the outcome favored Gaara's faction.

The soon-to-be Wind Shadow, who rarely expresses his opinion directly but instead observes the verbal battles between different factions, rarely speaks his mind so frankly. With just a few words, he silenced several elderly elders, ending the potentially late-night meeting in a flash.

Watching Gaara turn into sand and drift away, Maki and Temari both sighed helplessly. They thought Gaara had matured a lot over the years and wouldn't be as easily defeated by Naruto's words as before, but it turned out he hadn't changed at all!