Another four months passed in the blink of an eye.
After Ryun broke down the formulae and key techniques of the 'Yang Seal' step by step and drew them out, Kushina successfully understood the secrets of this technique. She opened an inner space at her glabella, and thus officially mastered the Yang Seal.
Moreover, a small amount of Senjutsu Chakra was stored inside the mark, allowing the youth-preserving effect to function normally now.
"Once you've practiced with the Dragon Pearl enough, you can infuse the excess Senjutsu Chakra into the Yang Seal. Remember, it's best to only store Senjutsu Chakra here at the glabella. There's no need to put ordinary chakra in..."
Ryun continued patiently teaching his not-so-bright wife.
From every perspective, Senjutsu Chakra was far superior to ordinary chakra, and the youth-preserving effect of Ryun's Yang Seal was absolutely much better than Tsunade's Yin Seal.
"Oh, oh..." Kushina was staring intently at her reflection in a small mirror.
The skin on her face was fair with a rosy glow, her features softer and more perfect. She had genuinely become more beautiful. Plus, with this additional circular golden mark on her glabella, she thought it looked quite nice and saw no need to hide it deliberately like Ryun did in the future.
"Alright, it's time to leave..."
Seeing that the purple liquid within the Dragon Vein had diminished by nearly half, Ryun finally knew it was time to stop.
He felt his Yang Seal was almost full, but if he really tried to fill it, it felt like it could never be completely filled... He had drawn too much power from the Dragon Vein. Taking any more would cause major problems for the small country of Loulan, so he stopped at the critical moment.
There would be other opportunities; there was no need to drain the pond to catch all the fish.
"Yay... Finally we can go out... I was almost bored to death..." Kushina was as excited as a monkey, immediately jumping onto Ryun's back.
Smack...
Ryun slapped her rounded buttocks with his hand. She instantly blushed, a slight sweat breaking out on her forehead. Then, Kushina, with her strong desire for revenge, bit down hard on Ryun's shoulder.
"Tch... Let's go say goodbye to Sarah, then we can leave..."
Ignoring her bite, Ryun carried the excited red-haired girl on his back and opened the heavy door sealing the Dragon Vein.
"You're leaving..."
When Sarah heard Ryun and the others say they were leaving, she felt a small twinge of reluctance. After all, Ryun had been staying here for nearly seven years.
"Yes, I might come back again someday..."
"Take good care of these two communication small white snakes. If the Land of Loulan encounters any trouble it cannot solve, you can send a message to me through them..."
Ryun said, beginning to teach her how to use them.
"Trouble we can't solve... Can you solve the food crisis... The grain merchants who used to come here every year for trade haven't come this year... Our Loulan is very short on food now... Even going outside with money to buy, no one is willing to sell..."
Sarah brought up the food shortage. With the war between the Five Great Nations about to erupt, the food crisis had already reached Loulan ahead of the chaos.
"I can."
Ryun answered without even thinking.
His base was in the Land of Rice. Just hearing the name made it clear this country wasn't short on food...
Once he returned, a single order would send ninja from Otogakure escorting large quantities of grain into the ancient land of Loulan.
"Really? That's great!!!" Sarah laughed instantly.
She had recently sent people to the shinobi world to inquire about the name Uchiha Ryun. The results shocked and surprised her immensely. She hadn't expected a major figure to have taken refuge in their land. Sarah felt very fortunate she hadn't tried to find someone to slay the dragon back then...
With the abilities of the Illusory Sun Dragon God, Sarah no longer doubted his ability to protect Loulan. A mere food crisis was something he could definitely solve if he said so.
After bidding farewell to the Queen of Loulan, Ryun, hand in hand with Kushina, traversed the sand-covered lands, crossed the territories of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, and finally entered the Land of Fire.
Along the way, the two encountered many organized ninja squads. During this time, they had also forcibly broken through several border checkpoint lines. Both could see the severity of the current situation.
But these matters didn't concern them. The two had been moving in a straight line towards the Land of Rice, with no intention of stopping anywhere to meddle in others' affairs.
"The entire shinobi world looks like a powder keg about to ignite. The Land of Fire has even started sealing its borders and building defensive positions..."
Kushina said with a frown. She hadn't seen this kind of setup when she came with Minato before.
"There are just over half a month left until the ten-year deadline. They didn't dare fight earlier, and now, at this final juncture, they are even less likely to break the rules I set." Ryun said with confidence.
"Ryun, why don't you just convene another Five Kage Summit and set another ten-year truce? If the shinobi world is peaceful, all countries will remember your kindness. You'd be the undeniable savior then..."
Kushina said, hugging Ryun's arm with admiration.
"Heh... Savior..." Ryun couldn't help but laugh.
"Would my words still be useful? Do you think the Five Great Nations have done nothing these past ten years? I suspect they've probably prepared to completely break with me..."
"The reason they compromised ten years ago was simply because they couldn't deal with me. These ten years have given them time to find a way to counter me, or at the very least, prepare to fight me again."
"What! Then aren't you in great danger? Why do those guys always oppose you? You've already turned over a new leaf... Ouch..."
Before Kushina could finish, Ryun immediately gave her a sharp knock on the head.
"Turned over a new leaf? Can't you speak properly? When was I ever evil???" Ryun loudly questioned, raising his voice.
"Ah... Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue... The Four Great Nations are the evil ones..." Kushina covered her head and quickly laughed apologetically.
"Whether I exist or not, this world will erupt into the Third Shinobi World War. Living in this distorted shinobi world, they all live under pressure. Whether it's the Five Great Nations or the various smaller countries, the people of this land inherently crave war deep in their bones..."
"The First and Second Wars were just two bouts of pain for the shinobi. This world needs to experience another deeply painful war before they understand how precious peace is..."
Ryun looked into the distance and uttered words that surprised Kushina.
"Deeply painful... This Third Shinobi World War will probably be very intense, right?"
Kushina's face showed melancholy. At her core, she was still a kind girl who loved peace. The destruction of the Land of Whirlpools was etched in her memory, so she always hated war.
"It will. And no one can stop it."
Ryun gave a clear answer.
"Sigh..."
"Ryun, how about we find a country without war to live out our lives in peace? Just you and me, let's go to a place where no one knows us. If that doesn't work, going back to live in Loulan would be pretty good too..."
Seeing the 'dark clouds' outside, Kushina wanted to pull Ryun to find a place to 'take shelter from the rain'.
Unfortunately, she didn't know that this large storm brewing for ten years was exactly what the current Ryun wanted to see!
Since the entire shinobi world craved war? Then let them kill to their heart's content!
The more fiercely they fought, the better. It didn't matter if rivers of blood flowed.
"I know you hate and fear war. Don't worry, the Land of Rice will not participate in this Shinobi World War. We can live peacefully in Otogakure... That place is very safe; the fires of war from the outside won't reach there."
Ryun reached out and held her hand, their fingers interlacing tightly.
Feeling the warmth in her palm and looking at the calm, handsome boy beside her, the anxiety in Kushina's heart instantly vanished.
"Who should we invite to our wedding in Otogakure?"
"Huh???"
The topic instantly jumped to the wedding, and Ryun clearly couldn't quite keep up with her train of thought...
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