Four months after joining Akatsuki. Fifty-one dojutsu absorbed. Eight Uchiha survivors eliminated.
Sasuke stood before Akatsuki's leadership—Pain's hologram projection, actually, summoned through the ring Sasuke now wore on his right hand.
"Your grace period is ending," Pain's voice echoed. "We've allowed you four months for your personal projects. Have you made progress?"
"Yes." Sasuke's voice was calm. "I've located the power source I mentioned. It will require approximately two months to reach, acquire, and master. After that, I'll be available for Akatsuki missions."
"Two more months." Pain's Rinnegan studied him through the projection. "What is this power source? We need to know if it's worth the continued delay."
Sasuke had anticipated this question. "Natural energy. There's an ancient site in the Land of Wind—a place where natural energy concentrates to unusual degrees. Old texts refer to it as the Dragon Vein. If I can harness it, I'll gain sage-like enhancements without needing years of training."
A partial truth. He knew exactly where the Dragon Vein was and how to use it. But Pain didn't need to know that level of detail.
"The Dragon Vein?" Pain sounded intrigued. "I've heard legends. Orochimaru once investigated it and nearly died."
"Orochimaru didn't have Hashirama cells and Sharingan." Sasuke kept his tone confident. "I have advantages he lacked. I can control the integration."
"And if you fail? If the Dragon Vein kills you?"
"Then Akatsuki loses an asset. But I won't fail." Sasuke's Mangekyo activated briefly—fifty-one nodes blazing. "I've absorbed fifty-one dojutsu and survived. I can handle natural energy."
Pain was silent for several seconds. Then: "Two months. That's your absolute limit. If you're not back and ready for missions by then, we'll consider you a deserter. And Akatsuki doesn't tolerate desertion."
"Understood." Sasuke deactivated his ring. The projection vanished.
He turned to Team Taka, who'd been waiting nearby. "We leave for the Land of Wind tomorrow. Pack for a long journey."
"Finally," Suigetsu said. "Four months of hunting random Uchiha survivors was getting boring. This Dragon Vein thing sounds more interesting."
"It's dangerous," Sasuke warned. "More dangerous than anything we've faced. The natural energy concentration could kill all of you just from proximity."
"Then why are we coming?" Jugo asked.
"Security. Observation. And..." Sasuke paused. "If I die during the process, you'll need to retrieve my body before scavengers claim it. My eyes are too valuable to leave behind."
Karin looked disturbed. "You're talking about your own death very casually."
"Because I'm not going to die." Sasuke's confidence was absolute—transmigrator knowledge providing certainty his team couldn't understand. "But contingencies are always necessary."
They spent the next day preparing. Supplies for a month-long journey. Medical equipment. Weapons. Everything necessary for traveling through hostile territory.
As they packed, Kabuto appeared at their safe house. The silver-haired medical ninja had been monitoring Sasuke's condition periodically since the Danzo operation.
"I heard you're attempting something suicidal," Kabuto said, adjusting his glasses. "The Dragon Vein?"
"You heard correctly."
"You know Orochimaru nearly died when he tried to harness that power?" Kabuto's tone was clinical. "The natural energy concentration is beyond what most humans can withstand. Even with Hashirama cells, the risk is enormous."
"I know the risks." Sasuke continued packing. "I'm doing it anyway."
"Your eyes are degrading rapidly," Kabuto observed. "The fifty-one dojutsu absorption has accelerated the deterioration. You have four, maybe five months before permanent damage occurs. Why waste time on the Dragon Vein when you should be hunting Itachi immediately?"
"Because I need more power before I face him." Sasuke turned, his Mangekyo blazing. "Itachi is one of the strongest shinobi alive. My Sharingan and absorbed eyes give me versatility. But I need raw physical enhancement to match his speed and stamina. The Dragon Vein will provide that."
"Or it will kill you and make this entire collection pointless."
"It won't kill me." Sasuke's voice carried absolute certainty. "I've prepared for this. I know exactly what I'm doing."
Kabuto studied him for a long moment. Then smiled slightly. "You've changed, Sasuke-kun. When you first came to Orochimaru, you were talented but naive. Now you're... something else. Something colder."
"Power requires sacrifice," Sasuke replied. "I've sacrificed sentiment. Mercy. Morality. Everything that made me weak. What remains is focused. Efficient. Unstoppable."
"And inhuman," Kabuto added quietly.
"If that's what's required, then yes. Inhuman." Sasuke sealed his pack. "Now if you're done analyzing my psychological state, I have a journey to begin."
Kabuto handed him a medical kit. "Take this. Enhanced healing supplies. If the natural energy starts killing you, these might buy you enough time to withdraw."
"I won't need them." But Sasuke took the kit anyway. "Anything else?"
"Just... good luck." Kabuto's smile was enigmatic. "You're attempting something unprecedented. If you succeed, you'll be the first person to harness the Dragon Vein without years of preparation. It'll be fascinating to see if your confidence is justified or just arrogance."
"You'll find out in two months."
Kabuto left. Team Taka finished packing. The next morning, they departed for the Land of Wind.
The journey would take three weeks—crossing Fire Country, then into Wind Country, then deep into the desert where ancient Roran lay buried beneath sand and time.
Sasuke knew exactly where they were going. His transmigrator knowledge provided perfect navigation. But he had to make it seem like research and deduction.
"According to the texts I found," Sasuke explained as they traveled, "the Dragon Vein was sealed beneath an ancient city called Roran. It was hidden by the Land of Wind centuries ago after someone tried to weaponize it."
"How do you even know it still exists?" Suigetsu asked.
"Because natural energy doesn't dissipate. It accumulates." Sasuke kept his tone analytical. "If the Dragon Vein was powerful enough centuries ago to be sealed, it's only grown stronger with time. We just need to find it and break the seal."
"Break the seal," Karin repeated nervously. "That sounds incredibly dangerous."
"It is." Sasuke's Byakugan activated, scanning the horizon. "But danger is just another word for opportunity."
They traveled through Fire Country without incident. Sasuke's Akatsuki affiliation kept most bounty hunters at bay—the criminal organization's reputation was enough to make casual fighters avoid them.
Crossing into Wind Country was harder. Sand made travel difficult. The heat was oppressive. Suigetsu constantly complained about dehydration.
But Sasuke pushed them forward relentlessly. Two weeks into the journey, they reached the general area where Roran should be.
"Nothing but desert for kilometers," Jugo observed.
"Because it's buried." Sasuke's Byakugan expanded to maximum range, scanning beneath the sand. "The entire city was covered centuries ago. We need to dig."
"Dig through kilometers of sand?" Suigetsu sounded exhausted. "That'll take weeks."
"No. It'll take precision." Sasuke's Sharingan activated, studying the desert floor. His enhanced perception could detect minute variations in chakra flow—places where the Dragon Vein's energy leaked through despite the seal.
There—a spot where the natural energy was slightly stronger. Barely detectable. But his fifty-one dojutsu-enhanced Mangekyo could sense it.
"Here." Sasuke marked the location. "We start digging here."
They worked for three days. Digging through sand and rock. Using Earth Release techniques to clear material. Slowly excavating toward the ancient city below.
On the fourth day, they broke through into a buried chamber.
"We found it," Karin breathed, sensing the massive chakra concentration below.
Sasuke dropped into the chamber, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Stone walls covered in ancient script. Sealing formulas that had weakened over centuries. And deeper down—a pulsing energy that made his Sharingan spin involuntarily.
The Dragon Vein.
"Stay here," Sasuke commanded. "I'm going deeper. If I'm not back in six hours, assume I'm dead and leave."
"Sasuke-kun—"
"Those are my orders." His voice was final. "What I'm about to attempt can't have witnesses. Either I succeed and emerge with new power, or I fail and you never speak of this place again."
You're absolutely right! Let me revise Chapter 48 to match the guideline where he absorbs the ENTIRE Dragon Vein, not just connects to it.