Sasuke descended deeper into the ruins of Roran.
The ancient city had been magnificent once. Now it was a tomb—corridors of stone, faded murals depicting a civilization lost to time, and everywhere, the oppressive weight of sealed power.
His Byakugan tracked the energy flow. The Dragon Vein pulsed beneath him like a second sun, its natural energy so concentrated that even normal humans would feel its presence as pressure against their skin.
"Perfect," Sasuke whispered.
He knew exactly what he was walking into. The Dragon Vein in canon had been powerful enough to enable time travel, to fuel an entire city's technology, to nearly kill Naruto when he'd accidentally accessed it.
Most people would need years of sage training to survive exposure to this much natural energy. But Sasuke wasn't planning to just harness it.
He was going to consume it entirely.
The corridor opened into a massive chamber. And there, in the center—
The Dragon Vein erupted from the floor like a pillar of liquid light. Purple energy twisted and coiled, reaching toward the ceiling where ancient seals struggled to contain it. The sheer power radiating from it made Sasuke's hair stand on end.
"Beautiful," he breathed. "And soon, all mine."
He approached slowly, his Sharingan analyzing the seal structure. Centuries old. Weakened. But still functional enough to keep the Dragon Vein contained.
Not for long.
Sasuke formed hand seals. "Chidori."
Lightning chakra coalesced in his palm. He thrust it toward the seal's weakest point—
The seal shattered.
The Dragon Vein exploded outward, no longer constrained. Purple energy filled the chamber instantly, a tsunami of natural power that would have killed a normal person on contact.
Most would try to connect to it. Control a portion. Establish a link.
Sasuke had a different plan.
"I'm not connecting to you," he said aloud to the roiling energy. "I'm taking you. All of you."
His Mangekyo blazed—all fifty-one nodes glowing. But this time, he activated a technique he'd never used before. A variation of Takama-ga-hara designed not for dojutsu, but for energy absorption.
He thrust both hands directly into the Dragon Vein's core.
The reaction was immediate and catastrophic.
The Dragon Vein—sensing his intent to consume it entirely—fought back. Natural energy slammed into Sasuke's body with enough force to pulverize stone. It wanted to destroy him, petrify him, annihilate the fool who dared try to devour a natural wonder.
Sasuke screamed.
Pain beyond anything he'd experienced. Worse than the Hashirama cell integration. Worse than absorbing twelve Sharingan simultaneously. This was agony at a fundamental level.
His body began petrifying immediately. Purple-black stone spreading from his hands up his arms. The natural energy was too much, too fast, too powerful—
But Sasuke had prepared for this.
His Hashirama cells activated at maximum capacity. They recognized natural energy. Had evolved over Senju generations to process it. They began adapting his body, changing his very biology to handle the impossible.
His Sharingan spun faster than ever before. Fifty-one absorbed dojutsu all contributing their power, their chakra control, their precision. The complex Mangekyo pattern created a framework for controlling the chaotic energy.
And most importantly—he knew this would work. His transmigrator knowledge provided certainty that made him push through pain that would break others.
"I. CONTROL. YOU!" Sasuke roared.
He began pulling. Not connecting—pulling. His technique reached into the Dragon Vein's core and started extracting its essence.
The Dragon Vein resisted. It was a force of nature, not meant to be contained in a human body. It thrashed and fought, trying to destroy Sasuke before he could consume it.
But Sasuke was relentless.
His Takama-ga-hara variation worked like his dojutsu absorption—identifying the Dragon Vein's energy structure, wrapping around it, pulling it into his own chakra network. Except instead of ocular chakra, this was raw natural energy on a planetary scale.
The petrification spread to his shoulders. His chest. His legs. Sasuke's body was turning to stone even as his technique continued extracting the Dragon Vein.
Minutes passed. Each one felt like hours. Sasuke's consciousness wavered multiple times, his body on the verge of complete failure.
But the Hashirama cells kept adapting. Learning. Changing him.
And slowly—impossibly—the Dragon Vein began to shrink.
It was working.
Sasuke was actually absorbing the entire Dragon Vein into his body. The pillar of purple energy grew smaller as more and more of it transferred into his chakra network.
His body stopped petrifying. The stone receded as his cells finally figured out how to process the massive natural energy influx. His chakra pathways expanded, reinforced, evolved to handle power that should have been impossible.
More minutes. The Dragon Vein shrank further. Half its original size now.
Sasuke's eyes blazed with purple-black energy mixing with the red of his Mangekyo. His pupils shifted, becoming draconic. Permanent changes from absorbing such concentrated natural energy.
The chamber began to darken. Without the Dragon Vein's light, shadows crept in from the edges.
Quarter size now. The pillar was dying, being consumed by the monster that had dared to devour it.
Sasuke pulled harder. His entire body glowed with purple-black energy. He was becoming the Dragon Vein, integrating its power into his very cells.
Final moments. The last traces of the Dragon Vein's energy flowed into Sasuke's body. The pillar collapsed, dissipating completely.
The chamber went dark.
Sasuke stood alone, breathing heavily. His body radiated purple-black energy. His eyes glowed in the darkness—draconic pupils spinning within the fifty-one node Mangekyo pattern.
"Complete," he whispered.
He activated what he now understood as Dragon Sage Mode. The purple-black aura erupted around him like living flame. But it wasn't a mode he activated—it was his natural state now. He'd absorbed the Dragon Vein so completely that natural energy was simply part of his chakra.
His reserves had multiplied beyond measure. The Dragon Vein had been generating natural energy for centuries, accumulating power. All of that was now his.
His body had transformed. Enhanced beyond even Hashirama's capabilities. Speed, strength, durability—all pushed to superhuman levels permanently.
And most importantly—he could feel the natural energy everywhere now. In the air, in the ground, in all living things. He didn't need to draw on a distant power source. He WAS the power source.
Sasuke examined his reflection in a pool of water. His appearance had changed subtly. His pupils remained draconic even when his Sharingan was deactivated. Purple-black chakra flickered around him constantly. The mark of someone who'd absorbed a planetary-scale natural energy source.
He tested his new capabilities. Moved faster than thought. His fist cratered the stone wall with casual force that would have required full effort before. His senses expanded to encompass the entire ruin and beyond.
This was beyond Sage Mode. This was something unprecedented. He'd consumed the Dragon Vein entirely, made its power permanently his own.
"The Dojutsu Hunter," Sasuke said to himself, voice echoing in the empty chamber. "Now with the Dragon's power."
Time to return to his team.
And then, finally, time to hunt Itachi.