Sasuke emerged from the ruins six hours after descending.
Team Taka was waiting anxiously at the entrance. When they saw him, their expressions shifted from relief to shock to outright fear.
"Sasuke-kun... your eyes..." Karin stared, backing up instinctively.
Sasuke's pupils had become permanently draconic—vertical slits that glowed faintly purple even in daylight. His entire presence radiated power that made the air itself feel heavy.
"The transformation was successful," he announced. "I've absorbed the Dragon Vein."
"Absorbed?" Suigetsu's voice cracked slightly. "You mean connected to it, right? Like sage training?"
"No. Absorbed. Completely." Sasuke's tone was matter-of-fact. "The Dragon Vein no longer exists as a separate entity. I consumed it entirely. Its power is now mine."
Silence. His team stared at him like he'd just claimed to have eaten the sun.
"That's... that's impossible," Karin whispered. "The Dragon Vein was a planetary natural energy source. You can't just absorb something like that. It should have killed you. It should have—"
"It tried." Sasuke activated Dragon Sage Mode fully.
Purple-black chakra erupted around him like a living inferno. The ground cracked beneath his feet from the sheer pressure. The air heated instantly. And his presence—it felt like standing before a tailed beast. No, worse. More concentrated. More controlled.
"But I didn't let it," Sasuke continued calmly. "The Hashirama cells adapted my body. My Sharingan controlled the integration. And now the Dragon Vein's accumulated centuries of natural energy are permanently part of my chakra reserves."
He deactivated the mode. The oppressive aura faded, but the sense of wrongness remained. This was a human who'd consumed something meant to power civilizations.
"Show me," Jugo said quietly. "The chamber. I want to see."
Sasuke gestured toward the ruins. "Go ahead."
Jugo descended into the darkness. Suigetsu and Karin exchanged glances, then followed. Sasuke waited at the entrance, listening to their reactions echo up from below.
Ten minutes later, they emerged. All three looked shaken.
"It's gone," Jugo said, voice hollow. "The entire Dragon Vein. The chamber is completely dark. There's nothing left. Not even residual energy."
"You actually consumed it," Karin whispered. "All of it. Sasuke-kun, do you understand what you've done? That natural energy source existed for thousands of years. It was part of this world's natural order. And you just... took it."
"Yes." Sasuke's draconic pupils gleamed. "And now I have power that will let me face Itachi on equal terms. Power that brings me closer to matching the Otsutsuki when they eventually arrive."
"Equal terms?" Suigetsu laughed, but it sounded nervous. "Sasuke, you just absorbed something that nearly killed Orochimaru by proximity. You're way beyond 'equal terms' with anyone."
"Not yet." Sasuke turned toward the desert. "This is just the physical foundation. I still need Itachi's eyes for Eternal Mangekyo. Then I need to awaken my Rinnegan. Then Tenseigan. Then—"
"You're not going to stop," Karin interrupted. "Are you? This isn't about preparation anymore. This is just... collection for its own sake."
Sasuke was quiet for a moment. Then: "Does it matter? Either way, I'm achieving my goals. The Otsutsuki will come. I'll be ready. Whether my motivation is pure survival or obsessive collection doesn't change the outcome."
He started walking through the desert, forcing his team to follow.
"We return to Akatsuki," Sasuke announced. "I'll complete one or two missions to maintain my standing. Then I request pairing with Itachi for a high-priority assignment. And when we're alone..."
He left the sentence unfinished. But his meaning was crystalline clear.