Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 292 People in the Cracks of Time and Space

In the image, the white bandages are untied, revealing a hand covered in grayish-white, snake-like scales.

This arm appears to be soft and boneless, capable of growing and extending indefinitely, and is incredibly resilient. Most importantly, its fingernails contain tubular spikes that release toxins, much like syringes. Once a wound is caught, the toxins are injected.

The hand was exceptionally ugly, and he was unwilling to accept it for a very long time. However, he had to admit that the hand had indeed been of great help to him and had even saved him from danger many times.

Off-screen, Orochimaru looked at the arm and sneered, "Oh dear, although you say you hate it, you actually use it quite well."

"Is it a boneless arm from human modification surgery?" Maria Ozawa asked, looking at the arm.

Orochimaru was a little surprised: "I didn't expect you to recognize this thing so quickly."

"That's because of Lord Orochimaru! I was studying the whole way here!"

As expected, flattery will get you everywhere. So don't be envious if some people have opportunities and are promoted by others. You really need a talent for navigating social situations.

Just like the matter of choosing sides, since she has already chosen Orochimaru, she will naturally stick to that path.

As for that book, she did glance at it, but she didn't look at the details. She just memorized the entire table of contents so she could use it at any time in a critical moment.

Then, the scene shifts again, and a figure with blue-green hair appears in front of Minato Namikaze, the very image of the strategist Shiraki, whom outsiders know.

At this moment, he was already marked with the Flying Thunder God Mark by that long hand biting his foot.

"I succeeded! I knew Master was amazing!" Sarutobi Asuma exclaimed excitedly as he watched the scene unfold.

Minato Namikaze conjured a Rasengan in his hand, an idea he copied from Shisei Aburame, but he was never able to transform it into a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

The next second, he flashed and appeared behind Aburame Shisei.

Are we going to win? No.

His Rasengan slammed heavily onto Shisei Aburame, but it did not cause any damage, because somehow, a layer of transparent armor had appeared on Shisei Aburame's body.

Then, a purple tail hook appeared behind Shisei Aburame and pierced through Minato Namikaze's body.

"Master!" Sarutobi Asuma shouted, almost lunging forward, but was stopped by Kurenai Yuhi.

At this moment, Uchiha Mamoru also experienced an extreme psychological change. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes spun rapidly, changing from two tomoe to three tomoe.

However, at this moment, the scene changed again, and Minato Namikaze was surprisingly silent, without even a trace of blood on his body. The person confronting him also changed from Shiraki Strategist to a puppeteer they had never met before.

"What on earth is going on?" Sarutobi Asuma was completely bewildered. He turned to the Queen and asked.

Looking at the chaotic scene before her, the Queen of Loulan said, "This is a spacetime turbulence, so what you are seeing may not actually be happening now."

"So Master's death is a future scenario!" Sarutobi Asuma was overjoyed upon hearing this. "What a great opportunity! Let's hurry in and inform Master so he can avoid this deadly situation!"

Sarutobi Asuma was extremely excited and pulled the two of them into the vortex.

"Wait a minute... Even if you go in, you won't be able to make any changes, because the images projected through the spacetime rift are all things that are bound to happen!"

Unfortunately, before the Loulan Queen could finish speaking, the three of them had already entered the room and didn't understand what she was about to say.

"Sigh!" she sighed, then looked up at the sky. "I can sense the presence of another witch of yours. Could you come out and meet me?"

"Oops, we've been discovered." Orochimaru ripped off a piece of cloth the same color as the stone wall, and with Maria Ozawa on his back, leaped down to stand before the Queen.

The Queen of Loulan's gaze passed over Orochimaru and landed on Maria Ozawa: "I never imagined that in the age of ninjas, without a specific bloodline inheritance, a new type of witch could still be born. I can sense that you possess a powerful spirit shikigami, but you don't seem to know how to use it."

"Shikigami, you're not talking about my summoning beast, are you?"

"It doesn't matter, they're all pretty much the same anyway." Queen Loulan didn't delve any further and continued, "As more and more people enter, spacetime will become more chaotic, and the distorting power will become increasingly overwhelming. It will be unstoppable, and eventually the dragon vein will completely engulf this place."

"At that time, no one will be able to escape, including you. Everyone will live in a chaotic gap where there is no concept of time."

"So, are you willing to learn my sealing techniques?"

Maria Ozawa never imagined that just a day ago she was an ordinary low-ranking ninja, but in just one day she would be able to decide the future fate of the ninja world.

That's outrageous! I feel like even the protagonists in traditional storybooks wouldn't dare to write like that!

"Okay, fine."

She can't refuse now, because the expert has been standing by for the past two days.

The Queen of Loulan smiled at her, and with a flick of her finger, a surge of natural energy flowed from her hand, transmitting the crucial inheritance of sealing the dragon vein into her mind. As for other methods of use, they could not be covered.

When she came to her senses, the Loulan Queen bent down and jumped into the sky above the dragon vein. Her energy began to disintegrate, and in an instant, countless sealing patterns spread in all directions.

"Now."

Maria Ozawa received the order and began forming hand seals. Her Sage Chakra surged, and she completed the final step, embedding all the connection points into the ground, barely managing to lock all the energy that would continue to erupt underground.

The soul of the Loulan Queen, too, slowly turned into particles as time and space eroded away.

At the last moment, she said to Maria Ozawa, "Thank you. I have one last request. Please help me guard this place. Although the mission is heavy, it concerns the existence of the ninja world."

"What? Wait a minute, you didn't say I'd go to jail here!"

However, no one could respond to her anymore, because the Queen had completely disappeared.

-

Within the turbulent spacetime of the Dragon Vein, the scenes kept repeating themselves.

Almost everyone is trapped in the underground palace of the ley lines, and the only solution is to enter the energy channel within the ley lines, find the spacetime node, and seal it.

At this moment, the scene shifts again, and the Uchiha Kaguya from the future kneels before Aburame Shisei, gouging out his own eyes and offering them up with both hands.

"Please—please, create the Time Worm!"

"Oh, so you came back to destroy me?" Aburame Shisei looked down at him as if he were a dog.