"So that's how it is. I think I understand the situation now. Has the dragon vein returned to normal?"
After listening to Uzumaki Naruto's story, Kain pieced together the reason behind their arrival. He refrained from prying further into unnecessary details, such as their age or specifics about the future.
Naruto had been on the verge of blurting out more, but Kain made it clear that such topics were off-limits.
Kain didn't want to shape his actions based on a predetermined future. For now, it was enough to see that Naruto was healthy, thriving, and even cheeky enough to ask Kain to convince his mother not to pressure him into marriage in the future.
That alone spoke volumes about Naruto's happy life.
Moreover, Kain couldn't help but notice the immense vitality and chakra radiating from Naruto. It was clear that Naruto had inherited a significant portion of his and Kushina's traits.
"You don't need to tell me anything about the future," Kain said firmly. "If I knew too much, I'd feel compelled to act a certain way, and it could disrupt my plans. For now, let's focus on figuring out how to send you back. How far has your era progressed in understanding the dragon vein?"
"In our time, the dragon vein is a restricted area under your designation," Kakashi explained. "Only a select few can access it. Because of that, we don't know much about it. As for how Mukade managed to get through the dragon vein's barrier... to be honest, we have no idea. Logically, even five Kage-level ninjas shouldn't be able to break through."
Kakashi then recounted the mission. He and Naruto had been chasing Mukade when the rogue ninja somehow breached the barrier around the dragon vein.
By pursuing him into it, they had inadvertently traveled back more than ten years into the past. Despite killing Mukade, they found themselves unable to return to their own time.
Naruto also showed one of the Pent 42 mechanical guards that Mukade had stolen. Kain examined it closely.
While Kain wasn't an expert in new energy-based war machines, it was apparent that the technology was outdated by more than a decade.
"Indulgence..." Kain muttered after a moment. "That's the only way Mukade could have stolen something like this without drawing attention."
After thinking for a while, Kain asked, "What kind of equipment is installed around the dragon vein in your time? Do you have any video recordings?"
"I do," Naruto replied. "We're required to activate the recording mode on our devices during missions, so I've got footage of the dragon vein's surroundings. Also, my watch is custom-made. My dad said it's shielded against electromagnetic pulses, so it's pretty durable."
Naruto removed the watch and handed it to Kain.
Kain inspected it carefully. The seamless design of the device was beyond his current expertise.
However, he had access to advanced resources—specifically, the Red Queen AI in the experimental base of the Land of Tea. Kain placed the watch into a scanner linked to the Red Queen.
Soon, a series of data streams appeared on the monitor. As Kain reviewed the analysis provided by the Red Queen, his suspicions were confirmed.
"Boss, I have received 3000TB of documents, including the image data on the dragon veins, which I've displayed for you."
After the Red Queen finished speaking, video footage of Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi around the dragon veins appeared on the projection screen.
The Red Queen also created a 3D scene, re-enacting all the action scenes involving the three at that time.
However, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't focused on this. He was simply surprised at how much his mission watch contained.
"This is the alchemy rune?"
After observing the familiar alchemy runes around the dragon veins, Kain quickly figured out a way to send them back.
Seeing Kain's expression, Kakashi asked, "Excuse me, can we go back?"
"Yes," Kain replied, "If there are no accidents, you should be able to go back. But I'll need to study it further, so you'll have to wait a little while."
After Kain finished speaking, he arranged accommodations for Uzumaki Naruto and Kakashi. They could either visit nearby towns or stay at the base.
Kain then began studying the ancient runes near the dragon veins.
Kain could understand most of the ancient runes when they were separated, but when they were combined, they felt strange.
He wasn't sure when he had gained control of these runes, but he had the sense that they formed a spell when cast in sequence, which ultimately drew upon the power of the dragon veins.
The spell started rewinding time.
Kain recognized only a small fraction of the symbols. It wasn't until ten days later that he had a rough understanding of how these ancient runes worked, but he still couldn't fully grasp the spells they formed or how they were related to the energy of the dragon veins.
There was a lot of knowledge beyond his current understanding, which might require him to learn new runes to fully comprehend.
But being able to understand how the alchemy runes functioned was enough to send Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto back. These ancient spells were two-way: meditation was one way to start, and reversal was another.
After calling Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto over, Kain broke the news to them.
When Uzumaki Naruto heard the news, he grabbed his head and said, "I can go back so soon? It's a shame. There are still so many places I wanted to visit."
He knew he'd be disciplined when he returned home. Here, there was only one teacher, Kakashi, which was much more relaxed than being at home.
….
patreon.com/Vks_sh