I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 607 Every man has thought about the names of his future children to some extent.

"It can be basically confirmed that this An Lushan is a ninja from the future. Since he came to Loulan six years ago, he has been plotting to seize the dragon vein resources and the entire Loulan."

In the desert, Minato lifted his mask, untied a water bottle, and spoke to Tatsuma and the others.

In the distance, at the farthest point of sight, stands a city. If we only consider its level of "modernization," Loulan is even more advanced than Damingfu in the Land of Wind.

This is not the kind of national strength Loulan should have. Loulan is only the size of a town in the Kingdom of Wind, and it has no core industries. It simply doesn't have the money to build such a city.

Based on their investigation over the past few days, they have almost figured it out: Loulan was rebuilt six years ago. In just six years, a city that is more modern and technologically advanced than any other town in the ninja world has sprung up out of thin air.

This mission was completely unrelated to the village's plans. Loulan was not threatened by war and seemed to be a haven from wartime, not needing the protection of the five great powers at all.

The only potential threat is the man named An Lushan, whom Shuimen has been investigating these past few days.

This was clearly not normal. Kakashi then spoke up, saying, "I searched the ground and found that there are almost no living people left. Those walking on the streets are actually puppets."

Those overhead pipes don't transport electricity, but rather chakra. The chakra within these pipes passes through special valves, transforming into chakra threads that control the puppets throughout the city.

Was this false prosperity merely to satisfy An Lushan's own curiosity?

Dingza made a comment, and Tatsuma, who hadn't spoken until now, finally said, "An Lushan couldn't control the dragon veins, so he needed someone who knew how to control the dragon veins to willingly give him control of them."

The mysteriously deceased Queen Loulan and the recently enthroned Queen Sara were both people An Lushan needed to deceive with a false sense of prosperity.

Do you remember the letter of appeal sent to Konoha?

Minato nodded and said, "You mean the former queen discovered An Lushan's plot, sent a plea for help to Konoha, but was discovered and killed by An Lushan, and Sara became the next puppet queen?"

"Yes, only the Queen of Loulan has the method to control the dragon vein. So before An Lushan can completely seize the power of the dragon vein, he must keep Sarah alive and make Sarah believe that only by continuing to do so can Loulan be in the best interest of him."

"What if we seal it? Bypassing the method of Loulan's continuation and sealing the dragon vein directly should also stop An Lushan's power, right?"

Shuimen asked, but quickly shook his head and said, "No, if we do that, not only will An Lushan's power be sealed, but the life force of the entire Loulan will be sealed, turning this oasis city back into a wasteland."

The power of the dragon vein is not just for An Lushan's use; the entire oasis depends on the dragon vein for its existence. Once the dragon vein is sealed, the power to change this land will also disappear.

Loulan, like countless desert ruins, will eventually become a dead city due to the depletion of oasis resources.

The people of the Wind Kingdom can accept this outcome, since they can migrate to other oasis cities, but Loulan cannot, because its territory is only so big.

Every step they take outwards infringes upon the territorial integrity of the Wind Kingdom, and the Wind Kingdom will not allow Loulan to do so.

Unless Loulan declares its demise and begs the Wind Kingdom to accept its citizens, allowing Loulan's original citizens to seek survival in other oasis cities as citizens of the Wind Kingdom.

But what ruler would be willing to go to such lengths for the sake of his people?

Tatsuma glanced at Minato, who seemed hesitant, and said, "Don't be so pessimistic. There will be a way. The problem now is... the distortion of spacetime. You should have felt it too, right?"

Minato nodded, took out his Flying Thunder God kunai, and said, "The closer you get to the center of the dragon vein, the more disordered the spacetime becomes, and even the Flying Thunder God cannot be used."

Moreover, it seems to be more than just an overlap of two timelines.

His tone became somewhat complicated. When he sensed the spatial and temporal disorder and An Lushan's identity as a time traveler, Minato thought that it was an independent and accidental event for someone from the future to travel to the present.

But things have become increasingly complicated these past few days, seemingly involving more than just the An Lushan incident.

Minato looked at Tatsuma and said, "Tatsuma, your senses are stronger than mine. What can you sense?"

"It's hard to say. In the center of Loulan, I can even sense several Konoha villages, and I can continue to use the Flying Thunder God Technique, but I'm not sure where I'll end up."

If I could sense the Second Hokage's techniques, I could even travel to other "Konoha" locations.

"Other Leaf Villages"

Dingza was completely bewildered. Wasn't there only one Konoha in the ninja world? Minato and Kakashi remained silent, especially Minato, who, being equally proficient in space-time ninjutsu, knew what Tatsuma was talking about. He asked:

Is it spacetime, or just time?

"It's probably the former, because he sensed Konoha that had your and the Second Hokage's techniques, but not mine."

Tatsuma's answer silenced Minato once again. If there were only traces of Tobirama Senju's technique, then it might be a matter of time, perhaps ten years ago, during the period when neither of them had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.

However, while Tobirama Senju and his own techniques exist, Tatsuma's techniques are not. Therefore, it's highly likely that Tatsuma already possessed these techniques before mastering the Flying Thunder God Technique.

In that timeline, there wasn't even a Tatsuma? What a disheartening world that must have been.

Minato quickly rallied his spirits and said, "The dragon vein must be closed. If Sara doesn't agree, then we'll have to seal it ourselves. Tatsuma, what are your thoughts?"

Both of them possessed numerous sealing techniques, but clearly none were directly applicable. After all, the dragon vein involved spacetime, not just power or energy. Therefore, the two of them had to develop a sealing technique capable of sealing the chaotic spacetime in a short period of time.

Tatsuma pointed to the Flying Thunder God Kunai in Minato's hand and said, "Using the power of the Flying Thunder God to connect with time and space, supplemented by the Eight Palaces and Twenty-Four Solar Terms, plus the regulation of the Nine Stars and Eight Gates, the Dragon Vein will form its own cycle."

In this way, only one place needs to be sealed, and all the dragon veins in overlapping timelines can be uniformly controlled.

As he spoke, Tatsuma placed his hand on the desert sand. The sand trembled, revealing a complex array. Choji and Kakashi stared at it, their eyes losing focus, while Minato grew increasingly delighted, exclaiming:

"Indeed, all I thought of was to use the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Eight Gates to make the Dragon Vein spin and consume itself in time, but that can only solve the sealing problem on the same timeline. Only your method can solve all the problems."

But he quickly frowned and said, "However, sealing techniques centered on physical objects are easily broken, and spacetime will still be disrupted."

"No, because everything is predetermined. Arrangement, destruction, and repair are a cycle in themselves. If we don't seal it, then An Lushan will not be able to break the seal and come here."

If he doesn't come here, he won't attract our attention, and there won't be a seal. Without a seal, the seals in the future or other timelines cannot be repaired.

This must be a technique that can be cracked, otherwise it will create a paradox of spacetime. All the flaws are merely for correcting the chaos.

Tatsuma shook his head and said, Minato was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "What you said makes sense. I was thinking too simply."

"No, you're overthinking it. You're worried about people in the future and other timelines, which is why you're thinking of a permanent solution. But in reality, once the seal is set up, it's a permanent solution, because you and I will only seal once."

"Too."

Minato tried his best to memorize the technique and mentally rehearsed it. Although he had never actually used it, he had mastered all the prerequisite techniques and knowledge that made up the technique, so even without trying or training, there would be no problem.

Suddenly, the two of them looked up at the direction of Loulan simultaneously. Minato's eyes turned serious, and he said, "Such a massive amount of chakra, and that's the aura of the Nine-Tails?"

As he spoke, he unconsciously tightened his grip on the Flying Thunder God kunai. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki that suddenly appeared over there was not Kushina.

In that instant, many unpleasant thoughts flooded his mind, and he even wanted to rush over to find the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and ask him for clarification, but his patience as a ninja made him hold back.

Tatsuma narrowed his eyes. He could roughly guess who had arrived. Besides the enormous amount of chakra within him and the Nine-Tails' chakra, there was also a faint, dormant chakra that both attracted and repelled him.

Judging from the chaotic state of Naruto's chakra, it seems that Naruto's relationship with Kurama is not good at this time. Could it be Naruto from Sakamoto Tatsuma's timeline?

It's unlikely, because if it were him, he wouldn't let the Nine-Tails act so recklessly.

Furthermore, not only Naruto, but also Yamato, who has a subtle resonance with the God Tree cells in Tatsuma's body.

But that's not all. A somewhat incongruous chakra also appeared. Who was it? It felt somewhat familiar, but there was absolutely no way to guess who it belonged to; it was cold, damp, and twisted.

Moreover, the spacetime aura above this chakra seems quite different from the spacetime aura on Naruto and Yamato, suggesting that they are from another timeline.

At this moment, Minato belatedly realized the presence of the other people's chakra, and his expression became increasingly solemn. He said, "It seems that the future, or other timelines, are even more fascinating than ours."

"You should probably be happier."

Seeing the coldness and killing intent that was so different from Minato's usual sunny disposition on his face, Tatsuma interrupted, and Minato looked at Tatsuma in confusion.

The new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and the new Wood Release ninja—does this foreshadow a huge, unexpected event for Kushina and Tatsuma that is different from the current world? Why is Tatsuma able to do it so easily?

Tatsuma stood up, brushed the sand off his pants, patted Minato on the shoulder, and asked, "Shall we go take a look?"

"Um."

Minato nodded, but neither his expression nor his mood relaxed. Tatsuma turned around and gave Kakashi and Choza a look, and the two of them stood up as well.

"Choza, you come in with us. Kakashi, you search outside and see if there are any other strange people."

"good!"

"understood."

Seeing that the two agreed, Tatsuma looked back at Minato, patted him on the shoulder, and brought up a topic that Minato had never thought of.

"Minato, have you thought about the names of your future children?"

"Naruto?"

For some inexplicable reason, Minato thought of the name of the protagonist in the book his teacher had written.

(End of this chapter)