After scouting the Ninja World's borders, Miki returned. The journey there took twelve days, but the return trip took six.
She quickly traversed to the border between River Country and Land of Wind and stopped.
Miki was searching for the Dragon Veins here.
Four days later, she stopped, unable to find them.
Let alone the Dragon Veins, there wasn't even a trace of the small country of Rōran; only endless yellow sand.
Could it be that Rōran hadn't yet started using the Dragon Veins to build their city at this point in time?
Then how was the Rōran Clan surviving now?
They couldn't have just appeared out of thin air.
Wait...
The clan she had encountered deep in the desert, migrating with underground water sources.
Miki turned and looked towards the depths of the desert.
This constantly migrating clan was somewhat peculiar.
Miki had only met a small fraction of them before. Through communication, she learned that the entire clan was dispersed into hundreds of small teams of about a hundred people, constantly wandering the desert in search of underground water sources.
During this time, the various branches would converge, exchanging intelligence and trading daily necessities.
They were a matriarchal clan, skilled in business, but without a country.
Although Miki had some ideas about the Dragon Veins, she wasn't lacking in Chakra.
What Miki wanted to know was how the Dragon Veins converted Natural Energy into Chakra.
This ability, akin to the Divine Tree's, was something even the Sage Mode of the Three Great Sage Regions couldn't achieve.
Were there roots of the Divine Tree beneath the Dragon Veins, or was it a natural miracle in itself, or perhaps another extraterrestrial object?
After determining that she couldn't find the Dragon Veins for now, Miki returned to the Village.
She didn't detour to the Land of Earth to see what the border situation was like there.
The northernmost country on the Ninja World continent was Land of Snow.
It was perpetually frozen by ice and snow. According to general geography, as long as the ground beneath one's feet was still a sphere, then continuing north would lead to the North Pole.
The area from the Land of Earth to Land of Snow was similar to Russia's geographical location—vast and sparsely populated, but rich in resources.
And going south or east, past the Land of Water, was a vast ocean.
There was nothing worth seeing.
After returning to the Village, her daily routine consisted of research and development, training with Tsunade, and steadily improving Tsunade's control over the Nine-Tailed.
This was an underground insect nest, used as a temporary dungeon to hold prisoners.
The captured spoils of war were all held in this place.
Their Chakra flow was restricted by Fuinjutsu.
Dozens or a few people per dungeon.
The personnel mainly consisted of civilians brought from Flower Street, mostly strong samurai, and Shinobi.
In the dim dungeon, the atmosphere was listless. The imprisoned people had no interest in talking, each sitting alone.
Miki didn't like coming here; the smell was really unpleasant, but these were the only conditions available right now.
This time down, she was going to conduct an experiment.
Human infection experiment.
Miki walked between the iron-barred cells. As Miki passed, the atmosphere grew even more silent.
Everyone didn't even dare to breathe loudly, holding their breath, awaiting their unknown fate.
Their eyes were filled with fear.
At this moment, Miki stopped and looked at the dozens of people imprisoned inside.
In the dim light, Miki was completely enveloped in large shadows, her face unclear, but in the eyes of everyone, it was already terrifying enough.
After being confined for over a month, with limited activity and no outdoor or entertainment areas, these individuals were now very weak both physically and mentally.
One by one, they crawled, trying to distance themselves from Miki, their hand and foot shackles clanking as they moved.
Miki snapped her fingers.
Immediately following, three Shinobi appeared behind Miki in a Body Flicker.
These were Miki's clan members.
Yui, Ryoma, and Shikuro.
They were no longer Miki's personal attendants but belonged to her direct trusted subordinates.
They wore the standard Aburame attire of a hooded cloak, but all three wore masks.
They wore three different hannya masks: Mud-Eyed, Generating, and hannya, representing the process of a woman's jealousy twisting her into a demon.
The Shinigami mask of the Uzumaki Clan belonged to the hannya type of demon masks.
These masks were Miki's practice pieces, modeled after the Shinigami mask, and their function was simple: they were small insect nests.
The environment inside was too harsh; without other substances, ordinary organisms couldn't survive.
However, Insects could temporarily reside there in a dormant state.
And ever since the clan members learned the pheromone-based insect control technique Miki taught them, it meant an increase in the maximum number of insect swarms an individual could carry.
This extra small insect nest was also suitable.
And these three were the fastest in the clan to learn the secret technique, which also meant they were the three most talented in the clan.
"Bring a few people out," Miki said.
Normally, these three were responsible for managing this dungeon, including the construction of the iron bars, which they also completed.
"Ha!" The three responded, and then Yui, wearing the hannya mask, stepped forward and opened the cell. Immediately, Ryoma, wearing the Generating mask, and Shikuro, wearing the Mud-Eyed mask, rushed into the cell.
The prisoners in the cell struggled, trying to run. The two young men rushed up, knocked them to the ground with a few kicks, and then each dragged two people out.
They looked at Miki.
The others watched this scene, huddled together, trembling.
Their eyes were full of fear and relief.
And the four people who were dragged out screamed in terror, their fingers desperately digging into the ground, leaving marks as they were dragged.
"Make them shut up," Miki said, turning to leave.
Ryoma and Shikuro exchanged glances, channeled Chakra, and Insects crawled out from under their sleeves, flying to cover the faces of the four people.
The four screamed even more miserably.
Miki paused, then turned to look at the two who were acting.
Ryoma and Shikuro were a bit flustered.
After exchanging glances, the two knocked the four unconscious.
These two guys didn't have much experience in doing things.
Still much to learn.
Miki walked in front, with Yui following quickly behind her.
Using her gender advantage, Yui, though the youngest, successfully became the leader of the two boys.
Speaking of which, Miki still didn't know what she looked like.
But that wasn't important.
Not only Miki, but even the clan members didn't identify each other by face.
Appearance had no market within this clan.
They walked along the crude passages dug by the insect swarm, navigating the complex underground forks. There was no light source; the Aburame Clan didn't need lamps to find their way, no matter how complex the terrain, they wouldn't get lost. They arrived at the end of a path.
Yui quickly stepped forward and pushed open the movable secret door.
A dim, yellowish light streamed into the secret passage.
This was a spacious underground room, with many smaller rooms distributed around it.
It was a discarded Anbu underground facility, which Miki, who collected scraps, unceremoniously accepted.
Its function was akin to an interrogation room, fully equipped with numerous torture devices.
Seeing this, Yui understood the situation.
She quickly went up and pushed open the door of an interrogation room; dust billowed out.
Releasing a swarm of Insects to clear the dust, Yui brought out a chair, cleaned it, and then looked at Miki, waiting.
Miki stepped forward, patted Yui's little head, and then sat down.
This child was really good at clinging to her.
And she clung quite comfortably.
She just wasn't very good at talking.
She was a complete social phobic.
Outside the door, the two young boys glared at Yui!
Feeling this gaze, Yui hid behind Miki.
Ryoma and Shikuro walked into the room reluctantly, tied the people to the torture racks, and looked at Miki expectantly.
Miki waved her hand, signaling the two to step back.
The two walked away, disappointed.
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