Dragon Vein

Menma lounged in his throne room, watching several monitors with a smirk. Seeing Himawari furiously masturbate as she shoved her face into Hinata's ass made him struggle to hold back a laugh.

He took immense pleasure in destroying Boruto's family. He could already envision the day Boruto would discover what he had done to his loved ones, the look of pure heartbreak as he realized all his suffering was because of him.

"Sigh. If only that Chouchou girl could have finished earlier..." Menma thought to himself.

He had given her multiple years to prepare Himawari and Sarada, but she had only recently finished her work. Although he had no immediate plans for Sarada, it wouldn't hurt to have her ready for the inevitable.

On the other hand, Chouchou was also becoming a problem to his persona outside. He had left her mainly to her own devices after he programmed her, but it seemed that he would have to intervene soon. 

Chouchou was now going out of her way, proclaiming that the two were dating at school, causing him a lot of trouble. He hadn't planned for this when he gave her the psychological hint, but now it was becoming more troublesome than the payoff would be.

"At least it seems that everything went well on Hinata's side..." Menma thought to himself as he glanced back at the screen, diverting his mind from Chouchou's antics.

He contemplated what to do with the newly enslaved Himawari when he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of someone entering the throne room. Glancing over to see who it was, Menma's eyes narrowed, and he broke into a smile.

"You're here... What's so important that you had to come yourself, Shinigami?" Menma said, his anticipation evident.

"I found something interesting... One of my bounties led me to a place called Roran in the City of Towers. Apparently, a rogue sand shinobi named Mukade found a pair of ruins with the power of the Ryumyaku vein... After some torture, it turns out he was planning to use it to return in time..." Shinigami said with a cold voice, but his interest was unmistakable.

Menma's eyes instantly began to flicker.

"Did you inspect the ruins? Are you sure he wasn't just crazy?" Menma asked seriously.

"I didn't go in but could feel the chakra fluctuations. I managed to tell him that he has a seal set up to control the vein." Shinigami replied.

Menma was about to begin speaking when he heard another person walking in.

"How interesting... I felt I should be here for something like this." Tennyo spoke in a frivolous tone.

"Why are you here, Tennyo..." Shinigami said coldly.

"Heh... How could I miss something so interesting? I saw you return in a hurry and knew it must be something good, but to think it would be this..." Tennyo said with a laugh.

"Both of you stop... Tennyo, what do you think of the situation?" Menma asked.

Tennyo and Shinigami were practically two ends of a spectrum. Every time they talked, it always ended in a fight, and Menma wanted to stay on the subject.

"Well... If I were to guess, I would say it's probably real. I remember hearing some legends about the Dragon Vein, and it's said to control time. The only question is what we would use it for. Oh, how interesting..." Tennyo said with glee.

Menma simply ignored the last part and closed his eyes as he began to consider its uses. Although it wasn't foolproof, it was definitely worth investigating. If, by chance, he could go to the past, it might even be possible to recruit some past clansmen and bring them to the future.

Of course, he would have to teach them the new rules of the Uzumaki Clan, Menma thought to himself with a smirk.

"That settles it then," Menma said, opening his eyes to face the two.

It seemed he would have to embark on a little adventure before graduating from the academy.

"Call all the Masked Beasts... I'll have Tsunade make a clone to take my place while I'm gone. It shouldn't take longer than a week, so we will be back just in time," Menma said, his smile growing.

"Oh, how interesting! It will be our first time doing a mission together... Perhaps we can have some fun..." Tennyo said with a laugh.

Although Shinigami had no facial expression due to the mask, it was evident that he was excited about the idea of all of them getting together.

"It seems this will be our first time all acting together," Menma said as he stood up with a smirk.

"Let's have some fun..."

************

Menma and the Masked Beasts' team set out for their destination, traveling non-stop until they reached Roran, the City of Towers, which took two days.

Roran looked like an obelisk from a distance, with a broad platform and many spiky structures jutting out of it. The city had a unique design.

The platform-like structure formed the city's walls, blocking the ever-present hot sandy winds from entering the city. The spiky structures were various towers where the people of Roran resided. The highest town in the middle of the city was the Queen's Palace, where Queen Sara of Roran lived. The entire city had a gothic feel, with many skyscraping narrow towers pointing toward the sky.

Menma and the others stopped just outside the walls, taking a moment before beginning to infiltrate. It would be hard to go unnoticed as a group of ten people, but fortunately, that wasn't a problem for their group.

Menma, wearing a white kitsune mask, a black robe with grey lining, and a fur collar, motioned to the others, who simply nodded.

Afterward, a strange scene unfolded as they all appeared to turn into black mist and flow into Menma's back. This was one of the abilities that the Shikijutsu granted them when they were created, allowing them to remain undetected.

Seeing the scene, Menma stopped waiting and ran towards the outer walls of Roran before starting to climb the walls to infiltrate the city.

The large towers of Roran blocked most of the sunlight, and the city's lighting was mostly artificial, powered by Chakra from the ley line.

Menma began to search the city for the Ryumyaku or the Chakra ley line based on what Shinigami had told him. According to him, it was near five large pipes that hid a sealed entrance to the ruins.

After a few minutes of searching, Menma found the ruins and started to walk through them. The architecture spoke of a time long past, its grandeur now buried beneath layers of history.

Menma wasn't focused on this and opted to reach the ley line as quickly as possible to investigate it.

Menma cautiously explored the ancient ruins, his steps echoing in the empty chambers. He followed the faint traces of chakra residue, heading towards the center of the leyline. Suddenly, as he moved forward, a large flash of light appeared in his vision, followed by a strange sensation washing over him. It felt as if reality itself was shifting, bending, and warping around him.

Menma closed his eyes to shield them from the intense flash of light. When he opened them again, he found himself standing in a vastly different place. The architecture had changed dramatically. Though it was still abandoned, it was clear that it was in much better shape than before.

"What... What just happened? Time-Space Jutsu?" Menma muttered to himself, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Come out..." Menma said, forcibly composing himself.

Out of his back, the Nine Masked Beasts began to materialize.

"Any ideas..." Menma said as he glanced at all of them.

"How interesting... It seems that the Chakra was already unstable from what that shinobi was doing earlier, Shinigami. It seems we have become stranded in the past... How interesting..." Tennyo said in a snarky voice.

Menma's gaze darkened upon hearing this, and he glanced at the others, hoping they might have some ideas.

"If I'm correct, the Chakra should naturally begin to accumulate again, in which case we should be able to go back around the same time we got sent here. Mukade had already planned this in the seal he made. I'm guessing it went off due to how unstable it was without him managing it," Shinigami said in a calm voice.

"How long do we have to wait..." Menma said, coming to terms with the situation.

"Judging by the rate the chakra is gathering, I would say..." Hokuto began to speak.

"Three years, brother!" Nanto finished for him.

"That's what I was going to say, brother! How did you know!" Hokuto asked as they began to talk excitedly with each other.

Menma sighed as he heard it. Fortunately, they would return around the same time they were transported.

"I suppose we should explore then. If we are going to be stuck here for three years, we might as well learn what the situation is like outside. Who knows... Maybe we can have some fun," Menma said, slowly becoming happier.

All the Masked Beasts agreed, and they began to head outside.

Walking out of the ruins, Menma found he was no longer underground but in a building that seemed to reach the sky. It seemed that this was what the ancient building once looked like before it became what it was in the future.

The City of Towers was no longer here, replaced by the vast wilderness surrounding him. They still had to figure out what period of time it was, so they quickly set off.

After a couple of days, he found a small village and sneaked inside.

The town was old and shabby, but he had seen nothing that could link him to an exact period of time.

Walking into a tavern, he sat down at a table in the corner, hoping to hear some information.

It was only a while later that he found what he was looking for.

"Have you heard that the beast riots are getting worse..." one man said at the bar.

"Sigh. My sister got into an accident last week... Maybe we should head towards Draganof... I heard that they have developed new ways to fight off the hordes..." the other said.

Draganof. Beast Riots.

The name "Draganof" wasn't just any kingdom; it was a significant branch of the Uzumaki clan that had existed 400 years ago but was mysteriously destroyed overnight.

A gleam lit up in his eyes. It seemed that his time here was going to be much more interesting than he thought.

"It seems that we will be able to find some Uzumaki clansman to take home..." Menma thought with a smirk.

Menma's curiosity about Draganof was not solely driven by his desire for people to take home; Dragonof was known for creating a special form of sealing called Enchantments.

Enchantments were far more destructive and powerful than the sealing of the Uzumaki clan he had access to.

"So Draganof is close... The heart of the ancient Uzumaki," Menma mused, his eyes hidden behind his kitsune mask gleaming with glee.

"Let's have some fun, shall we? We have some time to kill after all..."

************

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know it took a while, but I got the flu, and then I wanted to take a little bit to iron out this next arc. 

I do have good news, which is that in two weeks I'll be getting fewer hours at work, which means more time to write. I have had to work crazy hours as well as my classes due to us being understaffed.

For more recent good news, I'll be spending the entire day this chapter goes out writing, so I should be able to stockpile a good amount of chapters. 

With this, the patreon can be set up smoothly for those who want to support it.

Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!