[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]
Rōran, 43.
...
...
Sara was in the library, reading some books, when she sensed a few people approaching.
She raised her gaze and found the man who had saved her country with a single move. Alongside him, the red-haired wife and the boy Naruto followed close behind.
"Lord Minato..." she said, her voice filled with conflicting emotions.
She didn't know how to react to him. Ever since the moment she declared that she would be willing to marry him to solidify the alliance between Konoha and Rōran, Sara had felt somewhat dreamy about it.
At the same time, she could feel the cold stares from Kushina behind Minato.
Minato seemed far more focused on helping her mother, who clearly appeared a little infatuated with him. Sara had already spoken with her about it.
Her mother admitted that Minato made her feel like a lovestruck teenager. Sara couldn't blame her for that, but her mother still stated that she was the queen and should behave as such, just as Sara herself, being the princess of Rōran.
Sara knew that even though she had proposed that arrangement and, in a way, had been thinking about it over the past few days, she had to acknowledge that Minato was the type of hero who would do what he believed was right, even without expecting great things in return, but she also realized that his heart belonged to his wives.
It was clear from the way he interacted with them, completely different from the way he behaved toward Sara and her mother.
Sara couldn't complain about that. They had just arrived. How could they compete for the heart of a man who had already had women by his side for so many years?
Even so, she felt a small sadness in her heart. Minato seemed to avoid her over the last few days.
She wasn't as strong as his wives. She didn't have that shine they all possessed. That aura of familiarity and natural intimacy that overflowed from them.
A bitter feeling sprouted in her chest without her having any control over it. She knew... Knew that, most likely, the alliance between them would not happen...
She only wanted to save her country, wanted to create something that could justify the alliance, but Minato already seemed to have that in mind, even without needing to marry her.
Even so, she looked at Minato and the others with a certain suspicion. It was the first time he had approached her since all the confusion ended.
Minato opened a small smile. "Hello, Sara. Were you busy just now?" he asked.
"Do you need something, Lord Minato?" she asked, still surprised.
"I'd like you to come with us. I'm about to go to the great factory Mukade built. I spoke with your mother about using that place inside the city to create the kingdom's own defense using his ideas. That way, Rōran would have its own protection."
"That..." Sara was a little surprised, but genuinely this time.
With that, she closed the books and stood up. She had been sitting in a corner of the library, on the floor, surrounded by books as she tried to help with the kingdom's recovery. Perhaps it was strange behavior for a princess, but she no longer cared about that.
"Of course, we can go," she said.
Minato nodded. "Now everyone, touch my shoulder." He spoke, with Kushina taking the hand he offered her. Naruto touched one shoulder, and Sara touched the other.
The four individuals disappeared the next instant. When they reappeared, they were inside one of the factories Mukade had created.
There were at least three of them spread throughout the city, but this one was the largest and main facility.
"This one is perfect. We'll use it. Mukade intended to use the kingdom's people to make the factory operate," Minato pointed out in a bored tone.
"He would do that?!" Naruto looked outraged, and Sara shared the same frustration in her eyes.
Kushina looked around; she was angry as well, but more controlled.
In front of them were enormous wheels connected to several levers that people were supposed to push in order to keep the place functioning.
That didn't make much sense. Human force like that shouldn't generate enough energy to keep a factory of that size running.
Mukade could simply use the chakra vein's own energy or even solar power.
The truth was that Rōran still didn't possess advanced electrical technology, but they could use chakra. If chakra could move puppets and generate pure power through them, then that was also a form of energy.
"Why would he need people to operate a factory when the chakra vein itself generates more than enough power for it?" Minato commented.
"That bastard... he wanted to enslave the people of Rōran. That is unforgivable! Unforgivable!" Sara exclaimed.
"He's already fallen, so it doesn't matter anymore. Let's examine the place," Minato said. And everyone began analyzing the factory.
Minato showed the blueprints of the place to Kushina, since Mukade had carefully stored everything. He never imagined he would be defeated, at least not so quickly before even putting his plans into action.
Because of that, he preserved the essential blueprints and information needed to carry out his projects.
Sara also looked at the blueprints and understood quite a lot about the schematics, quickly demonstrating herself to be a very intelligent woman regarding the factory's operation.
"So... you're saying we need to figure out a way to use the very chakra vein that controls the puppets to power the factory," Sara said to Minato while observing the blueprint.
"It should actually be better. The energy will be far superior to putting people to work here, which isn't healthy at all," Minato explained.
"I understand... and how do you plan to do that?" she asked.
"That's simple, we won't." Minato replied plainly, making Sara and Kushina look at him.
"All we need to do is replace the human labor." He continued. "We have no idea how to create something like that, since there are no electronics or other things powered by chakra, so I thought, why not use the puppets themselves to do the work people would do?"
"That's brilliant!" Kushina said immediately. Naruto and Sara also looked impressed.
"If the puppets can do things even ninjas can't, pushing whatever powers the factories will be easy. I still don't understand why that guy would resort to trying to enslave the entire kingdom for this..." Minato replied honestly.
That way, they wouldn't need to alter the entire factory. The puppets themselves would make the place function, and since the chakra vein is practically infinite, as you said, we could even build an army using the puppets themselves.
"Now what we need to do is work on organizing things inside the factory. We should install those pipes with chakra flow throughout the facility so the chakra can connect with the area."
They continued working at the site while Sara herself began sketching drawings on some papers of the factory's layout, along with the new changes Minato suggested.
Kushina also helped.
She even used her Adamantine Chains to remove some sections, also making the chains circulate throughout the place to check the best angles. She even performed some tests with a few puppets, since Kushina could connect chakra into them thanks to her control.
She still didn't know how to properly control puppets, but she had the ability to use the chains themselves to create strings that made the puppets stand up.
Naruto's expression was priceless when he saw the Uzumaki clan's abilities.
"That's amazing! What is that?!" he asked for the first time after seeing Kushina pulling the chains from her back.
"This is the power of the Uzumaki clan," Kushina replied proudly.
"Wait! But I'm an Uzumaki too! Why don't I have that?!" Naruto looked outraged. "If I had those chains, wouldn't that be way cooler?!"
"Hey, Minato, do you think Naruto could learn to use the Adamantine Chains? He has Uzumaki blood, doesn't he?" Kushina asked, wanting to help Naruto with her motherly instincts.
Minato could even hear the two Kuramas making comments inside them, although one of them seemed to hate the idea of its host having ways to subjugate it.
Even so, Minato placed a hand on his chin. "I can't really say... but maybe we could try purifying his seal," Minato did not dismiss the possibility. "Although I don't know whether it would work or not..."
Somewhere inside Naruto there should exist the Uzumaki bloodline trait and the ability responsible for the chains. Minato couldn't say whether only red-haired Uzumakis could awaken them, which would be unfortunate.
But if Naruto carried the blood of his ancestors engraved within him even after so many reincarnations, with even Asura reincarnating into his current version, then perhaps that power was merely hidden.
Minato couldn't help but think about Naruto's reincarnations, something that didn't make much logical sense. If a soul reincarnates, then it should continue being the same soul. A reincarnation shouldn't create variants.
What wouldn't make sense would be using Madara's or Hashirama's Edo Tensei while Naruto and Sasuke were still alive, since they carried the same souls as Ashura and Indra.
But Minato gave up trying to find logic in it. The world functioned in strange ways, and powers even more so. The Ōtsutsuki Clan, the Shinigami, the Impure World, the fact that the Sage of Six Paths was somewhere observing the world... if Minato tried to understand everything, he would go insane.
So he ended that internal discussion right there.
In any case, they finished everything they needed to do.
Sara managed to finalize the sketch of how they would position people and puppets to carry out the transformations inside the factory and make it function.
After that, Minato left Sara in the royal wing and returned with Kushina to their room, while Naruto went to his own room.
Naruto arrived shortly afterward wearing simple clothes. His hair was now black, but his blue eyes remained.
Kushina did the same, having already agreed on it with Naruto, since she wanted him to resemble her. She kept the blue eyes while turning her hair black.
"Look! Now I look like your older sister," she said with satisfaction.
Minato had changed as well. His hair was now brown, and he had also altered his hairstyle a little, since that style of hair was quite unique in the ninja world, at least among famous shinobi. His eyes were green.
Minato teleported the two of them into the city, while Kushina immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.
"Come on! We have lots of places to visit today!" she said excitedly. Then she suddenly stopped. "Wait... what is there to do here?"
"There's got to be food, right?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"Well, this place has practically everything a normal city would have. The good thing is that the city almost never sleeps. Like Konoha, it may seem like a small country, but it's quite lively," Minato said as they entered the crowd that was also heading out to enjoy the night.
It didn't take long for them to find all kinds of entertainment, shops, and restaurants still open.
"Let's eat ramen first..." Minato suggested.
The three of them headed toward a restaurant with the symbol of a noodle bowl at the entrance.
The city was quite lively as they walked there.
If Minato had to describe it, he would say it looked like a medieval cyberpunk mix, since the skyscrapers were enormous and, every now and then, several puppets traveled through the chakra tubes spread throughout the city while patrolling the kingdom.
People walked from one side to the other, talking, entering stores, or simply enjoying the night.
Most of them were families together, and everyone seemed quite happy.
The recent tremor and chaos in the kingdom were still topics people discussed, Minato could hear that from them, but most simply wanted to enjoy the moment with friends and family.
"Did you know Naruto told me he eats at Ichiraku Ramen in Konoha?" Kushina said as if it were a huge revelation.
"Ah, it's good to know he kept the restaurant running for about sixteen or seventeen years," Minato commented while they placed the bowls on the table.
"Don't worry! Ichiraku will never close! It's the tastiest food in the world!" Naruto said excitedly before beginning to devour the ramen.
After trying it, he widened his eyes. "This is good... but it doesn't even come close to Ichiraku, dattebayo!"
"I agree with you, Naruto! Dattebane!" Kushina said while also devouring the ramen.
The two of them even made the same excited expression.
Minato merely opened a small smile as he watched their interaction while also enjoying his ramen, simply wanting to enjoy that peaceful night.
"So... when are we going to Konoha?" Naruto asked.
"Soon. We're only staying here for one more day. Yamato is still helping with the queen's security, but I intend to leave one of my kunai there so she can ask for help if needed."
He didn't think anything would happen now that Mukade was dead, but Yamato was working as her personal guard, since Minato was busy investigating the things Mukade had done in the kingdom.
While Kushina and Naruto stayed training, the rest of the group, with the exception of Yamato, returned to Konoha.
"I can't wait to introduce your father's children. Your future siblings!" Kushina said with a smile full of tenderness.
"My father's... children?" Naruto looked at Minato completely stunned.
"Hey, remember that he has more wives. Sisters for marriage, as I like to call them. You have to see the oldest one, and little Itachi is such an adorable boy and we have the—" Kushina couldn't even finish the sentence before Naruto started choking after hearing that.
"I-Itachi?!" he stuttered.
"Yes, Itachi, Mikoto's son. She was also with us at the academy. She's one of the women who was with Minato even before I met him, but she's a good friend," Kushina said with a smile.
"She's from the Uchiha clan," Minato replied calmly, making Naruto even more nervous.
"Mikoto told me last week that she's interested in having another child too," Kushina commented.
"I noticed that too... She didn't say it directly, but I feel like she wants to," Minato added.
"Ah, that's wonderful! It would be amazing if our child was born together with hers! They could be great siblings!" Kushina said in a dreamy tone. Naruto still hadn't recovered yet.
"Yes... I've even heard her murmuring a name a few times while she sleeps. I think his name will be Sasuke..." Minato commented in an innocent tone, despite clearly hiding his amusement as he watched Naruto begin choking even harder, looking like he was about to die now.
Kushina immediately stood up in panic.
"Oh my God! He's in danger! Hang in there, Naruto!!" she shouted as she rushed over to the boy from the other world and started patting his back with full concern.
Minato burst into laughter while the people in the restaurant looked at the three of them. Most of them were worried Naruto was actually going to die there because of that revelation.
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