The process of infiltrating Rōran went more smoothly than expected.
Kiyohara pondered silently whether the power of the Ryūmyaku the Dragon Vein could somehow be used by him.
A Dragon Vein jinchūriki?
After all, aside from the Nine Tailed Beasts, Shinno had even managed to create the Zero-Tails. He himself was essentially equivalent to the jinchūriki of the Zero-Tails.
And in the shinobi world, sealing techniques were capable of sealing nearly anything.
Even a small amount of chakra leaked from the Nine-Tails had been enough to create a pseudo–Nine-Tails jinchūriki like Fūka.
In theory, if Kaguya Ōtsutsuki were to emerge, it might even be possible to seal her within one's own body.
Just like Momoshiki and Boruto.
'I wonder what the relationship is between this so-called Dragon Vein chakra and natural energy?'
Kiyohara contemplated inwardly.
According to the original account, it was simply described as a massive aggregation of energy.
Compared to a Tailed Beast, which side possessed more chakra?
"It should be the Dragon Vein,"
Uchiha Kiyohara's voice sounded in his mind as he emerged from the urn of ashes.
"Perhaps."
Kiyohara neither confirmed nor denied it.
After all, the ancient kingdom of Rōran was merely the largest node of the Dragon Vein.
But the Dragon Vein itself extended across the entire land.
Before they knew it, they had already entered the interior.
"This place…"
Kurenai lowered her voice, her crimson eyes filled with astonishment.
From up close, the towering spires rising dozens of meters into the sky were even more striking.
Yet the city was eerily silent.
Even a small village would not be this cautious.
Though the ancient kingdom of Rōran was only the size of a single city, it still bore the title of a nation.
And yet not a single passerby was speaking.
All of them were walking in the same direction, as though some grand celebration were being held there.
"It's so quiet,"
Rin could not help but murmur.
"When I came here last time, it wasn't like this."
Minato frowned slightly.
It was indeed far too quiet—so quiet that it felt unnatural.
"I'll take a look."
A layer of crimson stained Kiyohara's dark eyes as his single-tomoe Sharingan activated.
Within his scarlet pupils, the flow of chakra became clearly visible.
Inside those "people," there was no normal chakra circulatory system. Instead, dense purple chakra threads extended from a core located in the chest cavity, branching out to the limbs and every extremity.
Though their movements were smooth, there was a puppet-like stiffness to them.
Every step they took was measured to perfection, and even the curve of their smiles looked as though it had been drawn with a ruler.
"They're all puppets,"
Kiyohara said.
His words drew sideways glances from the others.
After all, they did not possess the ability to directly perceive the flow of chakra within the human body.
Minato crouched down and placed his hand against the ground.
An invisible wave of perception spread outward.
This was the most common form of sensory technique—contact-type sensing.
Some highly skilled shinobi could even sense chakra dozens or hundreds of kilometers away.
"They're indeed puppets,"
Minato confirmed with a nod.
Every person they saw now was a puppet—mere marionettes being pulled along.
"They're incredibly lifelike,"
Kurenai said in astonishment.
At that moment, Kakashi adjusted his shinobi forehead protector and briefly opened his Sharingan to glance into the distance.
His Sharingan had already evolved into three rotating tomoe.
After a precise calculation of time, Kakashi promptly lowered his eyelid again.
Unless absolutely necessary, he rarely kept his Sharingan open.
As long as he avoided actively seeing, he could reduce chakra consumption.
"We should split up,"
Minato suggested.
Though Rōran was technically only one city, it was far larger than ordinary cities. If they followed only a single path, the intelligence they gathered would be limited.
Splitting up would greatly increase efficiency.
"Kakashi and I will gather information. Rin, stay with Lady Tsunade and the others for now."
"Agreed."
Tsunade nodded, approving Minato's proposal.
Minato possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, making him ideal for reconnaissance.
Kakashi, with his Sharingan, could perceive chakra flows.
Together, they would gather intelligence quickly.
On this side, it would be sufficient to have Kiyohara remain.
Soon, the group divided into two parties.
Minato and Kakashi headed off in separate directions.
Meanwhile, Kiyohara accompanied Tsunade, Kurenai, Rin, and Shizune toward the center of the marketplace.
There stood a circular plaza over three hundred meters in diameter.
At its center rose a towering spire over one hundred meters tall.
At this moment, thousands of citizens—or rather, puppets—had gathered in the plaza.
All of them faced the high tower, cheering.
But upon closer inspection, one would notice that their mouths merely opened and closed mechanically; the sounds were emitted from their abdomens.
Following their gaze upward, one could see a red-haired girl dressed in formal attire.
'In the original story, Naruto traveled here from the future. So this time… will the one we face be Naruto?'
Kiyohara pondered this question.
The power of the Dragon Vein was enough to cause temporal disturbances, allowing the future and the past to intertwine here.
At that moment, Queen Sara on the platform seemed about to address her subjects who were cheering for her below. She stepped forward, approaching the railing at the edge of the platform.
In that instant, she was suddenly shoved from behind by a puppet.
"Ah!"
A cry of alarm rang out from a hundred meters above.
Caught off guard, Sara instantly lost her balance. She pitched forward, tumbling over the railing and plummeting straight downward.
Her red gown billowed in the air like a withering flower.
Time itself seemed to slow.
Kiyohara swept his gaze across the surroundings and noticed two figures dashing out from the shadows on the opposite side of the plaza. Both wore the animal masks of Konoha's ANBU—one agile in build, the other slightly slender.
Their objective was clear: they were rushing directly toward the spot beneath Sara's fall.
But it was too far.
"Too late…"
The judgment flashed instantly through Kiyohara's mind.
By the time they arrived, Queen Sara would already have struck the ground.
Thus, chakra erupted beneath Kiyohara's feet.
Lightning Release: Lightning Step!
Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation!
His activated cells allowed him to unleash a greater output of chakra in a single burst.
A repulsive force exploded from beneath him. As arcs of electricity crackled, the ground fractured with spiderweb-like cracks.
Kiyohara shot forward in a straight vertical trajectory.
Thirty meters.
He could clearly see the terror on Sara's face—her eyes wide, her pupils reflecting the rapidly approaching ground.
Twenty meters.
Kiyohara extended both arms.
Ten meters.
Closer and closer.
In the end, the distance between them became zero and Kiyohara caught her in his arms.
While still suspended midair, he twisted his body, using magnetism to support himself and offset the pull of gravity.
Like a feather, they slowly drifted downward.
From the moment he leapt to the instant he caught her, no more than three seconds had passed.
In the plaza, thousands of puppets turned their heads in unison, their hollow eyes fixed upon the point of descent.
A deathly silence followed.
Kiyohara released his embrace and helped Sara stand upright.
The young queen's legs were weak, almost unable to support her weight; she could only remain standing with Kiyohara's assistance.
She raised her head, still shaken, staring at the unfamiliar young man who had suddenly appeared and saved her life.
Then anger surged up.
"Y-You… who are you?!"
Sara's voice trembled, whether from fear or fury it was hard to tell.
"Why are you in my country? Let go of me!"
She struggled to free herself from his support, her right hand instinctively lifting to slap his cheek.
Kiyohara easily caught her wrist.
He remembered that Naruto had failed to dodge this slap and had taken it head-on.
"Calm down. A puppet pushed you."
Hearing Kiyohara's words, Queen Sara finally took a proper look at him.
She realized he was a handsome man she had never seen before.
And that attire—was he a shinobi?
Sara felt slightly reassured. Realizing she had acted rashly, she hurriedly apologized to Kiyohara.
Tsunade, Kurenai, Shizune, and Rin also arrived at that moment.
It was their first time seeing Queen Sara in person.
"Look at where you were standing just now,"
Kiyohara continued.
Sara followed the direction he indicated and looked upward.
"It pushed you."
Kiyohara spoke bluntly, pointing at one of the puppets.
"How is that possible?"
Sara's first reaction was disbelief.
"If it was an accident, then why, after you fell, did no one immediately send help? Why did they simply remain standing there watching?"
Kiyohara interrupted her.
"Look around you."
Only then did Sara notice the abnormality in the plaza.
Thousands of her "subjects" stood silently, all facing this direction without moving.
The celebratory smiles were still plastered on their faces, yet their eyes were frighteningly empty.
There were no cries of alarm, no commotion, not a single person stepping forward to care about their queen who had nearly fallen to her death.
"They…"
Sara's voice grew faint.
She, too, sensed something was wrong.
But Minister Anrokuzan had told her that a queen must not have excessive contact with commoners.
And today was her coronation ceremony—only from today onward would she formally become queen.
Ever since her mother's death, Anrokuzan had handled state affairs on her behalf.
"They're all puppets."
Kiyohara released her hand.
"There isn't a single one of your real citizens up there."
He shook his head.
The remaining population of the ancient kingdom of Rōran was most likely somewhere underground at this very moment, forced into hard labor.
To be honest, there was a significant flaw in the logic of this theatrical story.
If Anrokuzan had already established a vast puppet empire, why would he still use ordinary flesh-and-blood humans as laborers to produce puppet components underground?
And then assign his puppet army to supervise those same humans as they worked?
Judging by the scenes, the ordinary people were not even performing delicate tasks—they were simply providing brute labor.
If he already had puppets and the Dragon Vein as an energy source, shouldn't he have used puppets to liberate productivity instead?
How much labor could the citizens of Rōran alone truly provide?
Upon hearing Kiyohara's words, Queen Sara's face was filled with disbelief.
At that moment, the two masked shinobi finally arrived.
They stopped several meters away, and Kiyohara could feel their gazes lingering on him for an unusually long time.
"Little brother, are you Konoha shinobi as well?"
The future Kurenai looked at the shinobi forehead protectors worn by Kiyohara and the others. There was an unmistakable sense of familiarity about him.
"You seem…"
The future Rin paused before adding,
"Like someone I know."
Kiyohara looked at the two women, pondering who they might be.
They recognized him, were Konoha shinobi, and judging by their voices, both were women.
Then the future Kurenai noticed a woman who looked remarkably like her younger self.
In an instant, she connected the dots.
She remembered Kiyohara once mentioning that the Dragon Vein's chakra was powerful enough to influence space-time.
So had they come to the past?
Or had people from the past arrived in their present?
The future Kurenai felt momentarily dazed.
But now she finally understood the source of that familiarity.
The young shinobi before her must be Kiyohara from the past!
"Heh, heh… so you were this small once too."
The future Kurenai looked at Kiyohara's face, comparing it with the one in her memory.
Unable to resist, she reached out and pinched his cheek, like an older sister teasing her younger brother.
Kiyohara frowned slightly.
That tone…
"It's my turn to pat your head now. I've had mine patted enough."
The future Kurenai rubbed Kiyohara's head.
The moment he heard that, Kiyohara immediately realized who she was.
Nine times out of ten, she was the Kurenai who was always having her head patted by him!
Then who was the other shinobi?
Kiyohara looked curiously at the future Rin.
Unfortunately, the Sharingan could only perceive chakra flow—it did not possess the Byakugan's penetrating vision.
Otherwise, he could have simply looked through their masks to see who they were.
"You all…"
Sara frowned.
These people had inexplicably saved her.
And then, just as inexplicably, started chatting among themselves as though she did not exist!
How outrageous!
A puffed-up expression of indignation appeared on Sara's pretty face.
Though she was queen, she was still only a seventeen-year-old girl.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Queen Sara, we are shinobi from Konoha, here to protect you."
"I never issued such a mission."
"No—you didn't. But your citizens did."
Tsunade shook her head.
The reason the ANBU had learned of the situation here in the first place was because a citizen of Rōran had escaped and reported that Minister Anrokuzan had gone mad, capturing people everywhere for forced labor.
"My citizens?"
Sara was stunned.
Hearing this, Kiyohara understood that it must have been those escaped citizens who brought news to Konoha, prompting the ANBU to investigate and uncover clues about the puppets.
Eventually, the mission had been assigned to Tsunade and Minato.
In the anime, many escaped citizens were indeed shown surviving precariously within the kingdom of Rōran, cautiously avoiding capture by puppets for forced labor.
At that moment, the puppets in the plaza suddenly moved.
Not in scattered motions, but in perfect unison.
Thousands of puppets turned simultaneously, stepping forward as one, closing in toward the center.
The smiles vanished from their faces, replaced by cold, expressionless stillness.
"It seems we don't have time to explain slowly."
Kiyohara moved Sara behind him protectively.
"Let's leave this place first."
"Agreed."
The future Kurenai assumed a combat stance.
"Clear a path!" she called to the future Rin.
The future Rin formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball erupted from her mouth, carrying scorching waves of heat as it blasted into the crowd of puppets ahead.
Flames engulfed dozens of puppets. Their metallic shells melted and warped under the intense heat, chakra threads severed, and they collapsed like marionettes with cut strings.
Kiyohara's brows knit slightly.
An Uchiha?
The Great Fireball Technique was the signature Fire Release of the Uchiha clan—was this woman an Uchiha?
Then, in the future Rin's hand, a mass of pale blue chakra extended outward, thinning into a blade-like edge.
Chakra Scalpel!
Immediately afterward, Kiyohara noticed something unusual.
That woman was concealing an enormous amount of chakra within her body.
That level of chakra was something only a Tailed Beast could possess.
From Kiyohara's perspective, he had clearly seen her borrow a portion of that immense chakra just moments ago.
Within Konoha, there were only two individuals who currently held Tailed Beasts.
They were Rin and Kushina Uzumaki.
Kushina would not know how to use the Chakra Scalpel—an A-rank medical ninjutsu mastered only by a small number of medical shinobi.
That left only one possibility: Rin.
Did only the two of them come from the future, or had only Rin and Kurenai arrived ahead of the others?
Kiyohara pondered this silently.
"Move!"
The future Kurenai shouted sharply.
The two of them escorted Sara as they broke toward the edge of the plaza.
The puppets surged forward relentlessly. They had no life, no fear—only the mechanical execution of a command to eliminate intruders.
Genjutsu was useless against such constructs.
Thus, the future Kurenai did not rely on illusions at all, instead focusing on taijutsu and Wind Release techniques.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"
She expelled consecutive high-pressure wind spheres, each one piercing through several puppets in a straight line.
Her combat style was entirely different from the somewhat inexperienced Kurenai of the present—it was the bearing of a powerful, battle-hardened shinobi.
Kiyohara, on the other hand, used a far more direct method.
He required no flashy techniques.
With his fist reinforced by Earth Release: Earth Spear and Steel Release, a single punch reduced the puppet before him to scattered fragments.
The five of them carved a path through the sea of puppets like a hot knife slicing through butter.
Just as they were about to break free from the plaza, a new wave of puppets surged forward from ahead.
These were different from the previous fodder units—their bodies were larger, their outer shells thicker, their arms modified into blades or drills.
Seeing this, Kiyohara took a deep breath and drew his right fist back.
He gathered chakra into his knuckles, the power generated by magnetic field rotation surging through his muscles.
Magnet Release: Electromagnetic Fist!
The force of his punch compressed the air itself, forming a visible shockwave.
The dozen or so puppets in front were struck by the shockwave as though smashed head-on by a massive battering ram, exploding instantly into fragments.
Metal components shot backward, knocking down another swath of puppets behind them.
Kiyohara withdrew his fist and exhaled a stream of white vapor.
"…Enhanced Strength!"
At the very instant Kiyohara pulled back, Tsunade stepped forward and unleashed another punch.
She even collapsed an entire building in the process.
Because she could not stand the sight of blood, she often failed to display her true strength.
But by coincidence, these puppets had no blood at all, so Tsunade fought without the slightest restraint.
Watching as the pursuing puppets became trapped beneath the collapsed structure, Tsunade turned her head and said,
"Let's go."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Shizune responded immediately.
Kiyohara grabbed the still-stunned Queen Sara by the hand, and the group quickly retreated.
Before long, after shaking off the pursuit of the puppets, they found a safe corner to regroup.
Minato and Kakashi had noticed the disturbance from afar and, following the subtle markers Kiyohara had left along the way, located them.
"Who are they?"
Minato asked, his hand already resting on his Flying Thunder God kunai.
"Helpers we encountered along the way,"
Kiyohara replied.
Tsunade's amber-brown eyes swept over the future Kurenai and the future Rin.
As a top-tier medical shinobi, she possessed exceptional observational ability regarding body structure and habitual movement.
These two ANBU from Konoha gave her an inexplicable sense of familiarity—as though she had seen them constantly over the past few days.
Yet Tsunade was certain she had never met them before, nor were they part of Konoha's known ANBU roster.
"What are your identification numbers?"
The future Kurenai and the future Rin exchanged a glance.
"Apologies, Lady Tsunade,"
The future Kurenai spoke in a voice modified for disguise, but her form of address already betrayed that she knew Tsunade.
"Our mission involves classified information. We cannot disclose it."
"Then remove your masks,"
Kakashi said.
The atmosphere immediately grew tense.
Kiyohara sighed and stepped beside Tsunade, lowering his voice.
"Sensei, may I have a word?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow but followed him into the corner of the warehouse.
The others watched curiously as Kiyohara led Tsunade aside.
"Those two,"
Kiyohara said in a voice only they could hear.
"They are most likely the future Kurenai and Rin."
Tsunade's pupils contracted.
"What?"
Her beautiful face was filled with astonishment.
Had she been drinking too much, or had Kiyohara not fully awakened from a dream?
The future Kurenai and Rin?
"The Dragon Vein's chakra is extremely powerful. It might very well influence space-time."
Listening to Kiyohara's explanation, Tsunade felt it sounded somewhat far-fetched.
Yet the Dragon Vein's chakra was indeed extraordinary—of that, she was certain.
Recalling the profound knowledge Kiyohara had displayed along the journey, Tsunade reluctantly nodded.
"Assuming your theory is correct, why don't they simply remove their masks?"
"They're concealing their identities to avoid interfering with our timeline and causing unpredictable consequences."
"How can you be sure?"
Tsunade stared at him.
"How can you be sure it's them?"
"Instinct,"
Kiyohara answered.
"The one using Wind Release fights very much like Kurenai—just more mature. And…"
He paused.
"Fire Release techniques of the Uchiha clan are rarely taught outside the clan. To master them to that extent, she must have been taught by someone extremely close."
His implication was obvious—it might have been his future self who taught her.
Tsunade fell silent for several seconds, once again studying the two ANBU in the distance.
Indeed, the more she looked, the more their figures resembled the ones she knew. And that strange familiarity…
"So what do you intend to do?" Tsunade asked.
"Play along."
Kiyohara replied.
"Pretend we don't know. Complete our mission. Once the Dragon Vein is sealed and space-time stabilizes, they should return to their time automatically."
Tsunade drew a deep breath and nodded.
"Understood. I'll cooperate."
Their mission had three objectives: first, investigate the matter of the puppet weapons; second, defeat Anrokuzan and expose his conspiracy; third, seal the Dragon Vein chakra.
Such unstable, immense chakra was no less dangerous than a bomb ready to explode at any moment.
When the two returned, Minato and Kakashi were still on guard.
"Sensei Minato,"
Kiyohara spoke.
"I believe we can trust them. At least for now, our goals align."
Minato looked at Kiyohara, then at Tsunade.
Tsunade gave a faint nod.
She chose to trust her disciple.
"Very well."
Minato released his grip on the kunai.
"But at least tell us your purpose in coming to Rōran."
The future Kurenai thought briefly.
"We tracked a dangerous shinobi here. He is a missing-nin from Suna. His target is the Dragon Vein. We must stop him before the situation spirals out of control."
"A dangerous shinobi?"
Sara suddenly interjected.
"Is it Anrokuzan? He… he really is a rogue shinobi?"
"Anrokuzan is merely an alias,"
The future Rin said.
"His real name is Mukade. His objective is to seize the Dragon Vein's power."
Sara swayed, steadying herself against the wall.
She remembered her mother's sudden illness and death six years ago. She remembered how Anrokuzan had swiftly assumed control afterward. She remembered how, though crowned queen, she had known nothing of state affairs all these years…
"Take me to see,"
She lifted her head, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Take me to see where my true people are."
"Then, Queen Sara, you will need to sense the location of the Dragon Vein,"
Kiyohara said.
"These puppets are powered by Dragon Vein chakra. We must locate it first."
Sara nodded slightly.
Her lineage possessed a special bloodline capable of sensing the Dragon Vein's location, even utilizing a portion of its chakra.
But her mother had died before teaching her how to properly wield that power.
Now, Sara knew only the method to seal it.
(End of Chapter)