The underground world of Rōran was even more shocking than the city above.
The group descended several hundred meters beneath the earth.
The moment they stepped into the subterranean passage, a scorching wave of heat and the deafening roar of machinery crashed over them.
Before their eyes lay an enormous underground expanse.
Thousands of people were imprisoned in iron-cage-like work sheds. They were gaunt and skeletal, dressed in tattered rags, shackles clamped around their wrists and ankles.
In front of each of them stood an assembly station for puppet components. They repeated the same assembling motions mechanically, their eyes hollow and numb, as though their spirits had long since been drained away.
Overseers and patrolling puppets marched between the sheds.
Farther away, gigantic production lines ran without pause.
Chakra extracted from the Dragon Vein River was transported along conduits into the production lines, where it fused with refined metal materials to manufacture puppet parts.
The parts were conveyed to assembly zones, where those lifeless civilians pieced them together into complete puppets.
Once completed, the puppets were activated and transported along tracks up toward the surface city.
"So this is… my kingdom…"
Sara collapsed to her knees, tears bursting from her eyes.
Among the prisoners were elderly men, women, even children.
They had once been citizens of Rōran.
Now, they were enslaved like livestock.
"Six years ago, Mukade arrived in Rōran,"
came the future Kurenai's voice from beneath her mask.
She gazed upon the scene.
She also understood that, in her original timeline, she must have come here once before with Kiyohara—only for that memory to later be erased.
That was the influence of the Dragon Vein's chakra.
"He demonstrated puppet technology and promised to help Rōran become a city that would never decline. Your mother the previous queen accepted his proposal."
"But the price was the Dragon Vein,"
the future Rin continued.
"Mukade needed its power to fulfill his ambition. Your mother eventually discovered his true intentions, and so…"
"She was killed by him."
Sara murmured, then suddenly raised her voice.
"Then why did he spare me?! Why didn't he kill me too?!"
"Because he still needed you,"
Kiyohara answered calmly.
"The royal bloodline of Rōran appears to possess a certain affinity with the Dragon Vein. Mukade needs you as a key and as a puppet queen to maintain the illusion of normalcy, to prevent outside forces from detecting abnormalities too soon."
If Mukade had killed the queen prematurely, Konoha or perhaps Suna would have investigated much earlier.
Although, truthfully, Rōran did not appear to have particularly close relations with the Land of Wind or Sunagakure. Even in the original timeline, they sought help from Konoha rather than their supposed geographic allies.
Minato studied the layout of the underground factory carefully.
"The defenses here are tight. The core control room should be near the source of the Dragon Vein Chakra. We need to destroy the control center and free these civilians."
"Before that, we must deal with Mukade."
Tsunade clenched her fists, her knuckles cracking.
To treat ordinary people like this—such cruelty was unworthy of a shinobi.
He was nothing more than a tyrant drunk on power.
As they moved further inside, a shrill alarm suddenly blared throughout the underground complex.
The prisoners in the sheds looked up in terror. The purple glow in the overseer puppets' eyes intensified.
They began advancing toward Sara.
"I am your queen! I order you to stop!"
Sara shouted.
But the puppets did not halt.
"My Queen Sara."
A figure emerged slowly from behind them.
Mukade—known in this era as Anrokuzan.
"Why are you associating with these outsiders? Please return to the palace. I am deeply concerned for your safety."
Anrokuzan extended a hand toward her.
"Liar!"
Sara stood up, fury blazing in her eyes.
The sight of her enslaved people was proof enough.
The only one who had deceived her all along was Anrokuzan.
"You murdered my mother and turned my people into slaves!"
Anrokuzan's expression gradually grew cold.
"How saddening, Your Majesty. I have devoted myself tirelessly to Rōran's prosperity, yet you misunderstand me so deeply."
His tone dropped further.
"But it matters little. Once I obtain the complete power of the Dragon Vein, you will understand my grand vision."
"Vision?"
Kiyohara stepped forward.
"With these puppets? You think you can conquer the Five Great Nations?"
He regarded Mukade coolly.
Nearly every theatrical villain dreamed of world conquest. Each believed they were only one final piece away from dominating the world.
Mukade's gaze shifted to Kiyohara.
For a moment—just a brief flicker—terror flashed across his face. He stumbled back several steps, as if the future version of Kiyohara were some unspeakable horror.
But then he looked at Kiyohara's strikingly youthful face and regained his composure.
"Kiyohara."
He enunciated the name slowly.
"Hahaha… The you from more than ten years ago is truly so immature."
Mukade steadied himself.
He would kill Kiyohara here and now to strangle the future threat in its cradle.
Everyone froze.
Minato was the first to react.
"Time travel… You came from the future?"
"That's right!"
Mukade laughed maniacally.
"You have no idea what the power of the Dragon Vein truly represents. There are only four words to describe someone who wields it…"
"Immortality!"
As long as the Dragon Vein existed here, Mukade was effectively immortal.
With the Dragon Vein in his grasp, how could these Konoha shinobi possibly kill him?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Such was his confidence.
With a wave of his hand, massive metal gates slammed down over every exit of the underground chamber.
Countless apertures opened along the walls, and dense waves of puppets poured out like a tidal surge.
These puppets were unlike those on the surface. They were fully armed—wielding swords, bows, and even equipped with chakra cannons.
"Kill them!"
Mukade commanded.
The sea of puppets moved.
Hundreds… thousands… tens of thousands…
Every combat puppet stored within the underground factory was activated.
And more continued to emerge.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
The future Kurenai formed hand seals and expelled dozens of blade-like currents of compressed wind. They spun like slicing gusts, cleaving through multiple puppets in a single sweep.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Rin exhaled a roaring stream of fire that engulfed the advancing puppets, their metal bodies glowing red as they burned.
"Chakra Enhanced Strength…!"
Tsunade slammed her fist into the ground.
From the point of impact, spiderweb-like cracks radiated outward for dozens of meters.
The foremost wave of puppets was launched into the air, shattered mid-flight by the following shockwaves.
Yet more puppets surged forward.
Instead of retreating, Tsunade charged directly into their ranks.
Her fighting style was brutally straightforward—no elaborate ninjutsu exchanges, no illusionary feints—only pure, devastating physical force.
Each punch obliterated several puppets. Each kick cleared an entire swath of enemies.
Dark seal markings spread across her face, branching downward in intricate patterns, tracing over her chest in elegant arcs—the Strength of a Hundred Seal fully released.
A three-meter-tall heavy puppet raised a massive axe and swung downward.
Tsunade drove her fist into its chest. The thick armor shattered like paper, the internal chakra core exploding under her blow.
On Minato's side, the battlefield painted an entirely different picture.
Golden flashes flickered throughout the underground chamber.
Each flash coincided with a kunai striking precisely at the junctions of chakra lines within the puppets.
His movements were too fast for the naked eye to follow. Every puppet attack lagged a fraction of a second behind him.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Dozens of shuriken split into hundreds midair, raining down like a storm.
Each one struck a puppet's joints or core. Though not always enough to destroy them outright, it halted their movements.
In the next instant, Minato appeared at the heart of the puppet swarm, a sphere of swirling blue chakra forming in his palm.
"Rasengan!"
The sphere slammed into the ground, and the shockwave it unleashed shattered every puppet within a twenty-meter radius into pieces.
Kiyohara, however, chose the most direct approach.
He stood exactly where he was, with no intention whatsoever of moving.
The puppets surged toward him like a rising tide—blades, spears, and beams of chakra light all crashing down upon his body, producing the harsh clang of metal striking something unyielding.
With Earth Release: Earth Spear, his entire body had hardened; Steel Release further reinforced his defenses; and combined with the sheer physical enhancement brought about by his rotating magnetic field, Kiyohara at this moment was nothing less than a humanoid fortress.
"Is this all you've got?"
He looked calmly at the puppets before him.
Their greatest strength lay in their ability to be mass-produced at high speed.
Given enough time, Anrokuzan might well create a stockpile exceeding the combined reserves of every puppet master in Sunagakure.
And yet these puppets did not wield ninjutsu. They relied only on the most primitive forms of offense—hacking and stabbing with weapons in an attempt to overwhelm Kiyohara through sheer numbers.
To break through his current defense, however, was far beyond their capabilities.
As long as his chakra reserves could sustain the layers of protection enveloping him, he would not suffer a single injury.
He raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist.
The first puppet rushed forward, blade flashing toward his neck.
Kiyohara's fist moved later but arrived first, slamming into the puppet's chest.
It was like smashing through rotting wood—his punch tore straight through.
His fist burst out from the puppet's back, dragging with it a shower of mechanical fragments and severed chakra threads.
He shook the debris from his hand and swung his left fist, blasting two puppets charging from the side into the air simultaneously.
Then he began to move.
Each step he took caused the ground to tremble faintly.
The puppets' attacks fell upon him like raindrops striking stone—utterly ineffective.
Every counterattack he launched, however, reduced another puppet to complete ruin.
One puppet leapt from behind, its arms modified into high-speed drills that spun furiously as they drove toward the center of his back.
Kiyohara did not even bother to turn around.
Casually, he seized a nearby puppet carcass, infused it with magnetic force, and hurled it backward. The moment it collided with the pursuing puppets, they too became magnetized.
Crack. Crack.
Gears locked and mechanisms stalled.
Unlike the wooden puppets used by Sasori, these were mostly constructed from metal. That meant Kiyohara's magnetism could directly disrupt their operation.
He swung a single punch and split them clean in two.
In the distance, rows of puppets began firing arrows; dozens of shafts tore through the air toward him.
Kiyohara charged straight into the barrage. The arrows struck his body, bursting into brilliant sparks, yet failed to halt his advance.
He smashed through their blockade and plunged into the formation of ranged puppets.
Then the slaughter began.
Fists, knife-hands, elbows, knees—every technique at his disposal came into play.
Under the relentless onslaught against what were essentially unmoving training posts, even the Uchiha-style taijutsu he practiced grew sharper and more refined.
He was like a combine harvester plowing through a wheat field; wherever he passed, only twisted metallic wreckage remained.
Any stray puppet that slipped through was disrupted by the surrounding magnetic field, its movements slowing into clumsy hesitation before being casually dispatched.
At this moment, Kiyohara felt as though he could, by his own strength alone, obliterate every single puppet in the nation of Rōran.
Anrokuzan simply did not know how to truly wield the Dragon Vein's power.
If that power were given to Sasori instead, who knew how extravagantly it might be utilized?
That was the gap—of strength, of vision.
An opportunity placed in the wrong hands was still wasted.
From across the battlefield, Minato spared a glance at Kiyohara's side of the fight and could not help the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
"Lady Tsunade… your disciple…"
He flashed to her side, offering a wry smile.
"What about him?"
Tsunade blasted three puppets apart with a single punch and turned her head slightly.
"His combat style truly comes from the same lineage as yours," Minato said diplomatically.
Both of them were the sort whose sheer brutality left observers speechless.
The entire tone of the battlefield shifted wherever they fought.
Tsunade laughed at that, her satisfaction with Kiyohara deepening.
"That's my student!"
Elsewhere, the sharp cry of Chidori rang out repeatedly as Kakashi charged into the swarm. Arcs of lightning sliced effortlessly through puppet defenses wherever he passed.
What intrigued Kakashi most were the two unfamiliar ANBU operatives.
The future Kurenai, wielding Wind Release, displayed frighteningly polished combat technique.
The future Rin, using Fire Release, was slightly weaker in taijutsu but wielded ninjutsu with consummate mastery—Great Fireball Technique, Phoenix Sage Fire, Dragon Flame Technique—each executed with ease. Her chakra reserves appeared vast, unconcerned with expenditure.
Who exactly were these two?
Kakashi was puzzled. He did not yet realize they were future versions of Kurenai and Rin.
The present-day Kurenai and Rin were protected at the center.
Kurenai attempted genjutsu, but it proved completely ineffective against puppets; she could only provide support with some C-rank Wind Release techniques.
Rin, as a medical-nin, was not adept at offensive ninjutsu and fought with kunai and shuriken instead.
Watching Kiyohara rampage freely among the puppets, present-day Kurenai bit her lip.
She felt as though she was being left farther and farther behind.
The battle dragged on for ten minutes.
A third of the puppets had been destroyed, yet more continued to pour from the production lines without end.
"Excellent, excellent… As expected of you. Even at such a young age, you already possess that terrifying potential."
"But do you think this is the full extent of my power?"
Anrokuzan stared at Kiyohara while continuing to manipulate the battlefield.
Fragments of destroyed puppets were tugged by chakra threads, gathering toward him.
Seeing this, Kiyohara prepared to intervene.
With a wave of his hand, Anrokuzan sent countless puppet remnants crashing down toward Kiyohara like a collapsing avalanche.
"Is that so?"
Kiyohara halted and surveyed his surroundings.
Around him, puppet debris had piled into small hills.
In just a few short minutes, he alone had destroyed at least five hundred puppets.
He brought his hands together in a clap. Across the surface of his body, countless explosive tags materialized.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Explosive Tag Mode!
Iron sand gripped the explosive tags, suspending them as they revolved around him in constant orbit.
Any puppet debris that approached was blown instantly to powder.
"What?!"
Anrokuzan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Explosive tags could be used like that?
He gathered the wreckage into the shape of a gigantic hand and brought it crashing down toward Kiyohara.
BOOM!
The massive palm was obliterated in the next instant.
As Anrokuzan attempted to reform it, a kunai suddenly pierced his body.
"So… the Yellow Flash…"
He had not expected Minato to seize the perfect moment to create an opening for Kiyohara.
Before he could mount another defense—
It was already too late.
Kiyohara's fist had arrived.
Such was its speed that Anrokuzan felt the air itself thinning, as though the atmosphere were being shoved backward by the overwhelming force bearing down upon him.
His cheeks rippled violently in the wind.
BOOM!
His head exploded like a watermelon, and his body was hurled backward, smashing into the wall.
Shizune stared blankly at the scene—so reminiscent of Lady Tsunade's straightforward creed that overwhelming strength could achieve miracles—momentarily stunned.
Could taijutsu really reach such heights?
If Kiyohara were to master Lady Tsunade's monstrous chakra enhanced strength technique, just how powerful would he become?
Kurenai and Rin both exhaled in relief when they saw Kiyohara turn the tide from danger to dominance.
Kakashi lowered his gaze briefly to Kiyohara's single punch, then to the Chidori crackling in his own hand.
Was the difference in destructive power… perhaps somewhat obvious?
'No. Mine is a piercing strike,' he reassured himself, shaking his head as the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eye socket continued observing the battlefield.
"Kiyohara is really fierce," Rin murmured in admiration.
"He really is," Kurenai agreed with a nod.
"When he trains with me normally, he's just as fierce."
"Just as… fierce?"
Rin cast Kurenai a slightly strange look.
Only then did Kurenai realize that her words carried an unintended ambiguity; her face flushed instantly, and she hurriedly offered a shy explanation, trying to clarify what she had meant.
On the other side, Shizune stepped up behind Tsunade.
"It seems no one is injured, Lady Tsunade."
"More or less," Tsunade replied with a nod.
However, just as everyone began to believe the crisis had passed, Anrokuzan's headless body slowly began to rise to its feet once more.
"Within Rōran, my body is inexhaustible."
Fragments of puppet debris flew toward his neck and reassembled themselves, restoring his original appearance.
A faint purple thread of chakra flickered across each of his ten fingers as he manipulated the surrounding puppets, drawing them closer to himself.
In an instant, Anrokuzan's body swelled grotesquely, revealing a dark-brown puppet form beneath the surface.
He had long ago remodeled his own body into a puppet as well.
A gigantic spider-like monstrosity, towering over five meters tall, appeared before them all.
Within its hideous head, traces of Anrokuzan's former facial features could still be discerned.
"Behold—this is my ultimate body!"
"It seems even more thoroughly modified than Sasori's creations… Is this the power of the Dragon Vein?"
Kiyohara observed the flow of chakra within Anrokuzan's transformed body.
The next second, he exhaled a fireball.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Enhanced by his immense chakra reserves, the enormous sphere of flame engulfed Anrokuzan entirely.
The monstrous puppet rolled about on the ground, scorched and writhing.
"Queen Sara, quickly lead the people of Rōran away from here," Kiyohara instructed.
Sara snapped out of her shock and hurried to gather her citizens.
"This won't be enough," Minato muttered, frowning.
Earlier, while scouting outside with Kakashi, he had already discovered something peculiar.
The towering spires in this underground city were not mere architectural decorations.
They could atomize chakra particles and channel them directly into Anrokuzan's body.
Sure enough, the charred puppet shell began to regenerate under the Dragon Vein's violet chakra.
Then, all the scattered puppet wreckage rushed toward Anrokuzan, merging and expanding his form.
Soon he swelled to the size of a tailed beast, resembling a massive clay effigy.
When the radiance faded, what stood before them was an eighteen-meter-tall colossal puppet.
Its appearance resembled an enlarged version of Anrokuzan himself—bloated and grotesque.
It possessed four pairs of mechanical arms, each wielding a different weapon: a massive greatsword, a spinning drill, a chakra cannon, and heavy chains. From its back extended six scorpion-like mechanical tails tipped with razor-sharp blades.
Most terrifying of all, embedded in its chest was an enormous cannon aperture, into which Dragon Vein chakra poured endlessly.
"Now…"
Anrokuzan's voice echoed from the puppet's head.
"Witness the true power of the Dragon Vein!"
The colossal puppet lifted one foot and brought it crashing down.
BOOM!
The ground shattered into a crater ten meters wide, the shockwave flinging debris in all directions.
All four arms moved at once: the greatsword slashed toward Tsunade, the drill lunged at Minato's former position, the chakra cannon targeted Kiyohara, and the chains whipped toward the future Kurenai and Rin.
The simultaneous assault covered the entire battlefield.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Minato bit his thumb and slammed both palms onto the ground. Smoke erupted, and a gigantic toad appeared.
Gamabunta over fifteen meters long stood with a pipe clenched between his teeth and a short blade at his waist.
"Another oversized opponent, huh," Gamabunta grumbled, but he drew his sword regardless.
The greatsword descended; Gamabunta raised his blade to block.
The deafening clash of metal rang out, rattling eardrums painfully.
Forced backward by the immense force, Gamabunta carved two deep trenches into the earth.
"Not weak at all, Minato. What exactly is this thing?"
"A puppet empowered by the Dragon Vein," Minato answered from atop Gamabunta's head. "Be careful, it can repair itself infinitely."
"Infinitely?"
Gamabunta arched a brow.
"That's troublesome."
Meanwhile, the drill stabbed into empty space where Minato had once stood—he had already vanished via the Flying Thunder God Technique. The drill plunged deep into the ground, grinding up massive chunks of rock.
The chakra cannon fired a beam toward Kiyohara. He neither dodged nor flinched, forming hand seals before him.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!"
Black iron sand surged upward, condensing into a thick, heavy barrier. The beam blasted into the wall, gouging a massive crater, but failed to pierce through.
The chains lashed toward the future Kurenai and Rin, who both leapt backward. The chains smashed into the ground, carving deep furrows.
"Divide its attention!" Tsunade shouted. "Attack the joints!"
She charged at the puppet's left leg and smashed her fist into the ankle joint.
The armor dented and shattered, yet in the next instant violet chakra surged across it, repairing the damage immediately.
"The repair speed has increased…" Tsunade muttered.
Kiyohara studied the battle carefully.
The colossal puppet's strength and defense were immense, and with infinite regeneration it was indeed formidable.
Yet every technique had its weakness. Even the Dragon Vein's restoration required energy and time—if only a fraction of a second.
Anrokuzan was the type of enemy whose vitality was bound directly to the Dragon Vein's chakra. As long as that chakra flowed, killing him repeatedly would be meaningless.
Without the Dragon Vein, he would have died countless times already.
"Lord Minato," Kiyohara called out.
"If we destroy a large portion of the body at once to stall him, then sever the Dragon Vein's chakra supply, we can end this."
Minato understood immediately and formed hand seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
This time it was not dozens but hundreds of shuriken that flew from his hands, multiplying into thousands midair like a storm of steel, raining down upon the puppet.
The technique, originally developed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, was one Minato had obtained from the ninjutsu archives—he favored its practicality.
The puppet swung its arms, knocking away many shuriken, yet several hundred struck its body.
Though they dealt little real damage, some bore the Flying Thunder God seal.
In the next instant, Minato vanished.
Golden flashes erupted across the puppet's body in rapid succession.
Each appearance left behind an explosive tag before he teleported away again. In barely three seconds, over fifty explosive tags had been affixed.
"Detonate!" Minato called softly.
All the tags exploded simultaneously.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of explosions engulfed the puppet in fire and smoke.
Yet before the smoke even cleared, violet chakra glowed through it as the damage began to mend at alarming speed.
"Now!" Kiyohara shouted.
He had been waiting for this precise moment.
Repair required energy. Repair required time.
And the Dragon Vein's chakra input like chakra threads connecting to a puppet must have contact points.
Destroying those contact points would slow the absorption rate and hinder Anrokuzan's recovery.
With his Sharingan, Kiyohara could see them clearly.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Projectile!"
Six spindle-shaped iron sand projectiles shot forth, piercing the connection nodes and briefly disrupting the flow of Dragon Vein chakra.
The future Kurenai formed hand seals, compressing chakra within her mouth.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Dozens of high-pressure wind blades struck the same joint of the puppet's left leg in rapid succession.
The armor split open, cutting deep into its inner framework.
The future Rin followed seamlessly.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Technique!"
Flames poured into the openings carved by the wind blades, burning through chakra circuits and control nodes within.
The left leg joint collapsed completely.
The eighteen-meter titan lost its balance and tilted sharply to the left.
It attempted to stabilize itself with its remaining limbs, but Kiyohara gave it no chance.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Binding!"
Black iron sand surged like a tide, coiling around the puppet's right arm and torso, anchoring it firmly to the ground.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Tsunade concentrated chakra into her right foot and released it at the moment of impact.
Bang!
The puppet's head exploded from within, metal shards bursting outward like fireworks.
Cracks spread through the structure below the neck, and the Dragon Vein's repair speed could no longer keep up with the destruction.
The colossal puppet crashed to the ground, raising clouds of dust.
Yet Anrokuzan's voice still echoed from the wreckage, filled with manic laughter.
"Useless… As long as the Dragon Vein remains… I can resurrect endlessly…"
The debris trembled as more chakra surged from the Dragon Vein River to replenish it.
"We must seal the Dragon Vein," Minato declared, flashing onto Gamabunta's head. "Otherwise we can never truly defeat him."
"Where is the Dragon Vein's core?" Kiyohara asked.
All eyes turned to Sara.
The young queen, regaining her composure, pointed upstream along the Dragon Vein River.
"Beneath… beneath the royal palace. There's a control chamber. My mother once took me there. She said it was the heart of Rōran."
"Take me there," Kiyohara said.
"I'm going too," Minato added. "Sealing techniques require preparation. I'll need time."
"We'll hold this pile of scrap down," Tsunade declared, planting her foot atop the puppet remains to prevent further regeneration. "Hurry, the repair speed is increasing!"
Kiyohara nodded, lifted Sara into his arms, and said, "Lead the way."
They dashed toward the upper levels.
Mechanical tentacles lashed out from the wreckage to intercept them, only to be shattered by Tsunade's fist.
"Your opponent is me," she grinned.
Ever since developing hemophobia, it had been a long time since she could fight with such direct, visceral impact.
Battle felt exhilarating.
No matter how many times she struck, no blood would appear.
After all, Anrokuzan's blood had long ceased to exist—inside and out, he was nothing but a puppet.
(End of Chapter)