Although Sara had lived in the royal palace all her life, the major affairs of Rōran were now handled entirely by Minister Anrokuzan.
She had no real authority to order anyone's arrest.
The citizens continued voicing their grievances and the injustices they'd suffered:
"The government's been rounding up laborers like crazy these past few years. Ordinary folks like us can't live anymore!"
"Yeah! Rōran looks all grand and fancy, but there's no place left for people like me!"
"I heard it was Her Majesty's order that took my husband away…"
"Didn't you see the queen's shocked face just now? Maybe she didn't even know about it!"
"She's exactly like they say outside—just a puppet queen! (′д｀σ)σ"
Sara froze as if struck by lightning.
If only one person had said it, she might have brushed it off.
But when so many voices said the same thing, Anrokuzan's actions could no longer be ignored…
Suddenly, a woman stepped forward from the crowd, tears glimmering in her eyes. She looked at Sara with desperate pleading.
"After my husband was taken away, I tried to find out where he was. In the end, I learned he was forced to help build some kind of war machine…"
Sara said quietly, "I never gave any order to build a war machine…"
Shinju, standing beside her, was starting to get impatient.
"Hey, whether what they said's true or not—we'll know if we go check for ourselves. (ー_ー)!!"
Sara hesitated. "But…"
Shinju frowned. "You're the queen of this country. Your people are suffering like this—don't you think you should do something?!"
Sara turned her head and met Shinju's gaze.
In those clear eyes, there seemed to be a hint of disdain…
Sara didn't want the people of Rōran to suffer. Nor did she want to see that look of contempt in Shinju's eyes. So she nodded firmly.
"Let's go! I want to see for myself what Anrokuzan's been doing behind my back!"
Then she turned toward the citizens.
"Do any of you know where these war machines are being made?"
The people exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"We're just commoners. It's already hard enough to hear about what they're doing…"
But then, a chubby boy stepped forward.
"I heard it's somewhere beneath Rōran—underground."
"Underground…"
Sara frowned. Rōran covered an enormous area—she couldn't exactly dig up the entire underground city to look for it.
Hearing that there might be people to save, Shinju grew visibly more energetic.
"I'll find it."
He sat cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and began to sense the chakra around him.
Just like the time before he crossed over, when he had sensed the Dragon Vein chakra among the ruins of Rōran, Shinju now felt that same immense power beneath the earth.
Only this time, the chakra was even more massive than it had been decades later!
He guessed that the construction of the war machines must require chakra as a power source.
That meant the facility had to be close to the Dragon Vein—or maybe right on top of it!
"How's it going? Did you find anything? (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎" Sara leaned forward, eager as Shinju opened his eyes.
Shinju nodded. "Yeah. I found a possible location. Not completely sure, but let's head down there and take a look."
Sara made a quick decision.
"I'm coming with you!"
Shinju wanted to refuse.
This pampered girl following him around would only slow him down.
But before he could speak, Sara added quickly,
"If what they said is true, I need to see it with my own eyes."
"And besides, I do have some fighting ability. ^_^"
Seeing his employer so determined, Shinju didn't argue further.
After bidding farewell to the townspeople, he led Sara underground.
...
At that very moment, inside Anrokuzan's mansion—
Anrokuzan stood frozen as the Konoha ninja stormed into his residence!
When he saw the Leaf headbands on their foreheads, his face twisted in rage.
"Again, you people from Konoha!"
"You're asking for death!"
...
Beneath a manhole cover, Shinju and Sara were slowly descending.
The deeper they went, the stronger the Dragon Vein chakra pulsed.
Shinju asked casually, "Has the Dragon Vein always been here?"
Sara shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure. But ever since I was born, it's always existed."
"It's just that, in the past, my mother never used its power—until that man, Anrokuzan, came to Rōran…"
Shinju frowned. "So Anrokuzan isn't a native of Rōran? (‧_‧?)"
Sara shook her head again.
"No. He just appeared one day—six years ago, out of nowhere. Just like you."
"Later, my mother valued his knowledge and wisdom and placed great trust in him. He was the one who proposed using the Dragon Vein's power to develop Rōran."
"Because of that idea, Rōran became as prosperous as it is today…"
"Six years ago…" Shinju repeated softly, thinking hard.
Could the treacherous Anrokuzan be the rogue ninja Mukade who crossed time with him?!
But then, why had he arrived in Rōran before Shinju did?!
Doubt crept into Shinju's mind—he had to investigate this properly.
They continued downward until they reached the sewer pipes.
Shinju suggested, "Let's just dig straight through. Crawling down the pipes is a pain."
Sara protested, "But if we damage the sewer system, it'll be difficult to repair later…"
Shinju couldn't help but chuckle.
This queen didn't even realize her citizens were being taken away, but she was worried about breaking a sewer pipe…
"Fine, fine. I'll fix it for you later."
He waved it off and punched a massive hole into the pipe wall!
Then he formed a series of hand seals.
"Sha-la-la…"
The packed earth beneath them split apart, forming a perfectly round, dark tunnel.
"Let's go."
Without hesitation, Shinju pushed Sara straight in.
"Ahhhhhh~~~~~ヽ( ຶ▮ ຶ)ﾉ!!!"
Her scream echoed as Shinju followed right after, sealing the pipe with earth behind them.
They slid down the tunnel like a slide for quite a while.
A few minutes later, light appeared ahead—
The two shot out from the tunnel and landed in a massive underground factory.
Before them stretched rows of machinery filled with countless chakra tubes.
On the conveyor belts lay pieces of puppet components, one after another…
As the belts moved, gigantic puppet soldiers gradually took shape!
Finally, the chakra tubes connected to each puppet, threading chakra strings through their bodies—turning them into puppets under unseen control!
And what powered the conveyor belts was a massive gear-like grinder.
Pushing the gear… were people.
Men and women in rough uniforms, wrists and ankles chained, faces pale and bodies frail from exhaustion.
Standing beside Sara, Shinju's expression was cold.
"Now you've seen it. Do you believe it?"
Sara stood frozen, unable to respond.
After her mother's death, Anrokuzan had cared for her like a father—and cared for Rōran as well.
But now…
She needed time to accept the truth—that Anrokuzan was a villain.