As Sara carefully examined the surrounding area, Shinju silently handed her a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Seeing her puzzled expression, Shinju explained,
"Once the fighting starts, things might get chaotic. Take this Flying Thunder God kunai — no matter where you are, I'll be able to find you."
Sara accepted the kunai, her eyes flickering with mixed emotions.
(◍•ᴗ•◍)
Even though she knew the boy was only doing this because he had accepted her mission, when their eyes met, her heart still trembled slightly...
"When we rescue them, I'll find out the truth behind all this and govern this country properly!" Sara said firmly.
Shinju didn't take her words to heart.
After all, no matter what she did, decades later the once-glorious Rōran would be nothing but ruins, buried beneath the dust of history...
"You don't believe me…?" Sara asked softly, her confidence faltering when Shinju didn't respond.
"I believe you, I believe you. Let's talk about it after we finish up here. --003d_--003d" Shinju said casually, brushing it off.
After that, he formed hand seals, ready to halt the production of puppets in the massive factory.
Suddenly, Sara let out a startled cry.
"The force powering the entire factory… it's the Dragon Vein chakra!"
Shinju turned toward her. Sara was pointing toward a secluded section of the factory.
There stood a strange-looking stone platform.
It looked oddly familiar to Shinju, but this wasn't the time to dwell on that. He asked Sara beside him,
"Isn't that kind of obvious? (￢‸￢)?"
"The Rōran royal family possesses the power to seal the Dragon Vein," Sara said as she stepped toward the stone platform.
Shinju followed close behind, blocking the puppets that tried to attack her.
As they drew nearer, Shinju finally saw the peculiar markings carved into the stone.
It was the very same platform he had seen years later — among the ruins of Rōran!
Shinju frowned slightly, a vague sense of foreboding rising in his heart.
At that moment, another puppet lunged recklessly toward him. Shinju raised his hand with a flick — swish! — slicing the puppet cleanly in half!
Meanwhile, Sara leaned over the platform. The strange symbols upon it began to glow with a soft purple light.
She murmured an incantation under her breath,
"In the name of the Queen, I command thee — sever thy connection to the Dragon Vein!"
As her words faded, the purple light dimmed, and the markings on the platform drew inward until they vanished completely.
Moments later, the entire factory ground to a halt. The purple chakra flowing through the pipes was cut off entirely!
Sara turned to Shinju, her face bright with relief, ready to celebrate — but he only squinted, deep in thought... (￣⊥￣)
The boy was mysterious and powerful. Having something on his mind wasn't strange. Sara didn't think much of it and instead turned toward the massive mill apparatus.
The emaciated laborers nearby broke into cheers when they saw her.
"It's Queen Sara! Queen Sara's finally come to free us!"
"Thank you, Queen Sara! I can finally go home to my wife and daughter! （༎ຶ-༎ຶ）"
"Don't you understand yet? The real culprit isn't Queen Sara — it's Minister Anrokuzan!"
"That's right! Anrokuzan's the one who brought us here!"
"Queen Sara, please bring justice for us! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)"
"Hang that bastard who worked us to death from a streetlamp! (ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
Hearing their cheers, Sara trembled with guilt.
"Don't worry," she said softly, "once we return, I'll investigate everything and see that justice is done!"
"All right, now let's head up togeth—"
Boom!
Before she could finish, a deep rumble thundered above their heads!
Shinju's instincts flared, and he looked up sharply.
The rumbling grew louder — closer!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!!
The sound was descending rapidly, shaking the ground!
As cracks split across the ceiling above them, about to collapse, Shinju slammed his hands together!
Clap!
"Wood Release: Vine Domain!"
Swish, swish, swish!!
Countless thick, green vines burst from the ground, twisting and weaving into a massive dome-shaped shield that sealed off the chamber, protecting everyone beneath it!
A moment later, the ceiling shattered — and an enormous monster appeared outside the vine barrier!
The sudden sight of the creature left the people inside trembling with fear.
"What kind of monster is that?! Σ(っ °Д °;)っ"
"Who knows? Maybe that's one of Minister Anrokuzan's war machines..."
"Are we… really going to make it out alive?"
Amid their panic, Sara's voice rang out firmly.
"We will!"
She gripped her kunai in reverse, eyes burning with determination.
"We definitely will!"
Though it was the first time Sara had shown such queenly resolve, Shinju didn't believe for a second that she could defeat that thing. ┐(´-｀)┌
He didn't yet know exactly what the monster was, but he could feel the immense chakra surging within it.
The next moment, the creature spoke.
"Those damned Konoha shinobi — I'll make sure not a single one of you leaves here alive!"
Its voice was deep and rasping, enough to make one's heart quake just hearing it!
Then, voices came from outside the vine shield.
"Anrokuzan! You've oppressed the people, wallowed in corruption, and dragged all of Rōran into misery. We've been commissioned to—"
Shinju instantly recognized that voice.
It was Namikaze Minato!
And from what he said, the monster's identity became clear.
Anrokuzan!
Through the gaps in the vine shield, Shinju stared at the monstrous spider-like form of Anrokuzan, puzzled.
How had he become… this?
Then, recalling Sasori of the Red Sand — who had turned his body into a core that could inhabit countless puppet shells — Shinju thought, perhaps Anrokuzan had done something similar.
...
Outside the vine barrier, Minato's three-man squad stood facing the giant shield.
Chōza was the first to speak.
"Why is something like this even under Rōran?"
Shibi Aburame frowned. "It's a Wood Release technique… could it be that boy who created it? (꒪⌓꒪)"
Holding his Flying Thunder God kunai, Minato stood ready, facing the monster.
"There's someone inside that vine barrier!"
The enormous structure of intertwined vines was impossible to miss — and Anrokuzan noticed it too!
As the one pulling the strings from behind, he knew all too well that the area beneath it was supposed to be his puppet factory!
"Who's in my factory?!"
"And who dares cut off the Dragon Vein chakra powering it?! （▼へ▼メ）"
"Sara — is that you inside?!"
Inside the barrier, Sara trembled uncontrollably.
It was almost unimaginable that the gentle and polite Minister Anrokuzan she had once known... was actually this grotesque, monstrous creature standing before them!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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