A pure white cube made of radiant light shot out from the Shinju in Shinju's hand, completely enveloping Anrokuzan's massive body!
The next instant— whoosh! —the cube rapidly compressed, then vanished into nothingness.
Anrokuzan didn't even have time to leave a final word before he died.
Not even a trace remained.
After a brief silence, cheers erupted from underground.
The people who had been oppressed for so long wept and laughed at once:
"Anrokuzan is finally dead! Roran is finally at peace!"
"Yeah! But honestly, letting him die like that was way too easy. We should've hung his corpse from a lamppost for three days! (′д｀σ)σ"
"Enough already. We're lucky to be alive at all."
Inside the vine shield, Sara's expression was complicated, then she exhaled softly and smiled with relief.
She looked at Shinju and said sincerely, "Thank you."
Shinju waved it off. "It's fine. Besides, I got paid for this, remember? ❛‿˂̵✧"
Beside them, Minato and his team were completely petrified.
--003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)
How could there be a ninja in this world who could wield Wood Release, Sharingan, and the Dust Release bloodline elimination at the same time?!
After a moment of stunned silence, the three shinobi all smiled.
So this is the brilliance of Konoha's future…!
Shinju walked over to Minato and greeted him.
"Just like you said—now that Mukade is dead, if I reconstruct the seal, I'll be able to return to my own time, right? (ﾉ∇︎〃 )"
Minato nodded. "In theory, yes… but it's not something I've ever tested before. Need me to help?"
Shinju offered with a small grin.
"Space-time ninjutsu and sealing arts just happen to be my specialties."
Shinju's lips curved into a confident smirk. "Unfortunately for you, that's my specialty too."
With that, he stepped toward the stone platform of the Dragon Vein's seal. A Flying Thunder God kunai appeared in his hand.
Minato froze. Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
This guy even knows the Flying Thunder God Technique?!
Then, clamping the kunai between his teeth, Shinju rapidly formed hand seals—his hands a blur.
"Shu-shu-shu—!"
After completing over a hundred seals in succession, his eyes narrowed sharply as he shouted, "Space–Time Seal!"
Then he drove the Flying Thunder God kunai hard into the stone platform.
Shing!
In that instant, countless sealing patterns spread outward from the kunai as their center.
A burst of purple light flared to life, swallowing Shinju's body completely.
As the dazzling glow faded, Shinju vanished with it.
No farewell, no extra words—he left as decisively as ever.
Minato stood frozen, staring at the Flying Thunder God kunai embedded in the stone.
"The future shinobi of Konoha… truly remarkable. ୧⍢⃝୨"
He turned to his teammates. "Chōza, Shibi… he came from the future. He's not like us."
"Knowing of his existence could alter the course of history."
"We'll use the Memory-Sealing Technique…"
Just as he spoke, Sara's voice came from behind the vine shield.
"Was he really from the future?"
Minato smiled and nodded.
"Most likely. Which means your memory will need to be sealed as well. ∩_∩"
Sara didn't resist. She only stared blankly at the Flying Thunder God kunai in her hand—the one with the tree-shaped mark that Shinju had given her for protection.
"Before my memory is erased, I want to leave a letter for the future ruler of Roran…"
"I don't know why, but he didn't take the Dragon Vein I promised him. Still, it was something I swore to give…"
After she finished writing the letter, the massive Memory-Sealing Formation enveloped everyone…
...
Ruins of Roran City.
Deep beneath the ground, the stone platform erupted in a beam of violet light shooting straight into the sky!
Naruto, having just been convinced by his teammates, decided to stay and wait for Shinju.
"Alright then… we'll wait for him here."
The moment he said it, the purple chakra pillar flickered out—and Shinju's figure reappeared atop the sealed platform!
Yamato's face lit up with joy.
"Shinju?! You didn't disappear? You're back!"
Shinju looked up, his gaze landing on Naruto and the others not far away, his eyes full of thought.
He'd spent what felt like so long in the past… yet when he returned, only a moment had passed here??
"Yeah," he replied easily. "Mukade got obliterated by the chakra beam. My body's much tougher than his, so I survived."
He smiled casually as he told the lie—no one would believe a time-travel story anyway.
"I see! Guess we got lucky this time! ୧⍢⃝୨" Yamato chuckled in relief.
"Yeah! We didn't even have to do anything, and the mission's done. Now Sunagakure owes us a huge favor!" Naruto laughed happily, thrilled to see Shinju safe.
As the group chatted in relief, a strange sound rumbled from the surface of the Roran ruins.
Chunks of earth crumbled away, revealing a small hole big enough for a person to crawl through.
A girl's face appeared from above, peering curiously down at them.
"Who are you people?"
As captain, Yamato explained, "We're shinobi from Konoha. We were ordered to pursue a missing-nin from Sunagakure named Mukade."
The girl nodded. "I see. That massive Dragon Vein light pillar just now—was that your doing? (‧_‧?)"
Yamato shook his head. "No. That was the work of the missing-nin Mukade. He's already dead."
"I understand. Come on up, then," the girl said.
When Shinju and the others climbed to the surface, they found a crowd of strong young men standing behind her.
Seeing their puzzled expressions, the girl shyly explained,
"Roran City used to be our home. But after a great disaster, we were forced to leave."
"However, the Dragon Vein beneath the city is extremely important to us—it's tied to a promise made by a queen long ago. That's why we never settled far away. When we saw the Dragon Vein's light rising into the sky, we rushed here immediately…"
"I see," Yamato nodded in understanding.
After asking a few more questions, the girl's gaze finally settled on Shinju—or more precisely, on his red hair.
Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a kunai wrapped in cloth.
"Do you… recognize this?" she asked.
Shinju nodded. Of course he recognized it—the Flying Thunder God mark engraved on it was unmistakably his.
"Can you prove it?" the girl continued.
Shinju nodded again.
The next moment, his body vanished—only to reappear beside the girl!
In his hand was the very same kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God mark.
The girl gasped, eyes wide.
"It's exactly like the letter said! Wherever the kunai is, you can teleport to it…"
"Then, according to the letter's instructions, the Dragon Vein beneath the ruins of Roran now belongs to you."
At those words, Shinju lowered his gaze to the kunai in his hand. The moment he touched it, he understood everything.
So Sara… she remembered that promise all this time.
"Give my regards to your Queen Sara," Shinju said with a gentle smile.
The girl nodded. "I will. Her final wish has been fulfilled. I'll pay my respects to her tonight."
"Oh, right—there's something you might not know yet…"
"Queen Sara passed away three years ago."