Anrokuzan turned out to be an opponent with little dignity in combat.
Living for a long time in a place like Roran, a country without ninjas, had dulled his vigilance. He also had a habit of relying on puppets to stay hidden, rather than facing danger directly. Against someone like Hayashi, who had extensive combat experience and overwhelming decisiveness, the outcome was decided almost instantly.
In a single exchange, Hayashi trapped him inside a Genjutsu using his Mangekyo Sharingan. Anrokuzan never even managed to draw out the power of the Dragon Vein. The so called living puppet weapon he had been preparing remained completely unused, buried before it could even reveal its existence.
None of Hayashi's other preparations were needed either.
The difference in skill was too wide. A Mangekyo Sharingan Genjutsu was not something someone of Anrokuzan's level could break in time. Within that brief gap, Hayashi could have ended the fight countless times over.
Sara's face went pale as she watched, but Hayashi only gave her a reassuring smile.
Despite her naive personality, Sara had strong inner resilience. Earlier, when they encountered the group of ragged Roran citizens, she did not show disgust or fear. Instead, she calmly listened, asked questions, and tried to understand their situation. That kind of mindset, combined with her natural sense of responsibility, was exactly what a ruler needed.
She had the potential to become a capable Queen, someone who could truly guide this country.
Using Genjutsu, Hayashi extracted a full confession from Anrokuzan about everything he had done. After that, he and Sara went deep underground and released the citizens who had been enslaved and hidden away.
By the time everything was settled, night had already passed.
The next morning arrived quickly, as if the chaos of the previous day had never happened.
When Kushina and the others woke up, they were met with an unexpected calm. Everything had already been resolved.
"This mission was way too boring," Kushina complained with clear dissatisfaction.
She had barely done anything before it ended.
"Yeah, it's really annoying. Future Uncle Hayashi is always like this too," Naruto added, stamping his foot in frustration.
Hayashi could only sigh slightly. Was smooth completion not a good thing? Did they really prefer a timeline where Roran was destroyed just for excitement?
This was someone else's country. Their mission was to stabilize it, not to bring chaos.
Kakashi sensei, on the other hand, looked relieved. Even though this was technically his first high level mission, he just wanted it to end quickly so he could deal with Naruto's energy afterward.
The entrance to the Dragon Vein lay deep underground and could only be accessed with Sara's guidance.
To fully seal it, Sara did not hesitate for long. The Dragon Vein had become unstable, and leaving it unchecked would eventually threaten everyone in Roran.
In her words, her mother's will was for her to protect the people of Roran as Queen, not to serve the Dragon Vein itself.
Through everything she had experienced, Sara had grown rapidly. The uncertainty and dependence she once carried had been replaced by a sense of responsibility. She no longer relied blindly on others, and instead began making her own judgments while shouldering the future of her people.
With support from everyone, she would be able to lead Roran properly.
"Sara, you will definitely become a great Queen," Naruto said with a bright grin.
Watching Naruto and Sara interact so naturally, Hayashi felt a faint sense of distance in his heart.
Naruto would eventually return to his own time, and Sara would lose the memory of everything that had happened here.
The next time they met, it might be decades later. Naruto would remain unchanged, but Sara's daughter might already be around his age.
Time had a way of separating people like this.
Sixteen years could pass in an instant for one person, while for another it would change everything.
Standing before the Dragon Vein, Hayashi spoke quietly.
"Let's end things here."
Once the sealing began, Naruto and Rin would be sent back to their time.
"What about Mukade?" Rin asked.
"You two take him back," Hayashi replied. "He is from the future. Even these puppet machines should be handled by my future self."
He handed over the scroll containing the puppets.
Mukade could not be allowed to return to Konoha. The Yamanaka clan would easily extract information from him. To avoid any disturbance to history, Hayashi even intended to seal his own memories afterward. Leaving someone like Mukade behind was too great a risk.
"I'll miss you, Kakashi sensei," Naruto said, opening his arms wide for a hug.
Kakashi sensei immediately stepped back with clear caution.
If looks could kill, Naruto would have been in serious trouble already.
Naruto scratched his head awkwardly. He had originally planned something more playful, but clearly it was not going to work.
Kushina and Rin exchanged a warm hug next, followed by gifts.
Kushina gave Rin the ninja cards she had received from Hayashi, while Rin gave Kushina a precious pendant of her own.
Naruto stared at the exchange with wide eyes.
Those ninja cards would become extremely rare in the future, worth an enormous fortune on the black market. He suddenly realized there might be an entire business opportunity hidden in antiques.
He turned his gaze toward Hayashi with obvious intent.
"Get lost," Hayashi said flatly, cutting him off immediately. "Give my regards to my future self."
There was no need to erase Naruto and Rin's memories. They were from the future, and their presence would not alter history. Erasing it would only strip them of something meaningful.
Hayashi stepped forward and inserted a kunai into the structure of the Dragon Vein seal. Kushina began forming hand signs beside him.
Complex sealing patterns spread outward layer by layer, forming dense black markings across the area.
It was called a permanent seal, but in truth, nothing in this world was truly permanent. Even powerful seals eventually weakened over time. Mukade had been able to exploit that fact to travel through time in the first place.
Even the Six Paths Sage's planetary sealing of Kaguya had not lasted forever. Any seal placed on overwhelming power would eventually decay.
As the process continued, Hayashi began to understand something more clearly.
Mukade's time travel might not have been an accident. It might have been something deliberately allowed by the future self, just to ensure Naruto and Rin could return safely with information.
If everything here was handled properly, it meant the future was still on the right path.
If something had gone wrong, then memories would not have been sealed, and history would likely be changed without hesitation.
Even if paradoxes or parallel timelines emerged, it would not matter as long as the timeline he cared about remained intact.
"The future me should already be able to use the Dragon Vein," Hayashi thought quietly.
He had already dealt with far greater forces before. A system like this would not be difficult for him later on.
After all, the development of human civilization was ultimately the development of energy control.
The Ten Tails functioned like a massive energy source, and the Dragon Vein was similar in nature. There was no reason it could not be harnessed.
When the sealing was completed, Naruto and Rin were enveloped in a pillar of light and disappeared.
Hayashi never saw Shisui or Yura at any point during the mission.
When everything finally settled, the group returned to the surface.
The Roran mission had come to an end.