The Key to the Dragon Vein

It was a source of infinite chakra hidden beneath Roran, possessing power comparable to a Tailed Beast, and in some respects, even surpassing one.

Only by grasping this unimaginably vast power in his own hands would he have the capital to contend with the "world correction force" capable of crushing everything in the future, and to change his destiny of being reduced to cannon fodder for the era.

However, to perfectly undo the seal and control the Dragon Vein, relying solely on the Sharingan and brute force was not enough.

He also needed a "key": the bloodline of the Queen of Roran.

Calculating the time, that Suna missing-nin Mukade, who goes by the alias "Anrokuzan," should be getting impatient and preparing to make a move against the current queen by now.

Yue's footsteps came to an abrupt halt on a massive steel cantilever.

Below, the central plaza of the high tower was brightly lit.

Thousands of Roran citizens were gathered there, waving glow-sticks and frantically shouting a single name.

"Queen Sara!"

"Queen Sara!"

And on the dizzyingly high balcony of the tower, a beautiful young girl with vibrant red hair and a delicate, somewhat naive expression was smiling and waving to the people below.

She was the current Queen of Roran, Sara.

"Found you." Yue looked down at his "key," not in any rush to act.

Because he knew that to make this naive, brainwashed queen obedient, a perfectly timed "hero saves the damsel" act would be far more effective than any genjutsu.

Just as Sara was immersed in the cheers of the crowd with a beaming smile, a blank-faced maid in the shadows behind her suddenly moved like a marionette.

The maid walked forward silently, stretched out her hands, and gave the unsuspecting Sara a fierce shove in the back!

"Ah--!"

Sara let out a shrill scream. Her body instantly lost its balance, clearing the low railing and plummeting from the balcony hundreds of meters above the ground!

In the plaza below, the frantic cheers instantly turned into endless horror and screams.

The wind whistled wildly in Sara's ears, and the intense sensation of weightlessness left her mind completely blank.

Looking at the hard ground below, which was rapidly expanding like the maw of a giant abyss, desperate tears welled up in her eyes.

"Someone... save me..."

Just at this life-or-death moment, when Sara thought she was surely doomed!

"Swish--!"

A black figure, like a blade tearing through the night sky, dove down from the pipes above at a speed that defied the laws of physics!

In mid-air, Yue Uchiha precisely wrapped his arms around Sara's slender waist.

"What?!" Sara opened her eyes in terror, and what came into view was a black robe fluttering violently in the wind.

Yue made no unnecessary movements; with a flick of his right wrist, a kunai attached to an ultra-thin, specialized steel wire shot out.

"Clang!"

The kunai embedded itself firmly into a thick metal support pillar dozens of meters away.

"Hold on tight, my Queen," Yue's low, magnetic voice resonated in Sara's ear.

Utilizing the immense tension of the steel wire, the terrifying momentum of their fall was instantly redirected, transforming into a massive pendulum arc.

Amidst the whistling night wind and the interwoven purple chakra glow below, the black-robed youth held the red-haired girl with one arm, carving a thrilling and elegant arc through the air as they swung toward a building on the other side.

"Thud!"

Yue Uchiha landed steadily on a secluded high-level terrace far from the noise of the plaza.

The massive impact caused spiderweb-like cracks to form in the stone slabs beneath his feet, yet Sara, whom he held tightly in his arms, didn't lose a single hair.

The night breeze blew, lifting Yue's black high-collared robe.

His cold, sharp profile in the shadows and those dark, soul-piercing eyes were deeply imprinted into Sara's shaken vision.

"Who... who are you?"

Sara leaned blankly against Yue's chest, feeling his steady heartbeat, her breathing becoming rapid.

The Uchiha bloodline's looks were simply too lethal.

However, Yue didn't have much thought for that.

He slowly loosened his grip and set Sara down steadily on the ground.

"Don't be afraid, I'm just a passing... Konoha ninja."

"Konoha ninja..."

Sara repeated the word blankly, her heart still pounding violently.

"Why... why did you save me?"

Sara finally regained her composure and stepped half a step back from Yue. Although she tried to maintain the dignity of a queen, the tremor in her voice betrayed her fear, as well as the shyness of a young girl.

"Because I'm a good person just passing by." Yue Uchiha fabricated a reason that even Naruto wouldn't believe, then immediately cut to the point.

"However, Your Majesty, rather than asking why I saved you, shouldn't you first consider who wants you dead? For instance, Anrokuzan?"

"Kill me?"

Sara shook her head repeatedly, as if she had just heard some absurd joke.

"Impossible! That was just an accident! I simply lost my footing... Minister Anrokuzan has governed this country so well, and the people adore me; why would he want me dead? I must return to Minister Anrokuzan at once; he will surely get to the bottom of this!"

Looking at this puppet who had been so well-protected and was naive to the point of stupidity, Yue Uchiha did not act like Naruto in the original story, impatiently shouting and trying to correct her with pale words like "Anrokuzan is a bad person."

For someone who has been deeply brainwashed, directly denying her faith would only trigger her instinctive defensiveness and resistance.

Yue was well-versed in the weaknesses of human nature.

The most effective way to deal with this situation was not preaching, but Genjutsu.

"An accident, you say?"

Yue chuckled, his laughter carrying three parts pity and seven parts mockery.

He walked slowly toward Sara, his scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan instantly blooming with a dark, eerie light.

"Look into my eyes, Queen Sara. Recall the second before you fell; what exactly did your back feel?"

Yue's Genjutsu was not used for an attack, but rather like a hypnotist's pocket watch, instantly plunging Sara into a state of hyper-focused memory retrieval.

Guided by the Sharingan, the memory in Sara's mind, which had become blurred due to extreme terror, was slowed down frame by frame and clearly reconstructed.

She "saw" herself waving to the people below.

She "saw" the maid who was usually so respectful to her walking silently behind her.

She clearly felt the hands that pushed her back—those were not human hands at all!

They were cold, hard, and possessed the metallic texture of a machine!

"Ah!!"

As the Genjutsu broke, Sara jolted awake, clutching her chest and gasping for air, her forehead drenched in cold sweat.

"Remember now?" Yue leaned against the railing unhurriedly, his knuckles tapping lightly against the cold metal. "It wasn't a human who pushed you, but a mechanical puppet wearing human skin. And in all of Rōran, besides that Minister Anrokuzan who has been 'devotedly' assisting you, is there anyone else capable of controlling such sophisticated puppets?"

"No... this is impossible! Minister Anrokuzan, he..."

Sara's face was as pale as paper, yet she was still making a final, desperate struggle.

"Getting evidence is actually quite simple."

"Words can be fabricated and memories can be deceived, but facts cannot." Yue grabbed Sara's wrist, giving her no chance to evade. "Since you think I am lying to you, as the Queen of Rōran, do you have the courage to go with me and see what is really hidden beneath this 'prosperous age' of yours?"

"I... I..."

Yue did not give Sara any time to hesitate; he simply grabbed her small hand and left quickly.

Making Sara believe him—wasn't that simple?