What Exactly Do You Want?

Yue Uchiha did not blush, nor did his heart race; he even mimicked the unquestionable authority of an Anbu Captain in his tone as he pointed toward the puppets surging forward like a tide.

"The enemy's numbers are too great, and they possess the infinite energy supply of the Dragon Vein. Handsome comrade, can you help me hold them off for a while? I need to cover the Queen's retreat!"

Upon hearing "handsome comrade," Yamato did not even have time to think.

"Wood Style: Wood Locking Wall!"

Yamato slammed his hands together, and a massive surge of chakra erupted instantly.

Rows of sturdy, enormous semicircular wooden pillars rose from the ground, blocking the path in front of Yue and Sara like a city wall.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Countless purple lasers slammed into the wooden wall, triggering violent tremors, yet they were forcefully withstood by Yamato's formidable Wood Style.

Watching Yamato exert himself at the front, single-handedly holding back half of the puppet army, the corners of Yue Uchiha's mouth curled up wildly beneath his mask.

"So useful, Captain Yamato. Konoha ninja are sometimes just adorably simple."

With Yamato acting as a super meat shield to pin down the most troublesome sea of puppets, Yue immediately took Sara and retreated toward the Dragon Vein control hub.

Just then, as Yamato struggled to maintain his Wood Style, he shouted, "Senior, Naruto... that is, the blond kid, have you seen him..."

"Whoosh--!"

A dazzling flash of golden light suddenly tore through the gloomy underground space, accompanied by several ninja appearing abruptly on the platform behind Yamato.

It was Minato Namikaze, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame, who had tracked him through great hardship, along with Naruto Uzumaki, whom Minato had forcibly brought away from the danger zone!

"Captain Yamato!!!"

Seeing that familiar figure, Naruto shouted in excitement.

Yamato turned his head in the midst of his busy work, and seeing that Naruto was safe and sound, he let out a sigh of relief: "Great, Naruto, you're okay! Quick, come help me! I'm assisting this senior in protecting the Queen..."

"Get away from him! He is not a senior!"

Upon hearing Yamato's words, Minato's expression changed drastically, a flash of extremely rare anxiety and anger crossing his deep blue pupils.

"What?" Yamato froze.

The special kunai in Minato's hand instantly locked onto Yue Uchiha, who was preparing to leave with Sara, and a cold, sharp voice echoed throughout the entire underground space:

"He is not executing a mission for Konoha at all! He is an extremely dangerous individual who stole classified intelligence and betrayed the village—an A-rank missing-nin, Yue Uchiha! He is using you!"

"Miss... missing-nin?!"

Yamato's eyes widened sharply, as if a basin of ice water had been poured over his head.

He turned his head, looking in disbelief at the black-robed youth who had shown such kindness.

Hearing Minato's exposure, Yue Uchiha did not show the slightest panic; instead, he stopped in his tracks.

He turned around slowly, his black eyes sweeping mockingly over Yamato's shocked face, then toward the wary Minato squad, and finally, his gaze landed on the puppet army below that was still attacking the Wood Locking Wall frantically.

"Minato, you arrived a bit faster than I expected. However, the timing is just right."

Yue laughed softly, and he formed a hand seal with one hand.

"Bang!"

A cloud of smoke from explosive tags suddenly erupted where Yue had been standing, directly destroying the only metal bridge connecting the platform they were on to the area where Yamato stood.

In an instant, the battlefield was completely severed.

"Thank you for using your Wood Style to pin down these annoying toys, Captain Yamato."

Across the abyss, Yue bowed slightly to Yamato, performing a gentleman's salute filled with mockery. "Next, leave these puppets for you Konoha elites to play with slowly. As for Her Majesty the Queen and the Dragon Vein, I shall take them."

"Bastard! How dare you play me for a fool!"

Yamato was trembling with rage, nearly losing his grip on his Wood Style.

How could he dare to treat him like a fool? He was Captain Yamato!

"Don't let him get away!"

Naruto felt the same indignation and roared, preparing to charge over, but Minato grabbed him.

"Don't be impulsive, Naruto!" Minato's expression was grave to the extreme.

The current situation had evolved into an extremely thorny three-way melee.

On one side, the Rōran mechanical puppet army led by Anrokuzan was relying on the infinite chakra of the Dragon Vein to attack everyone like zombies without a sense of pain.

On the other side, Yue Uchiha, an A-rank missing-nin with high intelligence and terrifying strength, had taken hostage Queen Sara, the only "key" capable of controlling the Dragon Vein, and was closing in on the core control room.

As for their Konoha side, they had to protect themselves and fend off the tidal wave of puppets, while also finding a way to stop Yue Uchiha's conspiracy and Mukade's rampage without harming Sara.

"Senior Choza, Senior Shibi, I leave the massive number of puppets here to you and Yamato to pin down!"

Minato made a tactical decision in an instant, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, that Yue Uchiha is extremely dangerous. Not only is he powerful, but he is also highly skilled at manipulating people's hearts. We must join forces and intercept him and the Queen before Mukade does!"

"Right! I'm definitely going to beat that lying uncle to a pulp!"

Naruto clenched his fists, his azure eyes burning with a fierce fighting spirit.

If he could stop that Uchiha here, would he also be able to stop Sasuke in the same way?

Watching Minato and Naruto begin their move below, Yue Uchiha stood in the shadows of the heights, a cold curve tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"It's getting more and more interesting!"

With a flick of his black robe, Yue took Sara and vanished completely into the deepest darkness leading to the core of the Dragon Vein.

In the dim and profound underground passage, only the purple light of the Dragon Vein chakra flickered within the pipes.

"Let go of me..."

Mid-transit, Sara suddenly struggled hard and broke free from Yue Uchiha's hand.

Her emerald eyes were filled with struggle and wariness as she stared fixedly at the black-robed youth before her.

"Is what that yellow-haired Anbu said true? Are you... are you really an extremely dangerous individual who betrayed your village?" Sara's voice trembled slightly.

Though she was naive, she was not stupid. Would an "S-rank missing-nin" who betrayed the very village he grew up in really have the kindness to save her country?

Faced with Sara's questioning, Yue Uchiha stopped in his tracks.

He turned around slowly, and in the dim light, those scarlet Sharingan eyes did not dodge in the slightest; instead, they radiated a suffocating sense of composure.

"Yes. Not only am I a missing-nin, but in the eyes of the Konoha higher-ups, I am an extremely dangerous, cold-blooded, and ruthless thug."

Yue answered crisply and cleanly, without a single word of defense.

This left Sara stunned; she had expected him to use flowery words to deceive her.

"If that's the case, why should I trust you? Are you just like Anrokuzan, wanting to use me to control the Dragon Vein?!"

Sara took a step back, like a startled hedgehog.

"Your Majesty, it seems you still haven't grasped the situation."

Yue Uchiha stepped forward, and a sense of oppression instantly enveloped Sara.

"In your eyes, what is a good person? What is a bad person? That Anrokuzan, who held you in the palm of his hand and was praised by all the people of Rōran, secretly treated your subjects like slaves and livestock. Yet I, this heinous 'missing-nin,' tore through the illusion and brought you to see the bloody truth."

Yue reached out a hand, pointing toward the direction of the Underground Arsenal.

Faintly, one could still hear the desperate wails of those laborers.

"The Konoha Anbu are indeed 'righteous,' but their justice belongs to Konoha. If it meant completing their mission, they would sacrifice this city without a moment's hesitation, but I am different."

Yue lowered his head slightly, his scarlet eyes staring straight into Sara's soul, his voice low and filled with a seductive power:

"I do not need to be loyal to anyone; I only follow my own will. My goal is to completely destroy Mukade and seize control of this power, while your goal is to save those subjects who are being tortured in ways worse than death and to avenge your mother. From this perspective, our interests are absolutely aligned."

"Do you want to be a puppet queen who clings to hypocritical justice while watching her country perish, or will you choose to trade with the devil and take back the smiles that belong to your people with your own hands?"