Persuading Sara

"No... the Dragon Vein, its power must never belong to anyone, absolutely not!"

Facing the highly seductive words of Yue Uchiha, Sara suddenly recoiled two steps like a startled fawn.

In her eyes, beyond the hatred for Mukade, there was now a deep wariness toward this youth with the Sharingan.

Though she was naive, she was not stupid.

She had understood the subtext in Yue's words.

This man was helping her not just to deal with Mukade, but to claim the power of the Dragon Vein—a power capable of destroying the world—for himself!

Having just seen off a wolf, was she now to invite an even more terrifying tiger with her own hands?

Watching the wariness and rejection in Sara's eyes, the expression beneath Yue Uchiha's mask remained entirely unsurprised.

He understood all too well those who had been protected in a greenhouse since childhood, their minds filled with "innocence" and "absolute righteousness."

To completely control a tool, force was the lowest form of strategy; only by letting her beg to hand over the blade in the midst of despair could one forge the most stable contract.

Yue stood where he was, not rushing to refute her.

He slowly raised his hand, seemingly intending to grab Sara's shoulder, but after pausing in mid-air for a moment, he let it drop with a look of feigned helplessness.

His pair of scarlet Sharingan dimmed, and he let out a sigh that was extremely heavy, even tinged with a hint of relief.

"Very well, I respect your wishes."

Yue's voice became incredibly calm, devoid of the relentless pressure from moments ago, and he even turned his back, no longer looking at her.

"Since you feel this power should not belong to anyone, I will send you out of Rōran, allowing you to spend the rest of your life safely in an oasis in the desert..."

As Yue spoke, he slowly sheathed the short blade behind his back, his tone permeated with a cold, professional indifference.

"As for this matter, I will no longer intervene; let Anrokuzan continue to hold this power. You are right, the people of Rōran... and the vengeance for your mother, should indeed be completed by you, the Queen, yourself. I should not overstep my bounds."

"You... you are leaving?"

Sara was stunned; she had expected him to use force or continue pressuring her with those terrifying illusions.

"What else? A heinous rogue ninja like me can hardly shamelessly beg to be a savior."

Yue Uchiha grabbed Sara by the wrist and, without room for argument, leaped with her onto a highly concealed high platform at the edge of the Central Hub.

"Before I send you away, Your Majesty the Queen, please take a good look at what kind of miracles your noble philosophy of 'not belonging to anyone' can actually bring to this country."

Yue released her hand and leaned against the cold wall, his chin tilted slightly upward, signaling Sara to look down.

At this moment, the Central Hub below had completely transformed into a living hell.

Their conversation had not hindered the progression of events; Minato and Naruto had inevitably begun their battle with Mukade.

Mukade, who had assumed the alias Anrokuzan, had completely finished merging with the control hub of the Dragon Vein.

He had discarded his human shell, transforming into a terrifying multi-legged centipede monster nearly a hundred meters long, composed entirely of purple-black metal and high-pressure chakra!

"Hahaha! The power of the Dragon Vein is endless! You Konoha insects, all of you, turn to ash!"

Mukade's arrogant roar made the entire underground space tremble.

With a mere flick of his massive tail, he easily swept away several metal load-bearing pillars over ten meters in diameter as if they were snapped toothpicks.

"Big Ball Rasengan!"

In mid-air, Naruto Uzumaki, under the cover of Minato, roared as he slammed a massive blue sphere of chakra onto Mukade's metal carapace.

"BOOM--!!"

The violent explosion kicked up a sky full of dust and smoke, and a large chunk of armor on Mukade's back was blown to pieces, revealing the intricate mechanical circuitry within.

"Success!" Naruto had just landed back on the ground, not yet having time to celebrate.

However, in the next second, a scene of despair unfolded before him.

Accompanied by a flash of blinding purple light, the vast chakra of the Dragon Vein surged into Mukade's wound like a waterfall flowing in reverse.

In less than a second, the shattered armor healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, not even leaving a scratch behind!

"Wh-what is this?! He's impossible to kill!" Naruto's eyes widened.

"Don't stop, Naruto! His power source is the underground Dragon Vein of the entire city; as long as the chakra doesn't run dry, he is truly immortal!"

Minato Namikaze's forehead was covered in cold sweat, his figure turning into golden lightning as he darted frantically through the dense rain of lasers.

He threw a dozen Flying Thunder God kunai, attempting to sever the chakra conduits Mukade used to connect to the ground, but as soon as those pipes were cut, new tentacles immediately sprouted and re-anchored into the earth.

"Die! Die! Die!"

Mukade opened his abyss-like maw, and a purple-black high-energy chakra cannon over five meters in diameter began to condense frantically, the violent energy causing the surrounding air to distort.

"Oh no!"

Minato instantly activated the Flying Thunder God, grabbed Naruto, and flashed to safety several dozen meters away by the narrowest of margins.

"BOOM!!!"

The purple-black beam of light pierced through the entire underground space, and wherever it passed, metal, rock, and even the Combat Puppets that failed to dodge in time were instantly vaporized by the high temperature!

Violent shockwaves mixed with scorching heat surged upward, battering the high platform where Sara stood.

Sara clung desperately to the railing, the gale whipping her long red hair into a chaotic mess.

Her pale face was drained of all color, and her pupils trembled violently, reflecting the apocalyptic nightmare unfolding below.

A monster.

That was a god-like monster that no human power could ever hope to defeat!

"Do you see it?"

Yue Uchiha's cold voice cut through the howling wind, reaching Sara's ears with chilling clarity.

"That is what you called 'power that belongs to no one.' Now, it belongs to Anrokuzan."

Yue walked to Sara's side, looking down at the desperate battle below with a tone filled with cruel rationality:

"This is the reality of the ninja world. Ideals without power are more laughable than scrap paper. Although those two Konoha ninjas are strong, their stamina will eventually run dry under the consumption of infinite chakra. Once they die, Mukade will take this power to the surface, turn your people into tireless machines, and reduce the entire Five Great Nations to scorched earth."

"And you, this noble queen, will only be able to stand in the desert, watching it all happen, moved to tears by your own 'pure' ideals that 'must never belong to anyone.'"

Yue's words were like the sharpest poisoned daggers, piercing her heart with every syllable, slicing the unrealistic fantasies in Sara's mind into pieces.

"No... don't..."

Sara's legs finally gave out, and she collapsed limply onto the cold metal floor.

Images flashed through her mind: her emaciated subjects in the Underground Arsenal, her mother's gentle smile, and then Minato and Naruto, who were being pushed to the brink by Mukade's lasers below...

If she did nothing, everyone would die!

Her persistence, in the face of this absolute power of destruction, was nothing more than a joke!

As for revenge, what could she possibly use to exact it?

"Let's go. While they can still hold Mukade back for a while, I will take you away from here."

Yue Uchiha turned, making as if to weave signs for a Body Flicker Technique, acting as if he truly intended to wash his hands of the matter.

"Wait!"

The moment Yue turned, a pair of trembling yet forceful hands grabbed tightly onto his black high-collared cloak.

Sara kept her head lowered, tears falling like broken beads onto the metal floor.

When she looked up again, the cowardice and innocence in her emerald eyes had been replaced by a desperate, reckless madness.

"If... if I give the power of the Dragon Vein to you..."

Sara bit her lip hard until she tasted the metallic tang of blood.

"Can you really kill him? Can you really let my people survive?"

Yue Uchiha stood with his back to her, the corner of his mouth beneath his mask finally curling into a satisfied arc.

He turned slowly, his scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan emitting a soul-captivating, eerie glow in the dim purple light, like a demon responding to the prayers of a believer.

"The contract is sealed, my Queen."