"Has the Dragon Vein been sealed?"
"Yes. Anrokuzan can no longer cause trouble."
In response to Namikaze Minato's question, Sara gave him an unequivocal answer.
"By the way, Dad, what brings you here?"
Naruto Uzumaki asked in confusion, then his expression changed. "Wait, don't tell me Mukade was already taken care of by you, Teacher Aoba, and Uncle Choza before I got here."
"Damn it, I wanted to show off a little."
"Ha. Ha.."
Looking at his son's dejected expression, Namikaze Minato laughed awkwardly. "I'm only a clone. My real body is still fighting up above. Mukade's a real handful when he can keep recovering with the Dragon Vein."
"I came over because I wanted to help, but it looks like there's no need."
"Ah, you're too late, Dad."
Naruto Uzumaki chuckled, then clapped his hands. "The fight up there isn't over yet, so I still have a chance."
"Maybe."
Namikaze Minato neither confirmed nor denied it.
As the Dragon Vein's energy dissipated throughout Rōran, the pipes supplying energy to the puppets dimmed and went dark. Uchiha Aoba sensed the change at once, and a vicious grin spread across his face.
The truth was, fighting the giant puppet that kept recovering had been a miserable experience.
Attack, and he wasted chakra.
Hold back, and all he could do was dodge around in a sorry state.
All Uchiha Aoba could say was that he was furious now.
So, the next second, as he watched Mukade, who still hadn't noticed anything was wrong, he decided to go all out.
He formed hand seals rapidly, and chakra burst from his body.
First—
"Earth Release! Swamp of the Underworld!"
The entire central plaza turned into a swamp. The puppet's massive body sank halfway in. It could barely move, let alone break free.
"You think you can buy time with this? It won't work, brat from the Uchiha Clan."
Unaware that the Dragon Vein had been sealed, Mukade laughed wildly. "Hahaha! My chakra is limitless. How long do you think you can keep this up?!"
"Is that so? Then let's find out."
Uchiha Aoba sneered, and a shadow clone appeared beside him.
Then he and his clone formed hand seals at the same time.
"Fire Release! Great Fire Annihilation!"
"Wind Release! Pressure Damage!"
Uchiha Aoba gathered chakra in his throat and spat out a fireball that streaked toward the ground like a falling meteor. The moment it landed, flames spread across the entire central plaza, turning it into a sea of fire.
At the same time, his shadow clone exhaled a compressed mass of high-density wind. The resulting storm detonated again within the range of the Fire Release, turning the puppet into one enormous ball of flame.
When Naruto Uzumaki raced up from underground, this was the astonishing sight that greeted him.
His eyelids twitched, and his expression fell.
"So Teacher Aoba was already this strong more than ten years ago. That means I don't stand a chance of showing off."
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Mukade's furious roar suddenly rang out as the puppet's battered body writhed across the plaza.
"It's not over! The Dragon Vein will restore me!"
"..."
No one paid any attention to Mukade's desperate struggle, leaving the plaza strangely quiet for a moment.
A few seconds later—
Even Mukade finally realized, belatedly, that the Dragon Vein had been sealed completely.
Aside from the lingering heat in the air from Uchiha Aoba's combined ninjutsu, nothing moved. No one spoke or even stirred.
Mukade was in an awkward spot. A very awkward spot.
At that moment, he wanted to ask if he could surrender and only lose half.
Put simply, he didn't want to die.
But no one there was going to let Mukade live and give him another chance to cause trouble.
Uchiha Aoba and Namikaze Minato had fixed their gazes on Mukade, now transformed into a centipede puppet, at the giant puppet's chest.
"Any last words?"
When Namikaze Minato broke the silence, Mukade panicked.
"Wait! Don't kill me! I'm useful. I can provide Konoha with Sunagakure's puppet technology."
"Fool."
Uchiha Aoba mocked him.
"If we kill you, we can still extract the puppet technology from your brain."
"It'll just be a little more trouble."
He didn't want to waste any more time talking to Mukade, and he also wanted to make sure no one else stole his kill. He strode right up to Mukade and landed a fatal blow as Mukade stared at him in despair.
Now it was truly over.
Namikaze Minato produced a massive Sealing Scroll from somewhere and sealed both Mukade's corpse and the battered remains of the giant puppet inside.
With spoils like these, Sunagakure would be in an even weaker position against Konoha in the future.
"Your Majesty."
Namikaze Minato turned to Sara and said, "With that, the mission is complete. Please provide us with written confirmation afterward. I need to report back to Lord Hokage."
"No problem," Sara agreed with a nod.
A smile appeared on Namikaze Minato's face. Then he continued, "There's one more thing. I hope Your Majesty will agree."
"Is it about the Dragon Vein?" Sara guessed.
"Yes."
Namikaze Minato nodded.
"The Dragon Vein is indeed a tremendous source of power. To prevent others from exploiting it in the future, I ask that you allow me to seal it completely."
"I see..."
Sara hesitated, conflicted about Namikaze Minato's request.
As the queen of Rōran, she knew the country's development depended on the Dragon Vein. Rōran was in the Land of Wind, where resources were scarce and the environment harsh.
Without the Dragon Vein's power, the prosperous city she saw before her would soon be reduced to nothing.
On the other hand, Sara was also worried that, after Mukade, others would covet the Dragon Vein's power. After all, the Shinobi World wasn't so small, but it wasn't so big either.
Everything that had happened here would likely spread throughout the Shinobi World soon.
If they didn't seal the Dragon Vein, they would never know peace. After thinking it over, Sara told Namikaze Minato her decision.
"I'm willing to seal the Dragon Vein!"
And so, everyone returned underground.
After Namikaze Minato nodded to Sara, he took out a Flying Thunder God Kunai and went to the source of the Dragon Vein to place the seal.
It wasn't as complicated as one might expect. He didn't need to inscribe any markings, or even form hand seals.
He simply thrust the kunai into the source of the Dragon Vein, and it was done.
At the same time—
Naruto Uzumaki was enveloped in a white light.
"What's going on?"
"Now that Mukade is dead and the Dragon Vein has been sealed, time should return to its normal course."
Namikaze Minato walked back to the group and explained.
"In other words, Naruto, you're about to return to your own time."
"It's time to say goodbye."
Naruto Uzumaki understood. "I see."
"Then goodbye, Dad, Teacher Aoba, Uncle Choza, and Sara!"
"You're taking this pretty well."
Uchiha Aoba folded his arms and shook his head with a laugh.
But that was a good thing, wasn't it?
Being able to say goodbye so calmly meant that, in the future, Naruto would live happily with his parents by his side.
Before you continue