Endings and Farewells

"Has the Dragon Vein been sealed?"

"Yes, Anrokuzan can no longer continue to stir up trouble."

Facing Namikaze Minato's inquiry, Sara gave him an incredibly certain answer.

"By the way, Dad, how did you get here?"

Naruto Uzumaki asked in confusion, then his expression changed as he said, "Don't tell me Mukade was already taken care of by you, Uchiha Aoba, and Uncle Choza before this."

"Damn it, I wanted to show off a bit too."

"Ha. Ha..."

Namikaze Minato looked at his son's frustrated appearance and laughed awkwardly, "I am only a shadow clone; my true body is still fighting up above. After all, facing Mukade, who can constantly recover using the Dragon Vein, is truly too troublesome."

"The reason I came over was actually to help, but it turns out it wasn't needed."

"Aha, Dad, you're late."

Naruto Uzumaki chuckled, then clapped his hands, "The battle up there isn't over yet, so I still have a chance."

"Perhaps."

Namikaze Minato replied noncommittally.

As the Dragon Vein energy dissipated in Rōran and the transmission pipes providing power to the puppets turned dim and lifeless, Uchiha Aoba immediately sensed this with keen perception, and a grim smile could not help but appear on his face.

One must know that he had been fighting very frustratingly against the giant puppet that could constantly recover.

Attacking was a waste of chakra.

Not attacking meant only dodging around in a sorry state.

Regarding this, Uchiha Aoba could only say that he was currently extremely furious.

So, in the next second, looking at Mukade, who had not yet noticed the abnormality, he decided to go all out.

Following a series of rapid hand seals, chakra erupted from his body.

First was.

"Earth Style! Swamp of the Underworld!"

The entire central plaza was transformed into a swamp, and the puppet's massive body sank more than halfway in; not to mention moving, even struggling to break free was difficult.

"Trying to use this to stall for time, brat of the Uchiha Clan, it's useless."

Not having sensed that the Dragon Vein had been closed, Mukade was still laughing wantonly, "Hahaha! My chakra is endless, and how long can you hold out!?"

"Is that so? Then let's test it."

Uchiha Aoba sneered, and a shadow clone appeared by his side.

Then, both the true body and the clone performed hand seals simultaneously.

"Fire Style! Great Fire Annihilation!"

"Wind Style! Pressure Damage!"

Uchiha Aoba gathered chakra in his throat and spat out a fireball resembling a falling meteorite toward the ground. Upon impact, the flames instantly spread, turning the entire central plaza into a sea of fire.

Coupled with the high-density wind mass released from the shadow clone's mouth, the stirred-up gale caused the fire style attack to explode again within its range, turning the entire puppet into a giant fireball.

When Naruto Uzumaki quickly rushed up from underground, this was the heart-shaking scene he witnessed.

Not only did his eyelids twitch, but his expression also became incredibly dejected.

"So Uchiha Aoba was already this strong more than ten years ago; then I really have no chance to show off at all."

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Mukade's angry, roaring voice suddenly rang out, and the already tattered puppet body kept thrashing about in the arena.

"It's not over yet! The Dragon Vein will let me recover as good as new!"

"..."

Facing the death-throes of Mukade, no one paid him any mind, causing the atmosphere in the arena to become inexplicably quiet for a moment.

A few seconds later.

Even Mukade himself finally realized belatedly that the Dragon Vein had been completely closed.

Except for the lingering heat from Uchiha Aoba's combination ninjutsu making the air feel incredibly scorching, there was absolutely no movement in the arena; no one spoke, nor did anyone make a move.

It was awkward; Mukade was truly awkward.

At this very moment, he really wanted to ask if he could surrender and lose only half.

Simply put, he did not want to die.

However, not a single person here would give Mukade a chance to continue living or to cause more trouble.

Uchiha Aoba and Namikaze Minato had already locked their gazes onto Mukade, who had transformed into a centipede puppet, at the chest of the giant puppet.

"Any last words?"

As Namikaze Minato broke the silence, Mukade appeared incredibly flustered.

"Wait a moment, don't kill me! I'm still useful. I can provide Konoha with Sunagakure's puppet techniques."

"Foolish!"

Uchiha Aoba mocked him.

"Even if I kill you, I can still extract the puppet techniques from your brain."

"It will just be a little more troublesome."

Having no desire to continue wasting words on Mukade, and to prevent anyone from stealing his kill, he walked straight up to Mukade and delivered a fatal blow before the man's despairing eyes.

It was truly over now.

Namikaze Minato produced a massive sealing scroll from somewhere and sealed Mukade's corpse along with the remnants of the giant puppet inside.

With such spoils of war, Sunagakure would only appear even weaker before Konoha in the future.

"Your Majesty."

Namikaze Minato turned his gaze toward Sara and said, "The mission is now complete. Please write us a testimonial later; I need to submit it to the Hokage."

"No problem," Sara agreed with a nod.

A smile appeared on Namikaze Minato's face, and his tone shifted as he continued, "There is one more thing I must ask of you, Your Majesty."

"Is it about the Dragon Vein?" Sara sensed something.

"Yes."

Namikaze Minato confirmed.

"The Dragon Vein is indeed a very powerful source of energy. To prevent it from being exploited by others in the future, I request that you allow me to seal it completely."

"I see..."

Sara looked hesitant, clearly conflicted by Namikaze Minato's request.

As the Queen of Rōran, she knew well that the development of Rōran could not be separated from the Dragon Vein. After all, Rōran was located in the Land of Wind, a place not only lacking in resources but also possessing a very harsh environment.

If they did not utilize the power of the Dragon Vein, the town that appeared prosperous now would soon vanish into nothingness.

On the other hand, Sara was also worried that others might covet the power of the Dragon Vein after Mukade. After all, the ninja world was neither too small nor too large.

Everything that happened here would likely spread throughout the ninja world soon.

If they didn't seal the Dragon Vein, they would never have a peaceful day again. After much deliberation, Sara told Namikaze Minato her decision.

"I am willing to seal the Dragon Vein!"

And so, the group returned to the underground once more.

After nodding to Sara, Namikaze Minato took out a Flying Thunder God kunai and went to the source of the Dragon Vein to apply the seal.

It was not as complex as imagined; there was no need to carve any marks, nor did he even need to weave hand signs.

He simply plunged 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 happening?"

"It seems that since Mukade is dead and the Dragon Vein has been sealed, time will return to its normal trajectory."

Namikaze Minato walked back to the group and explained.

"In other words, Naruto, you are about to return to your own era."

"It's time to say goodbye."

Naruto Uzumaki realized, "I see."

"Then, Dad, Teacher Aoba, Uncle Choza, and Sara, goodbye!"

"You're quite composed, kid."

Uchiha Aoba crossed his arms and shook his head with a chuckle.

But this is a good thing, isn't it?

Being able to say goodbye calmly in the face of parting meant that the Naruto of the future was living a very happy life, accompanied by his parents.