---Third POV---
"What is this?"
Naruto instinctively asked the reliable person beside him. However, after waiting a few seconds without hearing Ryouma's reply, he looked down at him and realized that Ryouma was staring intently ahead, murmuring to himself.
"Holy crap, can the Ryūmyaku even do something like this?"
At this moment, the entire map of Rōran was reflected in his Rikugan.
In the central plaza of Rōran, a blue mist spread out, shimmering with a faint glow. One by one, figures dressed in traditional Rōran attire stepped out from the fog. Among them, a tall man with a full beard walked steadily over to Shiho, who was kneeling on the ground praying with his head in his hands, and patted him on the shoulder.
"How did we get out of the factory? Did Anrokuzan agree to let us go?"
Hearing that familiar yet distant voice, Shiho looked up and instantly widened his eyes in shock.
"F-Father! Am I… already dead?"
Realizing this, he pinched his own thigh hard. Feeling the pain, he muttered to himself, "So you can still feel pain after death..."
"You idiot, what are you talking about? I asked you a question!"
Shiho's father seemed to be a hot-tempered man. Seeing his son not answering properly and instead talking nonsense about being dead, he angrily smacked the back of Shiho's head.
Similar scenes kept appearing across this time-crossed Rōran. Some, like Shiho, were simply reunited with deceased loved ones. Others not only saw their loved ones return but even reverted to their childhood forms.
In an instant, the central plaza of Rōran became bustling with activity.
---
Next to Sāra, a beautiful woman in a shrine maiden's robe emerged from the mist. She was the previous Queen of Rōran, Sēramu.
Seeing the figure she had dreamed of and longed for every day, Sāra's eyes immediately filled with tears. She had so much to say, but it all got stuck in her throat, and all that came out were muffled sobs whose meaning even she couldn't understand.
"Sāra?"
Sēramu looked at her daughter in confusion, not understanding why her expression had suddenly changed like that.
Hearing her mother's familiar voice, Sāra couldn't hold it in any longer. Her tears flowed like a broken dam. "Waaa… Mother… you're finally back…"
Though she didn't understand why Sāra had broken down so suddenly, Sēramu still pulled her into a comforting embrace, gently patting her back. She felt as if she had just woken from a dream the night before, and the next thing she knew, she was here at the Ryūmyaku.
Thinking of the Ryūmyaku, she quickly looked around and noticed the place was a complete mess, broken walls and ruins everywhere, nothing like the Ryūmyaku's usual central chamber.
"Is this… the Source of the Ryūmyaku? How did it end up like this?"
Hearing Sēramu's question, Sāra, still in her mother's arms, trembled slightly but pretended not to hear it, like a little ostrich burying its head in the sand.
Sasori, watching all this unfold and considering their partnership, finally spoke up, "It was your daughter who used the Ryūmyaku's… huh?"
Just halfway through his sentence, he suddenly felt something strange about his voice. Realizing the effects of the Dragon Fate Reversal, he hurriedly patted down his own body. In the end, he had no choice but to accept the reality: he had also reverted to his childhood form.
His original puppet body had vanished. What he had now was, without a doubt, his real, human body.
"How did this happen!"
He stomped the ground in frustration.
The Dragon Fate Reversal was a technique that maximized the Ryūmyaku's ability to transcend time and space. It was a jutsu that was extremely difficult to control precisely. Although with Sāra's cooperation, he had done his best to keep the technique within its optimal parameters, so some degree of error was inevitable during actual execution.
For example, it was like a large-scale area attack that could hit allies as well. But what truly irritated him wasn't that.
It was himself.
Because the Dragon Fate Reversal, when activated by the Ryūmyaku's energy, would revert everyone within its area to the time they most longed for in their heart.
And now that he had turned into a child... Did that mean, deep down, he actually didn't like his puppet body?
Just thinking about that made him even angrier.
---
Meanwhile, Ryouma, having confirmed that the rain wasn't dangerous, stepped out from under the stone with Naruto. This time, without the light pillar formed by the Ryūmyaku blocking the way, the two smoothly made their way to the Source of the Ryūmyaku and confronted Sasori directly.
Having witnessed the entire process of Sasori reverting from his puppet form to a child, he couldn't help but ask, "How does it feel to be a kid again? So your jutsu doesn't even differentiate between friend and foe?"
Now that all the people in Rōran were immersed in the joy of reuniting with their loved ones, he seemed to have a pretty good idea of what Sasori and Sāra were planning. Probably just another "we're fed up with the shinobi world, so let's use some massive technique to create a new one" kind of scheme.
But despite being mocked, Sasori wasn't irritated at all. In fact, he calmly and patiently clapped back.
"The effect of this technique is to return a person to the moment they most desired. I just didn't expect that the great war hero of Konoha would most want to return to when he was four or five years old."
Hearing that, Naruto looked closely at Ryouma again and clapped his hands in realization: "Whoa, you really do look a bit younger now! Something good must've happened in Konoha around that time, huh?"
Ryouma twitched at the corner of his mouth and rolled his eyes at Naruto. How did this kid inherit none of Minato's cleverness?
Choosing to ignore Naruto, he turned his gaze back to Sasori. "So you and Sāra's goal... is it just to use the Ryūmyaku to revive your loved ones?"
"You guessed right. But my plan doesn't stop there."
Spreading his arms wide like he was embracing a new world, Sasori fully revealed the ideals he had been chasing all these years.
"War is nothing but the fruit nourished by hatred. But by harnessing the power of the Ryūmyaku to create a 'Lost Mist' that covers the entire shinobi world, we can not only bring back all those who've passed, but even freeze everyone's time. No more pain, no more suffering, no more aging, sickness, or death, everyone can hold on to the happiness that belongs to them alone, and live forever in a world that will never change. This is true eternal art!"
Here it comes, here it comes, the final villain monologue. Took its time, but we got there.
Ryouma listened to Sasori's passionate speech with a blank expression but a storm of sarcasm raging inside.
What is it with villains these days? Do you even qualify to step on stage if you don't have a twisted take on 'world peace'?
Unlike Orochimaru's almost maniacal manner when he shared his dreams with him, Sasori seemed to be carrying some emotional burden. Even though his speech just now was vivid and passionate, his expression remained nearly unchanged, just like his former puppet body. Perhaps wearing the mask for so long had made it impossible for him to go back to how he used to be.
He gently shook his head. "Your plan is doomed to fail. The power of the Ryūmyaku isn't infinite. It can't sustain the world you speak of forever."
"You're regretting it, aren't you? If it weren't for you disrupting the Ryūmyaku, the accumulated Lost Mist at that time would've been enough to cover half the shinobi world, including the Lands of Fire and Wind. And the fact that you were reverted to this younger age by the Ryūmyaku is proof enough. You've lost someone important too, haven't you? If all your parents, family, and friends came back from the past, would you still be able to keep up this hypocritical facade? Answer me! Ryouma!"
By the end of his words, Sasori could no longer hold back, his emotions flared red-hot.
If it hadn't been for those two attacks from Ryouma, he would have been like Sāra right now, able to once again feel the real warmth of his parents, rather than playing a fake game of house with two cold puppets. Given the current situation, it was hard to say how long it will take for the Ryūmyaku to fill with energy again.
Naruto thought this world was totally twisted. Sasori's words gave him the impression that maybe, just maybe, this kid wasn't entirely bad. Maybe if they talked more, he could be saved. It had to be said, Sasori's current childlike appearance was quite deceptive, especially for someone like Naruto, who had grown up in peaceful times.
"I won't deny your efforts," Ryouma said, "but effort alone isn't enough to accomplish everything in this world."
He extended a hand and grasped a small wisp of the surrounding blue mist.
"Maybe there really is a way to turn the world into the one you describe, but that way definitely doesn't rely on just the Ryūmyaku."
Sasori hadn't expected Ryouma to still be so stubborn even now. He was just about to argue back when a mature woman's voice sounded from behind him.
"He's right."
At that moment, Sēramu had already learned the whole truth from her daughter. To be honest, she was disappointed.
Next to her, Sāra, who had calmed down, looked confused. "Why? Don't you want to see me again?"
"That's not the point, Sāra," Sēramu replied. "Have you forgotten what I once taught you? The mission of the royal family of Rōran is to guard the Ryūmyaku, to prevent it from being misused by those with ill intentions."
As she spoke, her gaze grew stern.
"Now, listen to me, shut down the Ryūmyaku and return Rōran to the way it was."
"I won't!" Sāra clenched her fists tightly. It was the first time in her life she had shouted at her mother.
"What's wrong with the world that he described? The Ryūmyaku is just sitting there anyway, what's the point of guarding it? Why can't we try to use it? I just want to see you again, what's so wrong about that? Why are you speaking to me like this? And you Konoha ninjas, who invited you here anyway? Why do you insist on stopping me and Sasori? If not for you, everyone could have seen the people most important to them again, couldn't they? But it doesn't matter. Maybe the Ryūmyaku doesn't have much power now, but if we just wait, eventually it will be full again. And when that happens, we can still—"
Smack!
A sharp, loud slap cut her off completely.
Holding her reddened cheek, Sāra slowly looked up in a daze at her mother.
"Mother..."
Sēramu hadn't expected that Sāra would become like this after her death, but this wasn't Sāra's fault. It was her own failure as a mother.
"Sāra, the power of the Ryūmyaku doesn't only bring life to Rōran. Long ago, there was once a queen who, like you, tried to use the Ryūmyaku's power to change everything."
As she spoke, she reached out and gently stroked her daughter's cheek.
Sāra felt that her mother's touch seemed a little off. She turned to look, and saw that her mother's hand had turned into hard, rough stone.
"Your hand!"
"Oh... The petrification came slower than I expected. It seems someone weakened the Ryūmyaku's power before it went out of control."
Sēramu extended her other hand, hoping to stroke her daughter's hair one last time before the stone took over. But once petrification began, it accelerated quickly. Within seconds, it had already spread to her chest.
"MOTHER!"
Sāra had no idea how to stop it. Tears welled in her eyes as she clutched her mother's already stone-turned body tightly.
"Sāra... I'm so happy I got to see you again. But guarding the Ryūmyaku is the duty of Rōran's royal family. We who have become ghosts of the past shouldn't come back. So please, promise me, shut down the Ryūmyaku."
In her final moments, what this former Queen of Rōran cared about most wasn't her only daughter, but the duty passed down through generations. Responsibility was a strange thing. Some scoffed at it, while others treated it as their very purpose in life.
Feeling the will passed on from her mother, Sāra wiped away her tears, let go of the stone statue, and in that brief instant, she grew up. Her life had once been consumed by longing for her mother. Every moment seemed to be lived just for the chance to see her again. But today, she finally began to move on from that sorrowful day, learning to face reality, no matter how cruel it was.
Sasori observed the statue that Sēramu had become, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Hey, Ryouma... don't tell me you knew all along the Ryūmyaku had this kind of risk?"
Ryouma had indeed suspected it. After all, the Ryūmyaku's energy was essentially high-concentration natural energy. In response to Sasori's question, he casually shot back, "Have you ever heard of a Sage?"
"No."
"Oh. Then I can't be bothered to explain it to you."
Sasori's eagerness was met with cold indifference. He snorted and didn't ask any more questions.
Sāra returned to kneel atop the Source of the Ryūmyaku, and began to chant a prayer.
Naruto glanced at Sasori and asked, "Why are you suddenly being so quiet?"
He had expected Sasori to try to stop Sāra from shutting down the Ryūmyaku.
Sasori cast Naruto a complicated look,was this kid an idiot? He had already ended up like this, so what was he supposed to stop her with, his now-weak, powerless fists?
Under Sāra's control, the blue mist covering all of Rōran began to gather and retract into the Source of the Ryūmyaku.
Those who had come across time, now it was time for them to return to where they belonged.
Naruto raised his hands and saw his body begin to glow with white light.
"What's happening to me?"
"It looks like your journey is about to end, Naruto."