"Hmm?"
"Return them to you?"
Sara looked confused, clearly not understanding what they were talking about.
The woman leading the group mistook Sara's expression for feigned ignorance and raised her voice.
"Please return them to us."
"Otherwise, who knows what will happen to you."
"We mean it."
Seeing the lead woman take a step forward, Naruto immediately raised his chakra blade in warning.
Instantly, the woman and those beside her were visibly startled.
Under Naruto's threat, the leader hesitated. After a moment's thought, she gritted her teeth, then removed her veil, revealing a delicate, refined face.
She gave a slight bow toward Sara, her tone gentle yet composed.
"My apologies. My name is Masako."
Following her lead, the people around her also removed their veils. One of the women beside Masako spoke up.
"I'm Sarai."
"We're not suspicious people."
Masako stepped forward again and addressed Sara, her voice filled with earnestness.
"All of us gathered here today have come to beg a favor from you."
Sara glanced at the surrounding people and turned to Masako, puzzled.
"What do you mean by 'return them to you'?"
"What do you want me to return?"
Masako straightened her posture and met Sara's gaze, speaking with conviction.
"Our families were taken away one morning."
"They say... it was under your orders."
Sara, who had never given such an order, instinctively refuted the claim, her voice firm.
"That's impossible."
"You're lying."
"I never gave any such order."
Sarai, standing next to Masako, responded sarcastically.
"Oh, really?"
"But both my father and brother were taken."
Masako added with a heavy tone:
"We've heard they're being held somewhere in this place, forced to manufacture weapons of war for you, Queen Sara."
"So we're begging you… please, give our families back."
Naruto and Sara listened intently to Masako's plea on behalf of the crowd.
Then, Naruto lowered his chakra blade and turned to Sara, his voice steady.
"Sara… this is exactly what my dad and the others told me about."
Still clinging to her denial, Sara responded sharply:
"They're just trying to deceive me."
She pointed to the puppet cheering wildly nearby.
"Look. If I'd really done something like that, would I be welcomed by so many citizens?"
Sarai stared at her.
"Those aren't citizens welcoming you."
"Even the queen up there in the stands… is just another puppet."
Her words struck a nerve deep within Sara, shattering her fragile delusions. For a moment, she stood frozen.
Naruto stepped forward, determined to open her eyes. After a pause, he drew his chakra blade from his waist and flung it into the air.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sara, unsure of what he was doing, watched silently.
With expert precision, Naruto sliced through several chakra threads controlling the puppets. As the spinning blade returned to his hand, he rushed into the puppet crowd and dragged one over, placing it in front of Sara.
"Sara. Look closely."
Sara looked down, and gasped.
"No… it can't be…"
The truth was right before her: the "people" cheering in the plaza were all puppets.
To completely break her illusion, Naruto crouched beside the puppet, placing his hand on its body.
"Look again."
Chakra surged from Naruto, enveloping the puppet. The chakra threads embedded in its form suddenly became visible, extending all the way into the Ryūmyaku energy conduit system.
"See them?"
"These are the chakra threads that control the puppets."
Naruto ripped away the final veil from Sara's eyes.
"That bastard Anrokuzan... he planned to turn you into a puppet too."
Sara, devastated by the mounting evidence, screamed at Naruto.
"No! That's impossible!"
"Anrokuzan would never do such a thing!"
With that, she turned and charged into the crowd of puppets, disappearing among them.
Naruto called out in panic and ran after her, but she was already gone from sight.
"Sara! Sara! Sara!!"
He shouted her name, his voice filled with urgency.
Overwhelmed by the ironclad truth, all Sara wanted now was silence. She needed time to fully accept the reality.
Watching silently from the shadows, Minato, Shibi, and Chōza gave Naruto a silent thumbs-up.
They could all see it, Sara was beginning to accept the truth.
And with that, the possibility of her helping to seal the Ryūmyaku had finally appeared.
Time passed.
The puppets in the plaza began to disperse once more. Naruto, who had been searching tirelessly for Sara, finally heard a faint sound and found her, sitting alone and helpless in a secluded corner.
"Dragon path to be protected~~"
She was humming softly.
Naruto approached slowly.
"I remember the first time I saw you… you were singing that same song."
Sara stopped humming and turned to him.
"My mother taught it to me…"
...
Meanwhile, Veigar, who had been absorbing the Ryūmyaku's power, had finally reached the final threshold.
Only one percent remained until full synchronization.
Just one step away from achieving his long-awaited goal, Veigar was suddenly met with resistance.
A horde of puppet soldiers surrounded him.
"So… they've finally caught on."
Unfazed, Veigar popped another ration pill into his mouth, his demeanor completely calm.
This situation was exactly what he had anticipated. If he hadn't been exposed by now, he would've found it suspicious. That would've meant Mukade was far more incompetent than expected.
Veigar had already noticed, since he diverted a portion of the Ryūmyaku's energy, several of the towering structures powered by it had begun to shut down.
Given that Mukade oversaw all of Rōran's towers, there was no way he wouldn't eventually realize the theft.
Now, Mukade had finally tracked down the one stealing the Ryūmyaku's energy—Veigar.
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