"If we don't shut that thing down, there's no way we can destroy this factory."
Minato pointed toward the device at the center of the factory, which was constantly radiating massive amounts of chakra.
Kiyosuke followed his gaze. Streams of chakra leaked out endlessly, powering the entire facility. The captured workers had been forced to help produce puppet parts. Each of them looked completely drained—clearly worked for far too long. If it kept up like this, they'd simply collapse and die from exhaustion.
Mukade, driven by nothing but his own ambition, no longer cared about anyone's life.
"There's no way we can shut that thing down, is there?" Kiyosuke pointed at the device. "If I'm not mistaken, it works just like the Dragon Vein, right? We don't exactly have the ability to turn it off, do we?"
The Dragon Vein was the source of Rōran's prosperity. Without it, the oasis in this desert would vanish and turn back into wasteland, just like what Kiyosuke and the others saw upon arrival—ruins buried in sand, only the towers and scattered remains still whispering of former glory.
As the Queen of Rōran, Sara had inherited the power to shut down the Dragon Vein. That was what made her ruler of the kingdom.
Of course, if Minato and the others truly wanted to seal it off, they had another option—
A sealing technique powerful enough to do anything.
"Then let's wait until the queen gets here. I can already sense Naruto and the others heading this way. Better to hold off for now. Hm? Was that chakra just now Kakashi's?"
No—the signature was weaker. It belonged to Kakashi from his younger years.
But weaker didn't mean weak.
"Kakashi's here? Perfect."
Minato vanished in a flash.
A short while later, he returned.
"Alright. Once Naruto and the others arrive, we'll move in."
"Got it."
They stayed hidden, watching and waiting. Before long, Naruto and his group arrived, bringing Sara with them.
When she saw the truth of the factory, Sara nearly collapsed.
She couldn't believe it—the loyal minister she had trusted all this time was behind this. The missing citizens were all here, enslaved and forced to work.
Rushing forward, Sara shut down the device. She herself had created it in the past, following Mukade's suggestion to channel a fragment of the Dragon Vein's power into it. She had never imagined it would turn into a tool for enslaving her people and destroying her country.
"What are you doing here, Your Majesty?"
A fat man in ornate robes with a curled mustache stepped out, looking down at Sara with cold, emotionless eyes. His voice carried no warmth, no panic at being discovered.
"Anrokuzan?!" Sara cried.
"What? That guy is Mukade?" Naruto's body tensed. Sasuke drew his chakra blade. Shino, Kiba, and Hinata all snapped into combat readiness. Hinata activated her Byakugan, spotted Kiyosuke's group in the shadows, and finally let out a small breath of relief.
With Kiyosuke-sensei and the others here, everything would be alright.
At the same time, she noticed countless chakra threads stretching from the factory's pipes, latching onto puppet parts and piecing them together into fully functioning weapons.
"This is bad. In a situation like this, not even Chiyo or Sasori would be a match for him."
Both Chiyo's White Secret Technique: The Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu and Sasori's Hundred Puppet Performance required large numbers of puppets to be effective. The more puppets a puppeteer had, the greater their strength.
But Mukade had taken a different path. He harnessed the power of the Dragon Vein itself to command his army, amassing a quantity far beyond Sasori's. With sheer numbers, even a Kage-level shinobi could be overwhelmed.
He hadn't spent these years idly.
And they'd seen what his puppet army was capable of.
Each one was stronger than a normal chūnin.
And there was no telling how many of them he had.
"I've already cut off the Dragon Vein's flow. I won't allow you to use its power for war. As queen, I order you—stop developing these puppet weapons and release the people you've enslaved!"
Mukade sneered.
"You've learned far too much. I can't let you live. A puppet copy will serve in your place just fine, naïve little queen. My puppet legion is already complete. I no longer need you to control the Dragon Vein. In other words—you're worthless now."
He snapped his fingers.
The puppets whirred to life, surrounding them in an instant.
"Hinata, Sara! Free the people. Leave the rest to us!" Naruto shouted.
"Right!"
Hinata and Sara nodded and rushed to release the captives, while Naruto, Sasuke, and the others braced themselves against Mukade's army.
"By the way, why are you so fat now?" Naruto demanded.
Mukade snorted.
"Leaf ninja… it's been six years since we last met."
"For us it's only been a few days. But yeah—you've definitely gotten rounder, Mukade."
"Mukade? That worthless little name? I discarded it long ago. I am now Minister Anrokuzan of Rōran!"
His voice rose to a roar. Something in him snapped at having his old identity exposed. His chakra threads shot forward, and the puppets lunged.
"Break through, fast!"
"Rasengan!"
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
"Fang Over Fang!"
"Eight Trigrams Palm Vacuum Palm!"
Their combined attacks blasted open a path, allowing Sara and the freed citizens to escape. The rest stayed behind, ready to settle things with Mukade once and for all.
"You won't escape!"
He didn't care that Sara and the people were gone. As long as his puppet army remained, no one could threaten his rule.
"A good opening…"
Kiyosuke grinned and raised his finger, pointing straight at Mukade.
A flame gathered at his fingertip.
"Fwoosh!"
A searing beam shot out, piercing Mukade's heart.
The man collapsed instantly.
"Hahaha, nothing beats a sneak attack." Kiyosuke chuckled, stepping out of the shadows alongside Minato and the others.
"Dad! Kiyosuke-san!" Naruto's face lit up with relief.
Kiyosuke glanced down at Mukade's fallen form slumped against the railing.
"Somehow… I don't think it's over that easily."
"Wait—no blood." Minato frowned. Mukade's wound wasn't bleeding at all. A bad feeling gripped him.
"Damn, I let my guard down."
"Hahahahaha!"
Mukade's 'corpse' suddenly let out a booming laugh, twisting itself upright in an eerie, unnatural way.
"I knew someone was hiding here. So it's you lot!"