Mukade clutched the gaping hole in his chest and laughed maniacally.
"You think you can succeed? Impossible! To prevent assassination, I used the power of the Dragon Vein to turn myself into a puppet. So, prepare to die!"
Wrapping himself in his cloak, his human body warped and twisted into a spider puppet the size of a small car, its head still sprouting strands of hair.
"Now you're doomed, Asakawa Kiyosuke! Even you won't be able to harm me!"
Certain that Kiyosuke couldn't hurt him, Mukade grew bold and launched his attack. But his strikes landed uselessly, failing to cause Kiyosuke even the slightest injury.
Instead, one of his spider legs was seized. With a sharp crack, Kiyosuke snapped it clean off.
Casually tossing the broken limb aside, Kiyosuke said,
"There's no such thing as true immortality. Why do you people always think you've obtained it? What's going on in your heads?"
Why did everyone believe that having power meant attaining immortality?
With a snort, Kiyosuke swung his fist, sending Mukade flying back. Minato seized the moment and hurled his kunai.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In an instant, his kunai multiplied into a rainstorm, striking Mukade's body from all sides.
But even though Mukade's body was riddled with holes, he remained mobile and sneered,
"I told you, I've already achieved immortality. You can't kill me! Allow me to show you the power I wield!"
Purple light flared from his body. The next second, countless puppets flew toward him, fusing into his broken form and restoring it. Not only that—his frame swelled even larger, becoming an even more monstrous colossus.
"I said it already. You cannot defeat me!"
With a roar, his thicker limbs swept out. Choza Akimichi expanded with Partial Multi-Size Jutsu to block him, while Shibi Aburame unleashed his insects to gnaw at the puppet. Kiyosuke leapt into the air and slammed another blazing punch into Mukade, knocking him back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted throughout the factory.
Minato shouted, "Looks like Kakashi completed the mission I gave him. Kiyosuke, we're pulling out!"
"Got it!"
As the factory went up in flames, the group retreated. But Mukade immediately drew in more puppet fragments, ballooning into a monstrosity dozens of meters long, dragging a massive tail lined with blades. His enormous upper body burst from the collapsing factory as he roared,
"You can't kill me! "
"Why do all villains dream of world domination?!"
Kiyosuke scoffed, spun on his heel, and swung his fist. A flaming punch like a falling meteor descended from the sky, crashing down on Mukade's head and slamming him into the plaza with a thunderous roar.
"We'll pin him down here!" Minato flung more kunai, once again using Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu to shatter Mukade's puppet body.
Choza bit into his clan's secret medicine.
"Super Multi-Size Jutsu!!!"
His body swelled into a towering giant, grappling with the massive puppet.
Bang!
Mukade was slammed into a high-rise building. Yet he showed no fear, whipping his bladed tail around to coil around Choza in an attempt to wound him. But Choza, despite his bulk, was sharp-minded. He quickly caught on and disengaged before the strike could land.
That gave Mukade a moment to breathe, and he twisted his body, lunging after Queen Sara and the others.
"You won't take another step forward!"
Shibi formed hand seals, releasing a surge of chakra.
Suddenly, Mukade felt himself sink, as though trapped in the drifting quicksand plains of the Land of Wind. A chorus of faint, buzzing sounds filled his ears, grating and incessant.
Looking down, he saw a tide of black insects gnawing into his body.
Shibi said calmly,
"My insects feed on chakra. Not only that, they reproduce at incredible speed. It won't be long before they consume your body completely. You have no hope left."
His confidence lay in that very fact—his insects held absolute advantage in speed and hunger. Surely they could devour Mukade.
But then, from the highest tower of Roran, a bolt of violet lightning streaked down, striking Mukade's insect-covered body. His form rapidly healed, while the insects feeding on him dwindled by the second.
"What? Impossible! This chakra… how can this be happening?!"
Shibi was stunned. His otherwise invincible insects were failing here, and he could hardly believe it.
"Anything's possible. We'll have to shut down the Dragon Vein. Minato, you know what to do!"
Kiyosuke had already considered this. But sealing off the Dragon Vein wasn't his specialty—this was Minato's domain. His own sealing techniques weren't suited for it.
Mukade's puppet body drew its strength directly from the Dragon Vein's chakra. As long as the Dragon Vein remained open, he could continue to regenerate endlessly.
Kiyosuke wasn't the right person for this job.
But Minato was different. His girlfriend was a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, well-versed in sealing techniques, and she had taught him everything without reservation. Minato had mastered it all—it was perfect for him.
"Right! Naruto, take Queen Sara to the Dragon Vein!"
"Yes!"
"You won't stop me! With my puppet army, I'll announce this to all five nations!"
Mukade's delusions rang out, but Kiyosuke mocked him.
"Dream on! You can't even get past me, and with all that chakra you've hoarded, all you've managed to do is churn out a puppet army? Pathetic! Puppets aren't worth a damn!"
"Shut up!!"
Mukade bellowed, slamming his massive body down. But he struck only empty air. A blazing meteor of fire surged upward, smashing him back into the ground.
Kiyosuke's voice rang out,
"I told you—you're trash. Trash that never understands hard work, only leaning on outside power. The weak like you will always be erased by history!"
Mukade, who relied only on borrowed power and never on his own effort, was no real threat at all.
The real problem was still the Dragon Vein. As long as it flowed, it would feed him endless chakra to rebuild and strengthen himself. To defeat him, they had to cut off his power at the source.
Only by shutting down the Dragon Vein—pulling the plug—could they truly kill him.
That was Mukade's weakness, and it wasn't even difficult to exploit.
As for the people of Roran, they would continue living here. Losing the Dragon Vein wouldn't harm them at all.
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