Orochimaru's words immediately brought Minato Namikaze and his team back to their senses.
He was right — now wasn't the time for talk. They could sit down and speak once the crisis was over.
Explosions echoed across the ruins of Rōran. At the center of it all, Naruto was already in a desperate struggle. The massive creature before him — the monstrous spider puppet Mukade had transformed into — seemed completely impervious to attack.
Its body regenerated as fast as it was damaged, an immortal construct powered by the Dragon Vein itself.
"Damn it! This guy just won't die no matter what I throw at him!"
Naruto rolled across the debris as the spider puppet lunged again, its limbs shattering stone. He gathered chakra into his palm and shouted—
"Rasengan!"
The spiraling sphere slammed into Mukade's abdomen, sending a shockwave through the chamber. But the effect lasted only seconds — the puppet's wounds closed as the Dragon Vein's energy poured through its core.
A deafening boom followed. Naruto was sent flying, crashing through a wall of the ancient tower. Dust and rubble rained down, but he forced himself to rise, clutching his side.
He gritted his teeth, forming hand seals in rapid succession.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!"
The massive jutsu roared to life, a hurricane of slicing wind surging toward Mukade. But to Naruto's horror, the puppet opened its abdomen — and absorbed the entire Rasenshuriken into its core.
His most powerful technique… devoured.
"What…?"
Naruto froze. His mind blanked. That was his trump card — and it hadn't even left a scratch.
Mukade's mocking laughter filled the air.
High above, Queen Sara watched helplessly, her hands trembling as Naruto's chakra flickered weakly.
Mukade's puppet threads lashed out, binding Naruto. Chakra conduits extended from the spider's body, draining Naruto's chakra into Mukade's own form.
"Sara!" Mukade's voice thundered from within the puppet.
"Why resist me? Once I rule the Shinobi World, you'll stand beside me — as my queen!"
His grin twisted.
"Don't be foolish, like that woman."
Mukade's words dripped with venom as he revealed the truth — Sara's mother had discovered his ambitions and tried to stop him. In the end, he had silenced her himself.
Sara's eyes widened. Tears streamed down her face as the truth struck her like a kunai through the heart.
Mukade continued arrogantly, "With your influence, I will complete my immortal puppet army. Then no one in this world will defy me!"
Sara clenched her fists. Her sorrow hardened into resolve.
"No!" she shouted, voice trembling but strong.
"I won't let you destroy Rōran again! I'll protect my people — with my own hands!"
Her determination reignited the fading fire in Naruto's eyes.
As if answering her will, the Nine-Tails' chakra flared within him — a surge of crimson energy bursting outward. The bindings snapped apart as the seething chakra cloak enveloped his body.
"You… you're forcing me to use this power!" Naruto roared, his voice deepened by the Nine-Tails' fury.
Mukade recoiled, his puppet limbs whirring frantically as he tried to suppress the rising energy. But the torrent of chakra was unstoppable.
The spider puppet's joints cracked and splintered under the pressure. Naruto's chakra tail lashed outward, shattering Mukade's restraints.
In an instant, Naruto was beside Sara, shielding her from debris.
"Stay back, Your Majesty," he said, still catching his breath.
But despite his efforts, Mukade's chakra reserves seemed limitless. The power of the Dragon Vein continuously restored him, nullifying every attack. Naruto's outburst had bought them a moment — nothing more.
Mukade retaliated, blasting Naruto backward once again.
Just then —
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
Thick wooden pillars erupted from the ground, catching Naruto midair and cushioning his fall.
Yamato appeared beside him, his eyes filled with concern.
"Naruto! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Naruto coughed, standing up. "But this guy's chakra… it's endless!"
Before Yamato could respond, Kakashi Hatake landed beside them, and moments later, flashes of yellow light signaled the arrival of Minato Namikaze, Akimichi Chōza, and Aburame Shibi.
Naruto's eyes lit up when he saw Minato.
"Big Brother Minato!" he shouted cheerfully, waving despite the chaos.
Orochimaru, standing at a distance, smirked quietly. His son calling Minato "Big Brother" — fate had a sense of irony.
Then Naruto froze. His gaze locked onto a figure standing nearby — another version of himself.
"Hey! Who are you?!" he blurted out.
"Why do you look exactly like me?!"
He tilted his head, eyes narrowing in confusion.
"Wait, don't tell me you're my long-lost twin brother!?"
The other Naruto — the one native to this timeline, Naruto — blinked in disbelief.
The Naruto from the future sighed, a black line forming on his forehead. This guy's exactly as clueless as I used to be…
Orochimaru's eyes flicked between them, intrigued. There was a clear difference — one carried a calm maturity, while the other still brimmed with youthful energy.
Minato, too, noticed the distinction. Both shared his chakra signature, both carried his bloodline — yet they were shaped by different paths.
"Now isn't the time for questions or reunions," Minato said firmly. "We'll talk after this. For now—"
His eyes flashed with resolve.
"Let's deal with the enemy in front of us!"
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!" Yamato shouted, thrusting his hands into the ground.
But before the wooden barriers could fully form, Mukade's colossal puppet shattered them apart with a single swipe. The towering construct, sustained by the Dragon Vein's chakra, loomed like a deity of steel and sand. Against its power, even Yamato's Wood Release felt as fragile as clay.
The others sprang into action.
Minato Namikaze moved first, his hands blurring as he hurled kunai and shuriken in rapid succession. Each weapon flashed with his Flying Raijin mark, turning the battlefield into a storm of yellow light.
Yet every impact against Mukade's puppet frame was meaningless — mere scratches that healed before their eyes.
Akimichi Chōza roared and expanded his body, crashing into Mukade's legs like a rolling boulder. The impact shook the earth, but the puppet barely stumbled before its joints gleamed and repaired themselves instantly.
Their combined attacks, impressive as they were, couldn't overcome the power of infinite regeneration.
Naruto's expression darkened as he analyzed the situation. Through the flow of chakra, he could see it clearly — Mukade was drawing directly from the Dragon Vein beneath Rōran. As long as that power continued to flow, his recovery would never end.
"So that's it… He's using the Dragon Vein like a life-support system," Naruto muttered.
He gazed up at the massive puppet form of Mukade — grotesque, mismatched, and inhumanly large. Despite the ugliness, Naruto couldn't help but acknowledge the man's genius.
To harness the Dragon Vein's energy to rebuild Rōran, and even create an army of chakra-powered puppets… that took real vision.
"You could've been a hero here," Naruto said under his breath. "But you chose greed instead."
If Mukade had only used that brilliance to strengthen Rōran slowly — rebuild its people's faith instead of exploiting them — he could have ruled not through fear, but through respect.
But blinded by ambition, he chose domination over development.
"He's just another fool chasing power," Naruto said softly, fists clenching.
Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze's sharp eyes tracked Mukade's movements. Between flashes of teleportation and volleys of kunai, he had finally noticed something — a faint flicker of chakra deeper within the puppet's chest.
"Naruto!" Minato shouted over the chaos. "His core — that's his true body!"
Naruto immediately understood. Their gazes met, and in that instant, words weren't needed. Father and son moved in perfect sync.
Minato gathered his chakra, forming a Rasengan, but not in the usual way — the chakra rotated outward instead of inward, creating a reverse spiral. Naruto's own Rasengan pulsed with vibrant energy beside it, glowing with his Wind Release nature.
"Let's do this together!" Naruto shouted.
"Right!"
The two charged simultaneously, their chakra resonating.
"Twin Rasengan — Taijū Rasengan!"
The combined power of their spiraling chakra created a radiant sphere — a vortex of energy that roared like a storm. Its sheer force surpassed even Naruto's Rasenshuriken, distorting the air as they drove it into Mukade's chest.
At that same moment, Queen Sara acted. Her hands pressed against the crystal conduit of the Dragon Vein, tears and determination mingling in her eyes.
"For Rōran!" she cried, cutting the flow of the Dragon Vein's chakra once and for all.
The luminous energy that sustained Mukade's immortality vanished. His regeneration halted. His puppet body began to crumble.
"Impossible… I am eternal!" Mukade screamed, his voice warping through the collapsing machine.
But the Twin Rasengan struck home.
A blinding light consumed the battlefield — the force of their combined jutsu tore through the puppet, disintegrating Mukade's body and the tower behind him.
When the smoke finally cleared, fragments of metal rained down like ashes. The ground trembled once, then stilled.
Mukade was gone.
Everyone exhaled in relief. The hum of battle gave way to silence.
Naruto lowered his hand, the remnants of the Rasengan fading into the air. Minato stood beside him, equally exhausted but calm, his cloak fluttering in the residual breeze.
Their eyes met — father and son, separated by time but united by will.
A faint smile touched Minato's lips. He wanted to ask so much — who this Naruto was, what future he came from, how his story would unfold. But he knew this wasn't the time.
For now, the mission was complete.
"You've done well," Minato said quietly.
Naruto smiled back. "You too, Big Brother."
Orochimaru, watching from a distance, chuckled under his breath. Big Brother, huh? Fate truly had a strange sense of humor.
...
TN:
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