After entering the Lost Tower, Naruto and Sara walked slowly through the passage.
It was Sara's first time inside the Lost Tower, and she was curious about everything around her. She looked at the crisscrossing pipelines with a puzzled expression from time to time.
"As a queen, this is your first time coming to the Lost Tower? That's pretty incompetent."
Hearing this, Sara stomped her foot and said helplessly, "My mother never allowed me to get close to the Lost Tower. After I became queen, I was busy learning etiquette, so I didn't have time to visit."
"I see. No wonder Her Highness the Queen doesn't even know that her citizens have been turned into slaves producing dragon vein puppets."
As he spoke, Naruto pointed to the ragged slaves not far away, his tone full of mockery.
Sara frowned and leaned over. Sure enough, the group of slaves being driven by the dragon puppets were Loulan citizens based on their clothing.
Thinking back to the disappearances over the past few years, her expression gradually turned cold.
She had already guessed the real reason for her mother's death. It wasn't just because An Lushan wanted control of the dragon veins—her mother had likely discovered that he was enslaving the people.
Continuing forward, Naruto and Sara avoided most of the guards and eventually stopped in front of a massive gate.
As long as they passed through this gate, they would reach the place where the dragon vein core was stored.
Absorbing natural energy, Naruto used brute force to push open the gate weighing dozens of tons. The moment it opened, dense footsteps echoed behind them.
A large number of dragon vein puppets rushed in, surrounding Naruto and Sara.
Immediately, a skinny middle-aged man emerged from the crowd of puppets and said anxiously, "An Lushan came late to rescue you. Please forgive me, Your Highness Sara."
Sara stepped forward and stared directly into An Lushan's eyes. "An Lushan, can you explain why there are Loulan citizens in the underground of the Lost Tower?"
"Everything is for Loulan's prosperity. They volunteered."
Sara snorted coldly, her expression dark. "Then how did my mother die? Did she discover you were using the dragon veins for your own selfish gain?"
Hearing this, An Lushan dropped the worried look, stared at Sara deeply, and said, "Knowing too much isn't a good thing. Why can't you just behave like a puppet?"
"Come back with me now. You'll still be the Queen of Loulan. Nothing will change."
"Not a chance… I'd rather die than give in…" After a pause, Sara turned to Naruto and said, "Your Majesty Mianma, the situation is critical. You should run."
An Lushan stopped wasting words. Taking a step back, the dragon vein puppets fired countless senbon needles.
Each senbon was infused with dragon vein chakra, powerful enough to leave marks on steel. A human body wouldn't stand a chance.
Naruto raised his hand. A Rasenshuriken had already formed, and the high-speed rotating wind blades shredded the incoming senbon.
Immediately after, the dragon vein puppets were dragged in and torn apart into scrap metal.
Seeing this, An Lushan froze. He had planned to use this puppet army to rule the world, yet they were utterly useless against Naruto.
Were the dragon vein puppets too weak?
No. These puppets were far stronger than the junk from Sunagakure. The only explanation… was that Naruto was simply too strong—stronger than the elders and even the Kazekage.
Why did such a monster appear in Loulan? Did he also come from the future?
But in his memory, no such terrifying ninja had ever existed!
Before he could think further, Naruto had already appeared in front of him, grabbed his neck, and slammed him into the ground, forcing blood out of his mouth.
The dragon vein puppets didn't dare approach, afraid of harming An Lushan.
Choking on blood, An Lushan said hoarsely, "Who are you? There's no one like you in this era… Are you also from the future?"
"Also from the future? When you traveled here, who was the Kazekage of Sunagakure?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes, activating his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu and extract information.
But ordinary Sharingan genjutsu couldn't control An Lushan at all. Chakra still flowed in his body—it was obvious he was being controlled by Kotoamatsukami.
Just as Naruto was about to release the genjutsu, An Lushan's body convulsed and he fainted.
At the end of the passage, Shimura Danzo walked in with a reorganized puppet army, staring at Naruto and Sara with a playful expression.
"The leader of Uzumaki Village… we finally meet."
"Shimura Danzo. I thought you'd keep hiding in the gutter like a rat. Finally decided to crawl out and die? The dragon chakra in your body isn't stable."
Naruto didn't hold back at all—he could clearly sense the violent dragon chakra inside Danzo.
Danzo smiled meaningfully. "Thanks to you and the leader of the Akatsuki, I returned to the past and obtained the power of the dragon veins. I've never felt better. In this era, I'm confident I can kill you."
Looking at Danzo's self-satisfaction, Naruto was speechless.
The dragon vein's power was indeed strong—but compared to the Nine-Tails, it was nothing special. Had Danzo been hiding in the shadows for so long that he forgot what a real fight looked like?
Sara, standing nearby, looked confused. What did "this era" and "from the future" even mean?
Could it be that An Lushan, Mianma, and this bandaged old man were all from the future? But how could they travel back and interfere with the present?
Forming hand seals, Naruto created several shadow clones. Protecting Sara, he said, "Sara, go join those Konoha ninja. I've got some unfinished business with this old man."
With that, a shadow clone carried Sara away, while the real Naruto entered Sage Mode, forming a Rasengan in his hand.
Danzo pulled out a shuriken, infused it with Wind Release chakra, and hurled it at Naruto at terrifying speed.
The spinning shuriken could slice through steel. Even in Sage Mode, Naruto didn't dare take it head-on. He leapt like a gecko, dodging it, then closed in and slammed the Rasengan forward.
Boom! A massive crater exploded into the ground.
Not to be outdone, both drew kunai, coating them with Wind Release chakra, and clashed repeatedly, creating sharp sonic booms in the air.
Both Naruto and Danzo were masters of Wind Release, making it difficult to determine a winner in the short term.
After a while, Danzo's expression darkened. He said in a low voice,
"Uchiha-style body flicker… Rasengan… and even my secret Wind Release techniques…"
"The old man's guess was correct. You're that Nine-Tails brat who defected from the village… You should've been killed long ago."
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