"What kind of monster is that?!"
After dealing with the dragon vein puppets on the outer edge of the Lost Tower, Minato's team discovered the wooden monster bursting out of the ground. It looked vaguely like a dragon, but twisted and grotesque, its vines lashing wildly as it smashed the surrounding buildings without discrimination.
With a low shout, Akimichi Dōza took the lead. His body expanded into a giant dozens of meters tall as he charged at the twisted wooden dragon and wrestled it head-on.
But soon, Akimichi Dōza realized something was wrong—the twisted wooden dragon was absorbing the chakra from his body.
Quickly pulling back, Akimichi Dōza said grimly, "Minato, this thing can absorb chakra. It's exactly like the First Hokage's ability. It's a monster made from Wood Release."
"Wood Release kekkei genkai? But the Wood Release project in the village was already suspended."
Namikaze Minato frowned in confusion, but the current situation gave him no time to think. They had to deal with the twisted wooden dragon quickly. Once it reached the residential area, the consequences would be disastrous.
After exchanging a glance, Namikaze Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished instantly.
Against a monster that could absorb chakra, a direct assault was risky. He needed to find its weakness before ending it cleanly.
Though if Kushina were here, she probably would have already used the Nine-Tails and blown the damn thing apart with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Inside the Lost Tower, Naruto found Queen Sara. At that moment, Sara was standing with the enslaved people of Loulan, trying to comfort them as their queen so they would not panic further.
But the people of Loulan had long since become numb. They simply crouched on the ground, holding their heads and muttering to themselves.
That sight filled Sara with guilt. It was her failure as queen that had caused the people of Loulan to suffer like this.
Naruto patted Sara on the shoulder and said flatly, "Your Highness, stop standing around. It's time to deal with the real problem, or you won't even be able to save the people who are left."
Sara turned to look at Naruto. "Naru—Mianma... have you already dealt with that bandaged old man?"
Naruto nodded. "There were a few complications, but it went smoothly. I have quite a bit of experience beating up old men."
Sara looked at him with a complicated expression. "So our next step is sealing the dragon veins? But if we seal them, Loulan's prosperity will disappear."
"I won't interfere with your choice," Naruto said, "but now that things have become this messy, Loulan can't keep the dragon vein's power anymore."
After saying that, Naruto walked toward the lower chamber. After Sara stopped him, the two of them headed to the secret room where the dragon vein core was stored.
On a massive altar, they saw the dragon vein core radiating dazzling purple light.
The chakra around the core was extremely violent, rejecting all outsiders. Only someone who had signed a contract with the dragon veins could approach it.
With Sara's assistance, Naruto's process of sealing the dragon veins went smoothly.
As long as the Four Symbols Seal and the Five Elements Seal were layered together, the connection between the dragon vein core and the outside world could be completely severed.
After finishing everything, Naruto looked at Sara standing beside him and felt a strange emotion. He hadn't expected that he would be the one to seal the dragon veins, not the Fourth Hokage.
At that moment, Sara, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "Mianma... you're a ninja from the future, aren't you? My mother once told me a legend—that dragon veins can travel through time and space."
Naruto nodded slightly, glanced at her, and said, "You want to use the dragon veins to change the past too?"
Sara trembled, then shook her head. "I want to bring my mother back. I really do. But changing the past is too dangerous. If history changes too much, the ninja world might collapse sooner or later."
"Maybe being changed is already part of history," Naruto said lightly.
Sara took a deep breath and stood up. "Forget it. You already killed An Lushan, who wanted to change the past, and that old man with the bandages. You can keep worrying about that kind of thing."
"Instead of that, I should think about how to adapt to life without the dragon veins."
"By the way, there's one more thing I want to ask of you, Lord Mianma. I want you to alter this memory. I don't want to know what happens in the future."
...
It took more than ten minutes to leave the Dragon Vein Altar.
Naruto erased the memory of his identity from Sara's mind, and at the same time removed all memory of Danzo and An Lushan's connection to the future.
After losing the influence of the dragon vein chakra, the twisted wooden dragon reverted into an old man.
Despite the backlash from the Hashirama cells and the rampaging dragon chakra, Danzo had miraculously survived—but he had completely lost consciousness, no different from a vegetable.
Naruto looked coldly at Danzo lying on the ground, feeling strangely emotional.
Konoha's once untouchable darkness had fallen in the past, brought down while working with a rogue shinobi from Sunagakure. Naruto wondered what the Third Hokage's expression would look like if he ever learned about it.
At that moment, Sara walked over to Naruto and Minato's team, bowed deeply, and said, "Thanks to all of you for eliminating the traitor An Lushan. Sara thanks every ninja here on behalf of the people of Loulan."
Then Sara looked at Naruto with confusion.
She felt as though she had lost something very important, but she couldn't remember what it was. What had she forgotten?
After completing Loulan's commission, Minato's team did not leave. Instead, they all looked at Naruto.
Although the crisis in Loulan had been resolved, Naruto was still full of mysteries. He knew Loulan too well, and he also understood them far too well. Clearly, he was no ordinary ninja.
Under Minato's team's stares, Naruto yawned and said lazily, "If you have questions, just ask. Who knows how many years it'll be before we meet again."
Kakashi stared at Naruto and asked bluntly, "You should be a Konoha ninja. Your taijutsu and ninjutsu are both Konoha's style. But in my memory, there's no one in Konoha with your name."
"Kakashi, stop."
Namikaze Minato stopped him and said to Naruto, "If I'm right, both you and An Lushan came from the future. It's natural for future ninja to know things about us."
"To avoid disturbing the past, you should return to the future as soon as possible."
Hearing that, Naruto said playfully, "Don't you want to know the future? In a few years, you'll become the Fourth Hokage and save Konoha."
"The Fourth Hokage... saved the village?"
Even though Kakashi and the others had mentally prepared themselves, they still couldn't help showing shocked expressions as they turned to look at Namikaze Minato.
They hadn't expected Minato would actually become the Fourth Hokage.
Hearing that, Minato couldn't help frowning.
He had already guessed that this mysterious man called Mianma came from the future. But the fact that Naruto casually revealed future events so easily made no sense. Wasn't he worried that changing the past would also change the future?
As if reading Minato's thoughts, Naruto sneered. "You're worried that knowing the future will change the future? Even I, the one from the future, am not worried. So what exactly are you worried about?"
With that, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside Minato and grabbed his hand.
Minato instinctively wanted to resist, but after hearing Naruto's strange words, he loosened his grip on his Flying Thunder God kunai.
The two moved to a nearby tower. Naruto removed the mask hiding his identity, revealing a face somewhat similar to Minato's, only much younger. Looking down at Loulan's nightscape, he sighed softly.
"Namikaze Minato... do you want to know what happened in the future, and why I became a missing-nin?"
The moment he saw that face, Minato froze, then nodded almost involuntarily.
Half an hour later, Naruto put his mask back on and looked at Minato beside him.
Minato's expression had already turned grave, and his gaze kept shifting between Naruto and Danzo's bodies.
He couldn't imagine that his own student Obito would attack the village. And he definitely couldn't imagine that the Third Hokage, beloved by everyone in the village, would become a foolish old man who let his comrades die one after another...
Naruto quietly appreciated Minato's changing expression before calmly saying, "Those are the major events that will happen in the next few years. I've told you everything. If even after knowing the future, you still choose to seal those memories, then there's nothing I can do."
Before the words had fully fallen, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique and disappeared.
After sealing the dragon veins, he could already feel that his connection to this time and space was becoming weaker.
Next, as long as Danzo—the medium—died completely, he might be able to return to his own era.
But until now, he still hadn't found Nagato.
And that was seriously wrong.
Sensing Naruto's chakra vanish, Minato took a deep breath before returning to Kakashi and the others.
"Captain Minato, that mysterious man didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Namikaze Minato shook his head lightly. "He only talked with me about Loulan for a while. By the way, there's one more thing we need to do. To avoid interfering with future development, we need to seal our memories of Mianma."
Although Kakashi and the others were doubtful, they still nodded.
But when it came to Minato himself, he chose to keep most of his memories.
He didn't want to know the future.
But the future Mianma described was too tragic.
He had to prevent those things from happening—even if doing so meant suffering the backlash of time and space itself.
Modified and modified... the Dragon Vein world has changed from returning to the past into a parallel world.
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