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"Minato-sensei, haven't we reached our destination yet?"
Obito, visibly tired, sat on the ground. Despite being fatigued from the days of travel, seeing Nohara Rin struggling to keep up, he took it upon himself to ask on her behalf.
"Don't worry; we're almost there."
Minato glanced at his students. Due to a significantly detoured route, they had been on a forced march for quite a while; except for Kakashi, who was still holding up, Rin was nearly at her limit.
"Let's rest for a bit to replenish our strength, and then we can continue on our way."
After surveying the area and seeing no signs of anyone around, Minato allowed the team to take a break.
After a brief rest and replenishment of food and water, the six of them resumed their journey.
Upon arrival in Roran, both Obito and Rin were surprised to find such a thriving city in the middle of the desert, rarer even than an oasis.
"First, we gather information. If you encounter any puppets, try to avoid them. Obito, Rin, stay close to me."
...
After setting up their plan, Minato dispersed the team.
Although Kakashi was of the same age as Obito, his rank as a Chūnin and his experience in several challenging missions made gathering intelligence less difficult for him.
For Obito and Rin, this was one of their first missions since graduating from the ninja academy, technically breaking the rules. It was only because Minato believed he could protect them that they were allowed to join.
Gathering intelligence was straightforward. Minato quickly found something suspicious and located the citizens of the Roran Kingdom in a hidden basement.
Roran was a beautiful oasis city in the desert until six years ago, without puppets or Minister. It was after their appearance that the previous queen of Roran died soon after.
With Princess Sara still underage, all affairs of Roran were controlled by Mukade.
A celebration for Princess Sara was underway, but it was a trap. Anyone attending would be captured.
After gathering this information, Minato returned to the rendezvous point.
Soon, the rest of the team also returned.
"There indeed are many puppets here, almost all civilians have been turned into puppets. I planned to tag each puppet I encountered with a bug, but now I'm out of bugs."
Shibi's hand carried a bug, relaying information only the Aburame clan could understand.
Tsume added, "No sign of Suna-nin. It seems like the work of Mukade alone. But controlling so many puppets, even the strongest puppeteer in Sunagakure couldn't achieve this, right?"
"It must be the power of the Dragon Veins."
Minato frowned slightly. The Third Hokage's concerns were valid; if Sunagakure learned of Roran's Dragon Veins, they would undoubtedly conquer Roran to exploit the puppetry potential.
Kakashi suddenly spoke, "Minato-sensei, I think I saw other Leaf ninjas. Did the Hokage send another team?"
Minato, upon hearing this, asked with a frown, "Were they Anbu?"
"No, they were openly wearing Leaf headbands. One had black hair, another pink, and one blond. Hmm, the black-haired one is from the Uchiha clan; he had the Uchiha clan symbol on his back."
Kakashi briefly described the three people he encountered, opting not to approach them without understanding the situation.
Hearing this, Obito immediately said, "Uchiha? Minato-sensei, should I go take a look? I know most of the ninjas in our clan."
Minato shook his head, "No rush. Let's first confirm their identities. Kakashi, where are they?"
After thinking for a moment, Kakashi said, "Near the palace. They seemed ready to infiltrate where Queen Sara resides. Observing the terrain around that area, they might act soon."
Upon hearing this, Minato decided, "Let's head there! If we encounter them, don't engage immediately. Follow my lead."
The other five, upon receiving the order, promptly followed Minato towards the palace vicinity.
---
The next day.
Yōichi was preparing for his second absorption of the Star Stone's power. He initially planned to operate the machinery himself, but Mina, upon seeing him heading to the basement, followed after asking about his activities.
"Yōichi-sama, you lose consciousness when absorbing the Star Stone's power. I need to be there to wake you."
Mina said, lowering her head, then followed him to the basement to start the device.
"Alright, then I'm counting on you. But this time, use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to wake me, don't physically touch me."
Yōichi cautioned, fearing Mina might wet herself for the third time in the same place due to embarrassment, so he warned her in advance.
The Star Stone's power seemed also to enhance the chakra of the Sharingan. Although Yōichi was delirious during the last absorption, his brain activity was unusually high, and he felt his Dōjutsu strengthened afterward.
This made Yōichi highly suspect the Star Stone's power originated from the Ten-Tails.
Only the Ten-Tails' power could affect the Sharingan because the Sharingan descends from the God Tree.
After connecting to the machinery, Mina closely monitored the devices, setting a threshold beyond which she would immediately awaken Yōichi.
Preparations were also made for ice water in the room.
Once everything was ready, Yōichi again took out the Star Stone, placed his hands on it, and began absorbing the energy emanating from it.
As before, the Godzilla within him was awakened by the Star Stone's power, radiating intense heat throughout his body.
The Sharingan manifested automatically, with its three tomoe slowly rotating within the blood-red iris. At the same time, the chakra in his brain, influenced by the Star Stone, became highly active.
Hiss~! Hiss~!
The temperature in the basement rose, and Mina suddenly heard an unusual heartbeat coming from Yōichi's body, not resembling a human's, and growing louder.
Not just the sound, but Yōichi's body seemed to glow with a purple light, starting from his limbs and moving towards his heart, flickering on and off.
Like sequentially lit and then extinguished street lamps, the purple light from his body, following the strange heartbeat, converged towards his heart.
"The body temperature is getting too high; it's time to wake up."
Seeing the values approaching the threshold, Mina quickly formed hand seals.
In the next instant, four adamantine chains emerged from behind her, two binding Yōichi and placing him into the ice water, while the other two put the Star Stone back into its box, waiting for Yōichi to store it in a scroll.
As steam rose in large quantities, Yōichi, placed in the ice water, regained consciousness.
"I lost consciousness again."
Yōichi frowned slightly. Just enhancing the chakra of the Sharingan shouldn't have caused him to lose consciousness.
It must have been the influence of the Godzilla within him! During rapid growth, if there's a tendency to evolve, it will emit a lot of heat and nearly cease all activity. If the Godzilla within him matures, this issue should resolve.
Once his body temperature cooled down, Yōichi stepped out of the ice water, which had turned warm from his continuous release of heat.
"Yōichi-sama, you exhibited new conditions just now, even your heartbeat changed. Could this be dangerous if it continues?"
Noticing unknown changes, Mina put aside her previous embarrassment and showed Yōichi the footage she captured.
After watching, Yōichi was also surprised. The eerie purple light and buzzing sound spreading from his limbs to his heart, if he were to don a Godzilla suit, it would appear as if the reactor was gathering energy.
But now, his heart had returned to normal, as if he had been temporarily possessed by Godzilla's power.
"It should be fine, Mina."
After thinking it over, Yōichi continued, "Still, let's be more cautious and reinforce the seal."
With the Godzilla's assimilation effects becoming more pronounced in just two years, it was better to be safe.
"Then, should I apply another Four Symbols Seal? Two Four Symbols Seals can form the Eight Trigrams Seal, strengthening the sealing force enough to restrain even a tailed beast."
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, Mina."
As Mina approached, thinking to apply the seal immediately, Yōichi waved her off, suggesting, "Let's wait until next month."
This month he had the Succubus Body ability, which would cause Mina to lose control upon touching him, making the seal unsuccessful.
Moreover, Godzilla hadn't shown signs of breaking the seal. He was just concerned about being assimilated too quickly by Godzilla, ultimately becoming a mini-Godzilla.
"Alright then."
Mina agreed but remained somewhat worried, planning to consult with Kushina, remembering she mentioned sealing a beast within her, perhaps having experienced something similar.
After leaving the basement, Mina remembered to inform Yōichi, "Yōichi-sama, I might need to go out frequently these days. The medical team needs to produce more antidotes, so I might return late."
Yōichi responded, "Going out? Then have Gates accompany you. It'll be safer, and it'll give him something to do other than eat and sleep, which he's completely useless at now."
"Roar~!"
Gates, lying in the yard, growled in discontent upon hearing this, then comfortably settled back down.
His growth rate might have slowed, but life was comfortable; eating, sleeping, and even enjoying sweets and desserts, dreaming of honey, epitomized a fulfilled bear life.
Preparing antidotes indicated the village was bracing for conflict with Sunagakure, waiting to see who would make the first move.
With Leaf's preparations nearly complete, once the antidotes were ready, even the ninja squads had been dispatched early, and even Shikaku was probably already at Kikyō Castle making preparations.
With so much preparation, if Sunagakure didn't act, Leaf might initiate the war.
Within half a year, war was likely to break out.
Before then, Yōichi had nothing urgent, managing students with shadow clones, absorbing the Star Stone's power, establishing the Uchiha Welfare System, and finding time for Sage Mode training in Ryūchi Cave.
Although not yet at his peak, having absorbed natural energy for a year, Yōichi had slowly adapted to mixing it with his chakra.
His chakra, akin to a low-quality Sage Mode, was ready for attempting the Ryūchi Cave's sage techniques.
---
"Relying on stolen puppetry techniques, thinking hiding in this era would realize your petty reptilian dreams, causing us so much trouble."
Sasuke calmly unsheathed the Lightning Blade, aiming directly at Mukade's head.
Mukade, terror-stricken, tried to crawl away, pleading, "Spare, spare my life."
"Wait, Sasuke!"
"Hold on."
Despite the calls to stop, the Lightning Blade descended, its blade wrapped in lightning, cauterizing the wound to prevent blood splatter.
Naruto scratched his head, saying, "Sasuke, the mission was to capture alive."
"The mission encountered unexpected circumstances. Bringing back a body is the same. Who can guarantee no accidents on the way back?"
Sasuke turned the Lightning Blade, then eyed the person who had called him to stop, frowning, "I've noticed you following us. Who are you?"
"Don't worry, Sasuke. I and Sakura asked them. To some extent, they're on our side."
Then Naruto nudged Sasuke, whispering, "See that white-haired guy over there? Remind you of anyone?"
"Kakashi?"
Sasuke's lip twitched, then he approached Kakashi.
Kakashi, sensing Sasuke's unfriendly approach, defensively asked, "What do you want?"
Sasuke seriously stated, "Kakashi, in the future, stop reading those adult books!"
"Idiot, you're the one who would read them!"
Kakashi retorted angrily, asserting his dignity as a Leaf ninja, never engaging in the three forbidden activities despite his wealth, not even visiting the red-light district.
"Just remember my words," Sasuke said before turning to leave. Obito quickly called out, "Junior, what do I become in the future? Am I a hero of the Uchiha clan?"
"Sorry, but to avoid influencing the future, I'll seal all related memories, including my own."
Minato stepped forward, explaining after exchanging information that these three had traveled from the future using the Dragon Veins' power, similar to the recently slain Mukade.
Believing too much knowledge of the future could have adverse effects, Minato decided on the memory seal.
"But you're fine since you came from the future."
Then Sakura eagerly pulled Kakashi aside, asking, "Kakashi, isn't the Fifth Hokage, I mean, Yōichi-sama, with you?"
"He's not."
Kakashi rolled his eyes.
Such a bizarre bunch of unlikable descendants!
(End of Chapter)