Rōran Palace, Queen's Hall.
Just after the meeting had concluded and the plans to handle the aftermath of Mukade had been finalized, Queen Sarah sat on the throne, her face etched with exhaustion.
"It's not easy ruling a kingdom." Sarah muttered to herself in a tone full of weariness.
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind, and she reached for the chakra sword, crafted from the resources of Konoha.
It had been a gift from Uzumaki Naruto.
In Sarah's eyes, a whirlwind of emotions flickered—memories, love, longing, and a deep sense of responsibility.
Finally, all those emotions hardened into resolve.
"Don't worry, Naruto, I will uphold our promise and protect the people of Rōran!" Sarah whispered, her voice resolute, her gaze fixed on the chakra blade.
Clap, clap, clap!
Suddenly, the sound of slow, deliberate clapping echoed through the vast hall!
"Who's there?!"
Sarah's head jerked up, her eyes narrowing in alarm as she scanned the room for the source of the sound.
"Impressive, Queen of Rōran. You've matured so much since we last met."
A figure emerged from the shadowed corner of the hall, revealing a familiar face twisted in a chilling smile.
"You're, the Konoha ANBU ninja from before!"
Seeing the man who had once given her counsel not long ago, Sarah's face went rigid with shock.
"Yes, it's me."
Aizen smiled in response, but gone was the warmth from before—what remained was a cold, sinister expression that sent shivers down her spine.
"What's your purpose in coming here?" Sarah demanded, her eyes locked onto Aizen, tension rippling through her body.
While she had once held a good impression of Aizen, their time together had been brief. His sudden appearance now raised her suspicions.
"You already know the answer, don't you?" Aizen's smile widened, exuding an unsettling aura.
"Just like Mukade, you desire the power of the Dragon Vein!" Sarah's face darkened, her expression one of pure disgust.
"That's right," Aizen admitted freely, his voice eerily calm.
"Never! I will never allow someone like you to take the power of the Dragon Vein!" Sarah's eyes flared with determination.
"Oh, is that so." Aizen sighed, shaking his head in apparent disappointment. "How unfortunate."
His demeanor suggested her defiance was more of a nuisance than a real obstacle.
Then, in an instant, Aizen's figure blurred—vanishing from his position and reappearing directly in front of Sarah!
Boom!
Aizen's hand shot out, seizing Sarah by the throat and slamming her into the throne's backrest with a brutal force.
Sarah's hands instinctively flew to Aizen's iron grip, her face turning a sickening shade of red as veins bulged across her skin. A strangled gasp escaped her lips, but no sound followed.
She struggled against him, her fingers desperately clawing at his arm, but it was futile—his strength was overwhelming, far beyond anything she could resist.
Moments later, as her vision began to blur, on the verge of blacking out, Aizen suddenly released her, allowing her to fall forward, gasping for air.
"Ah... ah...!"
She gulped down breaths of precious air, her hands clutching her bruised throat, but despite the pain, her defiant spirit hadn't broken.
Sarah opened her mouth, her voice hoarse but determined. She wasn't about to give in.
However, as she prepared to scream for the Rōran guards stationed outside, Aizen's calm voice cut through her attempt.
"Don't bother. I killed everyone outside when I entered."
His smile remained, but it was that smile—so cold, so detached—that sent a wave of terror crashing over her.
Sarah froze, her body stiff with horror. Her last hope had been snuffed out in a single sentence.
After a while, Sarah came back to her senses, tears brimming in her eyes as she cried out to Aizen, "You. you devil! How could you do this to Rōran? Why would you slaughter our people like this?!"
Her voice trembled with a mixture of sorrow and anguish.
"If you don't hand over the Dragon Vein, not just those outside, but all of Rōran will perish," Aizen replied, his words cold and merciless, devoid of any sympathy as he looked at Sarah, who wept before him.
"…"
Sarah's expression froze. She stared blankly at Aizen, as though her soul had been ripped from her body. Her mind struggled to process the situation, but the reality of her powerlessness weighed heavily on her heart.
After what felt like an eternity, Sarah made a decision. She forced a sad smile at Aizen and spoke softly, "Fine. I'll do it. I promise to give you the Dragon Vein, but only if you promise—"
In the conflict between protecting the Dragon Vein and saving her people, Sarah had made her choice.
However, before she could finish her sentence—
Puff!
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed throughout the chamber.
Sarah's eyes widened in horror, pain, and disbelief. She glanced down, and there it was—a short sword embedded deep into her abdomen.
It was none other than the chakra sword that Uzumaki Naruto had given her, now wielded by Aizen.
At some point, Aizen had seized the weapon and used it to impale her without hesitation.
"I only lied to play with you," Aizen said, his tone dripping with malice. "I don't need your permission to take the Dragon Vein. Whether you offered it willingly or not, everyone in Rōran was going to die anyway. I can't afford for anyone to leak the truth about my acquisition."
"That's right," he continued with a sadistic grin, "the only fate awaiting Rōran is death."
Each word from Aizen's mouth cut through Sarah like a blade, her pale face growing even whiter with every sentence.
As the final words echoed in her ears, Sarah's body, already burdened with pain and despair, could no longer support her. She crumbled to the floor, powerless.
In her last moments, a faint image came to her mind—Naruto's beaming face, his thumb raised high in confidence. She could almost hear his voice, reassuring her once again.
"I'm sorry, Naruto," she whispered in her fading consciousness, "I… couldn't keep our promise."
With those last thoughts, Sarah's world went dark, her soul sinking into the abyss.
Aizen felt the final threads of Sarah's life snap, but he wasn't done yet.
He knelt beside her lifeless body and placed his palm over her forehead. A wave of destructive spiritual energy surged from him, obliterating any remnants of Sarah's soul and spiritual power.
Sarah, Queen of Rōran, had been utterly annihilated by Aizen.
With a cruel smile, Aizen wrapped Sarah's body in Earth Style jutsu, concealing her remains, and proceeded to the sealed chamber where the Dragon Vein lay dormant.
After giving Sarah's body what he mockingly called a "proper burial," Aizen turned his attention to the task at hand.
Standing before the space-time seal set by Minato, the Fourth Hokage, Aizen's lips twisted into a mocking grin.
With a swift series of intricate hand signs and dazzling jutsu, Aizen broke through the seal, releasing the Dragon Vein's immense energy.
Boom!
The moment the Dragon Vein was unsealed, all of Rōran trembled violently.
Across the kingdom, panic spread among the citizens, who felt a terrible foreboding deep within their hearts.
As the enormous surge of purple chakra erupted beneath the palace, Aizen's eyes lit up with excitement. The sheer scale of energy thrilled him.
Opening his palm, he summoned a small, black orb that glowed faintly with a bluish light. The Ninja world version of the Hōgyoku floated in front of him, radiating an otherworldly aura.
"This Hōgyoku contains the genetic energy of Asura's chakra, along with the bloodlines of two Senju: Senju Nawaki and Senju Ryuken."
Aizen's voice dripped with satisfaction.
"Now, with the Dragon Vein's energy as its nourishment, the true power of the Senju shall awaken—the Body of the Sage!"
...
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