Naruto: The Forest's Chosen (Mori Mori No Mi)

"This exhaust shaft connects directly to the Dragon Vein—a conduit for chakra that powers the entire city."

"The answer lies below."

Naruto spoke softly.

Sara let out a small hum, her breathing still ragged as she clung to him.

"Why don't you come down and see for yourself?"

But Sara shook her head, resting weakly in his arms, still catching her breath.

Naruto could only smile helplessly. He hadn't expected the Dragon Vein's power to be this overwhelming, even in indirect contact.

He turned to Sarai and Mako and said gently, "Your family is down there."

"I'll bring them up. No need for you to risk anything."

"Really?" Sarai's voice trembled.

Naruto gave her a reassuring smile.

Minato, standing nearby, added, "If they're really down there, we'll make sure they return safely."

Mako bowed deeply to Naruto, then gently pulled Sarai away.

Squeak—

Aburame Shibi opened the hatch covering the shaft.

"They're down below."

Akimichi Chōza was the first to leap into the darkness, followed closely by Shibi.

Minato cast a quick glance at Naruto and then jumped after them.

"Let's move. The Centipede is somewhere beneath us."

As he spoke, Minato's form slowly lifted off the ground, descending into the depths.

Naruto followed, holding Queen Sara securely as they dropped down.

By the time they landed, Chōza and Shibi were already examining the surrounding area.

Minato was quietly checking the network of pipes.

Bang!

Naruto, however, wasn't nearly as subtle. The situation was just as he remembered—no need for caution.

He crashed down, smashing part of the pipeline beneath him, creating a loud echo.

Immediately, every puppet overseeing the forced labor of the Rōran citizens looked up.

Minato and the others froze for a moment.

Is this even how a ninja is supposed to act?

Chōza and Shibi looked to Minato.

Minato chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "That wasn't me. Definitely not me... This kind of reckless entrance feels more like Kushina."

Sara blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Naruto to be so direct.

Of course, the puppets below didn't hesitate. They surged forward immediately.

There were many of them—and this was the puppet factory, after all.

"They're all powered by the Dragon Vein," Naruto muttered. "No wonder they can control so many puppets without manpower."

He didn't understand why such advanced tech relied on forced labor—but the engineering itself was impressive. Rōran's entire infrastructure was built upon Dragon Vein chakra.

But it was the Centipede—the mastermind—who had enslaved the people to build it.

As the wave of puppets charged, Minato shouted, "Heads up!"

"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"

"Secret Technique: Insect Jar Jutsu!"

But before the jutsu could connect, Naruto stepped forward and raised a hand.

"Shinra Tensei."

Buzz—

A powerful shockwave exploded outward.

All the attacking puppets were instantly blown back, crashing into the walls.

Naruto's gaze fell on the Dragon Vein seal formation—four statues forming a perimeter around a glowing chakra node.

"That's the Dragon Vein Seal. I just need to reach it to shut this down."

He nodded to himself and flew forward, Sara in his arms.

As they passed the laboring citizens of Rōran, Naruto flicked his fingers. Chakra surged.

Snap—

Dozens of glowing chakra threads lashed out, severing the iron chains binding the workers.

The clatter of metal echoed around them.

The stunned people stared, unsure what to believe.

"Everyone," Naruto called out, "you're free now. A battle is about to break out—get to safety."

"It's your Queen—Sara—who's come to save you. Follow her."

Minato and his teammates stepped in, helping to organize the civilians.

"Chōza, Shibi, I'll leave them to you. Get them out as quickly as possible," Minato ordered. "The Centipede might send a full puppet army after them. You'll need to protect them."

The two men exchanged a nod and sprang into action.

Chōza slapped Minato on the shoulder. "Don't just stand there looking cool. Be careful. If anything happens, signal us immediately."

Shibi adjusted his glasses and added, "The Centipede controls hundreds of puppets. No matter how strong that boy is, chakra won't last forever."

Then they turned back to guide the civilians.

Chōza used Partial Expansion Jutsu to lift the injured and carry them two or three at a time.

Minato took a deep breath.

"So... the real battle begins now."

Whoosh—

He hurled a handful of Flying Thunder God Kunai.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sara had reached the glowing seal array.

Sara reluctantly released her hold on him and approached the formation.

"Is it time to seal it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yes. If the Dragon Vein remains active, the Five Great Nations will never leave Rōran alone. Sealing it is the only way."

"The Dragon Vein will remain dormant from now on."

Sara knelt before the array, her voice solemn.

"In the name of the Queen of Rōran..."

She stretched out both hands toward the formation.

"I command you—cut off the flow of your power and be sealed once more."

Buzz—

As Sara completed her incantation, the seal beneath her—an ancient, eye-shaped stone—began to glow with a deep, ominous purple light.

"Hurry… follow the Queen's command!"

She pressed her palms downward. The shimmering curtain of violet chakra folded inward like a wave returning to shore. Layer upon layer of radiant chakra ripples spread across the sealing circle before condensing into the stone. With a final pulse, the stone eye slowly shut, and the glowing runes vanished into silence.

The factory ground to a halt.

All around them, conveyor belts froze. Half-assembled puppets hung in stillness. The energy that powered the city of Rōran vanished. The towers that once blazed with life dimmed and died, plunging the desert kingdom into eerie darkness.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

From above, thin streams of violet chakra threads—residual strands of the Dragon Vein's power—descended like ghostly vines.

Sara ran to Naruto's side, her breath quick and shallow.

Naruto's gaze swept over the lifeless factory floor, eyes narrowing at the halted puppet parts.

"What are you doing here?" he asked calmly.

A slithering voice echoed through the shadows.

Sara spun around.

High above, on the factory's overhead platform, a familiar figure emerged from the gloom.

"Shinnō...!" she gasped.

The man once praised as a healer now loomed like a specter of war. But Shinnō—known now by the alias Mukade—ignored her entirely.

Instead, he gave a slight nod to Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he greeted smoothly.

Sara's voice trembled with fury. "I've sealed off the Dragon Vein! I won't let its power be used for war ever again!"

"I order you, in the name of Rōran's Queen—stop the puppet weapon program!"

Then she glanced shyly at Naruto and smiled. "Did I sound like a real queen just now?"

Naruto smirked. "More like a fool."

Mukade let out a low, cruel chuckle.

"So... you know that much already."

"Then there's no need for you to live."

Still keeping up the act?

He stepped forward, cloak shifting behind him.

"The puppet army is complete. Your control of the Dragon Vein is no longer necessary."

Fwish—

A glint of metal sliced through the air.

Thunk—

A tri-pronged kunai embedded itself in Mukade's throat.

Whoosh—

In a flash of golden light, Minato Namikaze appeared behind him, hand glowing with chakra. He caught the kunai mid-air with perfect timing.

"In situations like this," Minato said coldly, "life and death don't matter."

Mukade's eyes widened. His body staggered—

But then, impossibly, the wound in his throat began to heal. The torn flesh reformed. The hole vanished.

Minato stepped back, eyes narrowing. "A puppet...?"

Mukade—Shinnō—turned to Naruto, who remained motionless.

"It's been six years... and you still find me," Shinnō muttered. "Even across time, you haunt me, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto's voice was level. "So what's next?"

"These puppets are already built. I can seal them away and dig them up later."

He glanced upward. "You surrender, and I won't have to get rough."

He rarely used Kotoamatsukami, and never casually. The Mangekyō's genjutsu could warp the mind too deeply—even for enemies. And especially not for scientists like Shinnō, who might be more useful alive.

"I am not Orochimaru," Shinnō spat. "I don't chase immortality—I seek domination. I will unite the Five Great Nations under one rule—mine!"

Naruto exhaled through his nose.

With a flick of his wrist, he severed the chakra lines trailing through the puppet army behind him.

Crash—

The moment the connection was cut, the rows of puppets collapsed like marionettes with their strings snapped. Their frames clattered onto the metal floor in a massive heap.

Shinnō didn't blink.

"You've grown stronger than you were in the future... But this is Rōran. And here—I am invincible."

A tremendous shadow loomed behind him.

A titanic puppet stepped forward, its towering frame lined with Dragon Vein conduits and ancient chakra seals. A monstrosity of both lost and forbidden technology.

"In Rōran," Shinnō declared, "my power is limitless!"

Minato's expression hardened.

He threw another kunai.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

With a flash of seals, the air lit up with chakra.

The tri-pronged kunai exploded into dozens—then hundreds—of identical projectiles.

Whoosh—!!

The sky rained steel.

A storm of kunai blanketed the enemy formation, converging like a net onto Shinnō and his colossal puppet.

BOOM BOOM—!!

Explosions rippled through the factory as kunai detonated on impact. The air roared with flame and steel.

Naruto blinked slowly, unmoved.

Minato's Shuriken Shadow Clone technique was in a league of its own—effortless, overwhelming, precise.

Debris scattered as the massive puppet and Shinnō's body took heavy damage—parts blasted apart, armor rent, joints exposed.

But then—

The Dragon Vein flared.

Chakra surged through their frames, and before their eyes, the damage began to reverse. Fractured steel reformed. Burnt fabric regrew. Seals re-etched themselves onto metal plates.

Naruto shook his head.

"Pointless."

He lifted one foot—and walked upward, as though invisible stairs formed in the air. Step by step, he approached the threat.

Shinnō narrowed his eyes.

With a sweep of his cloak—

Transform!

His body twisted grotesquely—flesh and steel merging in unnatural harmony.

In moments, he had become a monstrous six-legged puppet spider, its body bristling with vents and glowing seals, crimson eyes gleaming with fury.

His true form: A fusion of medicine, technology, and chakra.

A living weapon born of the Dragon Vein's curse.

"Hmph... This is my ultimate form—gah!"

Before Mukade could finish his sentence, Naruto raised his hand.

Swish—

The puppet's head was sliced clean off and soared through the air.

BOOM! BOOM!

The towering six-legged spider puppet exploded in a storm of shattered steel and chakra. Its limbs collapsed in a heap of twisted metal, smoke hissing from its joints.

Naruto caught the severed head in one hand, studying it with a calm, analytical gaze.

"Unlike Sasori... at least he left behind a heart."

He tightened his grip.

"But no matter how well you hide it, there's always a weakness."

"You're brilliant. No one denies that."

"You compressed all your chakra into this puppet head."

"With the Dragon Vein's power, you really were immortal here in Rōran."

He paused, thoughtful, before sighing.

"But there are too many things I still don't understand..."

"…Forget it. I'm not in the mood to ask."

Buzz—

As he spoke, the dense cluster of fruits—Mori-Mori no Mi clones—began to glow and activate.

The head in Naruto's hand trembled violently.

"W-What... what kind of power is this?!"

"Aaahhh—!!"

Mukade's distorted voice screamed from the puppet head as it convulsed. Chakra lines snapped and frayed. The last remnants of energy—the artificial life—were being drained away.

In moments, every drop of Dragon Vein-infused chakra within the puppet head was completely absorbed by Naruto.

He exhaled lightly, chakra pulsing around him.

"Even your soul was embedded in the chakra... No wonder the Dragon Vein could sustain your existence."

Off to the side, Minato's eyes widened.

What... what just happened?

Was the battle really over? That quickly?

His future son... was this powerful?

It was no surprise that Minato was stunned. The scale of Naruto's abilities went far beyond anything he had encountered in his own time.

Finally, Naruto turned to him.

"Come on. Let's head to the underground palace."

"It's time to seal the Dragon Vein chakra."

"And return to the future."

…

TN:

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