Uchia Seiryu [250] (Patreon)

Chapter 250: My Past Self Unlocks the Seal for the Future

Originally, Minato intended to assign the less dangerous mission of sealing the Dragon Vein—accompanied by Sara—to the two children, Naruto and Gaara. After all, the main team responsible for buying time during the sealing process would have to face at least hundreds of battle puppets.

But what Minato hadn't anticipated was that Naruto was completely clueless when it came to sealing jutsu.

Considering that both he and Kushina were arguably the most skilled sealing experts in the ninja world, their son—if not a genius—should at least know the basics. Yet Naruto, inexplicably, knew nothing at all.

Minato glanced questioningly at Jiraiya. In Minato's mind, even if he and Kushina died, Naruto should have learned more than this from being taught by Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, feeling guilty under Minato's gaze, explained: after Minato's death, he had wandered the ninja world. The first time he met Naruto, the boy was already eight. Soon after, Naruto became Uchiha Seiryu's student, leaving little room for Jiraiya to teach him. After Naruto left the village, Jiraiya—having taken on a mission from Seiryu—finally had a chance to teach him, but before they could begin, they ended up here. So, Jiraiya could only say awkwardly, "I'm not really his teacher..."

Minato looked at Naruto—who was visibly excited to finally have the chance to fight alongside his father—with a complicated expression. He sighed, then brought Naruto and Gaara to the ancient ruins of Roran, where the Dragon Vein was sealed.

Upon infiltrating the Dragon Vein's sealing site, they made a new discovery: hidden within was a puppet factory. The workers inside were Roran civilians who had been replaced by puppets. Under puppet supervision, their faces were numb and filled with despair after enduring prolonged torment.

"That guy Mukade is truly despicable!" Naruto, witnessing the scene, was instantly filled with anger.

"I have to save them." Naruto took a deep breath and looked at Minato.

Minato met his son's determined gaze. From a mission perspective, the logical choice was to ignore the civilians and head straight for the Dragon Vein. Rescuing these people would alert the puppet army and start the battle early. But if they did nothing, Minato couldn't guarantee the civilians' safety during the sealing.

But Naruto, unlike Minato, didn't hesitate. To him, saving these civilians was non-negotiable.

Minato could tell at a glance that his future son's mind was made up—whether he approved or not, Naruto would act.

Kushina, our son is a kind person. I can't let him down, Minato thought. He turned to Sara, whose face was full of guilt, and asked, "Your Majesty, how far is it to the Dragon Vein's seal from here?"

"Not far," Sara replied.

"Good. Naruto, you and your friend stay here. The task of rescuing them is yours. But wait fifteen minutes before you act, okay?" Minato instructed seriously.

"Leave it to me!" Naruto replied confidently, pounding his palm.

"Minato, this..." Aburame Shibi hesitated—the mission would become much more complicated if they split up now.

"Don't worry, I have it under control," Minato reassured him.

Shibi said nothing more. Minato was, after all, the team leader.

After Minato's group left, Naruto and Gaara hid in a corner of the factory.

"I'll draw the puppets away. You free their restraints. Can you handle it?" Naruto asked Gaara.

"That's easy enough. But why risk yourself? These people aren't really our concern," Gaara replied, puzzled.

"Because they need my help right now," Naruto replied with a smile.

"That's it?" Gaara still didn't get it.

"Isn't that enough?" Naruto nodded. "Gaara, your father always treated you like a weapon. But now, no one sees you that way anymore. How you use your strength is your decision. If you don't know what to do with it yet, try using it to protect others for now."

"Protect others...?" Gaara looked at his hands. In the past, they'd been stained with the blood of both friend and foe. Under Rasa's constant conditioning to see himself as a weapon, Gaara had come to believe it. But now, someone with a similar fate was telling him his power could also protect people.

Stupid fox, your jinchuriki sure likes to talk big, Shukaku mocked from his own mental space, jeering at Kurama.

Dumb raccoon, if you want a beating, just say so, Kurama replied, not even lifting his head.

Kurama, you're not really lending your power to this brat for something so pointless, are you? Shukaku muttered, a little less confident after being warned.

Hmph, I just like this kid. What he does with my power is his business, Kurama replied lazily.

Well, I'd never lend power to my jinchuriki for something so silly, Shukaku huffed.

Fifteen minutes later, Naruto nodded at Gaara from the shadows. Then, in a flash, he leapt out, smashing the puppet who was whipping an exhausted worker with a single punch.

Alarms blared through the factory. The laborers looked up, dazed.

Gaara quickly formed hand seals. Sand on the floor gathered and wrapped around the shackles on the workers' legs. With a squeeze, the sand crushed the chains.

Battle puppets began converging on the crowd.

"Everyone, follow him and get out!" Naruto shouted, creating hundreds of golden shadow clones to block the puppets' advance.

Gaara crushed a supervisor puppet with his sand and felt something new—so this was what it was like to use his power to protect others. It felt... pretty good.

Snapping out of his daze, Gaara rallied the civilians: "Everyone, this way!"

The freed Roran civilians hurried after him.

Seeing Gaara leading the civilians to safety, Naruto smiled. Before, he and his clones had only tangled with the puppets to avoid harming the civilians. Now, with the area clear, he could fight freely.

"My turn!" Naruto shouted, facing a giant puppet. In a few breaths, he formed a Rasengan larger than the puppet's head and smashed it down.

Soon, the underground puppet factory shook to its foundations.

"Looks like Naruto's started. We need to move faster," Minato said coolly, watching the puppet army surge toward the factory. "Jiraiya-sensei, Shibi, and Choza, let's take these on. You take the Queen to close the Dragon Vein."

"Cursed Konoha ninja!" Suddenly, Mukade, dressed for battle and surrounded by puppets, appeared. Seeing Minato, his face twisted with rage.

"Fourth Hokage? Why are you here?" Mukade roared.

"Fourth Hokage?" Shibi and Choza were stunned. Their Hokage Rock only had three faces—who's the Fourth?

"Are you from the future too?" Minato narrowed his eyes, quickly deducing the truth.

Mukade realized he'd slipped, but quickly sneered. "Since you know too much, you'll never leave here."

With that, a puppet disassembled and merged with a giant centipede. Mukade took direct control and attacked Minato.

"Jiraiya-sensei, Your Majesty, hurry!" Minato drew kunai and threw them in all directions.

"Shibi! Choza! Let's go!" Minato vanished, reappearing behind the puppet, catching a flying kunai. Instantly, he formed a Rasengan and slammed it into the puppet's back.

But unlike Naruto's brute-force Rasengan, Minato's only left shallow marks.

Mukade spun the puppet around, launching a fierce counterattack.

Minato used Flying Thunder God again to teleport behind Mukade, this time targeting the chakra threads controlling the puppet.

The chakra threads snapped, but Mukade laughed wildly. "Useless! Out there, your trick might work, but near the Dragon Vein, I can reconnect the threads instantly!"

Forced back, Minato frowned. Defensively strong enemies were always tough for him.

…

Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Sara were trying to reach the Dragon Vein, surrounded by more than ten puppets. If this were his own timeline, Jiraiya wouldn't have cared. But here, summoning Mount Myoboku's toads risked exposing more people to the secret of time travel, so he fought his way through with ninjutsu.

"Wild Lion's Mane!" Jiraiya shouted, his hair lashing out at the puppets, hoping to stall them long enough to break through with Sara.

"Super Expansion Jutsu!" Choza instantly grew several times larger, intercepting Mukade's puppet.

"Shibi! Hurry up!" Choza called as he slammed puppets into the ground.

"I know, but evolving my bugs takes time," Shibi replied, guiding his insects to adapt to the metallic enemies.

"Uncle Choza! I'll help!" came a strong voice. A golden blur shot in, kicking Mukade's puppet, then slammed a Rasengan the size of a truck into its face.

"Naruto?" Minato was briefly stunned, then asked, "How's it going on your side?"

"I tore apart all those tin cans!" Naruto grinned, golden chakra cloak blazing.

"Damn brat!" 

Centipede, smashed by the massive Rasengan, roared and drew more power from the Dragon Vein. Metal fragments from all around the base flew towards him.

In moments, a puppet dozens of times larger than before formed, its massive body breaking through the ground.

"That's huge!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at Minato. He lifted his shirt. "Dad, help me—unlock this seal, and I'll handle him."