After Asuka reached an agreement with Sara, he didn't rush to take her to the Dragon Veins. Instead, he let her rest for the night.
After all, the events of the day had been far too overwhelming for a young girl, and Asuka wasn't completely heartless. He gave Sara a night to recover both mentally and physically, and also to ensure that her condition wouldn't affect her performance the next day.
After a night of rest, Sara's mental state improved significantly. She had clearly managed to calm herself.
When she saw Asuka, she spoke seriously.
"How should I address you?"
"You can call me Wu."
"Then, Mr. Wu, let me confirm one last time. You need me to help you control the Dragon Veins, and in return, you'll help me defeat Anrokuzan."
"Of course," Asuka replied. "Isn't that our deal?"
Sara had no other choice now but to trust him. Powerless as she was, she couldn't defeat Anrokuzan on her own.
Asuka picked Sara up. With a powerful push of his feet, he shot forward toward the location of the Dragon Veins. In a short time, the two arrived above them. After finding an entrance, Asuka jumped straight in.
Under the vision of his Byakugan, the location of the Dragon Veins was already clear. He led Sara through a series of winding tunnels, rapidly approaching the source.
Suddenly, an ugly figure appeared near the Dragon Veins—someone Asuka had already noticed earlier.
Shifting his gaze, Asuka realized the newcomer was Anrokuzan, the very person Sara had been worried about.
The moment he saw him, Asuka decided to deal with him first before absorbing the Dragon Veins.
On one hand, it was to fulfill his deal with Sara. On the other hand, if he ignored him, Anrokuzan would definitely cause trouble while Asuka was absorbing the Dragon Veins. After all, Anrokuzan had studied them for many years and would surely notice any disturbance immediately.
So Asuka said to Sara, who was in his arms,
"I've found Anrokuzan. To put your mind at ease, how about I deal with him first?"
Sara nodded excitedly. She had taken a gamble by trusting Asuka, but she hadn't expected him to be so reliable.
As Asuka approached, Anrokuzan also noticed him—and Sara in his arms. Although he didn't know who Asuka was, the sight of Sara immediately filled him with murderous intent.
A large number of puppets surged forward from behind him, charging toward Asuka with eerie howls.
Facing the incoming swarm, Asuka formed a hand seal.
The next moment, a blazing pillar of fire erupted from his mouth.
The raging flames instantly incinerated every puppet in their path, leaving nothing behind.
Knowing the situation, Asuka understood that if the puppets weren't completely destroyed, they could regenerate even from fragments. That was why he immediately used a powerful Fire Release technique.
The scorching flames distorted the surrounding air.
The massive firestorm continued forward, rushing directly toward Anrokuzan—no, Mukade.
Mukade failed to dodge in time and was struck head-on by the flames. However, a huge amount of chakra suddenly poured down from the pipes above.
Mukade, still burning, rose again.
Countless purple chakra threads shot out from his body, connecting with the remaining puppet fragments around him.
Those fragments rapidly assembled onto his body.
In the blink of an eye, Mukade transformed into a grotesque spider-like puppet monster with multiple limbs.
The monster stared at Asuka. Its two front limbs reshaped themselves into sharp scythes and slashed toward him.
Asuka placed Sara behind him.
With both hands, he grabbed the incoming scythes.
With a slight burst of strength, the blades shattered into countless fragments.
Then he turned and delivered a powerful kick.
Mukade's hideous face was sent flying sideways, the impact shattering the outer shell and exposing the skeletal structure inside.
However, empowered by the Dragon Veins, Mukade quickly reabsorbed the puppet fragments. The damage Asuka caused visibly repaired itself.
Asuka wasn't surprised.
For someone like Mukade, who relied on the Dragon Veins to constantly repair his body, ordinary physical attacks were ineffective. His previous attack had merely been a test to gauge the recovery speed of Mukade's core body.
After observing for a moment, Asuka had already formed a rough plan.
At that moment, a figure identical to Asuka suddenly appeared beside him.
He had activated the Clone Human ability once again.
The clone remained behind to continue fighting Mukade, while Asuka's main body quickly took Sara and rushed toward the true source of the Dragon Veins.
With the Dragon Veins empowering him, Mukade's regeneration was astonishing. Although Asuka was nearly invincible thanks to the Black King ability, defeating Mukade would take too much time.
So Asuka decided to absorb the Dragon Veins first.
If the Dragon Veins were drained, Mukade would lose the power sustaining his regeneration.
After explaining Mukade's recovery ability to Sara, she immediately understood that if Asuka absorbed the Dragon Veins, Anrokuzan would be suppressed.
The last trace of hesitation in her heart disappeared.
She was willing to pay any price to defeat Anrokuzan.
Of course, Sara was still overwhelmed and didn't realize something important: if she sealed the Dragon Veins herself, she could also suppress Mukade.
But even if she had realized it, she had no real choice.
After all, Sara hadn't encountered Naruto yet. Because she had been intercepted by Asuka earlier, she could only rely on Asuka's power to defeat Mukade.
After bringing Sara to the source of the Dragon Veins, Asuka nodded, signaling for her to begin.
Sara began communicating with the Dragon Veins.
The energy at the source gradually became active, rising visibly.
Asuka took a deep breath.
A pair of wings extended from his back as he slowly descended into the deep pit.
His body sank deeper and deeper, while the energy of the Dragon Veins continuously surged into him.
Feeling the immense energy, every cell in Asuka's body began absorbing it eagerly.
The Dragon Veins' energy grew increasingly active, and soon his body was nearly saturated with power.
Next, Asuka guided the energy toward his mutant gene pool.
The high-quality chakra from the Dragon Veins caused numerous genes within the genome to unlock one after another.
In just a short moment, Asuka awakened many miscellaneous abilities such as Enhanced Jumping, Underwater Breathing, Air Walking, and Dynamic Vision.
Just as he was completely immersed in absorbing the power, a massive figure suddenly smashed through the city wall and crashed near the edge of the deep pit at the Dragon Veins' source.
Startled, Sara quickly looked over.
To her shock, it was Mukade's puppet body.
As for why Mukade appeared here, the explanation involved Naruto and Minato's Konoha squad.
After Minato rescued Naruto, Naruto explained his origins to them. Following a brief analysis, Minato concluded that Naruto had come from the future.
Minato then told Naruto that they had been sent by the Third Hokage to protect the Queen of Roran.
After reaching an agreement, both sides began searching for Sara.
Meanwhile, the battle between Asuka's clone and Mukade had already been detected by Shibi Aburame's insects. Following the insects' guidance, Minato's team arrived at the battlefield.
The clone noticed them the moment they arrived.
In order to prevent them from interfering with the main body, the clone deliberately drew Mukade's attacks toward Naruto and the others.
During the chaotic battle, Naruto accidentally exposed a weakness and was captured by one of the puppets, which began draining his chakra.
The other two teammates were held back by numerous puppets and couldn't reach Naruto in time.
Only Minato managed to act.
Using the Flying Thunder God kunai he had previously given Naruto, Minato teleported to his location.
However, lacking a powerful attack capable of destroying the constantly regenerating puppets, even Minato struggled to rescue Naruto.
At that moment, Naruto's chakra was almost completely drained, and he gradually began to lose consciousness.
As he slipped into unconsciousness, a dark red chakra began to leak from his body.
"What is this… the Nine-Tails?"
Minato spoke in shock as he watched a cloak of tailed beast chakra gradually form around Naruto.
The Nine-Tails' chakra rapidly enveloped Naruto's body.
Under the violent surge of that power, the puppet restraining him was instantly shattered.
The unconscious Naruto slowly stood up.
Now wrapped in the Nine-Tails' chakra cloak…
He began attacking everyone around him indiscriminately.
--------------Author---------------
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