Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

Chapter 919 Xiao Dai, your acting is terrible!

"Minato, when you get back this time, don't forget to treat me to the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen."

As Akimichi Choza, who was in charge of the main tank, turned back to Minato and spoke, he pulled a yellow pill from his pocket. It was the Akimichi clan's secret medicine for stimulating potential, the Curry Pill.

"no problem!"

Upon hearing this, Minato secretly breathed a sigh of relief and gave Akimichi Choza a reassuring gesture.

As long as it's not all-you-can-eat BBQ, he can afford Ichiraku Ramen.

"Okay! I'll go first!"

With this promise, Choza Akimichi's fighting spirit soared. Without hesitation, he popped the curry pill, which had severe side effects, into his mouth, and his already muscular body rapidly swelled.

"Super Multiplication Technique!"

Rumbling--

Stimulated by the effects of the curry pills, Choza Akimichi's size increased to a level far exceeding his previous size, reaching the same level as a giant puppet.

"Hey, you scoundrel!"

Knowing his condition wouldn't last, Akimichi Choza immediately threw a taunt at An Lushan and then slammed his fat belly into him.

"Secret Technique: Flesh Bomb Impact!"

"Boom!"

Caught off guard, An Lushan was stunned by the impact of Akimichi Choji's belly. Fortunately, the giant puppets were all made of genuine materials, which allowed him to regain his balance and raise his large, fan-like hand to retaliate.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Several red handprints quickly appeared on Akimichi Choza's stomach, and he was forced to retreat step by step.

"Secret Technique: Insect Tornado"

Taking advantage of An Lushan's attention being completely drawn to Akimichi Choza, Aburame Shimi manipulated a tidal wave of insects to swarm towards the arrogant giant puppet.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The parasitic insects opened their massive, serrated mouths, frantically devouring the purple chakra on the giant puppet's surface. After absorbing enough energy, they multiplied rapidly, and the black tide was about to engulf the puppet's legs.

"Annoying bugs."

Sensing the puppet's chakra rapidly draining away, An Lushan, hiding beneath it, frowned. However, he wasn't without a countermeasure.

"Go to hell, all of you!"

With a thought, a purple laser beam shot from the puppet's eyes, causing large swathes of charred insect corpses to fall to the ground.

The sacrifice of the parasitic insects was not in vain; the chakra in the giant puppet's legs had been almost completely devoured. Before An Lushan could channel the power of the Dragon Vein into it, Yamato, with his hands clasped together, descended from the sky.

"Wood Release: Descent from the Sea of ​​Trees!"

"Boom—boom—!"

Countless thick wooden branches rose from the ground, coiling like snakes around the giant puppet's legs. A ghostly blue chakra shone, and the purple dragon vein chakra flowed out rapidly like a flood.

"Tsk!"

An Lushan found himself unable to extricate himself, his face instantly turning extremely grim. He raised his hands, ready to smash Aburame Shiki and Yamato below into mincemeat.

Don't pretend I don't exist!

Despite the burning pain in his stomach, Akimichi Choza stepped forward, grabbed one of the giant puppet's hands, and twisted it backward. His thick arm then locked the puppet's constantly shaking neck.

A classic move, the strongman locks the man, completely exposing the giant puppet's crotch to everyone's view.

"Let me go, you idiot!"

Enraged by being restrained, An Lushan raised his other hand and viciously elbowed Akimichi Choji in the face from behind.

"Man--!"

"Man--!"

"Minato, now's the time!"

Driven by his obsession with unlimited Ichiraku Ramen, a bruised and battered Choza shouted, and Minato immediately leaped forward, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Crackle!

Crackle!

Crackle!

A dense barrage of shuriken struck the giant puppet's crotch with pinpoint accuracy. As the attacks became increasingly frequent and intense, the seemingly indestructible puppet finally developed several cracks.

"Whoosh!"

"Boom!"

As the saying goes, perseverance pays off. With Minato's relentless scraping, An Lushan, his face grim and menacing, finally emerged from between his legs.

"Naruto!"

"Om~Om~Om~"

"I've been prepared for this for a long time!"

Naruto was holding a rapidly spinning wind-attribute shuriken, while the two clones beside him, having completed their mission, wisely deactivated themselves.

"An Lushan, your end has come!"

"no, do not want!"

As if he could foresee his own annihilation by the Spiral Shuriken, An Lushan roared, attempting to conceal his exposed self through rapid regeneration.

But at this crucial moment, the method that had always worked failed. Not only did the broken parts of the giant puppet not quickly recover, but the dragon vein chakra within it also experienced a brief stagnation.

"Hmph~ My Wood Release may not be as good as the First Hokage's, but it's more than enough to deal with a scoundrel like you."

Yamato, who was manipulating Wood Release to frantically absorb An Lushan's chakra, wiped his nose, a smug look on his face.

"You can't control me!"

A feeling of fear crept into his heart, but due to the restraint of Choza Akimichi behind him, the giant puppet couldn't move an inch and could only watch helplessly as Naruto, wielding the Rasenshuriken, fell from the sky.

"Ahhhh!"

Under the terrifying destructive power of the wind-attribute chakra, An Lushan's main body, which had emerged from between the giant puppet's legs, turned to dust amidst a violent scream.

"Crunch. Crunch."

Having lost its core, the giant golem's purple light quickly dimmed, and its massive body began to emit a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

Just seconds later, the once invincible giant puppet disintegrated.

"Boom!"

"We won! We won!"

Upon landing, Naruto, without even checking his hands covered in tiny cuts, shouted excitedly.

"Shh!"

Minato stepped forward and caught Choza, who had returned to his original size after exhausting himself. He instantly landed beside the group, and the others exchanged glances, all seeing the joy of victory in each other's eyes.

"That's it... we won?"

Yamato clicked his tongue in satisfaction. He hadn't even had a chance to show his skills before being carried to victory, which was a real shame.

"Captain Yamato, how do we get back now?"

Clutching his trembling wrist, Naruto frowned, experiencing the side effects of the Rasenshuriken arriving late.

Now that Centipede has been killed, what should these two time travelers do?

Sakura and Sasuke are still waiting for him!

"Logically, after Centipede died, the spell that allowed us to travel through time should have stopped working."

After carefully recalling the circumstances that led to his time travel, Yamato stroked his chin with a puzzled expression.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Because that guy didn't die at all."

Just then, Chiyo, who had been observing alongside Kakashi, suddenly stood up, her gaze falling directly on the mountain of junk-like parts. A strong aura of dragon veins was clearly audible.

"What?!"

The three Minato members who were discussing the division of the mission, along with the time-traveling duo, were startled upon hearing this.

Naruto, in particular, had absolute confidence in the destructive power of his secret technique. Even the most cunning member of the Akatsuki fell victim to the Rasenshuriken.

How could a mere, unknown rogue ninja from Sunagakure possibly survive?

Crunch crunch

"Hehehe, as expected, only a puppeteer truly understands a puppeteer."

Not long after Chiyo finished speaking, a fair arm suddenly emerged from the pile of broken parts. "What on earth is going on?"

Seeing the "Bandai" puppet crawl out, Naruto, whose brain couldn't process it, had eyes that turned into mosquito coils.

"His body was indeed the core of the giant puppet, but An Lushan, who transformed himself into a puppet, always had his core within that puppet."

Chiyo's words revealed the secret, and the doubts on everyone's faces finally dissipated.

It turns out that from the very beginning, their target was a fake body; An Lushan's true form was actually inside the "Bandai" puppet that appeared at the very beginning.

As for An Lushan, who appeared later, he was nothing more than a smokescreen to mislead them.

"How dare they play us!"

Although Naruto didn't understand, seeing everyone around him looking on with a knowing expression, he pretended to be knowledgeable and casually revealed a hint of anger.

"Shh!"

"Since we can kill you once, we can kill you a second time."

Minato drew another shuriken, his sharp gaze fixed on the smug An Lushan, but the fleeting weariness on his face seemed genuine.

"Haven't you noticed that your chakra is decreasing?"

An Lushan gave a disdainful smirk, and his slender body began to slowly deform, eventually reverting to his original pot-bellied appearance.

"Your chakra has decreased?"

Naruto blinked in confusion upon hearing this. Why didn't he feel that way?

"Thump!"

However, the next second, a muffled thud behind him interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain Yamato?"

Looking at Yamato, who was pale and panting heavily on the ground, Naruto then noticed that the puppet parts beneath their feet were emitting a faint purple glow.

"Oh no, these puppets are still operating!"

Minato also noticed the strangeness of the situation and quickly alerted the people around him.

"Too late."

An Lushan stroked his beard, his smugness clearly visible in his eyes. He was now the embodiment of the dragon vein, and as long as he stood on the land of Loulan, he could control everything here.

"Thump~"

Due to the side effects of the curry pills, Akimichi Choza's body was already empty. After being drained of energy by these puppets, he collapsed to the ground, the gurgling sounds from his stomach echoing throughout Loulan.

"Ding Zuo! Zhiwei!"

Swaying unsteadily, Minato was now in dire straits himself and could only watch helplessly as his two teammates fell one after another. For the first time, a look of despair appeared in his azure eyes.

"Big Brother Golden Retriever!"

Fortunately, Naruto reacted quickly and caught him, preventing the entire team from being wiped out.

"Naruto, you..."

Minato looked at the energetic Naruto, his slightly open mouth finally closing. He knew why his grown son acted as if nothing had happened.

But what good is that? Naruto alone is no match for An Lushan.

"Minato-sensei!"

Suddenly, a shout from not far away pulled him back to reality. Looking at Kakashi, who stood unharmed beside Chiyo, Minato's eyes widened in surprise.

"Kakashi, are you alright?"

"I do not know either."

Kakashi scratched his head, his bewilderment genuine.

Did I accidentally activate the underage protection mechanism?

Minato blinked, then suddenly remembered that there was someone else beside Kakashi. He immediately turned his gaze to Chiyo, his eyes filled with hope.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister?"

Since the opponent has a means to be immune to the influence of the dragon vein's power, it means that they still have a chance to turn the tide and win.

"Uh"

Noticing that everyone's gaze was fixed on her, Chiyo hesitated for a brief second before collapsing to the ground, clutching her fair forehead. The entire sequence of actions, performed with the precision of a thousand rehearsals, perfectly showcased her feminine grace.

"I'm out of chakra, I need Uncle Gin to carry me so I can get up~"

"what?"

The hope that had just risen on everyone's faces was instantly shattered. Minato gritted his teeth and pushed Naruto aside.

"Naruto, you'd better run!"

On the Dragon Vein's home turf, Naruto, with his mediocre Jinchūriki skills, had absolutely no chance of winning.

"I would never abandon my companions and run away alone."

Naruto shook his head resolutely, handed the rickety Minato to Kakashi, turned around, drew a kunai, and charged towards An Lushan.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

As he crossed his four fingers, dozens of shadow clones launched attacks from all directions.

"idiot."

An Lushan merely glanced at it indifferently, and his entire body suddenly swelled and elongated, transforming into a giant humanoid centipede. With each claw, he destroyed one of his shadow clones, annihilating them all in a few breaths.

"Spiral pills!"

Naruto, wielding a Rasengan, descended from the sky, intending to strike An Lushan's enormous puppet head, but was instantly reduced to smoke by An Lushan's tail mid-air.

"Otama Rasengan!"

Unexpectedly, the attack from the sky was a feint. Naruto's true form, hiding underground, burst forth from the ground, and a massive Rasengan slammed into An Lushan's lower body.

"boom!"

Before Naruto could even register the joy in his eyes as he saw the severed tail that had been knocked away, An Lushan grabbed it with a claw.

"Let me go!"

As the claws tore through his clothes and embedded themselves in his flesh, Naruto's azure eyes were gradually replaced by a savage crimson.

"No wonder you weren't affected, kid. Turns out you're a monster just like Gaara."

An Lushan was stunned for a moment, but quickly recognized Naruto's identity. If it were in the past, he might have been a little wary, but now that he had the Dragon Vein protecting him, he was not afraid of any tailed beasts at all.

Gaara?

Upon hearing the familiar name, a glimmer of clarity flashed in Naruto's eyes, and his mind, which had been affected by the tailed beast's chakra, gradually returned to normal.

"We are not monsters!"

Using the power of his bloodline, Naruto suppressed the Nine-Tails' chakra and roared through gritted teeth.

"You know best whether he's a monster or not. By the way, let me tell you something: Gaara was bullied by us a lot when he was a kid."

An Lushan reveled in the thrill of toying with his prey. Looking at the helpless, raucous Naruto in his hands, he laughed as he recounted his past.

"You...you."

Naruto was furious, his teeth chattering, but he still couldn't change the reality of his incompetence.

"You're quite the birthplace."

"So what if I was born? What's wrong with being born?"

An Lushan, who had become so arrogant that he lost himself, was not angered by the sudden evaluation. Instead, he nodded smugly.

However, before he could finish speaking, he realized that he had never heard the voice before.

"Uh?"

An Lushan suddenly raised his head and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw a young man he had never seen before squatting on his severed tail, looking at Chiyo who was slumped on the ground with great interest. His handsome face was full of a punchable smile.

Sensing no threat from the newcomer, An Lushan slowly relaxed his furrowed brows, his wary expression gradually replaced by arrogance.

"Hmph~ Another Konoha ninja who's come to die. Now kneel down and call out 'Lord An Lushan' three times, and I might spare your life."

"Stop pretending, the people who're here to take you in." (End of Chapter)