I Am Uzumaki Menma

Chapter 399 - 399 Two Anrokuzan

Just as the atmosphere grew heavy, a familiar voice with a hint of lazy teasing sounded from above the group:

"Yo ho, so you're all here. Took me a while to find you."

Everyone looked up to see Menma drifting down slowly from the top of a nearby high tower, as leisurely as if taking a stroll.

He landed lightly not far in front of Sara, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before settling on Sara.

Seeing Menma, Sara covered her mouth in surprise. "You... you're the one who suddenly appeared in the underground shrine..."

Menma raised his hand, cutting off Sara's words. His gaze turned towards the edge of the park, where the still-'boiling' 'sea of people' in the central square was clearly visible.

Instead of answering Sara's question, he posed a counter-question:

"Do you want to see with your own eyes the true appearance of this 'country' you rule? Princess... no, Your Majesty the Queen."

Without waiting for Sara's answer, Menma raised his right hand, fingers slightly spread.

"Adamantine Sealing Chains."

Hum—!

Five dazzling golden Chakra Chains instantly shot out from behind him!

The chains cut through the air with a pleasant hum, crossing a distance of over a hundred meters at incredible speed, boldly plunging into the dense 'crowd' in the square below!

"Wow! What kind of Jutsu is that? So cool!" Naruto, who had never seen the Adamantine Sealing Chains before, stared wide-eyed, unable to help but exclaim.

Meanwhile, Minato, Choza, and Shibi's expressions all turned extremely grave the moment they saw the golden chains!

They recognized it! This was the Uzumaki Clan's unique secret technique, combining sealing, offense, and defense!

Besides Kushina, they had never seen such proficient, powerful Adamantine Sealing Chains on a second person!

Menma's identity received yet another confirmation.

"What are you doing?! Stop!" Sara, seeing Menma attack her 'subjects', shouted in shock and anger.

However, Menma paid no attention.

The five golden chains weaved and wrapped flexibly through the crowd, precisely binding five 'people', then yanked them back forcefully!

Clatter—!

Five 'people' tightly bound by the golden chains were dragged out from the crowd as if discarding trash, thrown onto the grass in front of Sara, raising a bit of dust.

Sara, Minato, Naruto, and the others looked closely and were instantly shocked!

Those were not people at all!

They were five crudely made, simple-material, exposed-joint puppets made of wood and cloth, with only simple facial features sketched on!

Bound by the chains, they were still struggling futilely and stiffly, emitting creaking sounds, creating an extremely eerie scene.

"These... these are..." Naruto pointed at the puppets, finally understanding the source of his earlier sense of dissonance.

"No wonder I thought those 'people's' movements were a bit strange, and their cheers lacked energy! They were all fakes!"

Sara was as if struck by lightning, staggering back two steps and falling to the ground. She looked incredulously at the ugly puppets on the grass, then up at the still-'cheering and jumping' dense 'crowd' in the square. Her voice trembled uncontrollably. "N-no way... My subjects... how could they be these... these things... It's impossible!"

Menma used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to crush these puppets into pieces before retracting the chains.

"Nothing is impossible. All those in the square are such crudely made puppet dolls. The 'cheers of the masses' you saw were merely a self-deceiving puppet show Anrokuzan meticulously arranged for you."

He paused, then turned towards a dark corner of the park in another direction, where there was an inconspicuous manhole cover leading to the underground drainage system.

Raising his voice, he said, "Alright, everyone, you can come out now. Let your queen see how many real 'subjects' Roran truly has left."

As Menma's words fell, the manhole cover was slowly pushed open from inside with a dull scraping sound.

Then, one, two, three... more and more people cautiously climbed out of the manhole.

These people were almost all women, the elderly, and a few children.

They wore worn, patched traditional clothing of desert nomadic tribes, their faces weathered, eyes filled with fear, exhaustion, and a complex emotion upon seeing Sara.

There was hope, sorrow, and also resentment.

They supported each other, gathering together like frightened sheep, numbering about sixty or seventy.

Sara stared blankly at these suddenly appearing, real people, her mind a complete blank.

One of the women, who appeared older and seemed to be a leader, mustered her courage and took a few trembling steps forward. Looking at Sara's luxurious purple gown and white crown, a flash of pain appeared in her eyes.

In a hoarse voice, she spoke, her tone almost pleading:

"Princess... Princess Sara... Please... can you give back our husbands, our sons...? We don't want these cold high towers, not this false prosperity... We just want to go back to how it was before, migrating with the oases, living peacefully together as a family... Please..."

Sara felt as if struck a heavy blow, her lips trembling but unable to make a sound.

'My 'country', the prosperous Roran I thought was thriving, actually... only had these women, children, and elderly left?'

'Where had all the men gone?'

'Didn't Anrokuzan say they were all working hard for the city's construction?'

Minato looked at the miserable scene before him and, combined with previous intelligence, understood.

He sighed, explaining to the devastated Sara in a heavy tone, "I think the truth should be this: Your mother, the former Queen, likely gradually realized Anrokuzan's true nature and terrible ambitions during the process of him using the Ryumyaku's power to rapidly develop Roran and beginning to capture men on a large scale for some unknown purpose."

"She wanted to stop it but found herself powerless against Anrokuzan, who controlled the Ryumyaku and the puppet army. So, she secretly sought help from Konoha, hoping to at least protect you. Only... our aid hadn't arrived yet before she..."

He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear enough.

Sara trembled violently, her face pale as a sheet.

She staggered, almost unable to stand. Naruto instinctively stepped forward to support her but was waved away.

She looked at the women and children with teary eyes, filled with hope and despair, then remembered her mother's worried secret letter, thought of Anrokuzan's usually hypocritical 'diligent and devoted' demeanor, and that 'accidental" push on the ceremonial platform earlier...

A truth she couldn't accept, yet crystal clear, pierced her heart like a cold knife.

She looked up at Minato, then at Menma, finally settling her gaze on the real survivors of Roran. Her voice was hoarse and broken, filled with self-doubt and collapsing faith:

"You're saying... my mother... was killed by Anrokuzan? And Roran... the Roran my mother and I always tried to protect... has actually long become an empty shell filled only with puppets and prisoners...?"

Just as Princess Sara's faith crumbled and the cruel truth surfaced, another sudden change occurred!

Sharp, dense whooshing sounds came from the sky!

Everyone looked up to see dozens of streamlined humanoid combat puppets with joints gleaming coldly swooping in from the tops of surrounding towers from all directions!

They occupied all advantageous positions in the sky above the park like well-trained hawks, their sharp weapons and Chakra Emitters all aimed at Menma, Minato, Sara, and the Roran civilians below, forming an airtight encirclement!

"Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!" Minato shouted in a low voice, reacting fast as lightning.

He, Choza, and Shibi almost simultaneously moved. The three scattered like three beams of light, forming a triangular defensive formation on the periphery. They each drew kunai, assuming defensive stances, firmly protecting the panicked Roran civilians and devastated Sara in the center.

Naruto also didn't hesitate, immediately positioning himself in front of Sara, gripping his kunai tightly, his eyes burning with fighting spirit as he warily watched the cold mechanical constructs in the sky.

Behind him, dozens of Roran women, elderly, and children huddled together in terror, trembling. Looking at the terrifying puppets that had once captured their loved ones, their eyes were filled with despair.

"Heh..."

A voice dripping with false concern and icy sarcasm, amplified by some device, came from among the encircling puppets:

"My dear Queen Sara, why are you mingling with these dangerous Ninjas from another country? Even listening to their deceptive words and starting to doubt your loyal subject who has served the country with utter devotion? This truly pains me to the core!"

Following these nauseating words, the ground combat puppets slowly parted to either side, revealing a path.

A minister dressed in white desert noble attire, slightly plump, with a worried expression on his face, slowly strolled out from the shadows behind the puppets. It was Anrokuzan!

First, he pretended to examine the pale-faced Sara protected in the center and the Roran civilians who trembled even more violently upon seeing him, a look of contempt flashing across his face.

Then, his gaze swept over the conspicuous Konoha's forehead protectors on Minato, Choza, and Shibi, a flicker of understanding and calculation in his eyes.

Finally, his eyes locked onto the calm Menma, undisguised, deep-seated resentment and... apprehension clearly showing in his gaze.

Sara forced herself to stand steady. She broke free from Naruto's instinctively offered supporting hand, straightened her slender back, and with all her strength, trembling yet clearly, voiced her question, her voice filled with the anger and grief of betrayal: "Anrokuzan! Answer me! Was it you... who killed my mother?! What have you done with Roran's people... my subjects?! Answer me!"

Hearing this, Anrokuzan put on an act, sighing.

At that moment, another voice identical to his came from the shadows behind him:

"Since Her Majesty Queen Sara already knows, why bother asking?"

Under everyone's astonished gaze, another Anrokuzan walked out from behind the puppets, standing shoulder to shoulder with the first Anrokuzan!

Two Anrokuzan, identical in appearance, attire, even subtle mannerisms, stood together. This eerie sight drew suppressed gasps from the Roran civilians and made Naruto's eyes widen, his mind struggling to process it.

"Huh?! Two Anrokuzan?!" Naruto scratched his head, pointing at the two with a puzzled look. "You... which one is Mukade? Which is real?"

The two Anrokuzan, upon hearing this, simultaneously revealed a twisted, synchronized smile, as if sharing the same consciousness.

They answered in unison, their voices overlapping, carrying an eerie echo: "We... are both Mukade.'"

The second Anrokuzan who had walked out turned his gaze to Naruto, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You must be the Konoha's Ninja that the other 'me' mentioned, the one who chased him here, right? Unfortunately, he can no longer answer you."

"Now, he's just a somewhat special... 'material' in my hands." He seemed 'regretful', but his tone held only cold mockery.

After saying this, this Anrokuzan once again 'focused' his gaze on Menma, his eyes filled with venom and ferocity. He gritted his teeth and said, "Shura-sama of the Land of Stars! It's been... a long time!"

"Take a look, these combat puppets I've meticulously crafted over these six years. How do they feel? Much more outstanding than those conservative puppets of the Land of Stars, aren't they?"

"This is my new creation, fusing the top-notch puppet techniques I 'borrowed' from your esteemed country, the traditional puppet essence of Sunagakure, and combined with the great power of the Ryumyaku! They don't need cumbersome Chakra Threads for control, they have a higher degree of autonomous action capability, and even... possess a certain level of self-awareness!"

His voice was filled with twisted pride and the meaning of showing off and provoking Menma.

Minato slightly turned his head, confirming in a low voice with Menma beside him: "This guy is the Mukade from your world?"

Menma nodded. "Yeah, a fool who stole some technology and defected. It seems now he's not only turned the Mukade from Naruto's world into a puppet, but he himself has likely also modified his body, becoming this half-human, half-puppet monster."

Hearing this, Naruto had a sudden realization, pointing at the two Anrokuzan and exclaiming, "Ah! I get it! Just like that 'Sasori' from the Akatsuki! Turned himself into a puppet too!"