Sara felt every hair on her body stand on end. Sitting on her bed, she gave a startled yelp and rolled toward the headboard, snatching up a cup from her bedside table as she looked around warily.
Just as she was searching for the source of the strange presence, a calm male voice sounded directly behind her—without even the slightest attempt to hide itself:
"No need to look. I'm right here."
Sara's eyes went wide. She immediately hurled the cup in her hand and shouted:
"Guards! There's an assassin!"
Hoshiyomi could only shake his head helplessly. The little girl was surprisingly quick to react. He easily caught the cup midair, then silently counted down in his mind:
"Three… two… one."
Right as he reached "one," the doors of the bedchamber burst open with a bang. Two large puppet soldiers stepped in, scanning the room from top to bottom.
Seeing them, Sara instantly relaxed a little. She pointed toward Hoshiyomi and shouted,
"Quick, seize the assassin behind me!"
But the puppet soldiers merely looked around for a moment, making no move to act.
"What are you doing? The assassin is right behind—"
Before she could finish, she turned her head to prove her point… and froze on the spot.
Behind her—there was no one.
"How is that possible!?"
While Sara stood there, bewildered, the two puppet soldiers—having found nothing—bowed slightly, then closed the chamber doors behind them.
The instant the doors shut, Hoshiyomi reappeared soundlessly beside Sara's bed, casually tossing the very cup she had thrown up and down in one hand.
Sara's eyes went round again. She opened her mouth to scream, but Hoshiyomi flickered forward and appeared right in front of her, clapping a hand over her mouth.
"Don't waste your breath," he said quietly. "Those piles of scrap metal can't detect me. As long as you don't scream again, I'll let go. Understand?"
Seeing the speed of his movement—like teleportation—Sara realized there was no escape. Despair flickered in her eyes as she gave a slow, reluctant nod.
Satisfied, Hoshiyomi released her.
Seeing that he wasn't going to hurt her, Sara let out a shaky breath. But as soon as the tension eased, anger took its place. She glared furiously at him and snapped:
"You damn assassin! What do you want? Money? Or… something else? Don't tell me—"
Her words cut off as her face paled and she hurriedly covered her flat chest with both arms.
Hoshiyomi rolled his eyes.
"Relax. I'm not interested in you. I came here at your mother's request—just to see if you could provide me with some information."
As he spoke, he gestured toward the Konoha forehead protector wrapped around his arm, showing that he was an official Konoha shinobi.
Sara's expression softened for a brief moment at the sight of it—but hardened again when she heard him mention her mother.
"Nonsense! My mother passed away from illness not long ago. There's no way she could've asked a Konoha shinobi to come here! And besides—what kind of shinobi sneaks into a queen's bedchamber to 'gather information'?
Shouldn't a Konoha shinobi report to me first if that's what they're here for?"
Hoshiyomi sighed, rubbing his temples at the sight of this loud, obstinate blonde girl. He tapped her forehead lightly with his finger, half in irritation and half in amusement, as if testing whether her skull was hollow.
"Exactly because I wouldn't get any information through normal channels, I came like this. If I went through the proper process and requested an audience, do you really think that so-called 'Anrokuzan' would let me meet you?"
Sara's eyes flashed with indignation as she replied without hesitation:
"Why wouldn't he? Uncle Anrokuzan is a good man! He's the greatest minister in all of Rōran!"
Hoshiyomi just rolled his eyes again, utterly speechless at the girl's hopelessly naïve way of thinking.
He didn't have the time or patience to wait for Naruto to "talk-no-jutsu" this girl into understanding, so Hoshiyomi decided to be blunt and hit her with the truth directly:
"Can't you use that little brain of yours for once and think this through? Your mother just asked us for help, and then—almost immediately after—she suddenly dies. Doesn't that tell you something?
And another thing—think about it. Who benefits most from your mother's death? Isn't that obvious?"
As he spoke, Hoshiyomi pulled out a letter from inside his cloak—the very plea for aid that Sara's mother had sent to Konoha.
Sara wasn't stupid. In fact, she had already had faint suspicions deep down but had been too afraid to confront them head-on.
Now, hearing Hoshiyomi's words and seeing her mother's familiar handwriting, she could no longer cling to false hope.
"What should I do?"
Her eyes shimmered with tears as she looked up at Hoshiyomi, her expression filled with helplessness.
At this point, she had lost nearly all her political power. If she wanted to reclaim Rōran from Anrokuzan's control, this mysterious stranger before her was her only chance.
Hoshiyomi gave her a small, approving nod.
"It's simple. I'll ask, and you'll answer. Just tell me everything you know."
"First question—have you seen a guy named Naruto in Rōran these past few days? About your age, blond hair."
Sara blinked, caught off guard. She had expected questions about Anrokuzan or the Ryūmyaku, but instead this man was spouting incomprehensible nonsense.
"Huh? Some blond guy? Under Anrokuzan's rule, all of Rōran is under puppet surveillance. How could I possibly meet some random person like that?"
Hearing that, Hoshiyomi frowned, recalling the events of the original story.
"You haven't left your chambers recently? Anrokuzan didn't arrange any parades or public appearances for you?"
Sara looked at Hoshiyomi with an expression that clearly said, "The question mark above my head doesn't mean I have a problem; it means I think you have a problem":
"What are you even talking about? Parades? There hasn't been any festival lately—why would there be a parade?"
Seeing her puzzled expression, Hoshiyomi sighed inwardly. Just as he suspected, the butterfly effect of his presence had already altered Rōran's development.
This version of Rōran had Anrokuzan from the future—but Naruto and Yamato, who were supposed to chase him here, never appeared.
Which meant… this whole incident would have to be resolved by him alone.
Realizing that, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but feel a bit disinterested. He had been looking forward to meeting the future Naruto and prying some information out of him—but now, it seemed that was nothing but wishful thinking.
Thinking about it that way, Hoshiyomi began to understand why Minato had erased everyone's memories of this event afterward.
Sara, watching Hoshiyomi sighing for no apparent reason, puffed up her cheeks in irritation.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean? You said you were here to help me, but all you've done is ask a bunch of weird questions!"
"Ah, nothing," Hoshiyomi replied casually. "I just suddenly feel a little disappointed in this mission, that's all."
No sooner had he said that than his expression suddenly changed. In a flash, he lunged forward, grabbing Sara and pulling her tightly into his arms as he rolled across the floor.
An instant later, the doors to the bedchamber exploded inward with a thunderous boom, torn apart by what sounded like explosive tags.
"Gekko Hoshiyomi! We finally found you!"
...
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