After glancing at the chakra blade in Naruto's hand, Seiryū looked at Naruto, who had just gotten up and still seemed confused, and said calmly,
"You interfered with my mission, young man."
If Naruto had not suddenly intervened, he would have already secured half of Rōran's inheritance... ahem, no, he would have already protected the queen of Rōran, Sara.
But it did not matter. They would meet again soon anyway.
The inheritance rights of Rōran... ahem, the beautiful girl who had been deceived by her uncle, he was definitely going to save her.
"Who are you?"
Naruto could not understand the situation. Why had he suddenly appeared here?
And what was going on with that girl earlier?
He had clearly saved her, yet she had actually attacked him.
At this moment, Naruto finally noticed the Konoha forehead protector tied to Seiryū's head.
He could not help but exclaim,
"Huh? A Konoha forehead protector. Are you also a Konoha ninja?"
Seiryū fell silent.
First impression.
Naruto was a rather strange guy.
Konoha really had many talented people. Many strange ones as well.
He had not even noticed the obvious and shiny Konoha forehead protector at first.
It was not even hidden.
What an odd person.
But to be fair, it really suited Naruto's style.
Seiryū pretended to be old and wise and said,
"Young man, what is your identity? Are you a Konoha ninja? Why have I never seen you before?"
When you are out in the world, your identity is something you give yourself.
He began acting.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I came here to chase... wait, I cannot say that..."
Naruto answered instinctively, but stopped halfway.
Even among ninjas from the same village, mission details could not be revealed.
Besides, this kid who looked only about ten years old kept calling him young man.
And even called himself this old man.
It looked very strange.
"You are wearing a Konoha forehead protector, so you are also a Konoha ninja, right? But why are you carrying out such a dangerous mission at such a young age?"
Naruto still could not understand.
Could this child be a Konoha ninja sent by Tsunade granny on a mission?
But why was he so young?
At this age, he should be studying at the Ninja Academy.
"This old man is already over seventy years old. The reason I remain at this age is because I practiced a secret technique called the Eternal Youth Longevity Technique."
Seiryū continued making things up.
"Anyone who practices the Eternal Youth Longevity Technique will return to childhood every thirty years. Their chakra must then be refined again from zero. This old man is currently in the stage of refining chakra again."
"Eh? Eh? There is actually such a technique? Wouldn't that mean you could live forever?"
"Young man, you are quite perceptive. Practicing this secret technique can indeed lead to immortality. People call me Seiryū Sennin."
"So amazing. But why have I never heard of it?"
"That is simply because you are ignorant."
Seiryū placed his hands behind his back and said to Naruto, "Young man, let us talk about something else first. You interfered with my mission. I have always maintained a one hundred percent completion rate for my missions, but now you have interfered."
His voice paused and he sighed.
"Ah, what a pity."
Naruto scratched his head, sounding embarrassed.
"Uh... I did not do it on purpose..."
Seiryū shook his head and said generously,
"It does not matter. Although this old man strives to maintain a perfect mission record, I will not blame a young man like you. I can only blame myself for being careless. I accepted such a difficult mission before fully recovering my strength."
The more he spoke like this, the more guilty Naruto felt.
"It is... it is all my fault. I will help you. What is your mission? I will do my best to help you complete it."
"Good, good. Young people nowadays are quite enthusiastic. Then I will leave my mission to you."
He had just gained a fighter, and it was one who had mastered Wind Release. Rasenshuriken. Seiryū was quite satisfied.
He nodded slightly and explained,
"The girl earlier was the queen of the ancient kingdom of Rōran. My mission this time is to ensure her safety. From now on, you will act together with this old man."
Hearing that this "seventy year old child" would not pursue the matter, Naruto immediately felt relieved.
Although something still felt strange, he quickly nodded.
"O... okay!"
Whoosh.
Their figures flashed and after a few leaps they left the underground area.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The moment they appeared, they were attacked.
Several puppet weapons seemed to have been waiting for them. The cannons in their hands were aimed directly at them.
Purple chakra formed into shells, and explosions echoed around the area.
After lightly dodging the chakra shells, Seiryū stood with his hands behind his back.
He said to Naruto, "Young man, I will leave them to you. This old man is currently in a weakened state and cannot deal with these puppet weapons."
"I understand!"
Naruto was warm hearted and believed that once he agreed to something, he should give it his all.
So he pulled out his chakra dagger again and began fighting the incoming puppet weapons.
"Damn it, there are too many of them..."
He easily cut the threads controlling several puppets and destroyed a few of them.
But as he saw more and more puppet weapons appear, Naruto's expression became serious.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of clones appeared.
All of them formed Rasengan in their hands and pressed them directly against the incoming puppet weapons.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Explosions echoed repeatedly. The power of Rasengan was considerable and blasted the puppet weapons into pieces scattered across the ground.
However, under the influence of some kind of chakra, the shattered puppet fragments began merging again.
They continued attacking Naruto.
"They can even regenerate? What exactly are these puppets?"
Naruto was shocked and kept dodging their attacks.
What exactly were these puppet weapons?
Seiryū, who was standing at a distance, reminded him,
"Young man, leave this place first. Judging the situation is also an essential quality for a ninja. Our goal is to protect the queen of Rōran. There is no need to waste time fighting these puppets."
"Shake them off first and follow me."
As he spoke, Seiryū flashed and dropped underground again.
Naruto immediately followed.
Once they descended underground, the puppet weapons stopped moving and did not continue the pursuit.
After glancing upward and confirming the puppet weapons had not followed them, Naruto let out a sigh of relief.
Then he looked at Seiryū and asked curiously.
"By the way, where is this place? I clearly remember that I was in Rōran before. How did I suddenly appear here?"
Although he had been fighting earlier, Naruto had still noticed the tall buildings surrounding them.
This was not Rōran.
Rōran was supposed to be in ruins.
So where exactly was he now?
And what about his other companions?
There were too many questions. He wondered if this "Seiryū Sennin" could explain them.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)