Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 360 Lies and Truth

The pointing fingers and whispers of a group of Konoha ninja towards Centipede finally provoked the Queen's displeasure. She stood up and protected the justice in her heart, just as she had protected Naruto.

"The man who came here six years ago was not the traitorous centipede you all claim, but an outstanding man named An Lushan! Now, as a minister, An Lushan has inherited my mother's will and is working diligently for this town. That peace-loving man would never be developing the kind of weapon you speak of!"

This is actually the best-case scenario. If even a queen were to collude with the centipede, then they would have no choice but to make the worst-case scenario. Now it seems that at least the queen was unaware, and there is still room for maneuver.

“Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that you have been deceived by that man.” Minato knew that a few words wouldn’t be enough to convince the Queen, but now that she was no longer in the tower, she would soon see the cruel truth if she went outside.

"I can't believe such words! You are the ones who are more suspicious!" The Queen said, then turned to leave.

"It's okay if you don't believe me. Do you remember my question just now? What is the purpose of this tower?"

"What does this have to do with your slander against An Lushan!" The Queen stopped in her tracks. She wasn't without doubts, but she was unwilling to step out of the comfort zone she had been in for six years and was struggling to stay afloat.

"A person needs at least food and water to survive, and these things don't appear out of thin air. I walked around your city and didn't see a single food store; the streets were empty, not a soul in sight..."

"What about the grand parade just now? There were so many people cheering for me!"

Naruto looked calmly at the Queen, unmoved by this "powerful" evidence. "Your Majesty, you're standing too high. You can't even tell if the people cheering at your feet are human or not."

The Queen's grey pupils trembled.

"I simply can't imagine how an ordinary person could survive in this city. That's the only thought that came to mind as I walked through here." Naruto turned his gaze to the window, his brow furrowed with genuine heartache. How many generations of effort would it take to build such a magnificent city? Yet, in just a few short years, all of this had been squandered like this. He even worried that the now quite large Hui might suffer the same fate.

The queen eventually turned and left—no, she fled. She ran incredibly fast, as if that would leave all the problems behind.

Of the five people present, four were ninjas faster than the queen, but none of them moved, letting the queen leave on her own.

At this point, Minato's evaluation of Naruto had shifted from an excellent ninja to a leader. Regardless of Naruto's actual abilities, those words of advice he offered to the Queen were not something just anyone could utter. At least, while he made a similar judgment, he completely failed to notice whether there was any food for sale on the street.

"You just let her go like that?"

"She can't escape; she has my Flying Thunder God mark on her." Naruto dared to let her leave so confidently because he had a backup plan. Although he didn't know if there were any other living people in this place, the queen possessed the same power as the Dragon Vein, so she probably had some control over the Dragon Vein.

The fact that the Queen could establish a kingdom within a kingdom in the desert within the Land of Wind suggests that she is likely truly capable, but she simply hasn't used her abilities for good.

Oh right, he had just learned from his father that the power buried in this land was called the Dragon Vein. A very domineering name, and quite fitting, since when that thing went berserk, it could forcibly pull him away from the original timeline.

Minato burst out laughing when he heard this. This really was his kid; even the habit of leaving marks everywhere was so similar.

“But that queen is very important to our mission. She almost fell to her death just now. Shouldn’t we send someone to guard her?” Zhiwei suggested from the side.

Naruto was so engrossed in his thoughts that he suddenly remembered his current situation. "Oh, I almost forgot that my sensory range is limited. I really can't see what's going on around her when she's far away."

So... does he usually protect people by hanging them from a distance? That's way too casual!

“You have other things to do, right? Then leave the Queen to me. I’ll protect her.” Naruto hid his reluctance well. “Speaking of which, what’s the Queen’s name again? I haven’t had a chance to ask yet.”

“Sara. Her name is Sara.” Minato handed over a special kunai and said, “This is my Flying Thunder God Mark. You should know its function. We do have other tasks. We must find Centipede’s arsenal as soon as possible and move as many people as possible to a safe area. He has more than one arsenal; they are almost all over Loulan. We have already found some clues.”

Choza behind him looked slightly surprised. Was this something that could be said so directly? But if the person was Naruto, it didn't seem to matter?

"I understand, it is indeed a very difficult task. Do you want me to mark you too?" Naruto stretched out his hand, seemingly to leave a mark directly on his clothes, but he was met with Minato's puzzled expression.

Suddenly realizing that leaving a mark directly was impolite, Naruto immediately stood up straight and explained, "Uh, I didn't mean to! I'm a clone, I don't have any physical objects on me."

It would have been better if he hadn't explained; the three senior colleagues were practically devastated by his explanation.

"You're a shadow clone?!" Zhiwei was the one who reacted the most. His parasitic insects had a tiny bit of chakra sensing ability, and the boy opposite him might have even more chakra than him. It turned out to be just a clone!

"Can a shadow clone last this long?" Dingza was shocked by the duration, because Naruto had been chatting with them for quite a while and showed no signs of disappearing. If you include the time they first met... this definitely exceeds the normal lifespan of a shadow clone!

"Where is your main body? Is it somewhere else in the city? There are Centipede's eyes and ears everywhere here, you have to be careful." Minato was worried about Naruto's safety. He didn't find it strange that Naruto's chakra level was so high, after all, his Kushina was just as powerful.

"No need to leave any marks. We are your seniors, and you can take care of yourself. Just focus on protecting Her Majesty the Queen." Minato reached out and ruffled the spiky blond hair.

This child looked remarkably like Kushina, inheriting her eye and hair color, and was exceptionally cute. She also had the same verbal tic as Kushina, and a bright, unvarnished smile. He couldn't help but want to be close to the child, and his hand reached out.

Naruto didn't dodge; he smiled and agreed, then turned and disappeared.