Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 250 The Power of the Dragon Vein
"Yes, but what do you want to do?" Jiraiya looked at Gaara with some nervousness.

"I...I want to go see my mother." The honest Gaara answered Jiraiya's questions without hesitation. He knew that his request might be a little excessive, so he spoke with a slightly awkward manner.

However, he received two completely different answers.

Naruto patted Gaara on the shoulder casually and said with a smile, "Is it really that simple? I'll go with you in a bit."

“No, Naruto,” Jiraiya said seriously at this moment, “If we act recklessly in the past, it might have a huge impact on history and the future.”

"Grandpa Jiraiya, what's the basis for your claim?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.

"Uh..." Jiraiya was stumped for a moment when he heard Naruto's question, mainly because it was just his speculation.

"Jiraiya-sensei, who is this child?" Minato asked, turning to Gaara.

"The son of the future Fourth Kazekage, the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast of Sunagakure." Because he guessed that Minato Namikaze would likely seal this memory after the mission, Jiraiya did not hide anything at this moment and revealed Gaara's identity in its entirety.

"The Jinchuriki of Sunagakure?" Minato Namikaze was taken aback upon hearing this, then looked at Naruto and Jiraiya with a strange expression, as if asking, "How did you two end up with the Jinchuriki of Sunagakure?"

“Yes, anyway, let’s figure out a way to get back first,” Jiraiya said.

"Alright, follow me first." Minato nodded and gestured for the others to follow.

The three followed Minato as they navigated the intricate streets of the ancient Loulan Kingdom. During this time, they encountered crowds several times. However, while avoiding the crowds, Naruto noticed something strange about the city. After gaining Kurama's approval, Naruto had acquired some of Kurama's abilities to sense people's emotions. But in this ancient Loulan city, Naruto strangely discovered that none of the people in the city showed any emotional fluctuations.

"Did you find out?" Minato Namikaze's voice rang in Naruto's ears. "They are all puppets."

"Puppets?" Naruto was immediately startled. "What about the people in this city?"

"Follow me first." Minato Namikaze said, leading everyone to the outskirts of the ancient city of Loulan, where they quickly met up with Choza Akimichi and Shiki Aburame.

Upon seeing Jiraiya, the two looked on incredulously and asked curiously, "Lord Jiraiya, why are you here?"

"I came here because of a special mission given to me by the Third Hokage. After seeing Minato, I decided to follow him and see if there was anything I could do to help you," Jiraiya said, trying to brush them off.

The two didn't think much of it. Jiraiya had always been wandering around the ninja world, so it wasn't strange for him to appear anywhere. Akimichi Choza, on the contrary, said happily, "It's so good that you're here. Otherwise, according to the information we've gathered, this mission is a bit serious. Even with Minato leading the team, it would be difficult for the three of us to complete the mission successfully."

"Have you gathered any intelligence?" Minato asked at this moment.

“Yes, Zhiwei and I circled around the outskirts of Loulan and found that the situation is basically the same as the intelligence our spies planted here provided. The people in the entire ancient city of Loulan have been basically replaced by puppets. However, what’s more troublesome is that Zhiwei’s reconnaissance bugs detected that a large number of combat puppets are hidden in this ancient city. These puppets are much more advanced than those of Sunagakure. Ordinary Jonin would not be able to deal with them without methods to counter them. More importantly, these puppets do not seem to need a puppeteer to control them. The chakra threads on their bodies are directly connected to them.” Akimichi Choza said, looking at the tall tower in the ancient city of Loulan, which was clearly visible even in the outer area.

“If that’s the case, then the power source for these puppets should come from the dragon vein that the ancient Loulan Kingdom has guarded for generations.” Minato Namikaze frowned. “It seems that Loulan has been completely controlled by that so-called Prime Minister An Lushan who suddenly appeared a few years ago. I didn’t find any trace of their queen in the inner city.”

“This An Lushan is probably quite ambitious,” said Aburame Zhiwei. Putting aside everything else, just the number of hidden combat puppets they found in various parts of the ancient city of Loulan is enough to give Sunagakure a hard time if they were to use them to attack Sunagakure now. Who would believe that he has no ambition?

“Then let’s infiltrate Loulan first and find their queen’s whereabouts. After all, only the royal bloodline of Loulan has the ability to seal the dragon vein,” Minato Namikaze said. “Otherwise, I will have to risk sealing the dragon vein myself.”

"Understood." Choji Akimichi and Shino Aburame nodded simultaneously.

"Jiraiya-sensei, I'm entrusting these two children to your care," Minato Namikaze said at this moment.

“I can come too! Ba… Brother!” Naruto almost called Minato “Dad” in front of Choji Akimichi and Shiki Aburame.

"Lord Jiraiya, who are these two children?" Akimichi Choza asked at this moment.

"Uh... I found two kids when I was outside," Jiraiya said, scratching his head after thinking for a moment.

"Naruto, you and Jiraiya-sensei stay here and wait for us. Try your best not to fight here," Minato said.

"I'm very strong! I can definitely help you!" Naruto insisted.

"Minato, since the enemy is so strong, we'd better go with you. More people mean more strength," Jiraiya said at this moment.

After hearing Jiraiya's words, Minato considered it for a moment. The fighting power that Naruto and Gaara had shown when facing those puppets was more than enough to help them in this mission. In any case, he was definitely not as strong as the two of them when he was that age.

Thinking of this, Minato couldn't help but feel a little gratified, thinking to himself: It seems that my future son's talent will surpass mine.

“Alright.” Minato nodded, but before setting off, he still reminded him, “If possible, it’s best not to leave too many traces here.” “I understand.” Jiraiya nodded.

After discussing the specific plan for the operation, Minato took out several kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God Technique from his ninja tool bag and handed them to the people present, saying, "Take these. If there is any danger, I will come to your rescue immediately."

"Is this the legendary kunai for the Flying Thunder God Technique? It's amazing!" After acquiring the Sword of Love, Naruto's face was filled with excitement as he played with the special kunai in his hand. Since learning about his origins, Naruto had spent a lot of time in the village collecting stories about his father. Naruto knew that this was the origin of his father's nickname in the ninja world—the Yellow Flash—and the vessel for the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Naruto had seen this kind of kunai before, in a museum built by Uchiha Tokō two years ago next to the Konoha Heroes Monument. But the inanimate objects in the museum, separated by counters and restaurants, could never compare to the feeling of touching this kunai with your own hands.

Upon hearing Naruto's words, Minato Namikaze frowned imperceptibly. There was no doubt that Naruto was his son, but both his previous attitude towards him and his expression upon receiving his Sword of Love now indicated one thing: his son didn't truly know him. This made Minato wonder, "Didn't I watch this child grow up? Or perhaps..."

After considering a certain possibility, Minato Namikaze glanced at Naruto, who had been following him like a little shadow, out of the corner of his eye after setting off. Then he slowed down, came to Naruto's side, patted Naruto's head, and asked softly, "Your name is Naruto, right?"

At this time, Jiraiya had not yet discovered his astonishing talent in software hardening engineering, and the novel about the origin of Naruto's name, "The Story of Naruto's Strong Willpower," had not yet been published. Therefore, Minato asked this question.

"Mmm-hmm!" Naruto nodded hurriedly. "Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!"

“Uzumaki?” Minato Namikaze nodded. If it were him, he had indeed considered having his future child with Kushina inherit the Uzumaki clan name. Putting aside the fact that the Uzumaki clan's name was indeed much more prestigious than their Namikaze clan, having his future child bear the Uzumaki surname would also reduce a lot of trouble for the child as he grew up. After all, while he had made a name for himself in the ninja world over the years, he had also genuinely made many people want to get rid of him. If his child bore the Namikaze surname, there might be ninjas from some ninja village who would target his child because they didn't want to see another Yellow Flash.

Although this idea shows a lack of trust in Konoha's defenses, to be somewhat disrespectful, the Third Hokage had become somewhat weak as he aged, and Minato Namikaze didn't think that the Third Hokage in this state could protect his children.

"Naruto, you seemed really strong before. In the future, you should at least be a Chunin, right?" Minato Namikaze asked with a smile.

"Uh... sort of..." Naruto broke out in a cold sweat after hearing Minato's question, and then said somewhat guiltily.

Seeing that his father was so excited that he forgot his own identity, he realized that he was now a rogue ninja of Konoha. What if his father found out and decided to punish him?

"So you could say that?" Minato Namikaze looked a little confused. How could a Chunin even be considered?
“Yes! I’ll be a Chunin soon,” Naruto said.

In Naruto's view, if the Chunin Exams had proceeded smoothly as scheduled and he hadn't run away, defeating Sasuke and becoming a Chunin would have been a piece of cake.

However, his statement clearly did not satisfy Minato Namikaze, who frowned and said, "Naruto, the most important thing for us ninjas is to be meticulous. Yes is no, and no is no."

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto scratched his head, listening to his father's lecture, a strange feeling also rose in his heart.

Is this what it feels like to be scolded by your dad?

"Fine, I'm still a genin," Naruto admitted helplessly, head down.

"Genin?" Minato Namikaze nodded. Although in his opinion Naruto's strength had definitely surpassed that of a typical Jonin, a ninja's rank wasn't solely determined by strength.

The group quickly re-entered the center of the ancient city of Loulan. At this time, crowds began to gather on the streets, and thousands of puppet figures gathered in front of the royal palace of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, seemingly to hold some kind of ceremony.

Hidden in the gaps between houses not far from the palace, the people watching this scene were secretly alarmed. If these people were all puppets, then where had the real Loulan people gone?

Just as everyone was filled with doubt, a figure dressed in luxurious clothes, surrounded by a group of people, ascended the high platform above the palace and waved to the puppets below.

"That's... their princess?" Minato Namikaze frowned upon seeing this. What was going on now? The people below were clearly puppets, so who was this princess waving and putting on a show for? Or was this princess fake too?
However, the next second, something unexpected happened. The bricks on the tower suddenly cracked, and the princess, who was waving her hand, was caught off guard and lost her footing, falling off the platform.

Using the Nine-Tails' power, Naruto sensed that this was a real person and rushed out without thinking. He ran towards the platform at top speed, then leaped high into the air and caught the falling woman.

But at that moment, commotion began to appear from all directions, and dozens of massive combat golems converged on the location of the tower.

"Naruto?" Minato Namikaze, who was also preparing to rescue Naruto but hadn't even thrown his Flying Thunder God kunai yet, saw Naruto dash out first and became very anxious. He finally understood why Naruto, despite his outstanding strength, was still only a genin.

Couldn't this kid have assessed the situation first? As a ninja, acting rashly is a major taboo!

However, in the next instant, facing the puppets that came to attack, the golden light emanating from Naruto's body as he held the Queen of Loulan, as well as the chakra aura he exuded, made Minato Namikaze's eyes widen in surprise.

“This is…” Minato Namikaze looked at Jiraiya in disbelief. He was all too familiar with this chakra fluctuation. Wasn’t this the Nine-Tails’ chakra?

Moreover, Naruto's posture is very similar to the description of the perfect Jinchuriki that Minato Namikaze saw in the book.

……

(End of this chapter)