I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 447 Puppet City!

A puppet kingdom?

Nara raised an eyebrow.

"Explain in detail!"

Minato Namikaze immediately gave a detailed account of what he and Shisui Uchiha had just experienced.

When Nara Rinka and Tsunade were tracking Sasori of the Red Sand and leaving the borders of Loulan.

Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha also quietly followed the rather unusual metal puppet unit.

Both were elite ninjas of Konoha, with exceptional stealth abilities. They followed the puppet army undetected and even accompanied them to a secret base within the territory of Loulan Kingdom.

Inside that underground secret base.

Countless metal golems, like overseers, urged a group of ragged, emaciated civilians to build an even larger puppet army.

Or rather...

"Puppet Army!"

Minato Namikaze said with a solemn expression.

"The underground base contains a large number of metal golems, and the speed at which they are built is extremely fast, like an assembly line. A new golem soldier can be produced in a short time."

"After Shisui and I conducted a preliminary inspection of the underground base, in order to avoid being discovered, we quietly left the secret base and went to the surface of Loulan Kingdom to conduct an investigation."

"But the situation within Loulan itself... is also far from optimistic."

"Yondaime-sama."

Uchiha Shisui picked up the conversation.

"Those civilians who were taken to the underground base by unknown people should be the original people of the Loulan Kingdom."

"And the people living in these high-rise buildings on the ground of Loulan Kingdom, after my investigation and that of Brother Shuimen, were found to be made of simple puppets."

"This is a puppet city!"

After listening to the reports from Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha, Tsunade frowned deeply.

She had fought against countless Sunagakure ninjas and knew all too well the power of the village's puppeteers.

People often say that ninjas are weapons or tools.

But the puppets of Sunagakure are tools and weapons that are even more indifferent and ruthless than ninjas!

"Is the situation really that bad?"

Tsunade pressed for an answer.

"Minato, and Shisui, did you two calculate exactly how many puppets were in that secret base?"

"It's at least in the thousands."

Minato Namikaze said in a deep voice.

"Moreover, they are all special puppets that can move freely without the need for chakra threads to connect and control them."

"These puppets are more troublesome and dangerous than those from Sunagakure!"

Uchiha Shisui, who was standing to the side, also looked grave.

Their team has a limited number of members.

If those metal golems hidden underground swarmed in.

Based on the number of people, each of them would be responsible for dealing with at least a thousand puppets!

Uchiha Shisui glanced at his captain, then at the Yellow Flash, and then at Slug Princess.

I always felt that he was the most dangerous one!

"Don't worry too much, Minato-nii, Shisui."

Nara Rinkaku spoke up to comfort him.

"These metal puppets in Loulan Kingdom, although they do not need to be controlled by human chakra threads, should not have developed to the point where they can act on their own without orders."

"In other words, there must be a special central system in Loulan that can control all the metal puppets!"

"Once we destroy that central system, we won't need to worry about those metal puppet soldiers anymore."

Nara Rinka's words calmed everyone down a bit.

"Nara, quickly use your family's ingenious brain to think of a solution!"

Tsunade looked at Nara Rinka and urged him to give the order.

"What should we do now?"

"I think we should first find a 'local' who knows the situation better."

Nara Rinka's gaze fell upon the tallest and most magnificent building in the Loulan Kingdom.

"For example, the Queen of Loulan, or that mysterious minister of Loulan."

The situation in Loulan.

Nara Rinkazu, with his foresight, understood things better than Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha.

He also knew who was the culprit behind Loulan becoming a "puppet kingdom"—

The Sand Village rogue ninja, Hyakuzu, who traveled from the future and was active in Loulan under the identity of "An Lushan"!

"Just finished dealing with one rogue ninja from Sunagakure, and now it's time to deal with another one..."

Nara Rinkazu withdrew his gaze and looked at Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Shisui.

"Besides those puppet soldiers and puppet civilians, did you make any other unusual discoveries just now?"

The "special discovery" that Nara Rinka mentioned was actually a person from the future!

In his memory, besides Centipede, there was another "future ninja" who would come to Loulan.

If that person really comes...

Nara Rinkazu glanced at Minato Namikaze without making a sound.

That scene must be very interesting.

"A special discovery?"

Minato Namikaze pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, Loulan is a very dull country—"

Before Minato Namikaze could finish speaking...

boom!!

Suddenly, a firework was launched into the sky and exploded with a loud bang, the sound carrying far and wide throughout Loulan.

Minato Namikaze's face flushed red, and he stopped talking.

But the fireworks continued unabated.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Clusters of fireworks exploded in the sky above the Kingdom of Loulan.

This seemed to be some kind of special signal.

The entire oasis city awoke to the sound of fireworks.

Under the watchful eyes of Nara Rinka and his companions, one figure after another emerged from the buildings of the Loulan Kingdom.

Their movement speed was basically the same, and their target was also quite the same—the royal palace of Loulan!

Amidst the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers, hundreds and thousands of people gathered in front of the royal palace square of the Loulan Kingdom. They jostled shoulder to shoulder, raised their arms, and shouted, creating a lively scene.

Even on the back of the [Shadow Creature], one could feel the overwhelming, lively atmosphere.

Tsunade asked in surprise, "Are these people... celebrating?"

Minato Namikaze frowned. "Based on previous investigations, these ordinary citizens are all actually puppets..."

Uchiha Shisui listened intently. "There are more and more people... They seem to be cheering for something, 'Queen'?"

"Looks like we're having pretty good luck today."

Nara Ranke piloted the [Shadow Creature] and flew towards the Loulan Royal Palace Square.

"Having just repelled the invading enemies, Loulan is ready to welcome their queen!"

Upon hearing this, the other three looked at Nara Rinka in surprise.

"The Queen of Loulan? Didn't the intelligence say she died in the war?"

"The intelligence also mentioned that the previous Loulan Queen had a child, and it was a princess."

Nara Rinka gazed at the Loulan Royal Palace building and stretched out his finger.

"Look! There!"

Under the watchful gazes of Nara Rinka and others.

Three figures slowly appeared on the observation deck of the royal palace building.

The two figures standing on the left and right were short and stocky, and their faces were not clearly visible.

The leader, a slender man in a tall crown and elaborate attire, was waving to the cheering crowd below.

"She is indeed the Queen."

Tsunade nodded.

however.

I watched as she ascended the red tower.

She was attending to the guests.

She watched as... the building collapsed!

Splash—

Under the watchful eyes of Nara Rinka and others.

The slender figure, who appeared to be the queen, suddenly staggered forward a few steps, and the floor of the palace observation deck where she stood shattered instantly.

"ah--"

It was accompanied by a scream that echoed through the sky.

The Queen of Loulan fell from the tower.

(End of this chapter)