Naruto Uzumaki saved Sāra from falling from a great height, only to unexpectedly receive a series of hard slaps instead of gratitude.
Right after the flurry of slaps, Sāra swiftly followed up with an elbow strike that sent Naruto crashing to the ground.
"You rude bastard!"
Sāra acted as if she had just been harassed and looked genuinely shocked.
Still rubbing his sore face with a pitiful look, Naruto whined, "What was *that* for?! I just saved you!"
He rushed in to save her, only to end up getting smacked by Sāra! What kind of thanks is *that*?!
Sāra finally came to her senses. Oh right...
Just moments ago while falling through the air, if not for Naruto saving her, she might already be smashed into paste right now.
Realizing her mistake, Sāra quickly stammered out, "Ah! I should thank you first—I really appreciate it."
Still rubbing his sore face and glaring at her with obvious hurt, Naruto muttered, "Man, I got nothin' but pain for doing the right thing."
What's this woman's deal? She's such a rough one!
Naruto asked curiously, "You're the Queen, right?"
"Correct," Sāra answered proudly. "I am Queen Sāra of Loulan!"
Introducing himself, Naruto said, "Oh right, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja from Konoha Village. But wait, is this really Loulan? The ruins I was in earlier were also called Loulan..."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Sāra snapped angrily. "Loulan is something I inherited from my mother—it's more important to me than my own life!"
Totally baffled, Naruto muttered, "I have *no* idea what's going on here... Anyway, how did you end up falling off that tower?"
Thinking back, Sāra replied hesitantly, "It felt like someone pushed me from behind..."
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Someone tried to kill you?!"
"No way!" Sāra immediately denied it. "Nobody would ever try to kill me! You saw it yourself, didn't you? My people love me and welcomed me so warmly!"
"That's strange," Naruto frowned. "Wasn't it *you* who just said someone shoved you from behind?"
Bowing her head nervously, Sāra muttered, "Um... I must've been mistaken!"
Suddenly—
Five figures suddenly stepped between Naruto and Sāra.
Shindai sneered at Naruto mockingly, "Yo, Green Tortoise, looks like we meet again!"
Minato Namikaze sighed with disappointment, "You didn't keep our promise."
"Eh? Hey, I couldn't help it! This girl *literally* fell off the tower in front of me! And quit calling me Green Tortoise, fox-face!"
Naruto drew a kunai, leaned back against the wall, and kept a sharp eye on Shindai and his five-man team.
After all, his presence here was suspicious from the start. Although Minato had shown him the Konoha forehead protector, he couldn't simply trust them.
Shindai crossed his arms and shouted indignantly, "What? Fox face? It's just the design of my mask! Who even has a fox face!"
Sāra pushed Shindai aside and stood protectively in front of Naruto Uzumaki. "Hey, who the hell are you guys!"
Naruto frowned. "You here to kill her or what?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto charged straight at Shindai, preparing to attack the closest enemy first.
"Come on then! Let me handle this!"
Shindai was extremely excited. He sidestepped Naruto's kunai, then performed hand seals with both hands. Grabbing Naruto's wrists with a reverse motion, he used Iron Sand Body to bind Naruto's hands before landing a punch directly on Naruto's head.
"Gah! That hurts!" A bump immediately formed on Naruto's head, and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Minato stopped Shindai from delivering a second punch to Naruto's head. "Enough. That's all. He's not our enemy."
Turning toward Naruto, Minato said, "I hope there's no misunderstanding. We're also here to protect Her Majesty. This isn't the place to talk. Your Majesty, please lead us somewhere private so we can talk things through. Fighting like this won't solve anything."
Sāra hesitated slightly before finally agreeing. "Fine."
"Hey, what're you doing? Let's go."
Kakashi turned his head toward Shindai, who was still standing frozen in place, staring at his hand streaked slightly green.
Since they were currently on a covert mission, Kakashi didn't call Shindai by name.
Regaining his senses, Shindai stared at Naruto in shock. "Is your hair... dyed?"
Naruto replied angrily, "Yeah, why the surprise? And why do you even care anyway?"
Kamishiro said awkwardly, "Uh... why did you dye your hair green? Your original hair color should be yellow, right?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That's strange. How do you know my natural hair is yellow? I dyed it green because my Aniki told me that green represents the color of youth. He said if you want to get through life smoothly, you've gotta have a little green on top."
Shindai felt rather uneasy listening to that.
"If you want to get through life smoothly, you've gotta have a little green on top..." That phrase sounded oddly familiar—like something he himself would actually say.
Could it be possible that his future self had given Naruto a full head of green hair?
Was his future self really that trendy?
No way! Definitely not fashionable! Please don't let myself also end up dying my hair green! I absolutely cannot accept that!
Obito urged, "Shindai, stop spacing out. Hurry up and move."
Kakashi whispered to Obito, "We're on a secret mission!"
Obito quickly covered his mouth.
Minato Namikaze glanced at Naruto Uzumaki and Shindai. There was no doubt that Shindai recognized this person.
Shindai forced a laugh and said, "Didn't we say we should change locations? Let's not talk here. Come on, let's go."
Inwardly, Shindai was ecstatic—nothing was out of character, so everything was fine!
He could continue shipping Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki all the way.
After learning Shindai's name, it was now Naruto Uzumaki's turn to give him a strange look.
On a wide and luxurious corridor,
"No one will come here. You can talk about whatever you need to discuss now," Sāra said, and then leaned back against the edge of the window ledge.
Minato Namikaze seriously said to Naruto Uzumaki, "It seems our missions are conflicting, so I hope you can tell me why you came here."
Naruto Uzumaki replied, "To be honest, I'm not really sure either. At that time, my comrade and I were doing a mission when suddenly puppets attacked us. And Loulan, which had just been ruins, instantly transformed into such a powerful town. What exactly is going on? I'm totally confused. If you know anything, please tell me as soon as possible."
After some contemplation, Minato finally agreed, "Well, there's nothing I can do about it. Originally, I didn't want to say anything, but since it's like this, I'll explain within my capabilities."
Minato removed his mask.
When Naruto saw Minato's face, his eyes nearly popped out in shock.
"Huh? Dad? How are you so young-looking?"
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