Shindai struck An Lushan's massive body with his Iron Sand Body, slamming him into the ground.
Shindai was running low on chakra and could no longer maintain the enormous Kannazuki form for battle. Meanwhile, an infuriated An Lushan kept firing Dragon Vein energy blasts at Shindai.
Shindai could only dart between towers to avoid the Dragon Vein energy bombardment.
Naruto held Sāra tightly while looking at her seriously, saying, "You're not just a Puppet Princess! Here, go do what you must do now!"
After handing Sāra the Chakra Blade, Naruto rushed forward to assist Shindai in the battle.
Sāra watched Naruto's retreating figure and murmured, "What I must do..."
Closing her eyes as she tried recalling what she needed to do, suddenly the memory of her mother's song echoed in her mind.
"Oh Guardian of the Dragon Vein, with shining blades raised toward the heavens, the spiraling light passes through, severing the dragon's hand to reach the inner sanctum, revealing the face bathed in morning light..."
Sāra suddenly opened her eyes wide. She got it! She finally knew what she had to do!
Shindai and Naruto worked together, using the terrain to keep An Lushan occupied.
Minato and Obito along with the other two had completed their tasks and were coming to reinforce Shindai and Naruto.
Sāra called out to Naruto from afar, "Naruto!"
Everyone including Naruto and Shindai turned their heads toward Sāra at the Central Plaza.
Sāra raised the Chakra Blade in her hand, cutting off her long dress and tying up her hair.
Naruto was baffled—he had given Sāra the Chakra Blade to protect her people, not to cut her clothes!
Sāra declared solemnly, "To protect my people, I can seal off the source of the Dragon Vein!"
Realization dawned on Naruto, "So that's it! This is why Gatai tried so hard to eliminate you!"
Sāra continued, "The inner sanctum where you first met me. If I can reach there, the power of the Dragon Vein will no longer extend, and An Lushan won't be able to approach either!"
Naruto nodded at Sāra, "Sāra! Go ahead!"
"Yes!" With determination on her face, Sāra turned to her people, "Everyone, there's a safe place near the Dragon Vein. Please come with me! Once we get there, that monster won't be able to get close!"
"Let's go!"
"Come on, let's get moving!"
"We're with you!"
An Lushan roared furiously, "Sāra, you must not survive!"
Naruto shouted with intense determination, "Hurry, Sāra! Fulfill your mission with unyielding resolve!"
"Okay! Everyone, move quickly!"
Sāra led her people toward the inner sanctum to seek shelter.
Shindai muttered to himself, "Now that we know there's a safe place to go, why don't we just head there? Why bother with cutting clothes? That's such a waste of time."
Naturally, even without Naruto voicing his complaints, Obito was more than happy to voice the criticism for him. "It's his clothes. What's it got to do with you?"
Namikaze Minato spoke calmly, "I believe Queen Sāra must've wrestled with the decision before acting. She did it to show determination. Because Loulan's development thus far has all been thanks to the Dragon Vein, closing off the Dragon Vein is essentially cutting off this country's future.
"To choose to close off the Dragon Vein in order to save her people—Queen Sāra truly deserves to be called a queen. Shindai, you should respect Queen Sāra."
Shindai shrugged. "Fine, fine."
Naruto Uzumaki looked at An Lushan with high spirits and said, "Well then, let's go!"
But Namikaze Minato stopped Naruto. "You go protect Sāra instead. It'll save time if we split up. That guy's tough to handle—we should prepare multiple layers of defense. Shindai, your chakra reserves are low now, so join forces with Naruto to protect Sāra, and recover some chakra while you're at it."
Actually, Naruto really wanted to fight alongside the Minato and Obito of this era.
Minato's tone grew serious. "Trust in our strength. Go now!"
"I understand! Aniki, let's—Hey, what are you doing?"
Shindai had already climbed onto Naruto's back. "Since I'm completely out of chakra, running while recovering chakra would be really inefficient. So you carry me while I recover my chakra properly! Honestly, if only I had more chakra... How lucky you ninjas are with all that chakra!"
"Alright then..."
Naruto carried Shindai on his back as he headed toward where Sāra needed protecting.
Obito hurled many kunai tied with thin wires toward An Lushan. These wires wrapped around An Lushan's massive body.
"Kakashi!"
"On it! Chidori!"
Kakashi gathered Chidori in his right hand. But rather than charging directly at An Lushan with it, Kakashi grabbed onto the wire attached by Obito.
The electricity surged through the wires, electrocuting An Lushan's body.
[In an instant, lightning crackled across An Lushan's colossal frame, coursing through his body.]
Minato created two Shadow Clones and positioned himself and the clones around three sides of An Lushan.
[Sealing Technique: Three Directions Seal!]
Minato's real body and the two clones simultaneously activated a green, transparent pyramidal barrier, trapping An Lushan inside.
Inside the barrier, An Lushan sneered disdainfully, "You think something like this can trap me? Don't dream! Today, Sāra must die—you won't be able to protect her no matter what!"
From atop a tower, a surge of Dragon Vein energy descended upon An Lushan, shattering Minato's barrier.
Minato Namikaze frowned. "If the Dragon Vein remains unsealed, his chakra will keep replenishing. Still, even something endless must have a weakness somewhere."
Despite Minato and Kakashi's best efforts alongside their team, they couldn't stop An Lushan.
An Lushan was heading toward the inner sanctum.
Naruto Uzumaki had Shindai on his back, running with Sāra and the others toward the inner sanctum when An Lushan's tail pierced through the walls, causing continuous rockfalls.
Minato activated the Flying Thunder God Technique, instantly arriving beside Naruto along with Kakashi and the others.
"Naruto, you keep taking them to the inner sanctum!"
Without hesitation, Naruto kept Shindai on his back and escorted Sāra and the rest forward.
Minato hurled a shuriken at An Lushan and rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.
[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!]
Countless shuriken rained down in rapid succession, bombarding An Lushan without pause.
An Lushan's body was instantly riddled with holes.
Obito locked his Sharingan onto An Lushan's left chest. "Minato-sensei!"
Minato looked closely and spotted the centipede-shaped true form of An Lushan hidden within his opponent's left chest cavity. "Ah! I see it too! That must be Gatai's weak point!"
However, An Lushan quickly regenerated his damaged body using the power of the Dragon Vein.
Minato frowned. "The regeneration speed is just too fast!"
Sāra and the others had already reached underground—both the source of the Dragon Vein and the inner sanctum lay beneath.
Standing by a stone door on a staircase, Sāra said, "There's an inner sanctum at the top of these stairs. It's a place where the Dragon Vein's energy cannot reach!"
Naruto saw An Lushan closing in again and shouted to Sāra, "He's coming fast! Move it, Sāra! Aniki, time to move!"
"Alright, I've recovered some chakra already. Let's go!"
Shindai leapt from Naruto's back and moved to intercept An Lushan, giving Sāra and the others more time to escape.
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