Unlike Naruto in the original story, who bickered with Sara for ages and was even chased through the streets by Puppets in a chaotic mess...
Uchiha Yue's actions were a textbook example of an Anbu infiltration.
He wrapped Sara in a black cloak and, using the terrifying insight of the Sharingan to see through Chakra flow, precisely avoided the sight and Chakra alarm lines of all patrolling Puppets.
The peril-filled underground passages of Rouran became as easy to navigate as his own backyard under Uchiha Yue's lead. Sara didn't even see a shadow of a Puppet before being brought to the deepest part of Rouran's underground space by Yue.
"Shh."
At the exit of a dark ventilation shaft, Yue made a silencing gesture, signaling Sara to look down.
The moment Sara poked her head out and saw the scene below, she was struck as if by lightning. She covered her mouth tightly, tears streaming from her eyes.
In the massive underground cavern, countless purple Ryumyaku Chakra pipes were interwoven like a web. Beneath these pipes was an enormous weapons factory filled with the smell of machine oil and scorching heat!
Thousands of cold, hideous battle Puppets were being assembled on assembly lines.
What broke Sara the most were the laborers responsible for carrying heavy parts—worked to the bone in high heat and even whipped by overseer Puppets. They were all the people of Rouran! The husbands, fathers, and sons who had been told they were "going to work out of town"!
"Work faster! Lord Anrokuzan said this batch of Chakra Cannons must be finished by tomorrow!" an overseer Puppet barked in a cold, synthesized mechanical voice.
"Please... let me rest for a moment. I haven't closed my eyes in three days. I want to see my daughter..." a skeletal man pleaded in despair as he collapsed to the ground.
"Bang!"
The Puppet kicked the man away without mercy. "Work, bzzzt... work, or be killed!"
Hearing this, Sara, lying at the vent, froze completely.
The illusions in her mind of the "kind Lord Anrokuzan" and "prosperous Rouran" were smashed to pieces by the hammer of reality at this moment, like delicate glassware!
No arguments, no excuses.
In less than twenty minutes, Uchiha Yue used the cruelest reality to strip away all of Mukade's (Anrokuzan) disguises, bringing this naive queen to a complete Awakening.
"Do you see clearly now?"
In the darkness, Yue's low voice sounded in Sara's ear, much like a demon tempting one into a contract. "The prosperity you imagined is built on draining the blood of your people. That man called Anrokuzan is actually named Mukade, a Rogue Ninja from the Hidden Sand Village. He stole your mother's power, and now he plans to eliminate you, the only obstacle, to claim the Ryumyaku entirely for himself."
Sara trembled all over, tears wetting her cheeks.
After a while, Sara regained her composure. There was no longer confusion or cowardice in her eyes, but a burning flame of unprecedented anger and hatred.
"What... what should I do?" Sara turned her head and gripped Uchiha Yue's sleeve tightly, like grabbing a lifeline. "Since you brought me here, you must have a way, right?! Please, help me save my people!"
Looking at the "enlightened" tool before him, the corner of Uchiha Yue's mouth under his mask curled up in satisfaction.
This is how a smart person acts.
Don't be a selfless do-gooder; instead, make the other party come to you for help.
That way, the initiative is always in your hands.
"Of course, my Queen, we have a common enemy."
Yue slowly drew the short blade from his back, his Sharingan emitting a soul-stirring red glow in the dim underground.
"You have the Bloodline to control the Ryumyaku, and I have the blade to cut through everything. Let's go and take back... what originally belonged to you."
Once the secrets deep underground were fully exposed, the fragile balance maintained beneath the surface collapsed instantly.
Just as Sara resolved to reclaim control of the country, the purple Chakra light of the entire underground cavern flickered violently, and a piercing alarm echoed through the weapons factory.
"Warning! Warning! Unauthorized intruders detected! Target: Daughter of the previous Queen, Sara! Terminate on sight!"
The cold mechanical voice echoed in the cavernous underground.
Immediately after, the purple light in the eyes of the hundreds of battle Puppets still on the assembly line turned into a murderous crimson.
They all turned their heads in unison, locking onto Uchiha Yue and Sara at the ventilation shaft.
"We've been spotted. Mukade's perception of the Ryumyaku isn't dull after all."
Uchiha Yue looked at the army of mechanical spiders swarming like a tide, climbing frantically up the walls and pipes. His expression remained calm, but the tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin faster.
"Yue... what should we do?" Sara gripped Yue's sleeve tightly. Facing this dense mass of steel monsters, the courage she had just kindled wavered slightly.
"Don't panic, Your Majesty. Just stay close to me."
Yue grabbed Sara by the waist and leaped quickly through the complex network of pipes.
However, there were simply too many Puppets.
These monsters, powered infinitely by the Ryumyaku, knew no fatigue. Hundreds of high-energy Chakra lasers shot out like a storm, almost completely sealing off Yue's path ahead.
"This can't go on. I don't have that much Chakra to waste on this pile of scrap metal."
While swinging his short blade to cut down several approaching Puppets, Yue quickly calculated in his head.
At this critical juncture, he needed a "meat shield" that could distract the enemy on a large scale.
Just as he was considering whether to use Susanoo—
"Boom!!"
The incredibly thick metal ceiling above them suddenly collapsed with a loud crash!
Amidst the falling debris and twisted steel, several incredibly thick logs burst from the ground like mad dragons, smashing through Rouran's underground defenses!
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence... No, the scale isn't that small. This is Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"
Watching the thick, life-filled wooden beams instantly crush dozens of pursuing Puppets, Uchiha Yue's eyes flickered.
Along with the appearance of the Wood Release, a Ninja wearing a Konoha green vest and a special protective headgear tumbled clumsily from the collapsed gap, sliding down a giant wooden beam to a platform not far from Yue and Sara.
"Ow... where on earth is this? The side effects of time-space teleportation are way too intense..."
The newcomer stood up, rubbing his head. It was Yamato, the team captain who had been caught in the time-space vortex along with Naruto.
Before Yamato could even survey his surroundings, the dense sound of mechanical grinding reached his ears.
He looked up sharply and broke into a cold sweat at the sight of the hundreds of baring-fanged Puppet armies before him.
"What's going on?! Isn't this the Rouran ruins? Why are there so many active Puppets?!"
Yamato instinctively formed hand seals, preparing for defense.
"To think I'd actually wait long enough for Konoha reinforcements!"
Suddenly, a low, authoritative voice with a hint of appreciation came from behind Yamato.
Yamato turned around. The first thing he saw was a young man in a black robe protecting a red-haired girl behind him.
What shocked and relieved Yamato the most was the bright Konoha headband on the young man's forehead.
"I am a Konoha Anbu, code name Azure Dragon. I am currently on a mission to protect the Queen of Rouran!"