Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 359 Open Cards

Their uniform attire, similarly styled painted masks, and fully armed ninja appearances made them an unavoidable warning sign when these three men, positioned high above, blocked all escape routes.

However, Naruto, being a ninja, did not react. Instead, the girl who had just been unable to stand up suddenly jumped up and spread her arms to block the three uninvited guests.

"Who are you people?" The girl had just experienced a life-or-death moment, but her question to the three unknown people was quite imposing, and she had the air of a queen.

Naruto slowly stood up behind the girl, deciding to retract his previous thoughts. Although this child acted rashly and impulsively, her heart for protecting others was incredibly sincere, almost etched into her subconscious. Such a king was rare indeed.

The three Konoha elders had never seen anything like this before. The queen, whom they considered their protector, stood in front of them, while the ninja, who had been her guardian for years, calmly dusted himself off, his face beaming with smiles. Had they opened the door incorrectly, or had the ninja indeed discovered them long ago, even recognizing them and knowing they wouldn't harm the queen, thus letting the girl do as she pleased?

The blond ninja, who was still standing at the front, spoke first, explaining, "Your Majesty, we are from the Konoha Anbu, and we have been ordered to protect you. Please do not be nervous."

The Queen didn't seem to trust them much, or rather, she instinctively distrusted ninjas. She hadn't forgotten that her mother had died at the hands of ninjas; the assassins hadn't caught up with them, and who knew if this was another deception. It was just that the person before her had a very pleasant voice, unlike her stereotypical image of a ninja, which made her hesitate.

“I can testify.” Naruto, who had been hanging up for a while, finally stepped forward because he sensed the Queen’s suspicion. “I am also a Konoha ninja. Coincidentally, we are acquaintances.”

The life-saving grace still had some effect. Naruto was a rare sunny and cheerful type in the ninja world, so it was easy for him to persuade... no, to temporarily appease a naive queen. The five of them couldn't just stand on the street chatting; that would be too conspicuous and they could be discovered at any moment. So they quickly moved to a building.

They couldn't possibly walk up and down a tall building, so they took an elevator with scenic views. No one spoke during the trip, not even Naruto, who was usually the most lively person. His attention was entirely focused on the view outside the elevator.

This city is the most precious legacy of the previous queen and the proudest creation of the current queen. Seeing Naruto's gaze fixed on the window, she felt quite smug, but her words betrayed her awkwardness.

"Isn't my Loulan beautiful?"

Unexpectedly, Naruto sighed and said, "It's beautiful, but it's just an empty shell."

The Queen immediately became angry. "What did you say!"

"Then let me ask you, what is this tower for?" Naruto wasn't afraid of the question at all; instead, he turned around to face the storm. His usual smile vanished, because the city was in a worse state than he had anticipated.

This question truly stumped the Queen. Even after the elevator stopped and everyone had stepped into the corridor, she still couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. The reason was actually quite simple: aside from its beauty, the tower showed absolutely no signs of human use; there wasn't even a ghost in sight, its emptiness was chilling.

"You can't answer that."

"I... I haven't been in a good mood since my mother passed away, so I rarely go out..." The Queen's voice trailed off, and she could already see Naruto's disapproving expression. But even a queen can't do everything herself, can she? Doesn't she realize that the purpose of a tower really has such a big problem?

Naruto held back for a long time before he finally refrained from scolding the child in front of him. He simply turned his gaze away to the three ninjas following behind him, trying to avoid seeing them.

"We can talk about your matter later. We're both Konoha ninja, shall we exchange some information? Uncle Choza, Uncle Shiwei..."

"dad."

Of the five people present, apart from Naruto who made the startling statement, only the Queen was stunned, while the other three remained calm, clearly having already guessed it.

Seeing that their identities were now revealed, the three simply removed their masks, revealing three familiar faces. The blond ninja's face didn't look exactly like Naruto's, but their blue eyes were identical, clearly indicating they were from the same family.

At this point, Minato wasn't old enough to readily accept that title. Even though he was mentally prepared, his smile was somewhat awkward, clearly not as natural as Naruto's. But the future Fourth Hokage was no ordinary person, and his fluctuating emotions quickly stabilized.

"I'm probably only a few years older than you now. May I know your name?"

Naruto had never seen his father so shy before, and the heaviness in his heart was swept away by this vibrant presence, making him feel much lighter. He didn't really know how to get along with his father; the brief few minutes he spent in the seal and fighting side-by-side on the battlefield were simply not enough for him to fully understand a person. He hadn't been a child for long, but he had been a father himself. His way of interacting with Boruto... definitely wouldn't work, right?

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, an elite Jonin of Konoha." He is also the latest generation of Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

I almost forgot about this. You must remind the main body not to use Kurama's power.

"Oh? So young and already an elite Jonin? You must have inherited that from me." While happily watching the show, Dingza didn't forget to keep an eye on his surroundings with his stick. Those seemingly omnipresent puppets were not easy to fool.

Zhiwei nodded in agreement, teasing the team leader, saying they were doing the job very well.

Minato was in an even more awkward situation, so he quickly steered the conversation back to the most important matter at hand: intelligence exchange.

"You should have realized by now that this is not the era you live in."

“Yeah, I guessed it as soon as we came out, but I didn’t know the exact time we crossed over. We received orders to pursue a Sand Village rogue ninja named Hyakuzu. That guy knew he was no match for him, so he broke the seal, causing the energy to go berserk. I was closest to Hyakuzu at that time, so I was caught in the riot, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.” Naruto glanced at the Queen and continued, “A huge power is entrenched in this land, strong enough to affect my senses, which is why I didn’t find you immediately. Otherwise, we might have met up already.”

The information that Baizu was a rogue ninja was not unexpected. Baizu was already planning to use Loulan to create a puppet army and had made the people here miserable. It was only when some civilians barely escaped the demon's lair and cried out to the outside world for help that they learned that an ambitious madman had emerged in this desert.

Cooperation is essential to ensure the mission is completed more reliably and to get time back on track.