Chapter 71: During the Banquet 2
The explosions continued one after another.
The Sand shinobi's invasion accelerated, yet the people of Rōran remained oblivious, showing no reaction to their home being destroyed.
Everyone was immersed in the beautiful illusion brought on by the genjutsu. The good news from their queen, combined with the song, had lulled them into a dream.
"Don't you want to be the Queen of Rōran anymore?"
"She doesn't. She grew tired of this day-in, day-out life a long time ago."
Mei answered for Sara. The latter was now like a doll, unresponsive, allowing Mei to pull her to her side.
The Mizukage smoothed out Sara's hair, which had been messed up by the sudden attack, then lifted the queen's chin with her left hand, forcing her to meet Kakashi's gaze.
Beyond the guilt and unease, her eyes burned with adoration for the silver-haired young man.
"See? Look at her. You are so perfect in her eyes. How could she possibly let go of this chance to keep you by her side forever?"
"Are you going to stand by and watch them die?"
"I... They won't die because of me. Before I saw you this afternoon, the Sand's envoy told me this was our last chance to surrender. These people will continue to live here, and the Sand will provide them with supplies in place of the Mist."
"And the price is handing over the Ryūmyaku?"
"...Yes."
"So? When Sara told me this news, I was quite shocked. But because we love the same man, I understand her."
Mei handed Sara a pill. Kakashi tried to snatch it, but she swallowed it first.
"A chakra-suppressing pill from one of the Sannin, Lady Tsunade. Even I will fall into a state of weakness within minutes."
Sara's aura weakened at an astonishing rate. Soon, she was so weak she could barely stand. Mei's condition was only slightly better. The two stood at the highest point, announcing their presence to the Sand shinobi.
"If they had a chance to kill the Mizukage, or even capture her alive, what do you think those ninja would do?"
Kakashi blocked a few more incoming kunai and shuriken. Mei produced her Mizukage hat from somewhere and placed it on her head.
"They haven't realized I'm powerless to resist yet, but they will soon enough."
"Of course, if you stay by my and Sara's side to protect us, then they'll never know. By the time we recover, the Ryūmyaku will certainly have been sealed and taken away."
Mei rested Sara's head on her shoulder, her beautiful eyes fixed on Kakashi, watching his every move.
"Was it also Sara who told you I traveled here through the Ryūmyaku?"
"...I'm sorry, my lord. This trouble is caused by my willfulness."
"Sara, you don't need to apologize," Mei said, gently covering the Queen of Rōran's lips with her hand.
"This is the choice he has to make."
"You've changed. I thought you had grown up. Now I see I was terribly wrong."
"It's not me who's changed, it's that you don't know what I've been through."
Kakashi's expression was grim. The Mist shinobi below had probably been deceived by their Mizukage as well. They had initially captured the Rōran soldiers, only to be put to sleep by genjutsu later. He had no idea how Mei had convinced them.
As if reading his thoughts, she said, "Are you wondering about my subordinates? It's simple. I told them those soldiers were spies and that the Sand and I had formed an alliance."
"...."
At this point, the silver-haired young man was speechless. Mei had willingly placed herself on the chessboard as a helpless piece, passively forcing him into the role of the player. This whole scheme was a mix of coincidence and planning, but there was no denying she had succeeded. She had successfully stalled Kakashi, preventing him from moving an inch, forcing him to devote all his attention to protecting the two of them.
[Warning: After the Ryūmyaku is destroyed and sealed, the host will be unable to return to the normal timeline.]
[Emergency Mission: Protect the Ryūmyaku for 24 hours. The system will use 10 Mega-Joules of the host's (Ryūmyaku) energy to communicate with the Ryūmyaku and complete the space-time transfer.]
The moment the notification appeared, the young man felt more than half of his energy drain away. Normally, the system would only forcibly deduct his chakra like this when his life was in danger. This emergency mission was just as unreasonable.
Fortunately, Kakashi was used to hardship. Even after losing so much, the remaining chakra was far greater than what he had at his peak before replacing it with Ryūmyaku chakra.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Clone."
Once again splitting his chakra in half, the clone he created rushed towards the location of the underground Ryūmyaku.
"How long can one lightning clone last? The Sand didn't just send a few ninja this time; even Lord Kazekage came in person, wanting to battle me in the desert."
"So, what's it going to be? Go back or stay here? It's fine if you want to go back. Before I fall into their hands, I'll kill Sara first, then myself."
"You're especially talkative today."
A purple Raikiri sliced through an oncoming Wind Release jutsu. Kakashi moved around the two women, constantly blocking ninjutsu and kunai coming from the shadows.
The Land of Wind's ninjutsu was the most suitable for assassination. Wind blades were invisible, extremely fast, highly piercing, and countered Lightning Release.
With less than a quarter of his chakra remaining, Kakashi couldn't maintain the second stage of his physical activation for long and could only barely hold on in the first stage.
"Sara, let's have a drink."
Mei casually walked over, picked up two glasses of wine from a hypnotized server's tray, and grabbed two chairs from the side.
"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? My lord is still fighting..."
"It's fine. No matter what, we're both liberated. Let's celebrate this banquet as the beginning of our new lives."
"...Okay."
Sara took a small sip of the wine, and the unease in her heart slowly dissipated. Though she didn't like to drink, she found the bitter wine to be incredibly sweet and delicious at this moment. The burden of being a queen was lifted; being an ordinary person was so wonderful.
Kakashi, who was constantly running and fighting, was so frustrated he could almost spit blood. If they weren't on a battlefield, he would have loved to splash a basin of cold water on the two of them to wake them up.
'Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!'
There was no more practical defensive ninjutsu. From blocking a Great Fireball to withstanding a Tailed Beast Bomb, the Earth-Style Wall had saved the lives of countless ninja.
He sensed that his lightning clone was about to catch up with the group of Sand shinobi. He didn't know how strong a clone with 4 Mega-Joules of energy would be, but it certainly wouldn't be defeated in a short time. In this window, if he could think of another way, there might still be a chance to turn the tables.
'System, open the combat tab.'
One of the options made Kakashi hesitate for two seconds before he gritted his teeth and purchased it.
[Single-Use Item: Terrain Converter.]
[Converts a designated terrain into a specified structure. Chakra Requirement: 2.5 Mega-Joules]
He swallowed two Military Rations Pills. Fortunately, the Sand shinobi in the banquet hall weren't too strong. Kakashi's left hand slammed the strange device that had suddenly appeared onto the ground.
An earthquake began.
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