"Who I am doesn't matter. And my reason for coming here is simple."
Hikaru answered Sara calmly.
He'd already decided how to handle the Queen of Loulan, so he wasn't worried about questions like this.
It was true—he'd found the Dragon Vein's sealed chamber by following the mark Minato left behind.
But he had also genuinely wandered through Loulan itself.
He needed supplies to survive his stay, and he needed to confirm whether Loulan knew anything about him.
During that time, he discovered Loulan had completely fallen out of Suna's intelligence network. They had no idea what was happening outside.
He also saw something else:
Loulan's condition was awful.
This wasn't the thriving city he remembered from Naruto's time-travel incident. The structures still stood, but the decay was obvious everywhere.
He used to think Loulan's collapse was caused purely by war.
Now, he wasn't so sure.
Even without taking the main roads, he'd seen bandits and raiders camped around the trade routes.
Bandits in the Land of Wind—unchecked by ninja?
That could only mean one thing.
Suna—and even the Land of Wind itself—were allowing it.
And why?
Minato, too, likely had something to do with it.
When the Land of Wind's missions flowed into the Land of Fire, any Kazekage would lose their mind. And under Loulan slept the Dragon Vein—something Suna would never want outside influence near.
If the Wind Daimyō also disliked a city sitting on his territory yet refusing to obey him…
Then it only took one "quiet agreement," and Loulan's fate was sealed.
"The Queen is still holding on because of her citizens," Hikaru thought.
In the future, that girl—who seemed like Naruto's daughter—had spoken about protecting her people.
So for Sara, what mattered most was simple:
Her daughter. Her citizens. Loulan.
Once a person's weakness was exposed, they could be controlled.
Hikaru had no intention of slaughtering the city. Not because he couldn't—but because it was pointless.
And while he had no mercy for innocents in an enemy state during wartime, he still wasn't at the point where he'd butcher noncombatants for no reason.
"So what is your purpose?" Sara stared at him, then finally asked in a low voice.
"Simple. I want to make a deal with Your Majesty." Hikaru smiled. "Don't reject it yet. And don't say you have nothing. For your people's sake, you should think carefully."
"Your target is the Dragon Vein, isn't it?" Sara gritted out. "You don't understand what that power means. It's not something you can control. Give up your ambition!"
"Sorry," Hikaru shook his head, stepping closer. "You can't stop me. And you don't have the right to refuse."
His meaning was obvious.
Sara's face turned pale.
Maybe because she truly was sick, she suddenly started coughing—hard.
For a moment her face flushed red—then drained to white.
Hikaru frowned and pulled out a handkerchief, offering it.
Sara didn't take it.
When the coughing ended, she wiped the blood from the corner of her lips and snarled, "You can't harm innocent people!"
"That depends on you, Your Majesty." Hikaru bowed slightly, his voice still gentle. "And even if I do nothing… how long do you think your city can last in its current state?"
"Even if I die, I won't abandon my people!" Sara's tone was firm—yet helplessness still flickered across her bloodless face.
This time Hikaru didn't indulge her.
He stepped forward and wiped the blood from her lips himself.
Sara turned her head away to resist, but Hikaru pressed the cloth there anyway.
His movements were soft—almost careful.
Paired with the mask, it was unsettling.
But he didn't stop, speaking quietly as he cleaned the blood away.
"A truly great queen. Your will is admirable." Hikaru smiled. "That's why I didn't act immediately. I'm offering you a deal."
"What deal?" Sara lifted her head, cold and wary. "A deal with a devil?"
"I'll tell you what I can give you first."
Hikaru didn't care about her tone. After finishing, he continued.
"Your situation is terrible. Trade routes are cut, your economy is collapsing, and both Sunagakure and the Land of Wind dislike you."
He looked straight at her.
"On top of that, your body is failing. Soon your people will lose their queen, and your daughter will lose her mother. Isn't that right?"
"You…" Sara stared at him, and realized she couldn't refute a single word.
She had no idea how he knew all this.
But every sentence struck her exactly where it hurt.
Loulan was collapsing, and she had no solution.
If she died, the burden would fall on her daughter.
And her people would panic, leaderless—no one could predict what Loulan would become.
"So I have a proposal," Hikaru said, pressing forward while she was shaken.
"I'll help treat your illness. I can't promise success—but trying is better than waiting to die."
"Second, I'll provide money in the future—part of the deal."
"Third, I'll give you advice. A path forward for you and your people."
He tilted his head slightly.
"What do you think?"
Sara had no good way to refuse.
Or rather—she didn't even know how to refuse.
It felt exactly like she'd imagined:
A devil's bargain.
Only a devil could see straight into someone's heart and offer what they wanted most—then demand an impossible price.
But Sara was still a queen.
Young, yes—but she'd ruled long enough to develop real composure.
She forced herself to stay calm instead of accepting blindly.
"Then what do you want?" she asked after a deep breath.
"My terms are simple." Hikaru's voice remained gentle. "First—I need supplies."
"I made a small mistake recently. The Kazekage is furious, and there are many people hunting me."
He spoke like it was nothing.
"But I tricked them. They think I fled toward the Land of Rivers. They don't know I'm here."
Sara turned to look at the seal, ignoring his words about angering the Kazekage.
In truth, she understood exactly what he was doing:
He wasn't confessing weakness.
He was warning her.
He wasn't afraid she'd talk.
Because if she did—she and Loulan would suffer.
And if his promises were real, angering him would mean losing everything.
"The seal… hasn't been broken?" Sara studied it for a long time before forcing out the question. "What do you mean?"
"If you can't see it, that's fine." Hikaru shook his head lightly.
"It's simple. I damaged it slightly, but it's still operating."
"I can't take all the chakra at once. This time I'll take only a little."
"And I'll come back later—again and again—until I take the rest."
His gaze stayed steady.
"So I need someone here to cover for me."
"You and your people are the best choice."
"So it is the Dragon Vein," Sara sighed. Then she asked, practical and controlled: "When will you return? How long will this take? And the money—how much, and when?"
Under the mask, Hikaru smiled.
Good.
Sara didn't have a deep obsession with the Dragon Vein itself.
Her obsession was her daughter and her citizens.
And her current desperation made that even clearer.
"My goal is the Dragon Vein," Hikaru said. "But I'm not a lunatic like Anrokuzan. That man was an idiot."
He laughed softly.
"As for when I return—maybe half a year. Maybe longer. I have my own obligations."
"And money?" Hikaru rested his chin on his hand, thinking.
"…One million ryō?"
He said it—and even he felt embarrassed.
It was too low.
He could pay more. He'd saved money from years in ANBU.
But saving was saving.
"WHAT?" Sara's eyes widened. "One million ryō?!"
Hikaru sighed. "Too little? Fine. Two million."
"Two… two million ryō?" Sara looked even more shocked.
Now Hikaru frowned.
He'd expected bargaining in the other direction—but her expression looked like she'd been struck by lightning.
After a moment, he decided to throw the number back to her.
"Alright," Hikaru said helplessly. "How much do you want? Don't get greedy."
"You… you're letting me choose?" Sara blinked. She realized he'd misunderstood—and decided to ride it. "Four million ryō. What do you say?"
"Four million?!" Hikaru froze for a second—
Then immediately said, "Deal. I'll pay you next time I return."
At that moment, Hikaru finally understood something clearly:
This queen wasn't just struggling.
She was broke to the point of madness.
Four million ryō wasn't even that much by shinobi standards… and yet she looked like she'd just seen salvation.
Hikaru knew he'd been played a little.
But he didn't care.
Because no matter how you looked at it—
He was still the one making a killing.
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