"Is this Ancor Vantian?"
Even though the Land of Sky had already fallen before Amaru was born, as a native of its territory, she was no stranger to the name.
According to legend, Ancor Vantian was a flying stronghold—the main base of the Sky Ninja.
Within it existed an endless source of energy, capable of continuously sustaining its flight.
Back then, it was even regarded as a treasure of the shinobi world.
Unfortunately, after the Land of Sky was destroyed, Ancor Vantian vanished without a trace.
No one expected that the remnants of the Sky Ninja had hidden it underground.
Yuzuru extended his senses and quickly discovered the Zero-Tails sealed within the core of Ancor Vantian.
With a thought, he appeared directly in front of it.
The next moment, the Zero-Tails—like some kind of mollusk—extended its tendrils and gently brushed against him in a strangely affectionate manner.
It had likely absorbed too much of his chakra earlier, which caused it to develop a sense of closeness toward him.
At the moment of contact, Yuzuru could faintly perceive fragments of its thoughts.
With another shift of his mind, he instantly extracted a large amount of information.
The Zero-Tails could absorb negative emotions and convert them into power.
The more negative emotions it absorbed, the stronger the power it could generate.
Of course, the range at which it could absorb these emotions was limited—essentially confined to the area of Ancor Vantian.
That explained why Shinno had gone to such lengths to lure him and Amaru here.
According to the Zero-Tails' memories, the Sky Ninja had once imprisoned groups of people in order to generate enough energy to sustain the fortress.
These people were orphans, prisoners, or captives taken from other nations…
By torturing them, the Sky Ninja could continuously harvest negative emotions.
After establishing a connection with the Zero-Tails, Yuzuru vanished from the spot.
Unlike the other Tailed Beasts, the Zero-Tails possessed little intelligence. While it could produce Dark Chakra through negative emotions, its capabilities were limited.
At the very least, it offered little benefit to Yuzuru.
Because of that, he abandoned the idea of sealing it within himself. Instead, he left it inside Ancor Vantian to continue powering its flight.
He had already made up his mind—
He would turn Ancor Vantian into his own palace.
After all, having a flying residence was quite the luxury.
After a brief moment of thought, Yuzuru headed deeper into the structure and retrieved the research materials left behind by Shinno.
They were all related to techniques involving cellular activation and regeneration. Handing these over to Orochimaru would fulfill the promise he had made.
Returning to the central control room, Yuzuru said, "Amaru, brace yourself."
Though confused, she nodded obediently.
"Rise!"
With a single thought, the Zero-Tails began supplying power to Ancor Vantian.
In the next instant, the entire mountain began to tremble.
Countless rocks fell, only to be blocked by the fortress's protective barrier seals.
Before long, the massive structure—vast as an island—rose into the sky.
The commotion was so great that everyone below looked up.
Soon, exclamations erupted one after another.
"Look! What is that flying in the sky?"
"Isn't that the legendary Ancor Vantian? It wasn't destroyed back then?!"
"What's going on? Why is it flying on its own?"
Listening to the murmurs below, Yuzuru circulated his chakra and spoke loudly:
"From this day forward, the former territory of the Land of Sky shall be under my command."
"Ancor Vantian shall be renamed the Unfallen Imperial Palace—it will serve as my traveling residence."
Upon hearing his voice, the Konoha shinobi below immediately dropped to their knees and shouted:
"Long live Lord Yuzuru!"
Their voices surged like a tidal wave, echoing through the heavens.
Standing beside him, Amaru stared at the scene in shock, her heart pounding uncontrollably.
Sneaking a glance at Yuzuru—who calmly accepted the worship—she couldn't help but think:
This… is what a true man should be like!
"Amaru, what do you plan to do next?"
Snapped out of her thoughts, she hurriedly lowered her head.
"I… I don't know. My family and companions are all gone. I have no idea what to do anymore."
"Then come back to Konoha with me."
"You'll attend the Ninja Academy first. After that, I'll arrange for you to work at the Konoha Hospital."
Hearing his arrangement, Amaru's face lit up with joy as she nodded vigorously.
"Lord Yuzuru, I'll follow your lead!"
————
After bringing the Unfallen Imperial Palace back to the Land of Fire, Yuzuru landed it on the vast plains north of the Valley of the End.
Although the palace already had existing structures, they didn't suit his aesthetic tastes.
Since it would be his long-term residence, he intended to renovate it thoroughly.
It was worth mentioning that on the day he brought the palace back to Konoha, the most excited person was Sasuke.
The boy rushed onto the palace and tried to move in that very day.
For that, Yuzuru gave him a swift kick.
He hadn't even lived there yet—how could he let someone else move in first?
Not even his own son.
Over the next month, Yuzuru summoned a large number of craftsmen from various nations—especially the Land of Craftsmen—to Konoha.
They had only one task:
Transform the Unfallen Imperial Palace into exactly what he envisioned.
As for Yuzuru, he took some time to visit Orochimaru's laboratory.
When Orochimaru saw the materials left behind by Shinno, his tongue curled around his face in excitement.
"Yuzuru-kun, with this data, immortality is within reach!"
Yuzuru was equally thrilled.
In the future, after sealing the Ten-Tails, he might achieve immortality through the system—but Tsunade and the others could not.
So this technology was extremely important to him.
Hearing Orochimaru's confidence, he naturally felt excited as well and even offered a generous reward.
Orochimaru, however, refused outright.
In his words, whether it was Shinno's cellular activation regeneration techniques, Takigakure's Earth Grudge Fear, or Sasori's core-based regeneration…
After studying so many sources, developing immortality was only natural—there was no need for any reward.
Yuzuru gave him a thumbs-up.
A capable worker like this—diligent, efficient, and asking for nothing in return—was rarer than finding a needle in a haystack.
He felt that from now on, he should treat Orochimaru a bit better.