The Land of Snow was unlike any other country.
Snow fell here year-round, and even when it stopped, it never truly melted. The extreme cold created an enormous demand for heating and energy. Fortunately, the region had plenty of coal mines—so while the need for warmth was high, supply could still keep up.
The structure of every building clearly reflected life in a snowy environment, completely different from anything they had seen elsewhere. Of course, Kyoichi had seen similar designs plenty of times in his previous life.
On the streets, people rarely went outside. Most stayed holed up in their homes.
It was obvious that the country's economy—
Frankly speaking, was pretty average at best.
"The land is vast, but there are very few usable resources. Maintaining a shinobi village here would be extremely difficult," Tsunade said instinctively, beginning her analysis.
As a former Hokage, she knew all too well what resources were required to sustain a ninja village, and in what quantities.
Given the Land of Snow's current situation, unless they carved straight through those towering snow mountains to open a major passage, ninja tools might be locally sourced—but what about soldier pills? Food?
Those were the real bottlenecks.
Training shinobi consumed several times more food than supporting ordinary civilians. Raising a single ninja was incredibly resource-intensive.
In countries like the Land of Fire, this wasn't a major issue. But in the Land of Snow, food supplies were extremely difficult to replenish.
Because crops simply couldn't be grown here.
Kyoichi fully agreed with Tsunade's assessment. In fact, both Kazahana Sōsetsu and Kazahana Dōtō had realized this long ago—their only difference lay in how they chose to deal with it.
Kazahana Sōsetsu's solution was to create massive heating systems, melting the snow in parts of the country.
Kazahana Dōtō's approach, on the other hand, was far more straightforward—
Chakra armor.
Compared to training powerful shinobi, producing chakra armor consumed far fewer resources.
Come to think of it…
Kazahana Dōtō was probably already preparing to seize power.
Kyoichi rubbed his chin.
Looks like this was something he'd have to get involved in—but which side to support…
There wasn't much to think about.
With Dōtō's personality, he was clearly a hardline hawk. Letting him take the throne would only invite endless trouble. It would be far better to keep Kazahana Sōsetsu, the development-focused ruler, in power. From the perspective of Konoha shinobi, that choice also came with far better optics.
With that decided, Kyoichi unconsciously quickened his pace.
The two left the small town behind and followed the snow-covered road toward their next destination.
Kyoichi didn't know where the capital of the Land of Snow was located, but he knew one thing for certain: since the country relied on sea routes for foreign trade, the capital had to be near a port.
Heading north was the right call.
They traveled steadily northward, the temperature dropping further and further.
Thankfully, both of them had strong resistance to the cold, though they still sped up subconsciously. In less than half a day, they reached a much larger city.
There, they heard an interesting piece of news.
Recently, a group of shinobi had been sighted in the area.
"Shinobi? Wandering ones from somewhere else?" Tsunade asked curiously as they headed toward the capital. "That's rare, showing up in a place like this."
After thinking it over, she felt the likelihood was high.
The shinobi world wasn't what it used to be.
In the past, many small countries had no ninja villages at all. Rogue shinobi could roam freely, sometimes even receiving preferential treatment—or outright staging coups.
But now, most countries had established shinobi villages.
Especially in the western regions, where smaller nations had banded together around Amegakure, their combined strength was no joke. Compared to the past, they were worlds apart. For rogue shinobi to stir up trouble there would be tantamount to suicide.
Given that—
Heading north to the Land of Snow actually made sense.
What Tsunade didn't realize, however, was that this group of shinobi wasn't merely passing through—they had been hired by Kazahana Dōtō.
Kyoichi debated internally whether to deal with them first or head straight for the capital.
After some thought, he chose the latter.
The difference was—
Once they located the group, he and Tsunade followed them at a measured distance, observing their movements.
When the group finally reached the capital and met with Kazahana Dōtō, Tsunade immediately understood.
These weren't wandering shinobi at all—they were mercenaries hired to stage a coup.
The Land of Snow had no ninja village.
Even rogue shinobi were more than the daimyo and ordinary troops could handle.
Tsunade glanced at Kyoichi. With just a look, she knew exactly what he was thinking.
Help the daimyo.
But—
She quickly noticed something else.
Kazahana Dōtō was wearing a strange piece of equipment.
That thing—
Armor?
It looked… unusual.
The two quietly withdrew.
Only after putting some distance between themselves and the group did Tsunade speak again. "That armor Dōtō was wearing—it felt off."
"It's probably some kind of device designed specifically to counter shinobi," Kyoichi replied. "Otherwise, he wouldn't dare meet those greedy mercenaries alone."
Tsunade nodded lightly.
That was a reasonable assumption.
Someone plotting a coup would never stake everything on the goodwill of others. If Kazahana Dōtō dared to meet them solo, he clearly had a trump card.
That armor—
Was most likely it.
With that, Tsunade knew exactly how to approach Kazahana Sōsetsu.
"Let's go," she said. "We're meeting the daimyō of the Land of Snow."
"Mm."
There was no longer any point in tailing Kazahana Dōtō. Knowing he was planning a coup was enough.
With Tsunade's and Kyoichi's reputations, even without concrete evidence, Kazahana Sōsetsu would believe at least part of what they said.
And now they had more than enough information.
If Sōsetsu still refused to believe them after this, then he'd deserve to be overthrown.
The two slipped silently into Kazahana Sōsetsu's residence.
Even if there were shinobi present, there was no way they could sense Tsunade or Kyoichi. In fact, Sōsetsu had no shinobi guards at all, so Tsunade met the daimyō with ease.
Kazahana Sōsetsu was initially startled, but once he calmed down and recognized their true appearances, he quickly understood who they were.
"You are the Hokage of Konoha and Kanda Kyoichi? Why have you come to the Land of Snow…?"
Sōsetsu was visibly surprised.
Tsunade smiled faintly.
"Daimyō, your information is a bit outdated. I stepped down as Hokage a month ago. Konoha's Fifth Hokage is now Namikaze Minato. The two of us are just traveling and happened to pass through your country."
"Oh? Then why come to see me?"
Sōsetsu was surprised, but not alarmed—more curious than anything else.
He wasn't worried about his safety.
If the two of them wanted him dead, there'd be no need for such roundabout methods.
"You should have heard recently that a group of rogue shinobi entered the Land of Snow," Tsunade said calmly. "They were hired by your younger brother. He's planning to overthrow you and seize the position of daimyō"
"What?!"
Kazahana Sōsetsu instinctively refused to believe it—but almost immediately, he remembered a report from just the day before. He had assumed those people merely wanted to settle in the Land of Snow.
He hadn't expected—
That their goal was rebellion.
Taking a deep breath, he rose quickly and bowed deeply.
"Please, honored guests—help the Land of Snow!"
"Of course," Tsunade replied. "But we do have our own needs. We don't want money. We want a copy of the armor Kazahana Dōtō developed."
"Armor? I'm not entirely sure about it, but if you help us avert this crisis, then of course—such things are no issue at all."