High above the frozen kingdom, a massive white clay bird raced toward the castle with the setting sun behind it.
The blond teenager riding on its back had curled himself into a miserable little ball.
"That bastard Yahiko… What kind of frozen wasteland did he send me to, anyway? It's freezing! How do people who live somewhere like this even find the energy to start a rebellion?"
As the familiar chakra signature drew closer, Akio gradually realized that Deidara wasn't simply passing through.
He was coming straight toward them.
Then Akio glanced at Doto, who had been talking nonstop and clearly seemed to be stalling for time.
Suddenly, everything clicked.
"Did he call in the Akatsuki?"
The enormous white bird drew closer.
Doto finally noticed it.
After staring for a moment, his expression brightened and his tone suddenly became much more authoritative.
"Koyuki! I am now the officially recognized ruler of the Land of Snow, backed by the Akatsuki! Are you really going to defy your rightful ruler and commit treason?!"
Akio nearly laughed.
Doto should have been grateful that Deidara was the one coming.
If someone else from the Akatsuki had arrived, they probably would've taken five minutes to figure out who the actual traitor was.
And Doto's death would have been considerably uglier.
Doto's repeated glances toward the sky finally caught everyone's attention.
One by one, they looked up at the enormous white bird.
"COOL! Cameraman, get that thing in frame!"
The cameraman reacted instantly.
The lens swung toward Deidara.
Akio suddenly had an idea.
Time for another special effect.
A bolt of crackling lightning shot from the front of the camera.
It struck the giant clay bird with perfect accuracy.
The bird spun through the air and began falling.
"Who the hell is shooting at my bird?! Huh?!"
Unlike when he had been younger, Deidara could now keep his balance even if one of his creations was destroyed.
And landing on snow was hardly a challenge.
After two quick adjustments, Deidara landed safely near the castle on the remains of his clay bird.
"Are they filming a movie? Oh, crap! Did I fly the wrong way? Huh?!"
Doto stared blankly at the blond teenager.
Was this really the Akatsuki's reinforcement?
Deidara noticed Kakashi and the other three.
"Leaf shinobi?"
He looked around.
"So this really is the Land of Snow's capital castle? Huh!"
Sakura leaned toward Naruto and whispered,
"Where did this blond guy come from? He kind of reminds me of you."
Naruto was currently racking his brain trying to think of what his next line should be.
If they hadn't been filming, he would've already started shouting.
Kakashi recognized him immediately.
"Deidara of the Hidden Stone Village?"
He glanced toward Akio.
Akio gave him a reassuring thumbs-up.
Deidara pointed at Doto, then Koyuki.
"You're Doto Kazahana, ruler of the Land of Snow. And you're Koyuki, the rebel princess? Huh!"
He remembered Yahiko's instructions when the Akatsuki had contacted him.
Deidara clicked his tongue.
"Everyone stay where you are! No fighting! Just wait for that idiot Yahiko to get here!"
Koyuki immediately pointed her sword at Doto.
"He's the traitor! Uncle Doto murdered my father and stole the throne of the Land of Snow!"
"Koyuki, you can't just make accusations like that!"
"Tch. It's just some tiny little"
Deidara suddenly froze.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Koyuki's prop sword suddenly fired a brilliant red beam straight at Doto!
Doto hadn't expected anything remotely like that.
Fortunately, Nadare reacted instantly and dragged him out of the way.
Naruto, who had been struggling desperately to think of a dramatic line, suddenly brightened.
His chance had arrived.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Dozens of Narutos flooded across the battlefield.
"You jerk! How dare you attack our client!"
"Art is an explosion! KATSU!"
A swarm of clay spiders detonated, blowing apart a huge cluster of shadow clones.
But one Naruto went down…
…and a hundred more charged forward.
Kakashi buried his face in his palm.
Then he glanced helplessly toward Akio.
"Let's do this. You three keep Deidara occupied with Naruto."
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!"
"You brats get out of my way!"
Deidara was furious.
He'd specifically promised Yahiko he wouldn't fight the Leaf shinobi.
Then he paused.
Wait.
Weren't they the ones who attacked him first?
Well…
That changed things.
"Art is an explosion! KATSU!"
Koyuki stared innocently at the smoking battlefield.
If anyone asked, the sword had definitely started it.
The director was absolutely thrilled.
"COOL! Keep the cameras rolling!"
Akio hoisted Tsukika back onto his shoulders and whispered toward Koyuki.
"Kakashi's fighting three of them at once. You going to help him?"
He grinned.
"Don't worry. Great-grandpa upgraded your sword."
Koyuki hesitated.
She looked back at Akio's smiling face.
Then she gritted her teeth and charged toward Kakashi.
"Koyuki, wait"
Kakashi turned in surprise.
Then Koyuki's sword erupted with red light.
One swing sent the enormous Mizore Fuyukuma flying across the battlefield.
Kakashi stared.
"How exactly did you add that special effect, Senior?"
He sliced through an incoming wall of ice and charged straight toward Doto.
"Whatever you did, I'm not complaining!"
"This isn't enough."
Akio narrowed his eyes.
"Koyuki still can't break through their defenses."
His expression became serious.
A faint aura of senjutsu chakra surrounded him.
At once, the red glow surrounding Koyuki's sword changed into a pale blue radiance.
Its power surged dramatically.
"Koyuki!"
Doto's expression hardened.
"If you insist on coming after your uncle, then don't blame me!"
He thrust his fist forward.
"Ice Release: Black Dragon Blizzard!"
A massive black dragon erupted from his fist and roared through the air.
Koyuki instinctively raised her sword.
The pale-blue blade of chakra cleaved straight through the dragon.
The attack continued onward, striking directly toward Doto.
"What the hell is that sword?!"
Doto barely dodged.
Kakashi immediately followed up, his blade ripping through Doto's armor.
"Snow Storm Swallows!"
Nadare formed a series of hand seals.
A flock of icy swallows materialized in the air and swept toward Kakashi, forcing him back and giving Doto a chance to recover.
Koyuki immediately swung her sword toward Nadare.
A crescent of blue energy tore through the air.
Then another.
And another.
Koyuki had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
She simply kept swinging the sword wildly.
Akio, meanwhile, was rapidly burning through chakra trying to control every single attack.
Dozens of pale-blue sword arcs spread across the battlefield like a deadly net.
Nadare desperately formed thick layers of ice in front of himself.
They shattered instantly.
The sword waves passed straight through.
His armor broke apart layer by layer.
Nadare's eyes widened in disbelief.
Then he collapsed onto the snow.
"COOL! Princess Koyuki, that was amazing!"
Koyuki tightened her grip around the sword.
A surge of confidence filled her chest.
"Thank you, Great-Grandpa…"
She had learned the trick.
Another dozen sword waves tore through the battlefield.
Mizore Fuyukuma was sent crashing into the snow.
Koyuki then pointed her glowing sword toward Doto, who was still desperately trying to escape Kakashi's attacks.
"Uncle Doto!"
"The day I avenge my father is finally here!"
Doto's face twisted with anger.
He retreated into the castle.
Then he shouted toward the battlefield.
"Akatsuki! HELP ME!"
Deidara was still in the middle of fighting Naruto and the others.
He suddenly looked toward the castle.
"What?!"
His irritation immediately doubled.
He unleashed a stronger barrage of explosives.
"Art is an explosion! KATSU!"
A massive C2 dragon soared through the air.
Deidara intended to use the explosion to force Team Seven back.
Instead, a gigantic blue skeletal arm suddenly appeared.
It grabbed the explosive dragon and crushed it in one hand.
Sasuke stood behind the glowing blue skeleton, his expression cold.
"Naruto. Sakura. Move."
He stared at Deidara.
"This opponent is strong."
"I want to test this technique."
The skeletal form around him expanded.
"Sasuke, when did you learn how to do that?!"
Naruto stared in astonishment.
Farther away, Akio's expression became thoughtful.
"Sasuke fighting Deidara…"
"Could it be…?"
Tsukika tugged gently at his hair.
"Great-Grandpa, you can put me down if you're tired."
Akio smiled.
"I'm fine."
He adjusted her position on his shoulders.
"This special effect is a little exhausting, but it's nothing Great-Grandpa can't handle!"
Making an ordinary civilian like Koyuki powerful enough to kill elite shinobi required an enormous amount of chakra.
Akio had to spread his chakra throughout the surrounding atmosphere and continuously control the enhanced sword.
In just this short battle, he'd already burned through roughly a quarter of his reserves.
It was like losing an entire Nine-Tails' worth of chakra.
Akio looked toward the castle.
"They've retreated inside?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Then Great-Grandpa needs to get a little closer."
"Otherwise…"
"I won't be able to keep the special effects running."
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