Chapter 342: The Land of Ice and Snow
"Rin, Rin, look, look! That ice block is huge!"
Bored out of his mind on the ship, Obito had been staring at the endless sea. Suddenly, a massive iceberg in the distance caught his eye.
Rin Nohara followed the direction of his pointing finger. A gigantic floating iceberg gleamed under the sunlight, refracting light like a crystal mountain. Rin's eyes sparkled. This was a sight she would never see in the Land of Fire.
"This is nothing," Asama Santaifu said with a smile. "Once you reach the Land of Snow, you will see how common ice and snow really are."
The Land of Snow did not have much else, but it had an inexhaustible supply of ice and snow. The entire nation was perpetually wrapped in white.
"This month, there should already be quite a lot of snowfall."
"Isn't it only September? It snows this early?" Obito asked, puzzled as he looked at Asama.
"Yes. Otherwise, why do you think it is called the Land of Snow?" Asama replied, his tone carrying a trace of helplessness.
A world of pure white could be beautiful, but when snow fell all year round, it was no blessing.
In most countries, people prayed to the rain god for rain and to the god of wealth for good fortune. In the Land of Snow, they prayed to the snow god to make it snow less.
As the ship drew closer, Mugetsu's Byakugan could already see the coastline, a country buried under ice and snow.
He had been using his Byakugan frequently throughout the voyage. The sea was a special environment, and Mugetsu felt it required extra caution. Once the ship was destroyed, the ocean itself would become an enemy.
Of course, for a ninja at Mugetsu's level, it would not be too bad. He had sealed plenty of food inside his scrolls. Even without a ship, he could travel back over the waves using the Water Surface Walking Technique, and if he grew tired, he could form a chunk of ice with Ice Release and rest on it.
When they finally reached the waters near the Land of Snow, heavy snow was already falling, just as Asama had predicted.
On the deck, Obito ran excitedly back and forth, catching snowflakes with his palm. Rin exhaled warm white breath into the cold air as she looked up at the drifting snow. Kakashi's gaze stayed sharp and focused, quietly observing their surroundings.
Mugetsu also stretched out his hand, letting the snowflakes land on his palm and melt, leaving a faint chill on his skin.
He had always liked snow and enjoyed playing in it. The snowball fights he had as a child were some of his best memories.
He loved snow, but he hated the cold, which had always made him conflicted. He wanted snow, but he did not want winter.
After crossing into the Naruto world, this contradiction disappeared. With his current physical strength, he would not feel cold even if he walked through winter without a coat.
"Welcome to the Land of Snow," Asama said to Mugetsu and the others with a hint of ceremony when they finally disembarked.
"It is real. So much snow!" Obito exclaimed, crouching down and scooping up a handful of it.
Even though it was called the Land of Snow, he had not truly believed a country could be this thoroughly buried under ice and snow. After all, the Land of Fire was not made entirely of volcanoes.
"Kakashi, take this!"
Seeing Kakashi's back turned toward him, Obito quickly packed the snow in his hand into a ball and flung it at him.
Even though it was a sneak attack, Kakashi's senses picked it up instantly. He shifted his weight and sidestepped the incoming snowball.
What he did not expect was that Obito had already anticipated that dodge. As soon as he had thrown the first snowball, Obito had grabbed two more handfuls of snow, sending them at Kakashi's expected escape routes.
Seeing that dodging would be troublesome, Kakashi simply stopped trying to evade. He bent down, scooped up snow, and used the throwing techniques he normally applied to ninja tools. One snowball shot straight back and hit Obito square in the face.
Pfft. Rin could not help laughing out loud at the sight of Obito's face buried in white.
"Damn you, Kakashi!" Obito roared silently, activating Full Concentration Breathing so he could scoop and throw snow even faster.
Kakashi also used the extreme speed of Thunder Breathing, darting left and right through the snowfall and countering with precise, rapid throws.
The intensity of their snowball fight made Asama break into a cold sweat. He realized he could not even track the movements of two nine year olds having a snowball fight.
"So this is what a ninja is," Asama thought, secretly impressed.
He had undergone formal samurai training himself, yet he could not even compete with ninja children.
Smack. Smack.
Two transparent bursts of force struck Obito and Kakashi cleanly in the forehead.
"If you want to play in the snow, you can play to your heart's content after the mission," Mugetsu said, lowering his hands. "For now, focus on the job."
After speaking, he gave Asama a small apologetic smile.
"That is quite alright. The princess is still in Kazahana Castle, so she does not really need guarding at this moment," Asama replied with a smile.
Kazahana Castle was the royal palace of the Land of Snow. In Asama's mind, there was no safer place in the country.
"Since this is a guard mission, we should at least know who we are protecting," Mugetsu said. He suggested that Asama take them to meet the princess first.
Asama felt this was perfectly reasonable, so he led Mugetsu and the others toward Kazahana Castle.
"A real princess," Obito muttered, already getting excited. "I wonder what she will be like."
The snowy scenery of the Land of Snow had astonished him, but once they reached Kazahana Castle, he felt the place itself was somewhat ordinary. He had seen plenty of palaces like this in the Land of Fire.
"Asama, are those the Konoha shinobi who accepted the mission?"
A stern looking man dressed in black stepped into the corridor and called out to Asama.
"Yes, Lord Doto," Asama answered immediately, bowing when he saw Kazahana Doto.
Doto was not only the younger brother of the Land of Snow's Daimyo, but also a high ranking official who helped run the state. He was essentially the second most powerful person in the Land of Snow.
"Please do not be misled by their age," Asama added quickly, worried Doto would underestimate them. "They are all Chunin and quite strong, and Mugetsu is a reliable Konoha Jonin."
"Mm."
Doto gave a curt nod, clearly uninterested in hearing more, and turned to leave.
Mugetsu watched his retreating back and silently activated his appraisal.
[System: Name: Kazahana Doto]
[System: Chakra: 10500]
[System: Skills: Water Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 200/15000), Water Release: Black Dragon Blizzard (Mastery)…]
As a future movie style villain, Kazahana Doto's stats were fairly ordinary, not much better than a typical Jonin.
More importantly, in the system's eyes, all of his techniques were classified as Water Release, not Ice Release.
Mugetsu was not surprised. The Land of Snow's techniques could be copied by Kakashi's Sharingan, so they obviously were not true Kekkei Genkai. At best, they were unique snow based secret techniques only usable in this environment.
The ice like visual effect of their Ninjutsu was likely tied to the Land of Snow's climate and their in depth research into Water Release Nature Transformation.
"Lord Doto is the Daimyo's younger brother and an important official for maintaining the country's operations," Asama briefly explained as they walked.
"He is actually half a ninja himself. When he was young, he went to the Snow Ninja Village to train and strengthen his body. I heard he did fairly well. If not for his government duties, he might have become a formidable shinobi."
Mugetsu's expression grew thoughtful.
That detail matched his expectations.
With both political status and military power, it was perfectly natural for Doto's ambitions to swell toward a coup.
Obito, however, was not interested in Doto's backstory at all. He only wanted to meet the princess as soon as possible, then fast forward to the part where they rescued her and became heroes.
At last, Mugetsu's group was brought into a spacious, sunlit hall to wait.
Tap tap.
When Obito heard footsteps approaching, his face lit up with excitement.
But the first person to walk into view was not the beautiful young girl he had been imagining, nor even a girl at all.
Leading the group was a friendly looking middle aged man wearing glasses.
Behind him, the second person Obito saw was a small girl in a purple kimono, perhaps five or six years old at most.
The rest were guards.
Obito glanced left and right, but no one matched the image of a princess he had in his mind.
"Kakashi, princesses are usually girls, right?" Obito asked in confusion.
Kakashi fell silent.
He could not believe someone was capable of asking a question like that. What else would a princess be if not a girl?
"Lord Sosetsu," Asama said, dropping to one knee and bowing deeply to Kazahana Sosetsu.
Mugetsu and the others stood quietly, observing.
Ninja had their own rules. They did not need to kneel before nobles like this.
"Please, stand. There is no need for such formality," Sosetsu said with a gentle smile. "It is not a formal occasion."
Koyuki Kazahana held her father's hand, her wide eyes full of curiosity as she looked at Mugetsu and the strangers with him.
"Hello, Lord Sosetsu. I am Hayate Mugetsu," Mugetsu said, greeting him with a brief introduction.
Sosetsu nodded kindly, then turned to his daughter.
"Koyuki, go on and greet your new older brothers and sister. They will be playing with you until the Snow God Festival."
"Hello, Brother Hayate," Koyuki said obediently, her big eyes shining as she bowed slightly to Mugetsu.
Even though it was their first meeting, Koyuki instinctively felt he was a good person.
"She is the princess? No way," Obito muttered, staring at Koyuki's round, chubby cheeks in disbelief.
This was nothing like the princess in his imagination. She was just an ordinary little kid.
Kakashi covered his face.
Offending the escort target within seconds of meeting her was peak Obito.
Mugetsu reached out and rubbed Obito's head. This kid was still hard to teach.
Koyuki puffed out her cheeks at Obito's words, making her already round face look even rounder.
"Haha, I told you, Koyuki, you should study etiquette more seriously. See, even others do not think you look like a princess," Sosetsu laughed loudly at his daughter.
"Father!"
Koyuki had not expected her own father to tease her instead of defending her. She immediately let go of his hand and turned away, clearly sulking.
"I spoke poorly. Koyuki is the cutest princess in the whole world," Sosetsu quickly added, coaxing her with a smile.
Hearing her father praise her, Koyuki's mood brightened. She grabbed his hand again and snuggled closer.
However, Sosetsu was still the Daimyo and could not remain idle for long. Before long, official business called him away, leaving only Mugetsu's team, the princess, Asama, and a group of guards in the hall.
"You rude fellow, remember this," Koyuki said, turning and pointing at Obito. "I am Kazahana Koyuki, princess of the Land of Snow, and the only princess."
Obito nodded reluctantly and thought to himself that he had been scammed. This mission would have been much more fitting ten years from now.
"I am not 'rude' either. I am Uchiha Obito, the one and only Uchiha Obito in the world," he shot back, mimicking her solemn tone.
"Hmph, that is not necessarily true. The name Obito does not sound special at all," Koyuki said stubbornly.
"Hello, Princess Koyuki. You are very adorable," Rin said with a gentle smile.
She knew exactly how to handle children like this. A simple compliment could win them over immediately.
"Hello, Sister Rin. You are cute too!" Koyuki replied, her mood changing in an instant as she beamed back at Rin.
"Kakashi Hatake," Kakashi said with his usual calm expression. "From now on, I will be responsible for your safety."
To him, it did not matter whether the princess was old or young. In fact, it was better that she was small; she would not be allowed outside much, and staying inside Kazahana Castle would make guarding her far easier.
"Mm, Brother Kakashi looks very reliable," Koyuki said, nodding. She thought his wild silver hair looked especially cool.
"It is just being called 'Brother' by a little apple. Nothing to be proud of," Obito muttered jealously under his breath.
Seeing Kakashi get that treatment while he did not made him feel deeply unbalanced.
"Kazahana Koyuki is not a princess, she is just a kid," Obito told himself over and over in his heart, trying to hypnotize himself into feeling better.
…
"Hayate Mugetsu. Defeated Iwagakure's Explosion Release ninja Kari in the war between Konoha and the Hidden Stone. Played a key role in a battle against a Jinchuriki…"
Kazahana Doto set down the report on Mugetsu, his brows knit together in a deep frown.
Sosetsu's sudden decision to hire Konoha ninja had made Doto extremely uneasy. He was in the middle of plotting a coup, after all.
As soon as he heard about Mugetsu and his team, he had immediately ordered an investigation.
The results had startled him.
An ordinary noble might not understand what those achievements meant, but Doto, who was familiar with ninja, understood them all too well, especially the part about fighting a Jinchuriki.
Jinchuriki were the ultimate weapons of the Five Great Ninja Villages. Anyone who could meaningfully contribute in those kinds of battles was unquestionably powerful.
Doto even believed that if the Snow Ninja Village possessed two Jinchuriki of its own, it could stand alongside the Five Great Villages.
"I was so careful. How did he notice? Did something leak from the Snow Ninja Village side?" Doto tapped his fingers on the table, thinking hard about where he might have slipped up.
He was sure Sosetsu had discovered something.
Otherwise, there would be no reason not to rely on their own ninja village, and certainly no need to invite such strong outsiders.
For the princess's escort during a mere festival, she did not need protection of this level at all.
"I have to investigate thoroughly," Doto decided grimly. "Find the mole first."
Although the intelligence report painted Mugetsu as extremely dangerous, Doto did not feel he had already lost.
No matter how strong Mugetsu was, he was still just one man.
Doto commanded the entire Snow Ninja Village.
Even if there were traitors among the Snow ninja, Doto was sure they would only be a small minority.
Sosetsu had already cut down the village's funding, while Doto had openly promised to prioritize military expansion once he took power.
Any Snow ninja with a normal brain would know exactly which side to choose.
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