Chapter 349: Becoming a Hero
"What a huge ice ball. If it suddenly started rolling, the Castle would be flattened," Obito said, rubbing his chin.
The moment the words left his mouth, the entire scene fell silent.
Some people turned to stare at Obito, utterly speechless. Others looked up at the enormous ice sphere overhead, cold sweat sliding down their backs. If that thing really rolled, it would indeed be a catastrophe.
"Haha, I was just joking to lighten the mood. That is Teacher Mugetsu's jutsu. There is no way something will go wrong," Obito said with an awkward laugh.
He genuinely believed Mugetsu would not make such a basic mistake.
"Honestly, making jokes like that right now really is not good," Rin said, massaging her forehead. She had completely given up on Obito's ability to read the room.
The battle had just ended and everyone was finally able to breathe again, and then he had to say something like that.
"How about it? I am amazing, right? You should properly thank me. I will let bygones be bygones about what I said earlier," Obito went on proudly when he saw Koyuki looking around, clearly searching for someone.
"Do you think I forgot what you said, you rude Obito?" Koyuki puffed out her cheeks as soon as she heard him. "You actually said I do not look like a princess and that I am not likable. Slandering a princess is a crime."
Even though Obito's words and actions later had moved her a little, Koyuki had not forgotten how he had bad mouthed her at the beginning.
Even Sosetsu and Mugetsu had admitted she was cute, yet this nobody Obito said she was not likable.
"What slander? I was being honest. You should learn from the princesses in storybooks," Obito argued, convinced he had done nothing wrong.
Koyuki fell silent, her eye twitching.
Her fists clenched. She wanted nothing more than to punch Obito right in the face.
Of course, as a proper princess, she only thought about it and did not actually swing. In the end, Obito really had been her savior.
"But still… thank you," Koyuki muttered, her voice barely louder than a mosquito.
For all his flaws, like being rude and having zero sense of aesthetics, Obito had been incredibly cool when he threw that flaming punch.
"Hahaha."
Her voice had been quiet, but Obito was a sharp eared ninja. He heard every word and immediately burst into triumphant laughter.
Face burning, Koyuki decisively fled to hide behind Sosetsu.
A short while later, everyone moved onto the battlefield proper. Standing directly beneath the enormous ice sphere, they felt their own smallness and Mugetsu's overwhelming power even more.
"Mugetsu, you saved the Land of Snow," Sosetsu said solemnly, bowing deeply in thanks.
Only now did he truly understand why Obito and the others trusted Mugetsu so much. Mugetsu really was someone you could entrust everything to.
When Mugetsu had brought him evidence of Doto's planned coup, Sosetsu chose not to believe it. Because of that, he missed the best opportunity to arrest his brother and instead allowed Doto to lead the Snow ninja in an assault on Fuka Castle.
When Mugetsu said he could deal with the Snow ninja village alone, Sosetsu again rejected his judgment and tried to have Mugetsu take Koyuki and flee.
He was deeply grateful that Mugetsu had not simply walked away. If he had, Sosetsu would never have seen his daughter again.
The guards also bowed in unison. Without Mugetsu's intervention, they would have been wiped out by the Snow ninja.
Seeing this, Obito could not help but feel a sense of pride.
After all, he was a member of Mugetsu's team.
"So that means the mission is complete, right?" Mugetsu asked with a faint smile.
Even with the Daimyo of the Land of Snow bowing before him, his heart barely rippled.
In his eyes, he had not truly "saved the Land of Snow." What he had saved was Koyuki's family and the people of Fuka Castle.
This was not some calamity that would annihilate the entire country. Even if Doto had succeeded in his coup, he would not have carried out a nationwide massacre.
"It is complete, and it was carried out perfectly," Sosetsu replied with a firm nod.
Mugetsu had left a powerful impression on him. If he ever needed outside shinobi again, Sosetsu was sure he would first think of Konoha, and of Mugetsu.
"Brother Mugetsu, how did you make such a huge ice ball? It is incredible," Koyuki asked, holding her arms wide as if to trace its size, her face full of awe.
"First you make a ball of water, then you freeze it," Mugetsu replied briefly.
Koyuki scratched her hair, feeling like she understood and yet did not understand at all.
Seeing her confused expression, Obito could not help but burst out laughing.
His laughter spread to the others, and the atmosphere grew light and cheerful.
With Doto dead and the Snow ninja wiped out or captured by Mugetsu, the defense of Fuka Castle was an undeniable victory.
Of course, even with victory secured, there was still a long list of troublesome matters to handle.
A coup on this scale was never the work of a single man. Doto had accomplices among the Land of Snow's officials, and those networks had to be investigated and cleaned up in full.
Then there was the damage to Castle itself. The battlefield needed to be surveyed, casualties counted, and repairs planned.
Awkwardly, there was no question that Mugetsu was the person who had caused the most physical damage to the castle.
All of his techniques had been large scale and extremely powerful. There was no way to avoid collateral damage.
But everyone, including Sosetsu, chose to overlook that part.
Mugetsu had been fighting to save Kazahana Castle. In their eyes, all the destruction was ultimately Doto's fault, not Mugetsu's.
There was also the matter of rewards.
After a discussion among the Land of Snow's high ranking officials, they finally decided to bestow the title of "Ice and Snow Hero" on Mugetsu alone, while Obito and the other two were granted the title of "Ice and Snow Warrior."
Obito and the others had taken down Doto and undeniably contributed, but Mugetsu had been the deciding factor of the entire battle.
If Mugetsu had not single handedly pinned down the entire Snow ninja force on the front line, Doto would never have been forced to personally lead a small elite team on a detour to attack Sosetsu.
In other words, their contribution was real, but still a step below Mugetsu's.
The title came with many benefits.
An Ice and Snow Hero enjoyed the same treatment as a great noble in the Land of Snow, plus a wealth of other rewards in both money and rare items.
The original mission timetable had been to protect Koyuki until the Snow God Festival concluded.
So Sosetsu simply set the title ceremony to take place during the festival as well, to express just how much he valued and appreciated Mugetsu and his team.
With the Land of Snow's crisis resolved in one stroke, Mugetsu took his disciples back into training mode, waiting for the Snow God Festival to arrive.
The environment of the Land of Snow was cruel to ordinary people, but to shinobi, it was an excellent training ground.
Because it was an island nation with heavy snow and abundant seawater, it was especially convenient for practicing Water Release.
At the same time, the low temperatures made Fire Release harder to perform, which in turn toughened their control and potency. The harsh climate itself was also perfect for tempering the body.
"Teacher Mugetsu, aren't Bloodline Limits supposed to be really rare? So why do all the ninja in the Land of Snow use Ice Release?" Obito asked curiously during a break.
This was basic shinobi knowledge, so even Obito had at least heard about it.
"Because that is not a Bloodline Limit at all," Mugetsu answered directly.
The Snow ninja's so called Ice Release was only pseudo Ice Release. You could call it Water Release, or a snow based secret art. At its core, it was just Water Release nature transformation, and it might not even function properly outside the Land of Snow.
"Huh? But there was real ice, and I am sure I heard someone yell Ice Release," Obito said, confused.
He had not expected that Bloodline Limits could have "fake versions."
"No one can stop you from naming your own jutsu," Mugetsu replied mildly. "You could shout 'Water Dragon Bullet' and then fire a Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame Technique if you wanted."
This was just a case of a small ninja village with limited knowledge. Because their techniques looked like Ice Release, they simply called them Ice Release.
"Wouldn't that mess with the enemy in a real fight?" Obito's eyes lit up.
Normally, he did not bother yelling out his technique names, but now he was reconsidering.
If he shouted 'Water Dragon Bullet' and then launched Great Dragon Flame, the opponent might be caught completely off guard.
"Then, Teacher Mugetsu, your technique really is Ice Release, right?" Obito asked, thinking of the enormous ice sphere that still had not melted even now.
Hearing that, Kakashi, who had been quietly training, also turned his attention toward them.
Mugetsu nodded. "That is right. What I used was real Ice Release. But I only just mastered it recently, so it is not very strong yet."
His Ice Release was still far from its true potential, at only about half the mastery of his other perfected techniques.
But revealing it openly only further highlighted his genius and expanded people's understanding of his power.
As for why he suddenly had Ice Release, he already had a convenient explanation in mind.
He simply had to say he comprehended it by analyzing the Snow ninja's pseudo Ice Release on top of his already high level Water and Wind nature transformations.
No one could really refute it. Ice Release was not like the Sharingan, where you could snatch an eye and transplant it.
Either you were born with the potential, or you trained your way to it yourself.
"This is what you call 'not very strong yet'?" Obito muttered, thinking back to the scene of the battlefield being sealed in glacial crystal.
But hearing that Mugetsu had only recently acquired it, Obito instinctively filled in the blanks.
He imagined Mugetsu calmly watching the Snow ninja hurl their pseudo Ice Release around, then instantly grasping the principles and spinning them into real Ice Release.
It sounded absurd, but somehow, it felt exactly like something "Mugetsu the Sage" would do.
"I think it is mostly the environment," Kakashi said after thinking it through. "When you are fighting enemies like these, the real backbone is Water Release. Ice Release is the finisher."
That colossal ice sphere had been shocking, but from Kakashi's perspective, the main work had been done by Super Exploding Water Shockwave. The freezing ray had just sealed the result.
Mugetsu nodded, acknowledging Kakashi's analysis.
Even the Snow ninja's pseudo Ice Release was boosted in the Land of Snow, to say nothing of his true Ice Release. It really was like water for a fish.
"It is all the same in the end," Obito said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyway, Teacher Mugetsu's Ice Release is going to end up being just as broken as all his other ninjutsu."
"I am really looking forward to tomorrow," he added with a grin. "The Snow God Festival, my first time taking part in another country's matsuri, and I even get to show up as a hero."
The princess had not been the kind of princess he had imagined.
The escort job had not been the dramatic fairy tale mission he had dreamed of.
But the result was exactly what he wanted.
They had saved the princess, saved the country, and become heroes.
Obito's only regret was that he could not be called an Ice and Snow Hero and had to settle for Ice and Snow Warrior instead.
But even that frustration could not last long.
Because if anyone deserved the title of hero this time, it was without question Mugetsu.
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