Land of Snow.
"…Well, I guess we won't be needing any special effects for that shot."
The director exhaled as he stared at the collapsed half of the distant snowy peak. He then turned to Koyuki and the actor playing the Demon King.
"Cut!"
That last scene just needed a bit of editing, it was practically perfect.
At this point, though, he was the only one still thinking about the movie. The rest of the crew stood in stunned silence, every eye turned toward Kaede with complex, unreadable expressions.
Kaede stepped back, releasing Koyuki's hand. He turned his gaze toward the distant mountain he had cleaved in half, reviewing the shot in his mind. A faintly satisfied expression appeared on his face.
Koyuki stood frozen, still gripping the prop sacred sword in her hand as she stared at him blankly.
Ever since the Nine-Tails had utterly obliterated Kazahana Doto, her nightmare incarnate, she had realized something: if even Kaede's fox possessed such terrifying power, then what kind of strength did Kaede himself wield?
She had countless questions she wanted to ask… but hadn't dared to. The answers were simply too overwhelming to even think about.
And now,
Kaede had just used a prop sword to unleash an attack more spectacular than any post-production effect, cleaving a snow-capped mountain clean in two. No matter how powerful a ninja might be, that level of destruction was far beyond ordinary.
"Ka-Kaede-san…"
"Just who exactly are you…?"
Her voice trembled slightly as she lowered the fake sacred sword.
She knew the name "Kaede" was common enough. But with his ninja status… and this world-shaking power… she couldn't help but suspect the impossible.
Just then—
Whoosh! Whoosh!
More than a dozen figures dashed in from the distance, blurring through the snow before landing swiftly on the scene. Each one wore a Konoha headband.
As they scanned the area, all of them froze the moment their eyes fell on Kaede. A beat later, they dropped to one knee in unison.
"Hokage-sama!"
Koyuki went completely still.
In the ninja world, the leaders of the Five Great Nations were known as the Kage, a basic fact. But now that the Land of Fire had unified the ninja world, there was only one remaining Kage: the Hokage of Konoha.
And there was only one person young, powerful, and awe-inspiring enough to be that Hokage,
The God of the Shinobi.
The one who had ended the chaotic era of the Five Great Nations. The one who unified the shinobi world.
"…What took you so long?" Kaede asked flatly, his eyes sweeping over the Konoha ninja.
The lead ninja's forehead was slick with cold sweat. He stammered, "Hokage-sama… Kazahana Doto ambushed my squad and eliminated the Daimyo's guards… As soon as I received the report, I rushed here without stopping day or night…"
Who could have predicted that after the unification of the Five Nations, a minor former Daimyo like Doto would dare to rebel?
Especially after Land of Snow had been under control for over a year, already reorganized into Land of Snow. No one expected Doto to suddenly act out, much less possess such power.
There had been two teams of Chūnin stationed at the Daimyo's residence, eight ninjas in total. With Doto's known chakra level, he shouldn't have posed a threat at all.
But he'd been hiding a chakra armor all along.
Swallowing, the lead ninja ventured cautiously, "Hokage-sama… what happened to Doto…?"
"He's dead."
Kaede answered calmly, "He wanted to claim Kazahana Sosetsu's treasure to resist Konoha and the Land of Fire. The Nine-Tails took care of him."
The ninja's head dropped low. "My deepest apologies, Hokage-sama. I take full responsibility. What are your orders moving forward?"
"She's Kazahana Sosetsu's daughter," Kaede said, gesturing toward Koyuki. "She can succeed as Land of Snow's Daimyo. It won't make any difference either way."
"…Yes, sir."
The lead ninja nodded respectfully and glanced at Koyuki.
She was only now slowly coming back to her senses, but her gaze remained filled with shock as she looked at Kaede.
In this world, the status of ordinary ninjas wasn't necessarily higher than that of nobles. But Kaede… Kaede was no longer just a ninja.
He was a legend, the man who ended an age and stood at the summit of the entire shinobi world.
"Hinata, let's go."
After giving his orders, Kaede turned toward Hinata, who still had the Nine-Tails perched lazily atop her head, and gave a beckoning nod.
"Yes, sensei!"
Hinata responded immediately and ran over to his side.
Kaede's eyes glowed with a flicker of blue light. In the next instant, a pitch-black space portal opened beside him.
He turned back to Koyuki with a soft smile. "Make sure you finish filming the ending properly. I'll be watching."
With that, he took Hinata's hand and stepped into the void, disappearing from sight.
Koyuki stood there, still dazed.
She stared at the place where Kaede vanished, scenes from the past two weeks flashing through her mind. She had filmed a movie with the Kaede… the stuff of legend.
Her lips pressed together.
There were still things she wanted to say, things she hadn't had the chance to speak aloud.
=============
A few days later,
Koyuki used the hexagonal crystal to unlock the treasure hidden in the Land of Snow. What she discovered was a geothermal generator left behind by her father.
His goal had been to bring springtime to this cold and frozen land.
As she stood before it, watching it hum to life, the vacant look in her eyes slowly gave way to resolve.
If a land like this could bloom into spring…
Then maybe she could, too.
=============
Ten days later.
Having made up her mind, Koyuki officially passed the title of Daimyo to Asama Sandayu.
Then, she rejoined the film crew and left Land of Snow behind, heading once again for the heart of the Land of Fire.
"In the end, I really do love making movies…"
On the return ship, Koyuki smiled faintly as she held the final cut of Princess Gale, now edited, scored, and nearly ready for release.
If even a place like Land of Snow could change through hard work and determination, then she wouldn't give up on her dreams either.
Only by returning to the capital could she find a path to Konoha.
And maybe… just maybe… she could meet Kaede again.
Maybe they could even shoot another film together.
In her hands was a script.
On the cover, the title read:
"Make-Out Paradise."
She flipped through the pages.
A faint blush rose on her cheeks.