The runaway princess of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Koyuki, had been in Kirigakure for almost half a month now.
During these two weeks in the Hidden Mist Village, Koyuki had been quietly observing. She'd heard the rumors about the Bloody Mist, but only after actually arriving did she truly feel the difference between this place and the outside world.
That difference showed in all the little details, in short, it could be summed up in one sentence, the people here felt alive.
The villagers of Kirigakure were like they'd been filmed with the latest high-definition camera, every one of them vibrant and radiant. By comparison, the people outside looked… foggy.
"So this is the nation ruled by Ryosuke," Koyuki murmured under her breath.
She and her manager, Asama Santayu, were waiting outside the Mizukage's Tower.
Calling him a "manager" wasn't quite right, he was actually the bodyguard who had helped the young princess Koyuki escape from the Land of Snow years ago.
That morning, an agent from the Intelligence Division had visited to inform them that Hayato Kamihara had already sent Ryosuke the relevant intel, and that they should be expecting a reply sometime that day. The agent asked them to be prepared.
When Koyuki heard that, she only nodded calmly. But Santayu immediately panicked, hurriedly pulling the princess along to wait outside the Mizukage's Tower.
And so they waited, for the entire day.
From around ten in the morning to four in the afternoon, both were starving.
Koyuki had wanted to leave long ago, but under Santayu's pleading, she had no choice but to keep waiting at the entrance.
She wore a mask and sunglasses, worried that fans might recognize her, yet half a day passed, and no one paid her any attention.
Later, feeling stifled, she took off the mask. Still, no one seemed to care.
Finally, she removed her sunglasses too and looked around. Passersby only glanced at her briefly, a little surprised by her beauty, but no one came up asking for an autograph.
Koyuki felt her pride take a hit and muttered softly, "What, do people in Kirigakure not even have TVs?"
She didn't get it, but Santayu, being older and wiser, did.
Among the people passing by, perhaps a few recognized her and knew she was an actress.
But so what if she was?
In this village, they revered scholars, teachers, the Extinction Army, and powerful shinobi, not actors.
After a long silence, Santayu sighed quietly too. "So this… is the nation Ryosuke rules."
Just then, a young man walked out from the Mizukage's Tower, the same Intelligence Division staffer who had spoken to them earlier that morning.
Spotting them still waiting there, he looked surprised and asked, "You two… have been waiting here this whole time?"
Santayu bowed deeply and said earnestly, "The people of the Land of Snow are suffering. We've waited ten long years for the chance to save our citizens. We dare not delay a second longer."
The young agent scratched his head. "You could've just told someone! There's a waiting lounge inside the building… ah, forget it. Come with me. Minister Kamihara wants to see you."
He walked ahead.
Koyuki and Santayu followed behind.
"I heard Kamihara Hayato's a total pervert," Santayu whispered. "Koyuki, you have to be careful, he..."
Koyuki waved her hand, cutting him off.
"Unspoken rules, I know."
After all, she'd been in the entertainment industry for more than a decade. She knew very well, once a man had power, when a woman came to him for help, it usually came down to what was in his pants.
In the past, Koyuki had always kept her distance, uninterested in the offers made by directors or rich businessmen.
But now, "If I can really take back the Land of Snow… then a little 'dirty deal' doesn't matter."
Following the staffer's lead, they entered Hayato Kamihara's office.
The office wasn't big, but neatly arranged. When the two of them entered, Hayato stood up to greet them, invited them to sit, and poured tea for each of them.
Then he calmly began explaining the Intelligence Division's analysis of the Land of Snow situation, as well as the upcoming operation plan.
His tone was steady, his logic clear, and the "unspoken rule" they'd feared never came up. In a word, he was,
Professional.
"...Ryosuke will be leading the Extinction Army," Hayato said.
"They'll depart in one week. I need you two to pack up and be ready within the hour. You'll come with me to the research institute. Considering the distance, we should hurry."
"O-of course, no problem!"
Santayu stood up, his face flushed red, whether from excitement or nerves, it was hard to tell. "I'll go pack right away!"
He rushed out of the office, leaving Koyuki alone.
Koyuki, however, no longer felt nervous.
"You're… not quite like the rumors."
The words slipped out before she could stop herself.
After getting news that her country might finally be saved, her tightly wound nerves had relaxed, and she accidentally spoke her mind.
But that was rude, very rude.
Hayato blinked, then chuckled softly, not taking offense.
"If it were before," he said, "meeting a beautiful woman like you, I would've already asked you out for a drink."
"And now?" she asked.
"Now, this uniform and my position would make that line sound… inappropriate."
That was the side effect of power.
Hayato preferred using money, and his still-decent looks, to win women over.
"If you'd still like that drink," he said lightly, "we can have one at the victory party when this mission's over. But for now, "
He took his coat and hat from the rack and glanced out the window, spotting Santayu running back toward the building.
"We'd better get going."
———
Obito was wrapped head to toe in bandages, looking like a mummy freshly dug from the ground. Every now and then, a tiny sapling would sprout from between the wrappings.
A side effect of overusing Hashirama cells, meant to speed up healing.
Snip!
Zetsu's scissors cut off the small branch, tossing it behind him.
Behind him was already a small mountain of discarded twigs, piled three or four meters high.
"Obito, you really are hard to kill," Zetsu muttered for what must have been the hundredth time.
When he'd first found Obito, there hadn't been a single patch of intact skin left. His muscles were carbonized, his organs failing, breathing shallow, barely clinging to life.
And even like that, he'd still been mumbling, "Rin… Rin…"
Anyone hearing that would've thought Rin was his father or something.
Obito's Sharingan spun slowly. "Deidara died because of me. Kakashi got the Sharingan because of me. And now… I almost died because of their actions…"
"This is fate," he said flatly. "But since I'm still alive, it means my mission isn't over yet."
He lifted his head and looked toward the moon.
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi… must be completed by my hands."
Zetsu scratched his head. "Yeah, but how? After this operation, Pain's not going to trust you anymore, hell, giving Hanzō's corpse to Sasori was basically his way of telling him to kill you."
"And as for the daimyō and those corporate elites, they can disgust Ryosuke all they want, but they'll never kill him."
"You can't seriously be thinking of digging Madara up from his grave… though honestly, could prime Madara even beat Ryosuke?"
Obito shook his head. The simple motion made blood seep through the bandages at his neck.
"It's not time for Madara yet," he said. "You're forgetting another group, a terrifying one, sworn to take revenge on Ryosuke."
"Revenge group? You mean…"
Zetsu's jaw slowly dropped open.
"Yes." Obito's voice grew serious. "The Evil God, and the Great White Snake."
Zetsu was silent for a long time, then pursed his lips.
"How about I just go dig up Madara's grave instead?"
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