The Anhilation Army had arrived.
Inside the factory, the trembling workers slowly lifted their heads, looking toward Ryosuke, who stood in front, quietly waiting for the Snow Ninja troops to approach.
If that so-called Anhilation Army was really here… then this man in front of them must be...
A sharp whistling cut through the air, interrupting everyone's thoughts.
Instinctively, the workers looked up, just in time to see a long, pitch-black metal box, as tall as a man, falling from the sky and crashing down right next to Ryosuke's feet.
With a hiss, the metal box automatically opened. Cold vapor streamed out from inside, and even in the frigid Land of Snow, the released mist was somehow colder, turning the air around into a dense white fog.
A golden flame flickered to life in Ryosuke's palm. He reached into the icy mist, and when he pulled his hand back out, he was already holding a thick, massive black warhammer.
A few workers who liked listening to ninja world legends widened their eyes in disbelief, their gaze fixed on the hammer's edge.
"This is…"
"The Hammer of Destruction!"
Anyone who could wield the Hammer of Destruction, there was no need to guess their identity.
Ryosuke.
At that moment, every worker slowly stood up.
Most of them were men in their twenties or thirties. Many had lived through the reign of the old king when they were still boys, and they still remembered what it meant to live, to be human.
Even though the violent storms of Kazahana Dotō had thrown their lives into the gutter time and time again, those youthful memories were their most precious treasure.
Countless times, after a long day of labor, they'd lie in their cold, cramped dorms and dream of the old days. But before the dream could even settle, a supervisor's stick would strike them awake, and another day of work began.
Dream after dream, the memories had faded, becoming blurry, distant, unreachable. It felt like that day would never come.
But today…
The workers looked at one another.
That day had come.
"What do you think you're doing?! Everyone squat down!"
Several supervisors hiding in the shadows jumped out, trying to show their loyalty now that the Snow Ninjas were on their way. They shouted at the workers, "Whoever tries anything, whoever runs, the Snow Ninja lords won't spare you, ah!"
A hammer smashed into the shouting supervisor's head.
That was the first. Then more and more workers picked up nearby wrenches, hammers, and drills. In their eyes, once as lifeless as beaten cattle, there was finally a spark of masculine fury.
The supervisors kept yelling at first, but after watching two or three of their comrades beaten bloody, fear took over. They fell to their knees, begging for mercy.
"Stop! Stop! If you keep hitting, we'll die! If you kill us, the Snow Ninja lords will never..."
Another hammer came down on his face before he could finish. Four or five teeth flew out along with the words.
They didn't want to hear it.
Once you'd already started swinging, there was no going back, no second thoughts.
Bloodstained hammers and wrenches slipped from the corpses of the supervisors. The workers, now armed, gathered around Ryosuke, surrounding him in the center. Dozens of red eyes fixed on the incoming Snow Ninjas, ready for battle.
"Lord Ryosuke," one of them said, "we don't have any real skills. We'll give our worthless lives just to hold off a few of them for you."
"You must live… and save this country."
They were from a small nation, they had no idea just how strong Ryosuke truly was.
To them, anyone who could take down three or five ninjas alone was already a hero.
They called Ryosuke "invincible," maybe capable of fighting ten enemies at once.
But the Snow Ninjas coming this way? There weren't ten, there were thirty or forty.
The workers planned to use their lives to buy Ryosuke time, to kill, to escape.
Their breathing grew faster, hearts pounding, ready to die.
Then, suddenly, a metal ball flew out from behind them.
It bounced through the air, ricocheting again and again, smashing through eight or nine Snow Ninjas before they could even get close. The bodies burst midair, slamming into walls, spinning wildly even as they stuck there.
Clack!
Ryosuke caught the metal ball as it returned to his hand. He stepped forward from the crowd and said quietly, "To deal with these beasts, I don't need to waste your lives."
A gust of wind swept through, carrying snowflakes with it.
Ryosuke stepped to the very front, silently watching the approaching Snow Ninjas.
They were close enough now to see each other's faces clearly. The Snow Ninjas drew their kunai and blades, the cold steel flashing blinding light that made the workers squint. They were just about to shout a warning to Ryosuke,
But before the words left their mouths, the world fell silent.
'Star Platinum: The World!'
The fists of Star Platinum shimmered with starlight, and the Hammer of Destruction in Ryosuke's hand burned with golden fire.
Starshine and flame intertwined, slicing through the frozen Snow Ninjas, straight through, all the way to the far end of the street.
Time began to move again.
Sound rushed back into the world.
BOOM!
The crack of bones echoed, a dozen, two dozen at once, sounding like someone had crushed a whole box of matches underfoot.
Then came the impact. The Snow Ninjas' bodies flew in every direction, limbs scattering, slamming into walls, factories, and streets, some even hanging off streetlights.
Ryosuke stood at the end of the street, one hand holding the Hammer of Destruction. Around him was pure chaos, except for the spotless ground beneath his feet.
Without sparing the corpses a glance, he turned and started walking toward the royal castle.
Kazahana Koyuki and Asama Santayu swallowed hard as they looked at the carnage.
'Too terrifying.'
They'd seen him before in Warsaw City, summoning water dragons, turning tens of thousands to stone like some kind of Medusa from legend.
But this… this was different. The sheer brutality of it, the absolute dominance, was far more terrifying.
They stepped over blood and flesh to catch up with him.
Behind them, the workers met each other's eyes, and followed, weapons still slick with blood.
As Ryosuke moved forward, more and more people joined the march. Along the way, they even picked up a little girl, no more than five years old, who Koyuki now carried in her arms.
Looking back, Koyuki saw who followed, workers, farmers, widows, ordinary people.
They didn't even have real weapons; the most dangerous thing some carried was a kitchen knife.
And their enemies were trained Snow Ninjas.
But there was no fear in their eyes.
Because Ryosuke was walking ahead.
"You…" Koyuki said softly. "You're really incredible."
Ryosuke turned his head slightly. "The incredible one isn't me. It's Kazahana Dotō."
The Land of Snow was small, isolated, and crushed under Dotō's reign. Ordinary people had to fight with everything they had just to stay alive.
Ryosuke? The Anhilation Army? The power struggles of the ninja world?
None of that mattered to them.
Half the people following him probably hadn't even heard his name.
They followed not out of loyalty, but because they simply couldn't take it anymore.
Thirteen years under Kazahana Dotō's tyranny. Thirteen years of misery.
They couldn't endure another day.
Ryosuke had just given them a sliver of hope.
And for that single glimmer, after thirteen hopeless years, they were willing to risk execution, to step out of their homes.
After all… how much worse could it get?
"You won't let them down," Koyuki said quietly. "You never let the people who follow you down."
Ryosuke smiled faintly and shook his head, not answering.
Up ahead loomed the royal castle, or what was left of it. Half the structure was in ruins, rubble everywhere, and the ground was littered with Snow Ninja corpses.
Sasuke smashed the last struggling ninja with a single punch, then turned to the man standing at the highest point, Kazahana Dotō, and raised a finger toward him.
"You're next."
Dotō's face was ashen.
His gaze darted between Sasuke's group and the massive Explorer ship hovering overhead. His teeth clenched; disbelief filled his eyes. His once-proud Snow Ninja army and orbital tanks, completely destroyed.
Then he heard the noise, thousands of voices. He turned, and saw a vast crowd of civilians flooding toward him. And at the front, was a face he recognized instantly.
Ryosuke.
Dotō froze, shocked at first that Ryosuke had come all the way to this frozen backwater. Then he threw his head back and laughed hysterically.
So that's what "hope in despair" meant.
"So good! Hahaha! You've come at the perfect time!"
He turned toward Ryosuke and shouted, "I'll capture the king first to catch the thief!"
The declaration was so loud it stunned even Sasuke, who'd been mid-battle. He just stood there, speechless, staring at the grinning Dotō.
One of Ryosuke's soldiers from the Anhilation Army nudged Sasuke with his chin. "Hey, use your clan's eye thing, check if that idiot's actually serious or if he's trying to run."
Dotō heard that behind him and sneered internally.
Run? Why would he run? This entire Land of Snow was his domain.
And he'd seen it clearly, unlike Sasuke and the others, Ryosuke wasn't even wearing his black armor.
Snow Country had developed chakra armor that could absorb and amplify chakra. Without it, Dotō knew his own strength dropped significantly.
Ryosuke! You've made the mistake of coming unarmored, that's my chance to strike back.
Just as the commoners thought no man could fight more than ten enemies, Dotō's understanding wasn't much better. He'd never fought a real powerhouse before.
He even believed that with his chakra armor, he could stand among the elite of the ninja world, maybe even face Pain or the Third Hokage.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have dreamed of conquering the world with just Snow Ninjas and orbital tanks.
"Ryosuke!"
Dotō roared, sprinting forward. Ice shards and snowflakes pelted his face, the sting only making him more excited. His hands flashed through seals.
'Ice Release, Swallow Snowstorm!'
Thousands of snowflakes turned into blades of ice, flying toward Ryosuke.
But before they even reached him, a golden flame danced on Ryosuke's fingertips, and every snowflake evaporated instantly.
Dotō's face twisted. 'Another jutsu!'
'Ice Release, Ice Pillar!'
The ground beneath Ryosuke began to rise, but then suddenly froze, as if a giant hand had clenched the earth tight. The pillar couldn't even form.
Not wanting to waste chakra, Dotō slammed both hands down, releasing his energy underground, aiming to impale Ryosuke and the thousands of civilians with ice spikes.
Ryosuke raised one foot, and lightly stepped on the ground.
A dull thud rang out beneath them. All of Dotō's violent chakra was instantly crushed and silenced.
His charge faltered.
"What… kind of sorcery is this?!"
"Why are my jutsus all disappearing?!"
"Not close enough," Ryosuke said coldly, his voice devoid of emotion. "If you want to kill me, that distance won't do. Come closer."
"You've ruled for thirteen years. I'll grant you thirteen steps. Walk to me."
"And you'll receive the end you deserve."
Dotō looked down, and froze.
The distance between them was exactly thirteen of his usual steps. Not one more, not one less.
"When… did I get this close?"
A strange chill ran through him. He instinctively tried to step back, but his vision blurred, and the next moment, he was back in the same spot.
His heart sank. Ryosuke stood right in front of him, close enough to touch. Something about him wasn't human, something monstrous.
'Too strange! Ryosuke, that black armor, the flying battleship, none of this makes sense! I have to retreat and think of another plan!'
Dotō jumped high into the air, trying to flee,
But his vision flickered again.
He was back. Thirteen steps away.
Nothing had changed. Ryosuke and the thousands behind him simply watched him, quiet and still, like they were watching a man already dead, a fate already sealed.
Veins bulged on Dotō's forehead. Panic, anger, and despair twisted together. He turned toward Sasuke's group, forming hand seals once more.
"If you want to die, then I'll grant it."
'Ice Release, Twin Dragon Blizzard!'
The same attack that once pierced the sky battleship reappeared, two roaring dragons of snow and wind surged toward Ryosuke.
Dotō drew his blade and followed close behind, using the storm as cover to strike.
"Star Platinum," Ryosuke murmured.
The shining blue figure appeared like a god, glowing with celestial light. Star Platinum grabbed both dragons by their necks, and crushed them instantly.
"Idiot! Those dragons are made of chakra! Even if you destroy them, they'll, what?!"
Before the words left his mouth, Star Platinum inhaled deeply. The dragons, the wind, the snow, all of it was sucked into its chest like wisps of cotton candy.
Dotō stared blankly, his mind struggling to comprehend.
'Wait… how many steps have I taken?'
He looked down.
His own feet. Ryosuke's feet.
Thirteen steps.
Just like thirteen wasted years.
Ryosuke stood before him. The blade was in his hands, but Dotō couldn't lift it. His limbs were cold and numb, his body heavy as stone.
"Raise your head."
Ryosuke's voice came from above.
The humiliation burned. Dotō gritted his teeth, forcing his head up, swinging his sword down with a scream, the blade struck Star Platinum's chest. Not even a scratch.
Ryosuke stared at him coldly, standing just one step away.
"Now," he said. "Face your end."
"I..."
Dotō tried to speak. But...
"Ora!"
Star Platinum's fist slammed into his stomach, lifting him off the ground. Blood and chunks of organ burst from his mouth as his chakra armor shattered to pieces.
Star Platinum inhaled...
"Ora ora ora ora!"
"Ora ora ora ora!"
The punches blurred into a storm. Each blow bent Dotō's body in impossible ways, until finally, one last uppercut to the jaw sent him floating slightly upward.
Star Platinum's form vanished, revealing Ryosuke behind it. A metal ball spun rapidly in his hand, golden flames coiling around it.
Golden Spin, Ripple Flame Rasengan.
Lock confirmed.
Half a second of silence.
Everyone held their breath.
With a sharp whir, the spinning ball flew forward and struck Dotō square in the chest.
BOOM!
Dotō's body spiraled backward, crashing into the wreckage of an orbital tank.
The tank exploded into debris. Metal shards and steel bars pierced Dotō's body, pinning him beneath the rubble.
Ryosuke lifted his hand, catching the returning iron ball.
"The Tyrant of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Dotō… will rise no more."
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