A few days later.
Near the Land of Snow, in a neighboring country, Kiyohara and the others met up with the Land of Snow's minister, Asama Sandayu.
"Come on."
Using his clay once more, Kiyohara molded another giant dragon, creating a separate one specifically for Asama Sandayu.
"This..."
It was the first time Sandayu had ever witnessed Kiyohara's ninjutsu, and he hesitated slightly.
"This will get us back to the Land of Snow much faster."
"All right."
Sandayu understood the urgency of the situation, so he climbed onto the second dragon.
He himself had not gone to Konoha. Instead, he had entrusted someone else to deliver the mission request there, asking Konoha's shinobi to meet him here.
Afterward, they would escort him safely back to the Land of Snow.
The atmosphere within the Land of Snow had become extremely oppressive recently. Sandayu had even been targeted by assassins while returning home.
That incident made him realize one thing.
He absolutely could not return to the Land of Snow alone.
He needed powerful allies to protect him and assist the Daimyo.
Two days passed.
When the dragons broke through the final layer of clouds, a pure white world unfolded before them.
Snow-covered mountain ranges stretched endlessly into the distance.
Forests buried beneath thick blankets of snow.
Frozen lakes sealed beneath layers of ice.
"So beautiful..."
Kurenai gazed out the window at the scenery.
Tsunade also moved closer and looked outside at the endless white landscape.
"It really is impressive."
She tugged at her clothes.
"It's just too cold."
Kiyohara guided the dragons into a slow descent.
Soon, they arrived outside one of the cities of the Land of Snow.
…
"Stop!"
A soldier stepped forward and blocked their path.
Fear was visible on his face.
The enormous dragon behind Kiyohara exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.
"Who are you people?"
"Konoha shinobi. We've come in response to a mission request."
Kiyohara took out the mission scroll. With a wave of his hand, the giant dragon instantly reverted into a massive lump of clay, which he stored inside his shinobi pouch.
The soldier accepted the scroll and examined it.
His attitude immediately became respectful.
"Please wait a moment. I'll report your arrival at once."
A short while later, a middle-aged man wearing a thick official robe hurried out through the city gates.
He appeared to be in his forties.
His face was lean, and there was a trace of worry between his brows, though he still managed to force a smile when he saw Kiyohara and the others.
"Nuzaku!"
Asama Sandayu greeted him.
Seeing that Sandayu had returned safely and unharmed, Nuzaku visibly relaxed.
"So you are the shinobi from Konoha?"
Nuzaku bowed respectfully.
"I am Nuzaku, also a minister of the Land of Snow. Thank you all for coming from such a great distance."
(TN: Can't find this guy originally called Nurefu or Nulev and also minister of the Land of Snow.)
Tsunade stepped forward.
"We accepted the mission. Let's discuss the details inside."
Nuzaku nodded and moved aside.
"Please."
The group followed him through the city gates.
After passing several streets, they eventually arrived before a magnificent building.
It was the royal palace of the Land of Snow.
Although it lacked the dazzling splendor of the palaces in the Land of Fire, it possessed a unique elegance, as though it had been carved entirely from ice and snow.
Inside the palace hall sat a middle-aged man upon the throne.
Standing beside him was a young girl of around seven or eight years old.
She wore thick winter clothing.
Her long black hair framed her fair, delicate face.
"You must be the shinobi from Konoha."
The Daimyo of the Land of Snow stood and descended from his throne.
"Welcome to the Land of Snow."
Tsunade nodded slightly.
"We came at your minister's request. Could you explain the situation?"
The smile on the Daimyo's face faltered briefly.
He glanced toward his younger brother, Kazahana Doto, before slowly shaking his head.
"This matter... can be discussed later."
After a pause, he gently pulled the girl beside him forward.
"This is my daughter, Kazahana Koyuki."
Koyuki tilted her head upward and looked at the unfamiliar visitors.
Her gaze swept past Tsunade.
Then it lingered on Kurenai for a moment.
Finally, it settled on Kiyohara.
'That big brother... He's so handsome.'
The thought immediately appeared in her mind.
Kiyohara crouched down so that he was at eye level with her.
"Hello."
He reached into his clothes and took out a small clay flower.
The flower had been carefully sculpted from white clay.
Its petals layered elegantly upon one another, and a tiny cluster of pale pink stamens rested at its center.
"This is for you."
Koyuki accepted the flower and examined it curiously.
"What kind of flower is this?"
"A flower that blooms in spring."
Kiyohara smiled.
"The kind you can't see in the Land of Snow."
Koyuki blinked.
"What is spring like outside?"
"If the Land of Snow is a world of white..."
Kiyohara smiled softly.
"Then spring is a world of green."
"When spring arrives, green grass grows across the earth, and trees bloom with flowers of every color."
Koyuki nodded as if she understood, though only partially.
Still, a bright smile appeared on her face.
She had always been fascinated by spring.
Her greatest wish was for the Land of Snow to someday become a Land of Spring.
"Thank you, big brother."
She carefully cradled the flower in both hands.
The Daimyo watched the scene, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
He had always been searching for a way to fulfill his daughter's dream.
As the ruler of the Land of Snow, he actually devoted very little of his energy to government affairs.
Most of those responsibilities had been handed over to his ministers.
The majority of his time was spent working alongside the nation's scientists, developing gigantic machines capable of transforming the environment.
According to his vision, they would one day alter the climate of the entire Land of Snow.
The harsh environment would disappear forever.
The people would no longer struggle against endless winter and could finally live in peace and prosperity.
However, not far behind the Daimyo, another pair of eyes was watching the scene gloomily.
The owner of those eyes was another middle-aged man dressed in luxurious clothing.
His appearance bore some resemblance to the Daimyo's, but his expression was far more sinister.
Kazahana Doto.
He coldly stared at the Konoha shinobi.
Especially the young man currently talking to Koyuki.
'So my useless brother really did seek help from Konoha.'
He withdrew his gaze and silently left the hall.
…
That night.
In a side chamber of the palace.
Kazahana Doto sat inside a room.
Standing before him was a man dressed in white shinobi attire.
The man appeared to be in his twenties.
There was a faint scar beneath each eye, and long purple hair flowed down his back.
He was Nadare Rouga.
One of the strongest shinobi in Yukigakure.
And also one of Doto's hired mercenaries.
By sacrificing certain benefits and interests, Doto had successfully secured the support of Yukigakure.
"Can you deal with those leaf shinobi?"
Doto's voice was low and heavy.
His physique was much larger than that of his elder brother.
A closer look revealed that beneath his clothing he wore a layer of black form-fitting armor.
The newest model of Chakra Armor.
Nadare Rouga grinned.
"Deal with them? We can certainly give it a try."
"It'll be the perfect chance to show the shinobi of Konoha our new equipment."
He patted the sword hanging at his waist.
"The Chakra Armor is complete."
"With this, our combat strength has increased several times over."
Doto nodded.
The Chakra Armor represented the highest achievement of the Land of Snow's technology.
In that regard, he had complete confidence.
"Move quickly."
"We can't delay matters with my brother any longer."
"Understood."
Nadare Rouga rose to his feet and headed toward the door.
Then he paused.
"By the way..."
"That Kiyohara fellow..."
"I heard he once killed the Third Mizukage?"
There was caution in Doto's eyes.
He had also recognized Tsunade.
He knew she was one of the legendary Sannin.
"Lord Doto, there's no need to be afraid."
Nadare Rouga stopped at the doorway.
"This isn't their home ground. They may not necessarily be able to defeat us here."
The Chakra Armor could not only resist ninjutsu.
It could even resist genjutsu.
Kiyohara's Sharingan would be completely useless against him.
And with their various Ice Release techniques, Tsunade would find it nearly impossible to get close enough to defeat them.
"Besides..."
A cruel smile spread across his face.
"Killing someone like him would make things even more interesting."
Nadare Rouga had already figured out how to shift the blame onto a neighboring nation, allowing Yukigakure to remain completely uninvolved.
With that, he pushed open the door and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
Kazahana Doto remained seated alone in the room.
His eyes were cold and gloomy.
Soon.
Very soon.
The Land of Snow would belong to him.
And once that happened, he would obtain the Land of Snow's secret treasure.
With that treasure and the power of the Chakra Armor, he intended to claim his own share of the benefits in this great shinobi war that was approaching its conclusion.
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Under the arrangements made by the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Kiyohara and the others had settled into temporary accommodations.
Kiyohara sat alone in a chair inside his room.
His eyes were closed.
Quietly, he organized and reviewed all the intelligence he had gathered about the Land of Snow throughout the day.
Suddenly, he heard a mechanical synthesized voice.
[Please retrieve your alternate future self's last will and urn. Make sure to properly take care of their remains.]
Kiyohara opened his eyes.
It had arrived.
His consciousness immediately sank into the depths of his mind.
A new urn stood there.
At first glance, it looked rather ordinary and unremarkable.
Kiyohara observed it carefully and noticed a crimson spiral pattern engraved upon its surface.
"An Uzumaki symbol?"
he thought to himself.
It should be the crest of the Uzumaki Clan.
Could this be a future connected to the Uzumaki Clan?
As he pondered the possibility—
Click.
The lid slowly slid open.
A figure gradually rose from within the urn.
Long crimson hair cascaded all the way to his waist.
His appearance was almost identical to Kiyohara's own, yet his face was covered in wrinkles. He looked well over eighty years old.
He wore white robes adorned with the Uzumaki clan crest on both shoulders.
Kiyohara examined this future version of himself.
"You're a member of the Uzumaki Clan?"
he asked.
Uzumaki Kiyohara nodded slightly.
"That's right."
Then he added calmly,
"And I'm also the reincarnation of Asura's chakra."
Kiyohara's heart shook.
The reincarnation of Asura?
This was the first time he had ever encountered such a future.
To be honest, he currently had no idea where Asura's reincarnation chakra was.
In the original story, it was clearly stated that Hashirama died before Madara.
Several years after Madara's death, Sasuke became Indra's reincarnation.
Then Naruto, who was born a month later, became Asura's reincarnation.
During the period before those two chakras reincarnated, Kiyohara had no idea whether they wandered the shinobi world or returned to the Pure Land.
"How do you know?"
Kiyohara asked curiously.
Even the possessors of Asura's and Indra's chakra could only vaguely sense that they were somehow different from ordinary people.
"My body's potential was simply too great."
Uzumaki Kiyohara replied.
"As long as I continued training and refining my body, I could constantly break through my limits."
"At first, I thought I was merely a particularly talented member of the Uzumaki Clan."
"It wasn't until the moment I was about to die of old age, when my soul left my body, that I discovered a portion of my chakra had disappeared."
Listening to the explanation, Kiyohara nodded.
In the shinobi world, a soul was not merely a soul.
It also carried chakra.
Obito had already been reduced to little more than ashes, yet his spirit still managed to grant Kakashi a temporary Mangekyo Sharingan.
A lifetime without Susanoo.
Yet Kakashi had forcefully carried the final battle with a borrowed one.
"That chakra had existed within me since birth."
"It had always been fused with me, so I never noticed it."
"But when it left me, I finally sensed its existence."
"So I guessed it must have been Asura's chakra."
"I simply never expected that I would be the reincarnation."
Uzumaki Kiyohara shook his head.
"I see."
Kiyohara stroked his chin thoughtfully.
This was the first future he had ever encountered that had actually died of natural causes.
Even being Asura's reincarnation did not grant immortality.
The Uzumaki bloodline could greatly extend one's lifespan.
But longevity was not eternal life.
Moreover, intense battles during one's younger years could significantly shorten that lifespan.
Although Uzushiogakure was known as the Village of Longevity, most of those long-lived people were ordinary civilians from the Uzumaki Clan.
It had very little to do with shinobi.
Shinobi who managed to live until old age were exceedingly rare.
That was simply the cruel reality of the shinobi world.
"So..."
Kiyohara asked,
"You died of old age?"
"I suppose so."
Uzumaki Kiyohara smiled.
"I lived more than eighty years."
"Longer than the vast majority of shinobi."
"On my final day, I lay by the shore of the Land of Whirlpools and watched the sun rise above the sea."
"Then I closed my eyes."
His tone was calm.
As if he were describing something completely ordinary.
Kiyohara looked at him.
This version of himself was entirely different from all the previous futures he had encountered.
The others had died in battle.
Or perished through accidents and unforeseen circumstances.
But this one had completed an entire lifetime.
Because of that, Uzumaki Kiyohara carried a unique sense of peace and detachment.
Then Uzumaki Kiyohara suddenly asked:
"What abilities do you possess?"
"What fields are you proficient in?"
"Do you have any kekkei genkai?"
Kiyohara blinked.
The situation felt completely backwards.
For the first time, someone was interrogating him instead.
Usually he was the one conducting the questioning whenever he met a future self.
Before Kiyohara could answer, Uzumaki Kiyohara spoke again.
"The Sharingan..."
His gaze settled upon Kiyohara.
A complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.
"I can sense..."
"There is a certain evil chakra within you."
Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.
"Evil?"
"Can the Sharingan really be called evil?"
Uzumaki Kiyohara froze.
Then he slapped his forehead and laughed awkwardly.
"Sorry, sorry."
"I spent too much time around members of the Senju Clan."
"I've unconsciously picked up some of their habits."
"In my era, the Senju and Uzumaki Clans were allies for generations."
"I grew up alongside many Senju children."
"They always called the Sharingan evil."
"So eventually..."
"I understand."
Kiyohara nodded.
The Uchiha and Senju had fought each other from the Warring States Era all the way until the founding of the villages.
It was perfectly normal for them to dislike one another.
If the Senju Clan had never dissolved and had continued existing as a large clan, conflict with the Uchiha would probably have erupted sooner or later.
"You still haven't answered my question."
Uzumaki Kiyohara reminded him.
Kiyohara shrugged.
"I know curse marks, fuinjutsu techniques, sage arts, and ninjutsu related to all seven chakra natures."
Uzumaki Kiyohara's eyes brightened.
"Not bad."
He nodded approvingly.
"You've got some skill."
In his view, this younger version of himself was doing quite well.
After chatting casually for a while, Kiyohara finally asked:
"So what are your final will?"
Uzumaki Kiyohara fell silent.
After several moments, he raised two fingers.
"There are two."
"The first..."
"I want the homeland of the Land of Whirlpools to prosper once again."
His voice became somewhat nostalgic.
"The Land of Whirlpools was once the home of the Uzumaki Clan."
"The soil was fertile."
"The people lived peacefully."
"But war destroyed everything."
"I hope you can restore vitality to that land."
"I hope towns and cities will once again rise from those ruins."
Kiyohara remained silent.
Revitalizing an entire nation...
That was no small task.
"But there aren't many descendants of the Land of Whirlpools left."
"And the other nations won't allow its restoration."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Back then, countless nations had feared the Land of Whirlpools.
That fear had ultimately contributed to its destruction.
How could they possibly sit back and watch it rise again?
What if the Uzumaki sought revenge?
That was the question every nation would inevitably ask.
"I know."
Uzumaki Kiyohara nodded.
"I don't necessarily mean restoring the nation."
"I simply don't want the land to remain ruins forever."
"As long as people live there again, that's enough."
Hearing that, Kiyohara slowly nodded.
That was considerably easier.
Kirigakure was steadily contracting its sphere of influence.
Sooner or later, it would relinquish the territory of the former Land of Whirlpools.
When that happened, Kiyohara could simply invest there and attract ordinary settlers.
At the same time, he could develop commerce and earn a considerable profit.
"And the second will?"
Kiyohara asked.
"The second..."
"I want you to obtain the History of Warring States Seals."
Uzumaki Kiyohara spoke seriously.
"It contains many lost seals."
"Unfortunately, it is currently under the control of Konoha's upper leadership."
"The History of Warring States Seals..."
Kiyohara frowned slightly.
That book certainly contained numerous lost sealing techniques.
However, something else inside it was even more important.
It was connected to an Uchiha shinobi named Uchiha Nanashi.
The book recorded the location of her seal.
And Uchiha Nanashi possessed an ocular ability even more outrageous than Obito's Kamui.
She had been the Uchiha Clan's ultimate weapon during the Warring States Era.
Her Mangekyo Sharingan ability, Yachihoko, could place marks upon anyone.
Through those marks, she could connect to them regardless of distance and freely manipulate both their minds and chakra.
Even more terrifyingly, her ocular technique could imprint the abilities of other Mangekyo Sharingan.
She could turn the powers of others into her own.
By herself, she possessed four separate Mangekyo abilities.
Because her power had become far too dangerous, the Senju Clan and the Sarutobi Clan had joined forces to seal her away.
That was why the History of Warring States Seals recorded her existence.
At the same time, Kiyohara couldn't help but think:
If he could release the seal...
If he could gain Uchiha Nanashi's power...
What an overwhelming ally she would become.
Of course, there were risks.
After all, Uchiha Nanashi deeply hated the Uchiha Clan.
She had been imprisoned in a dungeon since childhood.
Raised as nothing more than a weapon.
Her freedom had been ruthlessly restricted.
And in the eyes of outsiders, Kiyohara was currently a pure-blooded Uchiha.
This matter would require careful planning.
"I understand."
Kiyohara finally replied.
…
The next morning.
Inside the royal palace of the Land of Snow.
Asama Sandayu stood respectfully to one side.
The Daimyo of the Land of Snow sat upon his throne with a gentle smile.
Beside him stood his daughter, Koyuki.
In her hands she still carefully held the clay flower Kiyohara had given her the previous day.
"You have traveled a long way."
The Daimyo spoke warmly.
"You must have worked hard."
"Did you rest well last night?"
Tsunade nodded slightly.
"Very well."
"Thank you for your hospitality."
The Daimyo nodded before glancing at Sandayu.
Understanding immediately, Sandayu walked to the entrance of the hall and ordered the guards to move farther away.
The palace doors slowly closed.
The Daimyo's expression gradually became serious.
He rose from his throne and descended the steps.
Stopping before Kiyohara and the others, he spoke honestly.
"To tell you the truth..."
"I did not invite you here merely for escort duties."
He paused briefly.
"My younger brother, Kazahana Doto..."
"Has long harbored ambitions for the throne."
Tsunade's eyebrow lifted slightly.
"You want us to help deal with him?"
"Yes."
The Daimyo nodded firmly.
(End of Chapter)