Five days later, Makoto and his group, along with the film crew, officially entered the border of the Land of Snow.
What greeted them was a pure white world of ice and snow. Everyone changed into thick cotton jackets.
In just five days, two waves of bounty hunters had already targeted Koyuki, claiming someone had offered a high price for her head.
Then they were dealt with by Makoto's group.
The battle process was basically: Makoto would first cut off one of the bounty hunter's hands to weaken them, then hand them over to Megumi and the others to finish off.
He's letting them experience the feeling of killing someone.
The first time, the three girls vomited miserably.
By the second time, they had mostly adapted.
As they officially stepped onto the soil of the Land of Snow, Makoto suddenly spoke: "From here on, we should be facing Ninjas. They won't be as easy to deal with as before. Everyone, pay attention."
"Makoto-sensei, is something happening in the Land of Snow?"
Megumi suddenly remembered that before they left, Makoto had mentioned that 'the situation in the Land of Snow is chaotic'.
Inside the carriage, Koyuki's expression changed slightly, and her body involuntarily curled into a ball.
Makoto explained: "The current Daimyo of the Land of Snow is Kazahana Doto. He's been plundering the people's wealth everywhere, and no one knows what he's planning to do with it. The citizens are filled with resentment. There are rumors that he killed his older brother, the previous Daimyo, to take the throne."
Inside the carriage, Koyuki trembled even more.
Just then, the director's voice rang out: "We'll set up camp here tonight! This area looks good. We'll shoot here tomorrow."
Everyone began busying themselves.
Some set up tents, others started fires to cook.
Makoto and his group were responsible for guarding the perimeter.
"Nishikawa-sama! And all you Ninja! The food is ready, come and eat!"
The film crew's cook shouted at the top of his lungs.
Everyone sat down. Ran scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and casually said, "Even people from other countries know Sensei's name."
"Isn't that only natural?"
Utaha glanced at Makoto, her tone carrying a hint of vicarious pride, "The Third Hokage's personal disciple, the Hokage's sharpest sword, the number one Body Flicker of the Land of Fire... A lot of people in the village are saying he'll become the Fifth Hokage."
Hearing this, Ran's expression dimmed slightly.
The stronger Makoto was, the more dangerous Shinichi's situation became.
Megumi noticed her unusual behavior: "Ran, have you been feeling down lately?"
"No, not at all..."
Ran forced a smile.
Megumi stared at her but said nothing.
In fact, ever since leaving Konoha, Zhuge Megumi had noticed that something was off with Ran.
The most obvious sign was that she was consciously or unconsciously keeping her distance from Makoto.
Being stared at like that by Megumi made Ran feel uneasy. She could only turn her face away, afraid of being found out.
Fortunately, in the end, Megumi didn't press further.
"I'm not eating!"
A furious shout suddenly came from the direction of the carriage.
Everyone turned to look.
They saw Fujikaze Yukie slap away the bowl that Sandayu had brought to her.
The soup spilled all over the ground. The atmosphere instantly became awkward to the extreme.
"I-I'll get another bowl..."
Sandayu, like a doting old father, didn't get angry. He just hurriedly picked up the bowl and left.
Koyuki turned back to the carriage and closed the door, refusing to come out.
Makoto put down his bowl and walked over.
"Makoto-sensei, you're not going to hit her, are you?"
Utaha looked surprised.
Makoto looked back and flicked her on the forehead in annoyance: "Is that the kind of person you think I am?"
Utaha rubbed her forehead, staring speechlessly at his back.
'—Haven't you hit us enough?'
Arriving at the carriage, Makoto heard sobbing sounds coming from inside.
"Kazahana Koyuki."
He said through the door.
"Crying from night till dawn, and from dawn till night again… can you cry Kazahana Doto to death?"
The sobbing stopped abruptly.
Makoto pulled open the curtain and found Koyuki hugging her knees, her face buried as she wept.
Now she suddenly looked up, staring at him in disbelief.
'This guy actually knew my real identity?!'
Makoto casually told a lie: "Kakashi is my colleague."
Koyuki suddenly understood, assuming Kakashi had told him.
She wiped her tears and tried to put on a defiant look: "...What do you want?"
"Nothing." Makoto smiled and sat down across from her. "I'm just curious—"
He paused and asked: "Right now, you should be trying to avoid Doto's assassination attempts, right? If that's the case, you should be living incognito. So how come you became an actress?"
Makoto truly didn't understand the thought processes of people in the Naruto World, or in 2D World works more broadly.
Take the woman in front of him, for example.
Doto is hunting you all over the world, and what do you do? You go make movies?
What were you thinking?
Isn't this the exact same concept as Conan living in Ran's house?
You clearly know your situation is dangerous. The Black Organization is searching for you everywhere.
And yet you say with your mouth, "I don't want to involve anyone else", but your body is perfectly honest… you move directly into your childhood sweetheart's house.
Amazing.
Koyuki bit her lip and buried her face in her knees again, not speaking.
Makoto shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning against the carriage wall: "Haven't you had enough of this kind of life?"
"...I've had enough for a long time."
Finally, Koyuki spoke.
She looked up again, revealing her red, tear-soaked eyes.
"But what can I do?! I want to kill that man too! But I don't have the power to do it! Sob... sob sob..."
Before she finished speaking, the tears came flooding out again. She buried her head in her knees for the third time, sobbing uncontrollably.
Outside, Utaha and the others heard the crying and looked at each other in confusion.
'Had our perverted teacher made her cry?'
After Koyuki's sobbing gradually subsided, Makoto spoke again.
"Do you want me to help you?"
Koyuki's head shot up, and she looked at him in disbelief.
Makoto continued: "The person sitting in front of you right now is the strongest Ninja in Konoha. Killing a mere worm like Kazahana Doto—"
He pinched his fingers together, making a gesture to insult a certain someone.
"—is like taking candy from a baby."
If anyone else had said this, Koyuki would have thought they were insane.
But the young man in front of her was a supernova who had recently risen to fame in the Land of Fire.
'Perhaps... he really had that confidence?'
"...How much money do you want?"
Koyuki asked.
"No money."
Makoto smiled.
"After you become the female Daimyo of the Land of Snow, if I ever betray the village, just remember to leave me a big house in your country."
"Huh?"
Koyuki looked completely confused.
"W-Wait a minute... aren't you the Hokage's disciple? Why would you betray the village?"
Makoto didn't answer directly.
In truth, he was just leaving himself an extra escape route. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't actually do it.
After all, the Land of Fire had the most fertile land in this world. Would he have to be brain-damaged to move to the icy, snowy Land of Snow?
But the problem now was—
Not only had one butterfly (himself) appeared in this world, but a whole swarm of butterflies had arrived.
Who knew what kind of butterfly effect that would cause?
Just in case, it was better to leave an escape route.
Although she didn't know why he said that, Makoto's confidence did make Koyuki feel considerably better.
She wiped the tears from her face and gave a light snort:
"Hah, the strongest Ninja? You'd be lucky to rank third."
In her view, no matter how strong the young man before her was, he could never match the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, or that [Copy Ninja] Kakashi.
Makoto smiled, not bothering to argue.
'Just wait and see.'