When Makoto came out of the carriage, three pairs of eyes immediately fell on him, their gazes filled with strange scrutiny… they all thought he had made Koyuki cry.
The next second, Koyuki followed him out.
But on her face, there were no tear stains as Utaha and the others had imagined.
"Th-that... Yukie, please eat at least a little."
Sandayu approached with a new bowl of soup, carefully holding it out to her.
"...Thank you."
Her voice was very soft, but it made Sandayu freeze.
He looked at Koyuki in disbelief. The change in her attitude was just too dramatic.
Makoto glanced at her: "From tomorrow on, the name 'Fujikaze Yukie' won't be needed anymore."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Sandayu looked at Makoto incredulously.
Makoto didn't explain.
He glanced at the snow-covered mountains in the distance. If it weren't for the fact that they were still a considerable distance from the Land of Snow's capital, he would have said to Koyuki: You wait here. I'll go get Kazahana Doto's head and come back. By then, your soup will still be warm.
"Let's go, Utaha, Megumi, Ran."
With those words, he leaped out and sped off toward the direction of the Land of Snow's capital.
Utaha, Megumi, and Ran quickly followed.
"Makoto-sensei, where are we going?" Megumi asked as she followed behind.
"To kill the Daimyo of the Land of Snow."
The wind howled. The movements of the three girls all paused simultaneously.
Having been reincarnated here for four years, they certainly knew what a Daimyo meant in this world.
And Makoto's tone when he said those words was like he was asking what was for dinner.
"Th-that... Makoto-sensei, what's going on exactly?" Utaha's face was full of shock.
While traveling, Makoto briefly explained Fujikaze Yukie's real name, Kazahana Koyuki, and the story of her heritage and national vendetta.
The expressions of the three girls gradually became solemn.
Now they understood.
That man named Kazahana Doto truly deserved to be killed.
"The male lead receives a protection mission, discovers the client is a princess burdened with family and national vengeance, and finally helps her reclaim her country..."
Utaha murmured, her eyes sparkling slightly, "It's quite like a standard romance novel plot."
"Read fewer novels."
Makoto turned his head, "What we're about to face are real Ninjas, not on the same level as those petty thieves before. Stay alert… if you're in danger, don't expect me to save you."
Utaha smiled instead: "Really? I think Sensei will come to save us."
Makoto half-turned his head and glanced at her.
'Hadn't this girl's attitude toward me been getting a bit too casual lately?'
…
The Land of Snow had a sparse population. The icy, snowy environment kept the population locked in a few limited settlements.
If Makoto were alone, with the Flying Thunder God Technique, he could reach the capital in half a day.
But carrying three burdens slowed down the journey.
The main reason was that he had to bring them along.
…
Two days later, the capital of the Land of Snow.
Like the border, this city was also covered in ice and snow. The architecture had a certain Nordic-style coldness.
But the faces of the passing citizens showed no smiles, only exhaustion and numbness.
And the expressions of the local Ninjas were a stark contrast to the citizens.
They wore oddly shaped armor, looked arrogant, and acted like they looked down on everyone.
"What are they wearing?" Ran looked curiously at those guards.
"Chakra Armor."
Makoto explained, "It can store Chakra in advance, amplify Chakra during battle. A Chunin wearing it can perform at a Jonin's level. It can also automatically dispel Genjutsu when the wearer is under one."
Utaha and the other two exchanged glances, their pupils shrinking slightly.
'So strong?'
'Then why were we working so hard every day to train?'
Makoto saw through their thoughts at a glance and sneered: "Don't think about taking shortcuts. That stuff is very fragile and breaks after a few hits. It's fine for bullying rookies below Jonin level, but once you run into someone slightly tougher, it's useless."
As they spoke, they crossed the main road of the capital.
A magnificent white palace appeared at the end of their sight.
The residence of the Land of Snow's Daimyo.
A row of guards wearing Chakra Armor stood at the entrance. Megumi lowered her voice: "Sensei, do you need me to sneak in first?"
"No need." Makoto's gaze swept over those guards, his tone terrifyingly casual, "We're going to kill them all anyway."
He turned his head to look at Utaha: "Utaha, do as we discussed last night."
Utaha took a deep breath, stepped forward, and began forming hand seals.
She had barely finished the first seal when the guards at the entrance had already sensed something wrong.
"Enemy attack—"
Instantly, over a dozen figures rushed toward the four of them.
And Utaha's hand seals were just completed.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Her pale cheeks puffed up slightly, and the next instant, a violent gale roared out.
Like Fire Release's Great Fireball and Water Release's Wild Water Wave, this was a basic offensive Wind Release Ninjutsu.
Its power was proportional to the user's Chakra amount.
And the power of Utaha's technique—
"Hah, such a ridiculous Ninjutsu?"
The purple-haired man leading the group stopped in his tracks with a sneer.
He was the leader of the Yukigakure's Ninja, Roga Nadare, who had fought against Kakashi ten years ago.
He himself had Jonin-level strength, and with the amplification of his Chakra Armor, his strength had reached the threshold of Elite Jonin.
He didn't even bother to use a Ninjutsu to defend, simply concentrating Chakra in his hands, intending to shatter the oncoming wind blades.
But in that instant, his gaze passed over Utaha and landed on the black-haired youth behind her.
That youth's left hand was covering his left eye, only his right eye exposed, staring directly at him.
His originally black pupils gradually turned crimson.
Three tomoes spun rapidly around his pupils, and in the next moment, they combined into a brand new pattern.
Nadare's pupils suddenly contracted.
A bone-chilling coldness spread from his back throughout his body.
"Fall back—"
Before he finished speaking, the youth's indifferent voice came from the opposite side.
"Amaterasu."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Black flames, without any warning, landed on the wind blades that Utaha had just released.
The wind fed the fire. The reach of that black flame expanded several times in an instant, like an inverted black rainstorm, accurately landing on every single Yukigakure's Ninja.
"Aaaahhhh—"
Cries of agony rose and fell.
Those Yukigakure's Ninjas who had been strutting around just moments ago were now rolling on the ground, struggling, wailing.
They frantically slapped at the flames on their bodies, but could only watch helplessly as those black flames burned hotter and hotter, impossible to extinguish no matter what.
The citizens nearby were completely dumbfounded.
Watching those Yukigakure's Ninjas who usually threw their weight around now rolling on the ground like ignited ants, they didn't even know how to react for a moment.
Utaha and the others were also stunned.
The aura emanating from that black flame made them instinctively feel a sense of dread.
"Wh-what kind of flame is this..."
"Sensei, your eye is bleeding."
Megumi's voice snapped the other two back to their senses. They looked at Makoto and saw that blood tears were continuously streaming down from his right eye, sliding along his cheek.
Megumi instinctively raised her hand and gently wiped them away with her sleeve.
Makoto didn't dodge.
His body trembled slightly.
Half from the excruciating pain brought by the Mangekyo Sharingan, and half—
From ecstasy.
Amaterasu.
The Dojutsu of the right eye of Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan.
'Indeed, as expected of father and sons like that man, Itachi, and Sasuke, one of the Mangekyo Dojutsu was shared among them.'
The black flames burned quietly in his eyes, reflecting the figures writhing in those flames.
And the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up into a slight arc.