Perhaps it was fate. When Makoto and his group accompanied Koyuki and the film crew back to the capital of the Land of Snow, this city, once frozen by ice and snow, had already quietly begun to warm.
Sunlight filtered through the clouds, gently falling on every tile and eaves of the city, as if crowning the upcoming new era.
The citizens of the Land of Snow surprisingly accepted the sudden return of the princess who had been missing for ten years with calm.
After all, the ten years of tyranny under Doto had already pushed the people's endurance to its limit.
No matter who became the Daimyo, it felt like things couldn't get any worse.
This attitude of 'what's done is done' made the transition of power go unusually smoothly.
As for Makoto and his group, they naturally became heroes in the eyes of the citizens.
Many had witnessed the scene of them killing Doto that day, and as word spread, the story had already taken on a few mythological flourishes.
A full week had passed since they left Konoha.
Utaha and the other two had been running around with Makoto these past few days, their nerves constantly taut. Now that they finally had some rest, the exhaustion and the delayed onset of discomfort came flooding back like a tide.
"I need a bath!"
Utaha practically shouted, her voice filled with an urgency that was about to overflow.
Megumi and Ran nodded frantically, exchanging glances.
As beautiful young girls, in the real world, not bathing for a week, or even a single day, would have been unbearable.
It just went to show that life-or-death situations reshaped one's bottom line.
Led by a maid, the three arrived at the changing room.
Apparently, this hot spring pool was originally exclusive to the Daimyo, but Koyuki had specifically given them permission to use it.
They removed their clothes and pushed open the door to the hot spring. A hazy mist of steam rushed toward them.
But the next second, all three froze in place.
From the hot spring pool came faint sounds, mixed with the gentle lapping of water.
The sound was melodious and lingering, yet carried an indescribable... tremor.
Utaha, who was walking in front, inexplicably took a step forward. Through the misty steam, her vision gradually cleared—
Koyuki, who would officially be inaugurated as the Daimyo of the Land of Snow tomorrow, was lying on the hot spring stone by the edge of the pool.
Her face, which had once been cold and aloof under the name 'Fujikaze Yukie', had now shed all its former coolness.
The relief she had felt when her vengeance was fulfilled yesterday had also been replaced by a different kind of dazed ecstasy.
Her lips were slightly parted, unable to suppress the soft moans that kept escaping, her entire face immersed in some kind of trance.
And right behind her, a figure whose image had risen significantly in the hearts of Utaha and the others just two days ago was diligently working.
"!!!???"
The three girls' brains all crashed simultaneously. Then, almost instinctively, they turned and ran.
Even Megumi, who was usually very saintly, had two rare red patches flying across her perpetually calm face, her heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
Back in the changing room, the three girls' faces were still red as tomatoes.
The images of Makoto and Koyuki lingered in their minds, impossible to shake.
"Shameless."
Utaha spoke first, spitting out the word with disgust.
The other two didn't respond.
One was still in a daze of 'who am I and where am I', while the other was like a boiling kettle.
After a while, Megumi finally managed to press her lips together and said, "Um... are we still going to bathe?"
Mentioning it brought back that sticky, uncomfortable feeling on their skin.
Utaha gritted her teeth: "We will! I don't believe he can last that long!"
An hour later...
Ran hugged her shoulders, her teeth chattering slightly: "Maybe... we should put our clothes on first? It's so cold."
Utaha stubbornly stared at the changing room door: "No! He'll definitely come out any minute now!"
Two hours later...
"Ah… choo!"
Utaha let out a loud sneeze.
Megumi finally couldn't take it anymore: "Utaha, let's just put our clothes on. We'll catch a cold."
As soon as she finished speaking, the door finally opened.
Makoto walked out, a towel wrapped around his waist and a drowsy Koyuki on his back.
Seeing the three girls' state, he was taken aback, his tone clearly surprised: "Huh? You're still here?"
The three girls shot him a fierce glare, then sped past him, rushing into the hot spring pool one after another.
They were freezing!
...
Two days later, at the capital city gate of the Land of Snow.
"When will you come back next?"
Koyuki, now dressed in splendid attire, her eyebrows and eyes filled with reluctance, asked softly.
Makoto took her hand, his expression gentle and deep, instantly switching to Ninja-World Casanova mode: "If love lasts for a long time, how can it depend on being together day and night?"
The trio watching from afar: "..."
Utaha couldn't help but "tsk" again.
Megumi summarized expressionlessly: "Sows his wild oats everywhere. Even in another world, it's the same."
Ran was silent for a moment, then suddenly felt that her own father might not be so bad after all.
Kogoro might not be able to walk straight when he saw a beautiful woman, especially having no resistance to Yoko Okino, but he basically just talked. He had never actually crossed that line.
But Makoto? He was jumping back and forth across that line, and with great enthusiasm.
Hey! I jumped out again! Hey! I jumped back in!
After Makoto finally managed to dig out a bunch of cheesy pickup lines from his past life's inventory and extricated himself, he walked over to see three faces wearing identical expressions that said, "We'll show you our panties with disgust."
He cleared his throat, looking serious: "This concerns diplomatic relations between two countries. Your teacher found it hard to refuse."
"Heh~"
Utaha twitched the corner of her mouth, her expression as if to say, "You think I believe that?"
"So trashy." Megumi's choice of words was even harsher.
Mouri Ran thought for a moment, then carefully said, "Sensei, doing this... don't you think you'd be letting Aizono down?"
Makoto blinked: "Which Aizono are you talking about?"
The three girls: "???"
...
After returning to Konoha, Makoto went straight to Hiruzen's office to report on the mission.
Of course, the report was a 'carefully curated' version… he mentioned nothing about the Mangekyo Sharingan, and the part about sacrificing his own chastity for the friendship between the two countries was also glossed over.
As for the other details, he stated them truthfully.
Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction.
Although the Land of Snow was a bit far from the Land of Fire, establishing a friendly relationship might not show any tangible benefits in the short term, but having one more friend was better than having one more enemy.
At his age, he understood that much.
"As expected of my disciple."
Hiruzen, as if possessed by the spirit of Uchiha Fugaku, spoke with a kind, satisfied tone, "Go home and get some rest."
Makoto smiled, nodded, turned, and left.
What a beautiful picture of master-disciple affection, father-son devotion!
...
Meanwhile, Utaha and the other two each returned home.
Ran had just pushed open her front door—
Pop! Pop!
Streamers exploded from above, landing on her hair and shoulders.
Eri and Sonoko were each holding a party popper, beaming with joy. In the center of the living room hung a striking banner:
[Congratulations on Ran's Safe Return from Her Mission!]
The table was laden with a feast of delicious food, and there was a cake with a candle on it.
Looking at her mother and best friend's smiling faces, Ran was stunned for a second, then burst into tears.
"Huh??" Eri was startled and quickly stepped forward to hug her daughter, "Ran, what's wrong? Did you encounter danger?"
Sonoko also panicked: "Are you hurt? I'll take you to the hospital right now!"
After crying for quite a while, Ran finally lifted her head from Eri's embrace, her face covered in tears, and asked:
"Mom... what should I do?"
Under the comfort of Eri and Sonoko, the three sat down on the sofa.
Sobbing, Ran recounted the entire mission from start to finish, focusing on Makoto's Mangekyo Sharingan.
The torment she was feeling stemmed from the fact that in the real world, her childhood friend, Kudo Shinichi, was investigating Makoto.
These two were bound to clash sooner or later. Given their personalities, when they did meet, it would be like a collision of two planets.
Shinichi was arrogant. Makoto was self-confident. When two tigers fought, one was bound to be injured.
Of course, there was a 99.9% chance that Shinichi would be the one injured… or even killed.
If Ran wanted Kudo Shinichi to be safe, the best course of action now was to go to Hiruzen and expose Makoto.
But whenever she thought about how Makoto had trusted her, frankly sharing such a deadly secret, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
"He trusted me so much... and yet I go and betray him... would I even be human?"
After listening to her daughter's account, Eri and Sonoko looked at each other.
Clearly, neither of them had expected Makoto to trust Ran so much.
"How romantic!"
Sonoko was the first to exclaim, "A man willing to share his most important secret with you… isn't that like entrusting you with his whole life? If it were me, I'd marry him!"
Eri, on the other hand, couldn't help but compare the two young men in her mind.
Her conclusion was—
Neither one was any good.
Kudo Shinichi: arrogant, overestimating himself based on his somewhat decent deductive skills, offending people left and right, and always dragging her daughter into danger.
Nishikawa Makoto: unruly, killing people everywhere. Although he was very strong now, what if someone even more ruthless appeared one day?
In short, the queen of the legal world was quite dissatisfied with both of these 'prospective son-in-law' candidates.
Not that it meant Makoto was actually pursuing Ran.
Perish the thought!