Uchiha Itachi: "Uchiha Hoshi, what are you trying to do?"
Uchiha Hoshi: "Heh~ Nothing much. Instead of worrying about me, you stray dogs should be thinking about how to stay alive."
Senju Tobirama: "When facing an enemy far more powerful than oneself, any form of posturing only invites destruction. Though I do not know why that person did not finish us off, it is unwise to continue provoking her."
Orochimaru: "Perhaps... someone is wavering, or rather, feeling regret?"
Uchiha Wraith: "Regret what? Regret being an accomplice to the Uchiha massacre, or regret not killing Uchiha Hoshi sooner?"
Uchiha Wraith No. 1: "Hahaha! You spend all day talking about our arrogance! Uchiha Itachi, you are the most arrogant and paranoid one of all!"
Orochimaru: "That's quite true. Otherwise, how could he have been led around by the nose like that?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Orochimaru, do you still blame me?"
Orochimaru: "How could I dare, Lord Hokage~"
Beneath the Sky Screen, Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes flickered with a shadow as he watched Orochimaru's behavior. He knew Orochimaru was deeply dissatisfied with not being chosen as Hokage back then. But now, the most important task was to gather the survivors and lead them to safety. That was all that mattered!
He looked at Uchiha Itachi, whose eyes were bleeding and whose expression carried an irrepressible fatigue, and spoke to comfort him.
"Do not blame yourself. None of us could have anticipated such a turn of events. Changes we don't understand have occurred within Uchiha Hoshi, and a power we cannot comprehend has emerged."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the Sky Screen still playing in the heavens, feeling a pressure greater than any he had ever known.
The losses this time were truly catastrophic. Although most of the ninjas and the ninja clans within Konoha had escaped, very few civilians had made it out. Even among the ninja clans, it was mostly those with Chakra who escaped; their kin who were ordinary people perished within Konoha.
In fact, almost everyone who escaped had witnessed the horrific transformations that occurred to their loved ones. The sight of people turning into monsters had struck terror into their hearts.
Now that they had fled to a safe distance and Uchiha Hoshi had not pursued them, almost everyone's gaze was fixed on the Sky Screen, hoping to find more truths about their families' transformations within this future "Second Honkai Impact."
[ "Forget it, we'll see if they can even survive first. The Second Herrscher might not be as easy to talk to as I am."
Uchiha Hoshi stopped paying attention to the Konoha group and followed the airships to the location of the Land of Snow's Secret Treasure.
Amidst an icy wasteland, several massive ice walls stood in a valley. In the center of the valley, a console-like device was connected to all the walls, but the center of the console was currently empty, lacking its most vital component.
The key. The key to activate this device.
Just as Kazahana Doto descended from the airship with Kazahana Koyuki to activate the mechanism, Kakashi and the others finally arrived.
"Kakashi, I won't let you get in my way this time. To obtain the Secret Treasure, I've brought the entire strength of the Land of Snow!"
Kazahana Doto spread his arms and laughed loudly.
At that moment, Kakashi and his team realized that in addition to the airships in the sky, several long trains were parked on the distant tracks. Rows of cannons were mounted on the train cars.
Furthermore, over a dozen ninjas wearing Chakra Armor stood before Kazahana Doto. Though most were Genin, the amplification from the armor allowed them to trade blows with Chunin. Working together, they could easily stall Kakashi's group. Combined with the long-range fire support, stopping Kazahana Doto was nearly impossible.
Suddenly, Asama Sandayu rushed out with a group of old retainers who were dissatisfied with Doto and wanted to help Koyuki reclaim the throne.
And then, there was no "then."
They fell on the path of their charge, blown apart by attacks raining from the sky. It was impossible to tell if the strikes came from the airships or the cannons on the distant trains.
In short, they charged with blades drawn, shouting about the late King's dying wishes, the people's expectations, and loyalty—only to be obliterated.
It almost made Kazahana Doto want to laugh.
"Utterly pointless."
That was his honest thought. To be fair, he really didn't know what these old fools were thinking. Did they truly believe he had spared them out of mercy? It was purely to see if he could use them to lure Koyuki back.
What he hadn't expected was that Koyuki would indeed return, but in a way that defied his expectations.
"But none of that matters now. What matters is that the Hexagonal Crystal is back!"
Doto turned around and took out the Hexagonal Crystal, preparing to open the treasury.
Koyuki knelt in the snow, her eyes dark as she stared at the craters where not even corpses remained, only a few broken blades stuck in the ground.
"Why come here to die? I told you we couldn't win, why didn't you listen? Now look at you... not even a whole body left." ]
Temari: "They just... died? I thought they would play some kind of role."
Kankuro: "Who says they didn't? They proved the Land of Snow's weapons are indeed powerful and quite accurate."
Asama Sandayu: "Princess... this old servant is ashamed..."
Kazahana Koyuki: "..."
[ No one noticed that signs of Honkai Energy erosion had already begun to appear on Kazahana Koyuki's body.
No, it wasn't that no one noticed.
"It's about to start. As Koyuki entered the Land of Snow, the Honkai Energy permeating the country began flooding into her body like it was returning to a nest. She's almost at the critical point; she just needs one tiny push."
Atop an ice wall, Uchiha Hoshi had appeared at some unknown point, looking down with Star Eater to observe the changes below.
In their vision, the Honkai Energy of the entire Land of Snow was converging toward Kazahana Koyuki.
By now, Doto's ninjas had engaged Kakashi's team. Though there was a disparity in strength, the ninjas managed to hold their ground with the help of long-range fire support.
Most importantly, in that short span of time, Kazahana Doto had already inserted the Hexagonal Crystal into the console!
Instantly, the console lit up, the glow spreading to all the ice walls.
Yet, it seemed as though nothing happened.
The fighting ceased as everyone waited for the change to occur.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. ]
Kazahana Sosetsu: "It's coming."