Asama's Worries

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke exchanged a glance.

The former clearly didn't understand Sakura's meaning, while the latter instantly opened and closed his Sharingan, a black Tomoe flashing by, signaling that he had also noticed the anomaly.

"Sigh, Takehiko, these are all old stories, let's just let them go," Asama Sandayu sighed. "Besides, if someone accidentally lets something slip and attracts the Snow Ninja, we're finished."

"Snow Ninja? There are ninjas in the Land of Snow too?" Naruto interjected curiously.

"Yes, though not many, but they have a few Jonin," Director Asama said.

Sakura frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked, "Does a country like the Land of Snow have Jonin? Logically speaking, it's already quite difficult for a country like that to train ninjas, let alone have several Jonin... Could they be just people with titles but no substance?"

"No... they have very skilled ninjas, no less powerful than your Jonin."

The person speaking is Fujikaze Yukie, who has never been interested in this kind of topic.

Sakura was a little surprised. She wanted to ask in return, "How dare you make such a comment? Have you ever seen Konoha Jonin action?" However, seeing that Asama and his nephew not only did not refute her but also seemed to tacitly agree, she immediately felt that there must be something hidden.

However, if others are unwilling, there's nothing they can do.

At this Asama Sandayu spoke up again, "Three ninja lords, please rest assured, we are just a film crew here to scout locations for a movie, not people here to cause trouble. I'm sure the Snow Ninja wouldn't attack us without reason."

Asama Takehiko opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from speaking.

Seeing their preoccupied expressions, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto found it hard to understand.

After all, a film crew shooting a movie doesn't seem like the type to offend foreign ninjas, so why worry so much? Besides—

"Although I don't know how strong your Snow Ninja are, as long as you stay within our protection zone, ordinary ninjas can't harm you," Sasuke said, a confident smile on his face. "Besides, only missions involving combat deserve the title of B-Rank Mission!"

Sakura saw a burning fighting spirit in his eyes.

After all, his skills had improved again thanks to reviewing the video replays, yet he was still steadily suppressed by Sakura herself. Naturally, he wanted to find a suitable opponent to test his growth!

Naruto, whose spirits were always high, slammed his hand on the table and stood up, declaring, "That's right! We'll protect you, for the sake of the Konoha Ninja's reputation!"

The resounding statements from the two Konoha Ninja dispelled the unease in everyone's hearts, and the atmosphere became lively again.

However, Sakura noticed that three people seemed a bit off: Asama and his nephew, and Fujikaze Yukie.

She glanced at her a few more times; Yukie seemed a little downcast, looking rather sad. Ying, unaware of the reason, was worried about getting too intimate with her and didn't know how to treat her well.

The Asama uncle and nephew, on the other hand, seemed somewhat anxious and unsettled, as if they might not be able to withstand a powerful enemy if one were to attack, and they were skeptical of Naruto and Sasuke's confidence.

"Director Asama, you really don't need to worry about safety," Sakura reassured him. "I'll be honest with you, we haven't even been able to use a third of our strength in these few sparring sessions."

Director Asama's expression immediately turned somewhat surprised.

Three days later, the cruise ship docked in a seaside city in the Land of Snow.

"This place is even poorer than the Land of Waves." Naruto jumped off the cruise ship and walked on the simple dock, looking at the city in front of him, which was so simple that you could see the end of it at a glance, and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"This seems to be one of the larger cities in the Land of Snow." Sasuke jumped down as well, looking at the seaside street with a hint of frustration. The sparse crowds and low-rise shops made it seem less prosperous than some of the villages in Konoha.

"My lords, this place is called Asakusa," a crew member explained as he descended the rope ladder to the shore. "It's one of the two largest ports in the Land of Snow. However, I'm afraid there aren't any shops selling ninja tools here."

"As expected." Sasuke shook his head. "It's alright, we're just going to buy a few clothes."

He looked down and tugged at his clothes, which had several faint char marks, as if they had been scorched by fire; if his other clothes hadn't been even more tattered, he wouldn't have gone out in this beggar's outfit.

Naruto's situation was even worse; his clothes had several long, thin tears and large holes, all traces left by Wind Release, making them look more like fishnet stockings than clothes.

The blond-haired boy looked down and counted the holes in his clothes, then said with a bitter face, "It's all Sakura's fault for suggesting I use Wind Release to dry my clothes, and this is what happened."

Heh heh, the black-haired boy chuckled to himself. This guy only dared to complain when Sakura wasn't around.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go." Sasuke stopped talking about clothes and, seeing that all the crew members in charge of purchasing had come ashore, called everyone to set off.

This is the sixth day since the crew officially started filming. Everything is going smoothly, and the filming progress is halfway complete. However, the Snow Ninja that Asama and his nephew have been worried about is nowhere to be seen.

The only problem was that they were filming in the desolate, snowy outskirts of the Land of Snow, and the seaside towns they occasionally passed through were very poor, with little to no supplies available. Some towns even mistook them for pirates and fled as soon as they approached the shore, leaving the towns deserted and unable to find anyone, let alone buy anything.

So they had to make a special trip to Asakusa to purchase supplies for the later stages. To save time, the crew split into two groups: one group came by boat to buy things, accompanied by Sasuke and Naruto, while the other group filmed near Asakusa, protected by Sakura Haruno.

Let's look at the other side.

"Crack!" Director Asama shouted, then looked down at the footage he had filmed. "Okay, that's a wrap! Get ready for the next scene!"

Then a staff member brought a blanket and draped it over Fujikaze Yukie, Asama Sandayu handed over a hot coffee; the rest of the crew went about their business, and the entire crew began to skillfully set up the scene for the next scene.

Sakura Haruno sat atop a tall cedar tree not far away, watching the dozens of crew members work Asama under the direction of Director Asama. She could only idly swing her toes, her white legs bobbing against each other.

Such guard work is actually very tedious, with most of the time spent doing nothing, but she cannot be distracted by other things and must remain vigilant.

Although there doesn't seem to be any enemy to be wary of.

The crew's greatest enemy was nature—in the most dangerous incident, a loudspeaker suddenly malfunctioned, blaring at maximum volume and triggering an avalanche in the nearby snow-capped mountains. Fortunately, Sakura used her Ice Release defensive Ninjutsu to create a sufficiently thick ice wall, protecting everyone and saving them from disaster.

Director Asama was so frightened that he couldn't move, thinking he was going to die. Yet, he was still able to film the magnificent scene of facing the avalanche with the utmost professionalism while trembling. Sakura was immediately filled with awe for his spirit.

Apart from that, everything else was rather unremarkable and utterly uninteresting.

Especially now that she's the only one on guard duty, humming a lonely tune, "In this bustling world, I'm looking for a wife to be with me," the task feels incredibly boring.

"Hmph~ Okay, here comes the Snow Ninja ~" She even started to hope that Snow Ninja would actually attack them, even though it seemed like a very unlikely thing.

The girl stood up and looked around aimlessly.

"Snow Ninja ~ Where are you~ Snow Ninja ~ Where are you~ Snow... Eh?" She paused, realizing she'd discovered something. "Is this... a poison pacifier?"

The next second, a huge snow whale suddenly rose up and completely swallowed the girl's figure!

Ice Release - One-Horned White Whale!

With a deafening roar, the enormous snow whale, after swallowing the girl whole, crashed to the ground with its remaining force, creating a surging shockwave that left an unsightly, huge white patch in the cypress forest.

"Tch... a piece of trash." A middle-aged ninja with a ponytail, who appeared alongside the Ninjutsu, curled his lip and spat disdainfully, "To die by my Ninjutsu is an honor for you!"

He didn't think that seemingly weak girl could survive his Ninjutsu.

"Hmm... get up. Where are the other two? Oh well, those two rats are probably scared and hiding!" He turned his gaze to the film crew not far away, a wicked smile playing on his lips. "Just get the mission done. No need to waste time on these small fry!"

Meanwhile, on another side, the film crew, who were proceeding with their shooting in an orderly fashion, were thrown into chaos upon witnessing the sudden appearance of Ninjutsu.

"Director, that wasn't an avalanche, was it?!" The lighting technician, unaware that the prop had fallen to the snow, asked nervously.

"Idiot, there isn't even a big mountain around here, where would an avalanche come from! It's probably some kind of ninja Ninjutsu!" another staff member, who was using the backlight as a cane, cursed.

"It's the Snow Ninja..." Asama Sandayu stared at the familiar Ninjutsu, his face pale, muttering to himself, "They really came..."

"Hey, are you kidding me?! That girl from Konoha is gone! Could she be dead?!"

"I think I saw her get hit... Wasn't she supposed to be really powerful? You're kidding me, right? She's gone so easily! Director, let's run!"

"What are you running for! Stop arguing and calm down!" Asama Takehiko scolded his subordinates, then feigned composure, saying, "We can't escape anyway!"

His actions only made everyone more panicked.

The composure he maintained, even in the face of a collapsing mountain, only lasted two seconds before crumbling—because the Snow Ninja's Ice Release truly crashed down like a mountain!

Ice Release - One-Horned White Whale!

The crowd watched in despair as the massive ice whale, as large as a mountain, covered half the sky above them and pressed down on them with overwhelming force!

BOOM!

The continuous rumbling of impacts echoed through the forest, and thick snow fog obscured the sun.

(Please vote for this new week! Extra chapters will be added after I sign the contract.)

(Black Tomoe...)