In mid-December, the Land of Fire still lingered in the last days of autumn, with winter only just arriving. The Land of Iron, situated in the northwest of the continent, was already clad in silver. Heavy snow blanketed its mountains and plains, leaving the world a vast expanse of white, the cold biting to the bone.
After three days of travel, the group from Konoha crossed the Land of Fire's border and finally set foot in the Land of Iron.
According to their plan, they intended to contact their hosts in the next settlement, Forging Town—the very place Isshin had passed through when he first arrived in the Land of Iron—and then proceed to the Land of Iron's capital.
Unexpectedly, before they could do so, they encountered a group of unexpected people in a snow-swept valley.
Deep within the valley, wind and snow filled the world with swirling white.
A party dressed unlike ordinary samurai or ninja stood quietly waiting in the blizzard around a black-lacquered carriage decorated with gold. No one knew how long they had been there. The curtains around the carriage snapped in the wind, while the accompanying guards used their bodies to block the gusts, doing everything they could to shield the carriage from the snow.
At the head of the party, a white banner bearing an ancient crest appeared and disappeared in the wind. Solemn and archaic, the crest was the emblem passed down through generations of the Demon Country's priestesses.
Shuishui, the captain of the guard, stood at the very front with a hand on his sword. His sharp gaze swept the surroundings, never relaxing for an instant despite the endless white around him.
Her Highness the priestess had decided at the last minute to attend this international conference on the Humanitarian Convention.
Even