The next day, early morning.
As the sun rose in the east,
bright rays pierced through the clouds and fell upon the earth.
At the main gate of Snow Ninja Village,
the atmosphere had grown somewhat lively.
It was time for the delegations from the various nations who had attended the Snow Shadow inauguration ceremony to depart in succession. The first to leave had undoubtedly been the Kirigakure delegation. The previous afternoon, as soon as the meeting had ended, Ao had reached an agreement with Neji and Fushimi. Then, when the second batch of supplies arrived, he had taken the Mist Ninja who had been captured earlier and left Snow Ninja Village ahead of the others, returning to the Land of Water. Next, the Rock Ninja and Sand Ninja—who had come from the greatest distance and had the fewest vested interests in this gathering—left Snow Ninja Village under the leadership of their respective delegation representatives, Kitsuchi and Fuyi, and headed back to their own villages.
The small villages, such as Grass Ninja, Waterfall Ninja, and Star Ninja, departed the Land of Snow at different times, each setting off for home with its own feelings as they made their way among the schedules of the great villages. The Cloud Ninja delegation was the second to last to leave Snow Ninja Village. It was said that before departing, Samui had made a quiet visit to Neji in private.
When they departed the next day,
Darui and Samui seemed to wear even more solemn expressions.
The last to leave were the Konoha Delegation.
Standing at the main gate of Snow Ninja Village,
they looked at the Land of Fire delegation, whose luggage had already been packed.
"Then, let's go!"
Kakashi, their leader, looked around before speaking in a low voice, his expression solemn.