Amid the Snow Country daimyo's words, Hatake Sakumo stepped forward and introduced Hayato to everyone with an air of calm confidence.
"He is Uchiha Hayato, my most trusted subordinate and a ninja of extraordinary strength."
The Snow Country daimyo murmured the words "Uchiha, Hayato," then fixed his deep-set eyes on Hayato, as if trying to discern something about him.
"What incredible technique did you just use on him?" the daimyo asked, his tone tinged with curiosity and inquiry.
Hayato smiled calmly, a difficult-to-describe confidence and composure showing in his expression. "I used the Sharingan, a technique unique to the Uchiha Clan, to hypnotize him deeply. Now he can answer our questions without holding anything back, as if he were an open book."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Snow Country envoy eagerly called out, "Where did you take the young lords? Tell us at once!"
However, the hypnotized prisoner shook his head and answered honestly, "I don't know the exact location."
The envoy's voice rose several notches. Anger and dissatisfaction crept into his tone as he snapped, "How could you not know? Didn't you act together?"
Hayato chuckled softly and interjected, "Isn't it possible that after he was captured, he lost contact with the others, so he really doesn't know where his companions are keeping the people?"
The envoy's expression froze at that. He seemed to find the explanation reasonable, and realized that his earlier accusation might have been too hasty.
Sakumo spoke up calmly. "Let us continue the questioning." Then he walked over to Hayato and asked in a low voice, "How much longer can you keep him hypnotized?"
"Half an hour, easily," Hayato answered honestly, his tone reflecting his confidence in the Sharingan's power.
Half an hour was more than enough for an interrogation expert like Sakumo to get every last detail out of him.
Sakumo nodded and began his professional interrogation. He was quite familiar with this sort of thing, and his methods were practiced and precise. Every question was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into the other man's heart.
Twenty minutes later, Sakumo turned around and nodded to Hayato, his eyes betraying the satisfaction of a job well done.
Hayato understood and promptly lifted the hypnotic effect of the Sharingan.
The prisoner looked utterly drained and slumped to the ground, as if he had just been through an endless nightmare.
"The information we've gotten so far is that Cloud Hidden initially sent a ten-man team. We don't know how many there are now, but for the time being, we'll plan as if there are still ten."
Sakumo analyzed the situation calmly, his voice steady and decisive.
"One jonin, three chunin, and six genin. It seems Cloud Hidden is well prepared."
That was only Cloud Hidden Village's fighting force. Since the Land of Arc was involved, it would certainly hire ninjas as well.
That meant their enemies could be even more numerous and complicated.
After discussing the situation, the two turned to the Snow Country daimyo and asked, "How many fighters can Snow Ninja Village send to help us?"
At the question, the Snow Country daimyo looked troubled and shook his head helplessly. "We have twenty genin, but only two chunin and no jonin."
If they had jonin-level fighters, they wouldn't have asked Konoha for help.
Hearing this, Hayato couldn't help feeling a headache coming on. They would have to rely on their own side for the strongest fighters.
He looked at Sakumo and asked, "Should we contact the village again and request more support?"
The slightest mistake on this mission could spark a war between two great nations, so they had to proceed with caution.
Sakumo shook his head, brimming with confidence. "It's fine. We'll be enough. We can handle this crisis."
Hayato nodded to himself. He also wanted to test his current strength and see if he could make a real difference in battle.
"We'll do everything we can to complete this mission," Sakumo agreed without hesitation once they had reached an understanding.
Their mission was only to ensure the hostages survived. They weren't required to directly clash with the other country.
As long as they planned ahead and rescued the hostages when the time came, everything would be fine.
"Thank you. We'll make our preparations, then. The appointed time is drawing near." The Snow Country daimyo smiled, then instructed the envoy to gather the people and technology the other side had demanded.
They had previously worried that if they brought the people along, they would be taken hostage outright. Then they would lose both the hostages and the people and technology they were trading, which would be a terrible bargain.
Now that they had Konoha's powerful support, the Snow Country daimyo felt much more at ease.
"You two still have some time before you set out. You can go rest for a while," the Snow Country daimyo said.
Hayato stretched. He was indeed feeling tired. The journey had worn him out, and all he wanted now was to find somewhere comfortable to lie down and get some proper rest.
Sakumo felt the same. He wanted to drop into bed and sleep soundly, putting all his fatigue behind him.
The two left together, their figures growing smaller as they walked through the streets of Snow Country, leaving a trail of determined footprints behind them.
The two walked along the main street. The land was buried in snow and ice year-round, and few people were out.
Everyone stayed home to avoid the cold, unwilling to go outside and freeze.
The buildings lining the street were buried under thick layers of snow, as if the whole world had been swallowed by white.
They walked for quite a while before finally finding an inn.
The daimyo hadn't paid for their lodging or meals, so they had to take care of those themselves.
When they pushed open the door and entered, it felt like stepping into another world.
Unlike the bitter cold outside, it was warm as spring in here.
"Hey, it's pretty warm in here." Hayato looked around curiously.
He touched the floor with his heel and found that it was actually warm.
Wow, they already had underfloor heating here?
And the whole inn was unusually warm. Was the entire place fitted with underfloor heating?
Also, earlier they hadn't taken the stairs to go up and down in the Daimyo's Mansion. They had used an elevator.
For such modern facilities to be so common in Snow Country was truly eye-opening.
"No wonder this is a technological nation. They've put their skill points into a completely different tech tree," Hayato muttered.
An idea occurred to him: Wouldn't it be great if I could create even more advanced technology here?
He could almost see a future full of limitless possibilities, a new world where technology and ninjutsu came together.
Just then, Sakumo patted Hayato on the head and asked curiously, "What are you thinking about? You're completely absorbed."
Hayato looked up at Sakumo. "Teacher Sakumo, what do you think would happen if we brought all the technology here back to Konoha?"
Sakumo smiled at that. "It's not that easy."
Still, if they could resolve this crisis perfectly, they could ask the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to discuss the possibility of working together with the other side.
"Come on, let's get some rest first." After speaking, Sakumo headed straight for a room that had already been prepared.
Hayato hurried after him. As soon as he entered the room, he collapsed onto the bed.
"A bed really is the most comfortable place to sleep," Hayato murmured, his eyes half-closed.
Sakumo also took off the White Fang from his back and tucked it against his chest so it wouldn't dig into his waist.
"Of course. But enjoy the peace while it lasts. We'll be sleeping rough again before long."
While the two of them rested, Snow Country was busy making preparations. They gathered a large group of young talent together.
The oldest among them was still under thirty.
They knew they might soon have to leave their homeland, but they didn't seem particularly reluctant.
If they were lucky, they might get to live somewhere with a more pleasant climate.
They did, after all, have some misgivings about this frozen place.
But they didn't realize that if their country had a pleasant climate and cutting-edge technology, it would inevitably attract the covetous attention of other nations.
The Snow Country daimyo had arranged things this way mainly to keep something in reserve. The truly capable people in their country were the older researchers.
They were the foundation of the country and couldn't be handed over. That was why he had chosen the younger generation, who had only recently finished their studies, as the bargaining chips.
"As long as they're still here, we can keep producing excellent talent," the Snow Country daimyo said calmly.
The preparations took nearly three hours in all.
Once everything was ready, the Snow Country daimyo sent someone to contact Sakumo and Hayato.
When the two arrived together, they saw that quite a few people would be traveling with them.
"Traveling with this many people is going to take forever," Hayato muttered.
He was a little worried. The more people there were, the more complicated the operation—and the greater the risk.
Sakumo's brow furrowed as well. He, too, realized how serious the problem was.
And if a fight really broke out, there was no way they could protect all these people.
They also couldn't understand why the other side insisted on making the exchange this way.
But they had no other choice except to go along with them.
"Don't worry. It won't take too long. The Land of Snow and the Land of Arc are close to each other, and we have better transportation within our country," the Snow Country envoy explained.
Hayato looked puzzled. "What's going on? Transportation?"
He vaguely remembered the main plot of Ninja Arts Scroll: Princess of Snow, but he couldn't recall many of the details.
Transportation? Did they mean a car?
Well, would you look at that—they really did have one.
Standing in front of a train, Hayato suddenly felt as though the world he lived in had become a little distorted.
He really hadn't expected Snow Country to have trains!
"Then why didn't you pick us up with this thing for part of the way when we came here?" Hayato asked the Snow Country envoy curiously.
The envoy clasped his hands together awkwardly. "Actually, we haven't planned that stretch of the route yet, so there was no way to take the train."
"But that's not so bad. We can relax for a while and won't have to walk," Hayato said with a smile, placing his hands behind his head.
Sakumo, meanwhile, was seeing a train for the first time and looked around in wonder.
"Can this iron thing really move? Does it run on chakra?" Sakumo asked curiously.
As the train let out a series of chugs, it began to move slowly, heading straight for the border between the Land of Snow and the Land of Arc.
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