You Have to Admit, There Really Is

Amidst the murmurs of the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Sakumo Hatake stepped forward, introducing his companion with a calm and composed demeanor.

"This is Uchiha Hayato, my most trusted subordinate and a ninja of extraordinary skill."

The Daimyo of the Land of Snow murmured "Uchiha, Hayato" to himself, then fixed his deep, piercing gaze upon Hayato, as if trying to discern something hidden within him.

"What miraculous technique did you just use on him?" the Daimyo asked, his tone laced with curiosity and inquiry.

Hayato offered a faint smile, one that radiated an indescribable sense of confidence and ease. "I used the Sharingan, a unique ability of the Uchiha Clan, to place him into a deep hypnotic state. He will now answer our questions without reservation, as if he were an open book."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the envoy from the Land of Snow impatiently blurted out, "Where exactly have you taken the young lords? Tell us at once!"

However, the hypnotized prisoner merely shook his head and answered honestly, "I do not know the specific location."

The envoy's voice rose several octaves, sharp with anger and frustration. "How could you possibly not know! Didn't you all act together?"

Hayato chuckled softly and interjected, "Is it not possible that he lost contact with the others after being captured, and therefore truly does not know where his companions are holding them?"

The envoy's expression froze, seemingly struck by the logic, realizing his previous outburst had been overly impulsive.

Sakumo spoke up calmly, "Let us continue the interrogation." He then stepped toward Hayato and whispered, "How much longer can he maintain this hypnotic state?"

"Half an hour is more than enough," Hayato replied truthfully, his tone reflecting his confidence in the power of the Sharingan.

Half an hour was more than enough for an interrogation expert like Sakumo to extract every detail from the man.

Sakumo nodded and began his professional questioning. He was well-versed in such matters, his methods seasoned and precise; every question was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into the prisoner's psyche.

Twenty minutes later, Sakumo turned around and nodded at Hayato, a look of success gleaming in his eyes.

Hayato understood and immediately released the hypnotic effect of the Sharingan.

The prisoner's expression went slack, and he collapsed to the ground as if he had just emerged from an endless nightmare.

"The intelligence gathered so far indicates that Cloud Village initially dispatched a ten-man squad. The current number is unknown, but we shall prepare for ten for the time being."

Sakumo analyzed the situation calmly, his voice steady and resolute.

"One Jonin, three Chunin, and six Genin. It seems Cloud Village has made thorough preparations."

These were merely the combat forces of Cloud Village; since the Land of Arc was involved, they would certainly have hired their own ninja as well.

In that case, their enemies might be far more numerous and complex than anticipated.

After analyzing the situation, the two turned to the Daimyo of the Land of Snow and asked, "How many combatants can the Snow Ninja Village mobilize to assist us?"

At the mention of this, the Daimyo's face clouded with difficulty, and he shook his head helplessly. "We have twenty Genin, but only two Chunin, and not a single Jonin."

If they had possessed Jonin-level strength, they would not have needed to seek help from Konoha.

Hearing this, Hayato couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. When it came to high-end combat power, they would have to rely entirely on themselves.

He looked at Sakumo and asked, "Should we communicate with the village again and request further reinforcements?"

A single misstep in this mission could trigger a war between two great nations; they had to proceed with caution.

Sakumo shook his head, saying with full confidence, "It is fine. Our presence is enough. We are capable of handling this crisis."

Hearing this, Hayato nodded to himself. He was also eager to test his current level of strength and see if he could perform as expected in a real battle.

"We will do our utmost to complete this mission." Once the agreement was reached, Sakumo accepted without hesitation.

Their mission was only to ensure the survival of the hostages; they were not required to engage the other nation in a direct, full-scale conflict.

As long as they planned ahead and rescued the hostages, everything would be fine.

"Many thanks. We shall go and make the preparations. The appointed time is almost upon us," the Daimyo of the Land of Snow said with a smile, then arranged for the envoy to gather the requested talent and technology.

They had previously feared that bringing the assets along would lead to them being hijacked, resulting in the loss of both the hostages and the technology—a disastrous outcome.

Now, with Konoha as a powerful backer, the Daimyo felt much more at ease.

"Gentlemen, there is still some time before departure. You may go and rest for a while," the Daimyo said.

Hayato stretched, feeling genuinely exhausted. The recent travel had worn him out, and he only wanted to find a comfortable place to lie down and get some rest.

Sakumo felt the same; he, too, wanted to collapse into a deep sleep and cast all his fatigue aside.

The two walked out together, their figures gradually receding into the distance on the streets of the Land of Snow, leaving behind a trail of firm footprints.

They walked down the main street, where the land was frozen year-round and foot traffic was sparse.

Everyone stayed indoors to escape the cold, unwilling to venture out and freeze.

The buildings on both sides of the street were covered in thick layers of snow, as if the entire world had been swallowed by the white expanse.

After walking for quite a while, they finally found an inn.

The Daimyo had not covered their room and board; these were things they had to handle themselves.

Pushing the door open to enter the inn, it felt as though they had stepped into another world.

In stark contrast to the biting cold outside, it was as warm as spring within.

"Huh, it's actually quite warm in here," Hayato remarked, looking around with curiosity.

He tapped the floor with his heel and discovered that it was actually heated.

Good grief, they already had floor heating here.

Furthermore, the entire inn was exceptionally warm; could it be that underfloor heating was installed here?

Moreover, when they were at the Daimyo's Mansion earlier, they hadn't used the stairs to go up and down, but had taken an elevator instead.

To see such modern facilities so prevalent in the Land of Snow was truly an eye-opening experience.

"As expected of a technological nation, their skill tree is just leveled up differently from everyone else's," Hayato muttered.

A thought couldn't help but form in his mind: how wonderful it would be if he could create even higher-tech inventions here.

He seemed to see a future filled with infinite possibilities, a new world where technology and ninjutsu were combined.

Just then, Sakumo patted Hayato on the head and asked curiously, "What are you thinking about? You're so deep in thought."

Hayato looked up at Sakumo. "Sakumo-sensei, what do you think would happen if we brought all the technology from here back to Konoha?"

Upon hearing this, Sakumo smiled and said, "It's not that easy."

However, if they could perfectly resolve this crisis, they might be able to let the Daimyo of the Land of Fire discuss the possibility of cooperation with the other side.

"Let's go, let's get some rest first," Sakumo said, walking straight toward a room that had already been prepared.

Hayato trotted to catch up, and upon entering the room, he collapsed directly onto the bed.

"A bed is still the most comfortable thing to sleep on," Hayato remarked, squinting his eyes.

Sakumo also took off the White Fang from his back and placed it in his arms to avoid it digging into his waist.

"That's for sure. But cherish these moments while you can; we'll be sleeping in the open again soon enough."

While the two of them were resting, the Land of Snow was mobilizing in full swing. They were gathering many young talents together.

The oldest among these people was not even thirty years old.

They knew they might be leaving their homeland soon, but there wasn't much reluctance on their faces.

Because if they were lucky, they might end up living in a place with a relatively better geographical environment.

They were indeed quite resistant to this land of ice and snow.

But they didn't realize that if their country were a nation with a pleasant climate and cutting-edge technology, it would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of other countries.

The Daimyo of the Land of Snow arranged it this way mainly to keep an ace up his sleeve. The truly capable talents in their country were the older scientific researchers.

These people were their foundation and certainly could not be handed over. That was why they chose the new generation, who had only just finished their studies a few years ago, as the subjects of the trade.

"As long as they are still here, we can continue to cultivate excellent talents," the Daimyo of the Land of Snow said calmly.

The preparations took nearly three hours in total.

Once everything was ready, the Daimyo of the Land of Snow arranged for someone to contact Sakumo and Hayato.

After the two arrived at the scene together, they discovered that there were quite a lot of people traveling with them.

"Moving with so many people, that's going to take a lot of time," Hayato couldn't help but mutter.

He felt a bit worried; after all, the more people there were, the more complicated the operation would be, and the greater the risk.

Sakumo also frowned, as he was equally aware of the severity of this problem.

Furthermore, if a battle were to break out, they certainly wouldn't be able to look after all these people.

He also didn't understand why the other side insisted on this method of trading.

But they had no other choice and could only set off with the group.

"Don't worry, you two, it won't take too long. Since the Land of Snow and the Land of Arc are not far apart, and we have better transportation within our country," the envoy from the Land of Snow explained.

Hearing this, Hayato was a bit confused. "What's this? Transportation?"

Although he vaguely remembered the main plot of Ninja Arts Scroll: Princess of Snow, he couldn't recall the specific details.

Transportation? Could it be a car?

Don't say it, you really shouldn't say it—it actually was.

When Hayato stood in front of a train, he suddenly felt as if the world he was in had become somewhat distorted.

He really hadn't expected the Land of Snow to actually have something like a train!

"Then why didn't you use this thing to pick us up for a leg of the journey when we first arrived?" Hayato asked, looking at the envoy from the Land of Snow with curiosity.

The envoy from the Land of Snow gestured awkwardly with his hands. "Actually, it's because that section of the track hasn't been planned out yet, so there was no way to ride it."

"Well, this is good too; we can have a comfortable time without having to travel on foot," Hayato said with a smile, his hands clasped behind his head.

Sakumo, seeing such a novel contraption as a train for the first time, looked around everywhere.

"Can this hunk of iron really move? Is it powered by chakra?" Sakumo asked curiously.

As the choo-choo sound of the train starting up rang out, the train slowly pulled away, heading straight toward the border between the Land of Snow and the Land of Arc.