The day after the Snow Ninja trio was eliminated, the trip continued. Kazahana Koyuki's mood seemed to have stabilized a bit, but there was still lingering sadness and determination between his brows.
She hesitated again and again, and finally asked Asama Sandayu to send a message, wanting to meet Naruto Uzumaki.
Sandayu asked a stage manager to pass the message.
However, the reply brought back by the stage manager who passed the message was very simple, "Mr. Naruto said that he is busy and has no time."
"Busy?"
Kazahana Koyuki was stunned and couldn't help but look towards the front of the motorcade.
I saw Naruto squatting behind a leeward snow slope, concentrating on tinkering with something. He was wearing the white and blue-striped Chakra Armor suit that was ripped off from Nadare Rōga.
The armor was still a little small for Naruto's body, and the shoulders, chest and abdomen were a little tight. When he moved, he could hear the slight sound of metal friction, but he didn't care. He was carefully trying to inject his Wind Release Chakra into the core of the armor, trying to stimulate its Ice Release transformation function.
Kazahana Koyuki? Sorry, you have to step aside temporarily in front of Ice Release.
Asama Sandayu frowned as he watched.
Her Royal Highness the Princess took the initiative to summon me. What kind of courtesy is this?
How dare this Wandering Swordsman refuse so rudely!
He subconsciously wanted to step forward and give a few words of admonishment as an old minister, but as soon as he moved, his mind couldn't help but replay the stunning sword that cut through the ice whale yesterday, and the horrifying scene of Fubuki Kakuyoku's corpse being separated.
The scolding that had just reached his lips was swallowed back by him, turning into a helpless and heavy sigh.
That's all...
In extraordinary times, do extraordinary things.
Although this young hero is young and energetic, and behaves casually, he is indeed very powerful.
After the crusade against Kazahana Dōtō, it was impossible to rely on this person.
Being rude is rude, as long as he can do the job.
Sandayu was thinking silently in his mind: When he arrived at a safe place, he contacted the old department and confirmed the remaining amount of military expenses...
Maybe we can discuss business with this young hero Naruto. Killing three Snow Ninja is two million. How much will it cost to kill the usurper Kazahana Dōtō?
Five million?
Eight million?
Even ten million...
As long as he can avenge Lord Early Spring and regain the country for Princess Koyuki, he Asama Sandayu must do it even if he sells the iron and goes bankrupt.
Money is a dead thing after all.
The convoy set off again in a silent and slightly weird atmosphere, with Director directing everyone to find a suitable location for filming the location of "Princess Gale" on the vast snowfield.
Taking advantage of the break, Director still refused to give up. He rubbed his hands and came to Jiraiya, who was sighing in front of two 10,000-tael bills.
These two banknotes have been polished from yesterday's new banknotes to old banknotes, but Jiraiya is still unwilling to put them in his pocket.
"Lord Jiraiya, yesterday Naruto's shocking sword strike was so exciting!
I wonder... could you two please make a cameo in my movie?
It doesn't require too many scenes, just a few shots to show the demeanor of a peerless expert..."
Director's eyes sparkled with artistic enthusiasm, as if he had already seen the film's box office success.
Jiraiya didn't even raise his eyelids and waved his hand lazily. "No, no, I'm used to being idle and can't stand those rules and regulations.
I have no interest in making movies."
Say no quickly and neatly.
Director suddenly felt as if he had been hit by frost, and the excitement on his face turned into deep regret.
He didn't dare to force it, so he could only turn around and leave, lamenting in his heart.
The shot of cutting open One-Horned White Whale is perfect in terms of power, speed and visual effects. It is a real shock that no martial arts instructor can design.
It's a pity that this precious video material cannot be used in the feature film without my consent.
After all, a movie is not just a collection of action, it needs a coherent plot and character creation. Abruptly inserting a fight that has nothing to do with the main story line will only look nondescript.
As night fell, the crew set up camp in a mountain valley leeward.
The bonfire dissipated some of the chill. After a day of frightening and running around, most people were already exhausted and quickly fell asleep.
But in the small tent where Naruto was located, Kakkō was still dimly lit.
He sat cross-legged, still wearing the ill-fitting Chakra Armor, with his eyes closed, his brows slightly furrowed, and the Chakra all over his body was flowing and testing regularly.
After almost a whole day of groping and countless failed attempts, when the moon was at its zenith, Naruto suddenly opened his eyes.
Above his open palm, the air suddenly became bitingly cold, and tiny ice crystals condensed out of thin air, growing and spreading rapidly, and finally condensed into a small ice sword about a foot long, crystal clear, and sharp in the palm of his hand.
The blade of the sword exudes a hint of cold air, and glows with a blue luster in the dim light.
Success!
Although it is still very rough and consumes far more than simply using Wind Release, he did use Chakra Armor to convert his pure Wind Release Chakra through the complex circuit inside the armor, simulating the properties of Ice Release.
Naruto's eyes flashed with excitement as he played with this Ice Sword, feeling the cold touch that was completely different from metal.
Maybe you can try to create Ice Release bloodstains with Chakra using both water and wind in the future. Using Chakra Armor can be used to accumulate experience in advance.
Just when he was immersed in the joy of mastering his new power, the curtain of the tent was gently opened.
Jiraiya's old face with a flattering smile came in. He rubbed his hands and bowed his waist, looking like a philistine. "Hey, Naruto, you haven't slept yet?"
Well... look, the money during the day... should we discuss it again?
My adoptive father, my money is really tight recently..."
"This is the wife book I saved."
Naruto didn't even raise his head. With a flick of his fingertips, the handle Ice Sword shattered with a snap and turned into fine ice crystals that dissipated in the air. There was no room for change in his tone.
"Okay..."
Jiraiya, who felt he was wronged, retracted his head angrily, the curtain fell, and the footsteps gradually faded away.
The tent became quiet again.
Naruto did not continue to practice Ice Release, but remained sitting, staring sharply at the position where Jiraiya was standing just now. Blue Eyes's eyes narrowed slightly in the shadows, so deep that they seemed to be able to penetrate the fabric of the tent, tracing the departing figure.
Something is wrong.
This feeling does not happen overnight.
In the past two years, Naruto has often had a lingering doubt in his heart.
Is the Jiraiya in front of me a different person?
He wasn't just making assumptions out of thin air.
He spent too much time with Jiraiya.
From the time he was a swaddled baby and was picked up by this white-haired man until he was sent to Konohagakure at the age of nine, they were almost inseparable for nearly ten years.
When he was sixteen years old, it was Jiraiya who forcibly took him out of Konoha and officially set foot in the real Jianghu.
At the age of seventeen, they separated briefly due to differences in certain tasks and ideas.
Until not long ago, Jiraiya took Asama Sandayu and his party to find him at the border of Land of Wind, who had just escaped from Sunagakure's siege in embarrassment, and then headed west to the frozen Land of Snow.
It can be said that Jiraiya is the most important role in his life. He is a master, a foster father, a guide, and in a sense an unreliable family member.
His familiarity with Jiraiya is deep in his bones.
Height, body shape, voice, that messy white hair, that sloppy and unique outfit, that lustful habit of drinking, and even some small movements and habits... the "Jiraiya" in front of me, all match, without any flaws.
But Naruto just feels weird.
An indescribable feeling of disobedience stemming from intuition, lingering like a gangrene in the bones, has become increasingly intense recently.
What made him most uneasy was those eyes.
In the moment when no one is watching, when the smile has not reached the eyes, in the depths of those eyes that should be bold and unruly, occasionally showing cunning and vicissitudes of life, there will be an extremely obscure, but extremely clear shadow and coldness passing through.
That's not the look Jiraiya should have.
Jiraiya's eyes, even when they are the most serious, carry a kind of magnanimous warmth and transparency about the world.
And this look...
Staring at him for a long time will make Naruto feel a chill from the bottom of his heart, as if he is being watched by something cold and inhuman.
Who is he?
Or is it that some kind of terrible change happened to Jiraiya that he didn't know about?
Naruto slowly exhaled a breath of white breath, which condensed into frost mist in the cold tent.
He clenched his fists.
The money in his arms made him feel more at ease, and the new Ice Release skills also brought a bit of excitement, but all of these could not dispel the doubts hanging in his heart.
Snow fell silently on the roof of the tent.
The world is silent, but beneath the silence, there are turbulent undercurrents.