This meeting eventually broke up on bad terms.
Kazahana Koyuki left the table angrily, leaving everyone looking at each other.
However, everyone can feel that although Kazahana Koyuki's attitude is still resistant, it has become somewhat looser than the initial complete numbness and despair.
The emotions that had been forcibly frozen seemed to have opened a slight crack because of the mention of the past of the motherland, the loyalty of Sandayu, and the power shown by Konoha Ninja.
The convoy continued to march on the snowfield, passing by a huge Cave that seemed to have been dug manually.
Sandayu pointed at the deep cave entrance and explained the past here to everyone.
However, while everyone was listening to Sandayu's story, Naruto suddenly turned his head and looked at the back of the motorcade, frowning slightly.
In his Sensing ability, Kazahana Koyuki, who was supposed to be in the carriage, was moving away from the convoy.
"Kazahana Koyuki ran away."
Naruto whispered to Kakashi beside him.
Kakashi sighed in understanding.
There is no other way. Calculating the time carefully, Kazahana Koyuki is only fifteen or sixteen years old this year.
When the rebellion happened ten years ago, she was just a little Girl of five or six years old.
Witnessing her father being killed, her home being burned down, and herself being reduced from a noble princess to an orphan running for her life, the unforgettable fear and trauma have long become the heaviest shadow deep in her heart.
Now, being forced to face this land that carries painful memories, and about to face the uncle who usurped the throne again, she would feel scared and want to escape. This is really a normal reaction.
"Then she will be left to you. Bring her back, Naruto."
"Hmm."
Naruto nodded, then took off the weights on his calves and forearms and gently placed them on the car.
Then, Naruto disappeared in place like a gust of wind.
Kakashi looked at the weight that Naruto had taken off and weighed it with his hands.
"Wrong?"
Kakashi's eyes that were always half-closed lazily opened wide for a moment.
The quantity purchased far exceeded his expectation.
The density and weight of the weights in this Weighted Bands are definitely not comparable to the weights used for ordinary training.
"Is this... so heavy?"
Kakashi made waves in his heart. He looked at the weight in his hand in disbelief, and then looked in the direction where Naruto disappeared.
There was no one there.
"Naruto This guy... wears such heavy stuff every day and moves around? Running, jumping, fighting?"
That guy Might Guy was so confident that Naruto was strapped with such a heavy load?
This realization really shocked Jonin, who had experienced many battles.
He even killed three Snow Ninja with this thing in battle before.
It seems that Naruto's strength has far exceeded Kakashi's original expectations.
This is not only a matter of willpower, but also physical strength reaching an incredible level!
He seemed to be able to imagine that every time Naruto punched and jumped, the huge load far exceeded that of ordinary people's muscles and bones.
What kind of inhuman efforts did this Kid make in an invisible place?
With this hard work and persistence, maybe, in the future, we can really become Hokage!
At the same time, in the quiet Snow Forest depths away from the hustle and bustle of the motorcade.
Kazahana Koyuki trudged one foot deeper and the other shallower, the thick snow swallowing up the sound of her footsteps.
Without paying attention, his feet were caught by a buried dead branch, and his body instantly lost balance and fell forward heavily into the cold snow.
Flying snow foam covered her cheeks and hair.
She did not get up immediately, but lay quietly, burying half of her cheek in the soft but biting snow.
The cold touch penetrated her skin instantly, but strangely it did not cause her any pain. Instead, it was like a key, suddenly opening the dusty door of memory.
The blurred eyes gradually lost focus, and the plain white world in front of them began to distort and change.
She seemed to be no longer the fugitive princess chased by fate, but transformed back into the carefree little Girl who was held tightly by her father's generous and warm hands.
My father's deep and doting laughter seemed to ring in my ears. He pointed at the snowflakes dancing in the sky and told beautiful legends about spring, rainbows, and the future of this country.
The feeling of being pressed by the warmth of her father's palm, the sense of security wrapped in the deep father's love, surged like a tide at this moment, drowning her in the cold snow.
Reality and memories were intertwined, and she couldn't tell for a moment whether the melted snow falling on her cheeks or her own tears was the deep longing and boundless loss that spread silently in the silence Snow Forest.
"Are you not hurt?"
Naruto came to Kazahana Koyuki and helped her up.
Kazahana Koyuki was helped up, his body a little stiff, and his big eyes that should have been lively at the moment were still empty and lifeless, as if they were covered with a layer of snow and fog that never melted all year round, unable to reflect the slightest brilliance.
She turned her eyes slightly and looked at Naruto, who was very close and frowning.
His blond hair, which was still dazzling even in the dark forest, actually looked a bit languid in her unfocused sight at this moment, like a Himawari whose petals drooped in the cold wind and lost its former splendid vitality.
"You came quite quickly."
Her voice was very soft, hoarse with a hint of exhaustion and resignation, floating in the cold air, and it was hard to tell whether it was an exclamation or a sarcasm.
"My mission completion rate so far is 100%, but I don't want it to become more than 90% because of you."
Naruto hugged Kazahana Koyuki.
Kazahana Koyuki didn't struggle, or even showed any surprise. He just snuggled into Naruto's arms obediently, as if this embrace was the only safe haven at the moment.
After a brief silence, she finally asked the life-and-death question that had been pressing in her heart. Her voice was as soft as if she was talking in her sleep, but it also carried the last faint hope:
"Can you... really defeat Kazahana Dōtō?"
When the name was spoken, her body trembled almost imperceptibly.
"As long as you issue a commission to kill him, the rest is our business.
Didn't Kazahana Dōtō also rely on the power of Snow Ninja to successfully usurp the throne?
Konoha may not be able to become your strength, provided you give enough reward for the task."
Kazahana Koyuki pursed his lips when he heard this.
"Okay."
One million taels is not an unbearable price for her. As long as she can kill Kazahana Dōtō, let alone one million, she has to find a way to get enough even if it is ten million taels!
Her voice carried a formal, almost ceremonial solemnity, as if to dispel the last fear in her heart.
"I, the daughter of Daimyo of the Land of Snow Kazahana Sōsetsu and the legitimate heir of Land of Snow, Kazahana Koyuki, hereby formally entrust Konoha Ninja Naruto to kill the rebel Kazahana Dōtō for me."