Blinding snow and howling winds swept across the ice mountains, biting with a bone-chilling cold.
Sandayu slumped into the snow, his entire body frozen and his heart reduced to cold ashes.
Ten years of forbearance, ten years of wandering, and ten years of plotting to restore the country were completely shattered in this single moment by Miki Yūya's few words.
He raised his head, looking blankly at the empty ice field before glancing at the Konoha group, who had remained entirely silent without a single person stepping in to stop it.
Finally, he let out a bitter laugh, all light vanishing completely from the depths of his eyes.
There was no need to say any more.
He understood.
Konoha would not interfere.
No one would help Princess Koyuki restore her country.
All his obsessions, all his persistence, had completely become a joke.
Sandayu slowly pushed himself up from the snow, looking thoroughly wretched, no longer arguing, no longer pleading, and no longer resenting anyone.
He merely cast a deep look at the Konoha members, then quietly turned and, all alone, began to trudge haltingly after the direction the Snow Ninjas had left.
Solitary, his retreating figure appeared both tragic and laughable.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had simply watched with cold eyes.
The entire giant ice mountain was dead silent, with only the cold wind carrying swirling fragments of snow to lash against everyone.
Naruto clenched his fists, feeling stifled, distressed, and full of mixed emotions, yet he could no longer squeeze out a single "I want to uphold justice."
Sakura lowered her brows and eyes, her previously firm Nindō beliefs now teetering on the verge of collapse.
Sasuke's gaze was cold and detached, dark malice churning in the depths of his eyes as he thoroughly saw through Konoha's so-called justice and warmth.
It was right within this suffocatingly heavy atmosphere that Kakashi stepped out slowly, pulling down the Forehead Protector that covered half his face and fishing a translucent Hexagonal Ice Crystal out of his ninja pouch.
The ice crystal was crystal-clear and bright, casting a faint, mysterious purple glow under the reflection of the pristine snow.
He walked over to Miki Yūya and reached out to hand over the Hexagonal Crystal.
"Yūya, take this."
"This is the true core of the Land of Snow, the secret treasure passed down through generations of the Kazahana Family."
"It's also the very thing that all the political struggles and power clashes in the Land of Snow have truly revolved around over the past ten years."
Instantly, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all snapped their heads up in unison, their faces filled with utter astonishment.
Their gazes locked relentlessly onto that crystal, then shifted to Kakashi with his solemn expression, brimming with confusion.
Naruto could not help taking the lead to speak out:
"Kakashi-sensei! What on earth is this?! How do you have this thing?!"
Kakashi gazed far into the distance across the boundless snowfield, a trace of complexity that no one could read hidden in the depths of his eyes.
"Ten years ago."
"I was still serving in the Anbu."
"I came to the Land of Snow once."
"Those three Snow Ninjas from just now-I crossed paths with them ten years ago."
With a single sentence, the entire scene suffered a massive earthquake!
Naruto's pupils constricted sharply, his mouth slightly agape, completely dumbfounded.
Sakura's face was full of disbelief, never expecting that her teacher shared such a connection with the Land of Snow.
Sasuke's eyes flicked slightly as he coldly stared at Kakashi, awaiting the rest of the story.
Kakashi continued to recount indifferently, his tone calm yet every single word heavy:
"Ten years ago, Kazahana Dōtō launched a coup d'état, murdering his older brother to seize power and killing the reigning Daimyō of the Land of Snow, Kazahana Sōsetsu."
"The situation at the time was very chaotic."
"My mission was to take away the still-young Kazahana Koyuki and smuggle her out of the Land of Snow."
Upon hearing the truth, Sakura's heart softened, and she could not help speaking up softly with pity in her tone:
"Then... isn't Princess Koyuki way too pitiful?"
"To lose her country and family since childhood and be forced into exile for ten years..."
Kakashi shook his head slightly, his eyes profound:
"That's just the surface appearance."
"Political struggles are never purely black and white."
"Many things are far from as simple as they look on the surface; outsiders have no way to judge right from wrong."
As his voice fell, Kakashi turned his head to look earnestly at Miki Yūya beside him, thoroughly placing the Hexagonal Crystal into his palm.
"I'll leave this crystal for you to decide."
"Yūya, you were right. We are ninjas."
"Our perspective can never comprehend the struggles and pain at the bottom rungs of society."
"Only ordinary villagers like you, rooted at the very bottom, can see through the truest cruelty of this world."
These words directly caused an absolute explosion inside Miki Yūya's head!
"Huh???"
Miki Yūya's face turned pitch black on the spot, his brows furrowing as he opened his mouth and unleashed a round of extreme, foul-mouthed abuse!
"What do you mean, Kakashi?!"
"Who's a bottom-rung villager?! The hell is wrong with your mouth!"
"You're a third-rate ninja who slacks off and drifts along every single day, obsessed with filthy novels and reading Icha Icha Paradise!"
"You're calling me the bottom rungs? Stepping on me, are you?! Don't think just because you have the Sharingan you're all that, daring to act like the Uchiha Clan and look down on people."
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +7]
Kakashi's mouth twitched violently, his temples throbbing frantically, and Sasuke's face darkened as well. Dammit, what an outrageous civilian.
This Miki Yūya genuinely had rock-bottom manners and refused to listen to a single nice word; even praising him would get you cursed out.
Off to the side, Naruto and Sakura had already grown used to this spectacle, thankful at least that they had not been caught in the crossfire.
Naruto scratched his head, breaking the silence as he looked earnestly at Miki Yūya with a sincere tone:
"Yūya, so now... what on earth should we do?"
Miki Yūya clutched the chilly Hexagonal Crystal in his hand and let out a scoff.
"What else can we do?"
"Return it to its rightful owner, obviously."
"Whoever wants this thing can just come and take it."
He raised his gaze to sweep across the three of them, his eyes growing profound as the light illuminated him from an upper-side angle, making his entire presence suddenly seem much deeper.
At that moment, a mournful and lingering flute melody echoed through the surroundings, as if recounting Miki Yūya's past suffering.
"Hey! Big guy, if you're gonna set up lighting, can you guys not directly give me live background music on the spot?"
Sandayu was gone, but the rest of the film crew was still around. Sandayu was merely Kazahana Koyuki's manager, after all; the director of the production wasn't Sandayu.
At that moment, the film crew's director stood up, waved his hand to cut the music, and said somewhat sheepishly:
"Sorry about that, Yūya. Just now, seeing your aura was truly so exceptional, I just couldn't help myself."
"Forget it, I won't lower myself to bicker with a civilian like you. Actually, my dashing looks are merely one of the many virtues I possess. You guys, you're still far too superficial."
Damn it, he had just accused ninjas of looking down on villagers, and now he was looking down on outside civilians himself! Besides, did this guy even have any virtues? His only virtue was probably just being handsome!!
Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura could only wear dark expressions. They had no idea why Miki Yūya had even ended up here; this guy was simply too torturous to deal with.
Yet Miki Yūya remained completely oblivious, turning instead to criticize the group.
"Can't you guys look a bit deeper into my inner self?"
"Is that even something you can just look at?"
The moment Miki Yūya finished speaking, several of the film crew's cameras were hoisted up, all waiting for Miki Yūya to strip off his clothes.
"..."
After a short while, Miki Yūya finally returned to his previous spot, continuing to fake profundity.
"Kakashi wasn't wrong just now."
"You bunch of ninjas will never see through the essence of things."
"But I'm different."
"I stopped being some naive kid who only knows how to scream about passion and justice a long time ago."
Miki Yūya raised his head to gaze up at the snow-choked sky of the Land of Snow, having long since thoroughly ripped apart the bizarre plot of the entire Snow Princess' Ninja Scroll in his mind.
He was frantically reviewing the events in his head.
Throughout the entire theatrical film, from beginning to end, every single detail reeked of bizarreness.
Point number one, which was utterly absurd-
Kazahana Dōtō was clearly a rebellious major lord who had usurped the throne by force, giving off the impression from the very start of a thoroughly hostile faction.
Since they were enemies, casualties on either side during a fight would be completely normal. Yet after capturing Naruto, how did he handle it?
He did absolutely nothing. Knowing that Naruto possessed a massive volume of chakra, he simply pulled out a Chakra Absorption Device, attached it to Naruto, and then tossed him straight into a cell.
He didn't dare lay a lethal finger on Naruto at all!
If Naruto still held utilitarian value, such an approach could at least be explained, but to Kazahana Dōtō, Naruto possessed zero utilitarian value.
Unless one argued that Kazahana Dōtō was intimidated by Konoha.
Then came point number two, which was even more absurd!
Later on, Kazahana Koyuki brandished a blade and personally attempted to assassinate her own uncle, Kazahana Dōtō!
Regicide, kin-slaying, and treason!
In any country and during any political coup, that constituted a capital offense!
Look at Konoha: they claimed the Uchiha Clan was going to rebel, yet the Uchiha Clan had never once raised a hand against the people of Konoha from start to finish. And what was the result? Without a shred of substantive evidence or any actual harm done to Konoha, the Uchiha Clan was exterminated.
Yet what about Kazahana Dōtō?
He merely flew into a rage and grabbed Kazahana Koyuki by the throat-a powerful ninja who didn't even scratch a single hair on Kazahana Koyuki!
Even though he held absolute power over life and death, and even though the other party had drawn a blade against him, he still left his own niece a way out!
What kind of villain was that?
That was being soft-hearted and sentimental!
If he had truly been a cold-blooded tyrant, he would have rooted out the problem at the source and exterminated every last remnant long ago; how could he possibly have left a lingering hazard for ten years?
Then there was the third and most bizarre point of all!
A full ten years!
Kazahana Dōtō held absolute control over the Land of Snow for ten years.
And he hadn't produced a single heir!
Throughout the entire Kazahana Family, Kazahana Koyuki remained the sole legitimate successor for a full ten years!
Connecting all these unreasonable pieces together, the truth had long since been laid out bare in broad daylight!
Kazahana Dōtō never wanted to usurp the throne from the very beginning!
From start to finish, he had been guarding the Land of Snow for the Kazahana Family, or perhaps he never intended to monopolize the Land of Snow for himself.
He was guarding a rotten mess, guarding a way out that he had left behind for his niece!
As for who the truly hypocritical, scheming, and pitiful-act-mastering person actually was-who was it?
It was Sandayu!
Miki Yūya's mind flashed back to the final scenes of the theatrical film, and he could only find them supremely ironic.
Later in the plot, Sandayu led a charge of samurai, launching a direct assault against the armored train.
You read that right: they were brandishing swords to hack at a train.
As a result, before they even touched the train, the entire group perished halfway across the snowy ground, the whole scene appearing exceptionally tragic from Kazahana Koyuki's perspective.
Yet from a third-person perspective, you would only think these people were complete morons.
Moreover, out of that entire group, Sandayu was the only one who miraculously survived!
In the end, Kazahana Koyuki ascended the throne as the new ruler of the Land of Snow.
And Sandayu?
He leaped straight to the top, occupying a position of supreme power as the Chief Advisor wielding overwhelming influence in the Land of Snow!
All the sacrifices were made by others, while all the benefits went exclusively to Sandayu!
Looking back across the entire theatrical film-
The only tragic figure, the only one who endured in silence and bore all the vilification, was the so-called villain: Kazahana Dōtō!
Before you continue