On the frozen battlefield, the fires of war ignited instantly!
Without a shred of delay, Kakashi's figure burst forward abruptly. Deep blue Lightning Blade arc lightning exploded, and the harsh sound of thunder resounded across the snowfield!
Lightning Release chakra wrapped around his palm, and cold, flickering lightning intertwined. He took the lead, charging straight into the dense ranks of the rebel army!
"Lightning Blade!"
Amid the darting electricity, several close-range armored samurai were directly blasted flying by the lightning power, and ice chips and shattered armor splattered across the sky.
Almost at the same moment, Nadare Rōga at his side formed hand seals, and a chilling icy momentum swept the entire area!
"Ice Release: Avalanche!"
Boom!
More than a dozen giant snow wolves shattered the ice and took shape, with ferocious fangs and bone-chilling claws, carrying howling wind and snow as they brute-forced into the packs of rebellious snow ninja and armored samurai!
Fubuki Kakuyoku and Fubuki Fuyukuma followed closely behind, their hands moving in rapid hand seals as layers of Ice Release ninjutsu unfolded, freezing the enemy's advance and cutting off all retreats.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura kept pace simultaneously, and the entire Team 7 went all out!
Naruto leaped into the air, blue chakra encircling his entire body:
"Rasengan!"
Sasuke's figure was as swift as the wind, throwing shuriken in continuous succession to precisely harvest scattered enemies, his gaze icy and fierce.
Sakura clenched her fists tight, following behind Sasuke while throwing out various kunai and explosive tags.
The enemies, who seemingly formed a dark, massive crowd several times their own number, were actually ridiculously weak in combat power.
The rebellious snow ninja only knew crude, low-level Ice Release, and all their ninjutsu were easily dodged by everyone side-stepping, only to be met with lethal counterattacks.
The hundreds of armored samurai looked bluffing, barely making up for their lack of chakra by relying on the chakra armor, reaching at best the standard of ordinary Genin.
Because none of these people knew ninjutsu, they could only use chakra to reinforce their own bodies.
Yet under the joint combat of an elite Jōnin, a genius Genin, and the Land of Snow's top three elite ninja, these people were truly, simply vulnerable to a single blow!
Not all Genin possessed the strength of Konoha Genin.
The crowd scattered in patches, retreating step by step, and everyone plowed all the way through, getting closer and closer to Kazahana Dōtō, who was pinned onto the high platform.
The cold wind blew bitterly. On the high platform, Kazahana Dōtō slowly regained consciousness from the blood-loss dizziness amidst the sky-filling sounds of slaughter.
His entire body was covered in white frost, his eyelashes frozen into tiny ice particles, and the freezing cold wind poured ruthlessly into his throat and chest cavity, bone-piercing pain spreading from his pierced thigh to his whole body.
His ears rang with the rise and fall of explosive tag detonations, the clash of weapons, the roars of slaughter, and the unceasing howling of the wind.
His blurry vision struggled to focus, and he clearly saw the three of Nadare Rōga fighting desperately in a charge, as well as Konoha's Team 7 fighting back-to-back.
A confidant of ten years, his only loyal subordinate, fighting desperately with his life on the line for his sake.
And the Konoha ninja, who could have stayed out of it, had followed them here anyway.
Ultimate despair and bitterness flooded his chest cavity instantly!
Kazahana Dōtō clenched his teeth, using the very last ounce of strength in his body to roar out a hoarse, explosive cry:
"Don't come over!!"
"Rōga! Konoha ninja! Get out of here!!"
"Leave this place quickly!! Don't save me!!"
Kazahana Dōtō's voice was broken and hoarse, torn apart by the fierce wind, yet it carried a desperate and absolute resolve.
He would rather die here, he would rather the Land of Snow be destroyed right then and there, than hand the Land of Snow over to Sandayu on a silver platter, or let his niece Kazahana Koyuki become a puppet.
Hearing the roar, the three of Nadare Rōga charging below felt their eyes turn instantly blood-shot, their hearts twisting like they were being sliced by knives!
"Lord Dōtō--!!"
With red-rimmed eyes, the three completely went berserk, pouring out ninjutsu as if it cost nothing as they recklessly lunged toward the high platform.
Kakashi's expression suddenly hardened, instantly seeing through the crisis hidden within the arena, and he shouted a warning:
"Sasuke, Naruto! Watch for the timing!"
The two understood each other instantly, their tacit coordination maximized!
Kakashi's Lightning Blade forcefully cleared the path from the front, violently routing all the blocking rebels in front of him and carving out a direct passage straight to the high platform!
Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist with a backhand grip, built up momentum, and hurled him with a fierce swing!
"Right now!"
Whoosh--!
Naruto's entire body was thrown violently aloft like a cannonball, heading straight for the icy high platform!
Mid-air, Naruto's hands moved in flying hand seals:
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Countless shadow clones materialized instantly, stacking layer upon layer to form an aerial springboard that hoisted the main body as he rapidly approached Kazahana Dōtō!
He was close!
Just a fraction of a distance away, and he could sever the chains and save the ruler!
Just as everyone thought the rescue was about to succeed-
Swish!!
A giant net shimmering with pale blue chakra radiance burst out from the shadows of the high platform out of nowhere!
Naruto had no time for even the slightest reaction, his body slamming straight into the giant net!
The next instant, a bizarre suppressing force erupted abruptly!
The surging chakra within his body instantly stagnated, locked down, and dried up!
There was no sharp pain, only an all-encompassing weakness and exhaustion sweeping over his entire body!
The ninjutsu failed, his chakra dropped to zero, and his whole body grew limp and powerless!
"What?!"
Naruto's pupils constricted, his consciousness instantly blurring, and the momentary weakness caused him to lose all support, smashing heavily head-first onto the icy surface of the high platform!
Sliding along the steep ice wall, he tumbled straight down, his eyes going black as he passed out on the spot!
Before anyone could recover from their shock!
From all directions! Dozens of identical chakra-capturing giant nets blanketed down from the sky!
Though this specialized ninja tool could not compare to top-tier chakra suppression devices in efficiency, it could instantly seal and suppress the chakra of any ninja.
This momentary suppression was already enough to change the tide of battle.
On the battlefield, there was nowhere to run!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The chilling giant nets filled the sky and covered the earth!
Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and the three of Nadare Rōga were all tightly bound and imprisoned by the giant nets!
Their chakra was thoroughly sealed, throwing everyone into a state of weakness, and the other surrounding people seized the opportunity to come forward and tie everyone up.
In a single instant, the entire army was wiped out!
On the high platform, Sandayu slowly straightened his posture, looking at everyone below who had been netted in one go, and suddenly burst into wildly arrogant laughter!
He had long known that the strength of Konoha ninja was formidable, but the Land of Snow also had the weapons of the Land of Snow.
"Hahahaha!!!"
"Save them! Go on and save them!!"
Looking down from above, his gaze was filled with the utmost mockery and contempt, wantonly trampling on everyone's dignity.
"Kazahana Dōtō! For your entire life you worked diligently and painstakingly managed this country!"
"Studying armaments, perfecting armor, and guarding the home and country for ten years!"
"And what was the result?!
You still ended up reduced to my prisoner! Toiling away your whole life, it was all wedding garments made for me!
You are an utterly thorough good-for-nothing!"
Having finished mocking Kazahana Dōtō, his gaze swept over the Konoha people who were trapped in the net and unable to move, his smile turning even more distorted and unbridled.
"And you lot! The high and mighty Konoha ninja!"
"The ninja villages of the Five Great Nations look down on small countries, holding us small countries in contempt!"
"You think that our Land of Snow can never compare to the major nations, you think that the ninja of small nations are a cut below, and you think samurai are mere ants and trash!"
As his voice fell, Sandayu, wearing the chakra armor, leaped down from the high platform over ten meters high and landed steadily.
He strode over to Kakashi, who was unable to move, and raised his foot to stomp fiercely onto Kakashi's cheek!
One kick, two kicks, three kicks!
He ground Kakashi's face repeatedly into the snow, pushing humiliation to the extreme!
"Ha?! Why aren't you acting arrogant anymore?!"
"Where is Konoha's pride?! Where is the superiority of a major nation's ninja?!"
"Without chakra, what difference is there between you ninja and useless ants?!"
"What right do you have to act high and mighty?! What right do you have to look down on me, Sandayu, and what right do you have to humiliate me? Just because I am an ordinary person, just because I looked cowardly and swallowed my grievances, you looked down on me."
"And you even wanted me to pay for medical expenses. Paying for medical expenses wasn't enough, you still forcibly charged us protection fees, saying you could protect us all the way to the Land of Snow."
Kakashi clenched his teeth tightly, letting the icy-hard sole grind against his face while his heart filled with bitter frustration and helplessness.
He asked himself.
These arrogant, domineering, and outrageous operations of looking down on country-bumpkin ninja from start to finish were all done by that fellow Miki Yūya.
The medical expenses were also paid to Miki Yūya, and the protection fees were also forcibly collected by Miki Yūya; they ninja were merely taking on a mission.
Why should he have to take the blame for all the black pots and carry all the hatred?!
Having humiliated Kakashi enough, Sandayu finally moved his feet away and turned to look at the three of Nadare Rōga, who were likewise imprisoned, his tone filled with coercion.
"Nadare Rōga."
"This is your last chance."
"Hand over the hexagonal crystal!"
"Hand over the Kazahana Family Treasure Key, and I will let all of you go immediately!"
"As long as I unlock the treasure of the Land of Snow, I will sit upon top-tier military armaments!"
"Even the Five Great Nations will never again dare to manipulate the Land of Snow from this day forward!"
"This is your last chance, and the only way you can save Kazahana Dōtō."
Imprisoned by the giant net and bound up tight, Nadare Rōga was unable to use his bodily chakra, yet he still raised his head and laughed out loud, laughing with an open and absolute resolve.
"Hahaha! Sandayu, you are having pipe dreams!"
"The hexagonal crystal is long out of our hands!"
"Before we set out, we already handed the hexagonal crystal over to that Konoha villager-Miki Yūya!"
"Your coup has failed completely from the very moment you kidnapped Lord Dōtō and set up this trap!"
"Even if every last one of us dies in battle here!"
"With Miki Yūya holding the secret treasure safely outside, Konoha will never let this rest!"
"Sooner or later, you will pay a bloody price for what you've done today!"
At the side, Sakura endured the humiliation, clenched her teeth with a tough attitude, and cursed out loud.
"You scheming, treacherous, and utterly unscrupulous despicable villain!"
"Do you think you've won?!"
"Compared to Miki Yūya, you are simply too inexperienced!"
"That guy is truly a bottomless piece of trash. You're done for, and that bastard Miki Yūya will absolutely not let you off."
Sasuke wore a cold expression on his handsome face, his pitch-black pupils filled with a detached chill as he coolly added insult to injury:
"Miki Yūya holds grudges to an extreme degree."
"Fellow villagers from his own village, famous Konoha clans, and even Lord Hokage-he doesn't care about any of them. Whoever provokes him, he bites."
"Sandayu, the affairs of the Land of Snow have already dragged him into this."
"As long as he returns to Konoha alive, you are dead for sure... Hehe!"
Hearing the words of these two people, and then recalling Miki Yūya's unhinged, lawless, and scoundrel-like demeanor.
Sandayu, who had just been arrogant and overbearing, felt a bone-chilling cold race up his spine instantly.
He knew all too well how outrageous that Konoha hick was!
Beating up Konohamaru in public, stepping on the faces of Konoha ninja, knocking out Kazahana Koyuki with a wine bottle, and beating him, Sandayu, until he fled in miserable panic with his bare hands.
Overbearing, a scoundrel, holding grudges, without any scruples, and completely without bottom lines.
Offending a ninja still allowed for negotiation and checks and balances, but offending that madman of a villager would only result in endless, bottomless, and unceasing harassment and revenge!
The shadow of death enveloped Sandayu's heart for the first time, and he knew he was in big trouble.
Yet, just as the atmosphere across the battlefield grew dead silent and oppressive to the extreme-
A grating, arrogant youth's voice filled with extreme mockery drifted leisurely from the high snow mountain peaks at the edge of the battlefield!
"Tsk tsk tsk, this is hilarious."
"None other than a Konoha elite Jōnin leading Team 7."
"To actually get wiped out in one go by a bunch of rural rogue ninja and third-rate samurai?"
"Kakashi, you really have thrown away every last bit of face Konoha ninja had."
"Being a teacher this pathetic, the students you teach are one more useless than the last."
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5]
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +3]
"And Uchiha Sasuke?"
"Everyone in the village blows smoke about you being a genius, bragging about how you're the best at running away, managing to run away even on the night of the clan's extermination.
If all else fails, you should go sunbathe over at Kumogakure later, bake yourself into a black guy, and then take a wife. That way, Konoha's number one runner will undeniably be you!"
"Hahahaha!!"
Sasuke couldn't understand some of it, but he understood Miki Yūya's mocking words about him running away on the night of the clan's extermination.
Damn it, this guy, this guy!!
Sasuke clenched his teeth tightly, fresh blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +5] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +3]
At this moment, everyone present instantly turned their gazes, looking uniformly toward the source of the sound!
On the snowy mountain highland, Miki Yūya stood at the very front.
Behind him, that group of film crew members who had mocked him earlier were now all bruised, with black eyes and in a battered state.
Without needing to guess, in just a short moment, this top-tier civilian troublemaker from Konoha had violently suppressed all the stubborn passersby and thoroughly handled them.
Down below, Kakashi, Nadare Rōga, and the others felt their hearts skip a beat the moment they saw Miki Yūya, plunging into complete despair.
It was over.
How had this guy made it over here? He had the Hexagonal Crystal and just ran off!!!
As for Sandayu, once he clearly saw the newcomer, he was stunned at first, then instantly broke into a grin, laughing wildly as his killing intent surged! Damn it, this bastard who ruined his good plan had actually returned.
"Miki Yūya!!"
"You actually dare to come back?!"
"Everyone has been captured by me, yet you-a useless ordinary villager with no Chakra and no ability to use Ninjutsu-
dare to come to this battlefield. You are truly out of your mind!"
He stared fiercely at Miki Yūya atop the highland, shouting harshly.
"Miki Yūya!"
"Is the Hexagonal Crystal on you?!"
"Hand it over immediately! I will spare you an intact corpse!"
On the snowy mountain terrace, Miki Yūya chuckled upon hearing Sandayu's words. Why did he appear here? He looked at the group behind him, who actually claimed he couldn't beat Sandayu. How could he possibly not beat him?
He could easily deal with someone like this.
"The crystal? It's indeed with me."
As he spoke, Miki Yūya slowly raised his right hand.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, facing Sandayu down below, he leisurely and steadily-
raised a middle finger!
Against the backdrop of the pristine white snow, the nail of that middle finger was still pitch black.
The smile on Sandayu's face froze. He stood there in a daze, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked closer.
After a long while, Sandayu finally spoke.
"Why are you showing me your manicure? Hurry up and hand over the Hexagonal Crystal."
What the hell, no wonder the system notifications hadn't appeared. I flipped you off, and you said I was showing you a manicure? I'll look at your mother's...
"Old trash, beat me first and then talk!!!"
Miki Yūya was exasperated and wanted to leap up, but upon looking, it seemed a bit high.
He turned around and trotted down the slope beside him, sliding right off.
"You wastes of the Land of Snow!!!
Come on, let all of you witness the strength of me, Miki Yūya. I am no useless ninja of Konoha."
[Ding! Conqueror's Haki +10] [Ding! Conqueror's Haki +11]
With a single sentence, he directly cursed everyone present.
Those samurai and ninjas on the battlefield who had not fallen were filled with blazing fury, all swarming forward in a mob.
"Take him down!!"
"You're courting death, mere commoner!!"
"A trash not even as good as a samurai, yet you dare to challenge us!!"
"Charge!! Charge together!"
The entire battlefield erupted into combat once more as a crowd rushed toward Miki Yūya.
Yet the next moment, hum!!!
Miki Yūya unleashed his Conqueror's Haki to the fullest. The snowy ground beneath his feet was impacted by the Haki, forming a delicate crack.
The invisible Haki spread outward, and a wave of pressure descended, causing nearly half of the charging ninjas and samurai to collapse in a scattered heap instantly.
The ninjas charging at the very front did not fall, however... these Genin attacks were slow, far too slow.
Compared to Tsunade, they were far too weak.
"Die!!"
The ninja in the lead thrust a Kunai forward, which Miki Yūya easily evaded by lowering his body. The very next instant, Miki Yūya's fist had already reached his face.
Bang!!
With a single punch, the surrounding air burst apart directly and snowflakes splattered everywhere. That person spat blood and flew backward.
"Weak!! Too weak!!"
"Even with Chakra, what difference is there between you ninjas and useless ants?!"
Without flashy Hand Seals, without the circulation of Chakra, this was the ultimate power born purely from flesh and muscle!
"Bang!"
He delivered a heavy, powerful right hook that smashed fiercely into the chest of an armored samurai on the far left.
Accompanied by teeth-grating metal-warping noises, the samurai didn't even have time to scream before his entire body flew horizontally like a broken sack, crashing heavily into a snowdrift with life and death unknown.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Fist winds roared and afterimages connected! Miki Yūya was like a fierce tiger charging into a flock of sheep, rampaging wildly through the dense enemy formation.
His movements lacked the slightest bit of ninja elegance, yet they carried a violent aesthetic of punch-to-flesh destruction!
One had to know that Miki Yūya's full-strength strike was capable of injuring Tsunade.
Miki Yūya chased after Konohamaru in the village every day. That wasn't because Konohamaru yielded, but because even a genius like Konohamaru, no matter how hard he tried to improve, could never beat Miki Yūya.
"Too slow! Too weak!"
Miki Yūya laughed wildly as his hands turned into a flurry of fist shadows.
He didn't even need to look; the terrifying perception granted by Observation Haki allowed him to precisely capture every enemy's vulnerability.
"This... what kind of monster is he?!"
"He clearly has no Chakra! Why does he possess such terrifying power?!"
"Run! Hurry and run!!"
Miki Yūya stood in the center of the chaotic battlefield littered with debris, fifty or sixty enemies who had lost their combat capability collapsed all around him.
The remaining seven or eight individuals had no strength left to fight and fled the battlefield directly.
"Now..."
Miki Yūya flicked the blood off his knuckles, the corners of his mouth curling into an extremely arrogant, ferocious grin. He lifted his head, and though his voice wasn't loud, it clearly spread across the entire dead-silent battlefield.
"It's your turn, old trash."
Before you continue