What Exactly Did You Figure Out?!

A cold sneer curled Sandayu's lips. He pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at Kazahana Dōtō, firmly restrained by the Chakra Restrictor, with satisfaction in his voice.

"You really are useless, letting an ordinary man like me ambush you. Still, these Chakra Restrictors you made really do work."

Kazahana Dōtō froze for a moment. He hadn't seen Asama Sandayu in over a decade. Since when had the man become so foul-mouthed and full of resentment?

"How did you get in here?" He slowly straightened up, suppressing the shock in his eyes and forcing himself to remain calm.

"People have been unhappy with your rule for a long time," Sandayu said evenly.

"Lord Kazahana Dōtō, chakra technology can't solve everything when it comes to people's hearts."

"Hmph, Asama Sandayu. Do you think I don't know?" Kazahana Dōtō slowly stood up.

"You spent all those years on the run with Koyuki just so you could put her on the throne someday and take all the power for yourself, didn't you?"

Sandayu pushed up his glasses, neither confirming nor denying it. Torchlight flickered across his lenses.

He extended a hand toward Kazahana Dōtō, palm open. "Stop struggling. Hand over the Hexagonal Crystal."

Kazahana Dōtō paused, then laughed. He clutched his stomach, his laughter dry and mocking.

"So you don't know either. The one Koyuki has is a fake."

Sandayu's hand froze in midair. He stared hard at Kazahana Dōtō, searching his expression for any sign of a lie.

But Kazahana Dōtō only laughed more wildly, sending chill after chill down Sandayu's back.

"You're lying. How could it be a fake?"

"What do you mean, that Hexagonal Crystal is a fake?" Kakashi stared blankly at Nadare Rōga across from him.

The night wind swept past the ship's rail, carrying loose snow and blowing his silver hair into a disheveled tangle against his forehead protector.

Behind Kakashi, Sakura and Tenten guarded the injured Neji. Everyone from Konoha looked wary.

Beside Nadare Rōga, Fubuki Kakuyoku held Naruto in one hand, a Chakra Restrictor clamped onto him and a kunai pressed firmly against his throat.

Like a cat held by the scruff of its neck, Naruto kicked his legs in midair and cursed defiantly. "Let me go, you bastard!"

But when the kunai pressed against his neck, he sheepishly shut his mouth.

"Don't play dumb, Kakashi. Hand over the real Hexagonal Crystal." Nadare Rōga folded his arms, his voice icy.

After learning that Fujikaze Yukie was Kazahana Koyuki, Kakashi had also realized that her necklace was the key to the Land of Snow's treasure from all those years ago.

If he had known beforehand, he might indeed have considered swapping it out. But he really hadn't known. Kakashi stood rooted to the spot.

Seeing Kakashi remain silent only made the Snow Ninja more certain.

"So you don't care whether this idiot lives." Fubuki Kakuyoku sneered, pressing her kunai a little closer to Naruto's throat.

Naruto held his neck rigid, afraid to move, and could only frantically signal Kakashi out of the corner of his eye.

Cold sweat seeped from Kakashi's forehead. His gaze swept rapidly over the three Snow Ninja as his mind raced through every clue.

Suddenly, an image flashed through his mind. When he had passed near Kazahana Koyuki's room last night, he had seen Shuofang Si coming from that direction.

At the time, he had assumed those two adversaries had gotten into another argument and hadn't thought much of it.

Now that he thought about it, that guy visiting Kazahana Koyuki's room in the middle of the night definitely wasn't so simple.

He abruptly raised his head, his voice certain. "I've got it. It was Shuofang Si, the villager you saw during the day. He must have switched them."

"I noticed him heading into Kazahana Koyuki's room last night. I thought they were arguing again, so I didn't pay attention. I never expected him to know the Hexagonal Crystal's secret too."

"You let a man go into Princess Koyuki's room without doing anything?" Nadare Rōga looked astonished. Then his expression darkened, and he raised a hand to signal Fuyukuma Tōu.

"You don't understand. It's better not to provoke Shuofang Si if you can help it." Kakashi scratched his mask with a finger, looking troubled.

Fuyukuma Tōu understood the signal and darted into the cabin. A short while later, he emerged and shook his head at Nadare Rōga.

"There's no sign of that man aboard."

Kakashi's heart sank. Shuofang Si really was no longer on the ship.

That made him even more certain of his conclusion, but Nadare Rōga had clearly interpreted it in an entirely different way.

Nadare Rōga stared at him for a long moment. His expression darkened, and he spoke with sudden understanding.

"I get it. Your excuse just now was flimsy enough. Now all the clues fit together."

"What exactly did you figure out?"

Kakashi looked utterly baffled.

"He must have gotten in the way of your plot to steal the Land of Snow's treasure, so you killed him to silence him."

A cold sneer tugged at Nadare Rōga's lips, his voice dripping with scorn.

"How despicable, Kakashi. You murdered such a reasonable man from your own village, and now you're pinning everything on him. I suppose a dead man can't contradict you."

Kakashi opened his mouth, but for a moment, no words came out.

Looking at Nadare Rōga's expression of absolute certainty, Kakashi felt as though the veins bulging on his forehead were about to push his forehead protector off.

What the actual hell? What kind of nonsense is this? After all that thinking, this is what you figured out?

"Hmph. That expression says it all. I've exposed your plot, haven't I?"

Nadare Rōga snorted, looking utterly convinced that he had unraveled the conspiracy.

Then, without giving Kakashi a chance to reply, he turned and waved to his two companions.

"Looks like you won't give anything up until you have to. If you want this brat back alive, bring us the Hexagonal Crystal. Let's go."

Before his words had finished ringing out, the three Snow Ninja were already retreating into the snowy night with Naruto in tow.

Kakashi chased them for two steps, then forced himself to stop. He looked at the young Konoha ninja behind him, then in the direction the Snow Ninja had disappeared, his face full of exasperation.

"Kakashi..." Tenten hesitated, then spoke softly.

"Did you really kill Shuofang Si? Whatever else he might be, he's still one of us from Konoha."

Kakashi's face, which had only just cooled down, instantly flushed red. "Of course not! I never laid a hand on him!"

But he quickly pulled himself together. "All right, stop imagining things. Let's go get Naruto back. Who knows whether Shuofang Si went off to use the key to unlock the Land of Snow's treasure."

Neji suddenly spoke, his tone calm. "When I scouted with my Byakugan after dinner earlier tonight, I noticed Shuofang Si heading in the direction they just left."

"Then why didn't you tell them just now?" Kakashi turned to him.

"You weren't on the ship then either, Kakashi. I thought you really couldn't stand him anymore and had lured him out to kill him. He did go a bit too far, after all," Neji said earnestly.

"I was out..." Kakashi stopped halfway through, suddenly realizing what he was doing. "Enough. Stop right there."

"Let's get Naruto back first." Without wasting any more time, he darted off, leading the pursuit in the direction the Snow Ninja had gone.

Sakura, Tenten, and Neji exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and followed together.