Hey, I'm a Victim Too!

Shuofang Si realized he had a serious problem: he had somehow gotten lost in the snow.

Everything was white. Wherever he looked, the sky and earth blended together, without a single decent landmark.

He opened his Eye Aperture, pushing his vision to its limit, but all he could see was endless white.

The snow fell harder and harder. Wind drove shards of ice down his collar, and the snow beneath his feet rose from his ankles to his calves. Every step took several times more effort than usual.

I should have been following the map. How did this blizzard come out of nowhere? It must be the Main God messing with me, cranking up the difficulty again.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He darted forward a few steps, crouched down, and examined several trails of footprints that had yet to be completely buried.

Fresh snow had covered them, but their outlines remained. Judging by their depth, they could not have been left too long ago.

His spirits lifted, and he followed the footprints...

Meanwhile, inside the castle in the Land of Snow, the situation had descended into utter chaos.

Sandayu held a sword against Kazahana Dōtō's neck.

The three Snow Ninja held kunai against Naruto's neck.

The Konoha group had pursued them all the way into the castle hall, only to be forced into a standoff.

All three sides had something to worry about, and none dared make a rash move. A single action could set off a chain reaction.

"Hey, Snow Ninja! Hand over the Hexagonal Crystal! You wouldn't want my hand to slip."

Sandayu spoke first, pressing his dagger a little harder against Kazahana Dōtō's neck.

The three Snow Ninja exchanged glances. Nadare Rōga sneered and shouted at Kakashi, "You heard him, Konoha! Hand over the Hexagonal Crystal! Or we'll kill this brat first!"

Kakashi was utterly numb.

He opened his mouth, his voice weary. "I already told you..."

Before he could finish, the doors to the castle hall were flung open.

A figure burst in amid a swirl of wind and snow. It was Shuofang Si.

A thin layer of snow still covered his shoulders and head, and his breath spread into a white cloud before him. He looked as though he had spent ages trekking through the snow.

Kakashi's eyes suddenly lit up. "Shuofang Si! You have the Hexagonal Crystal, don't you? Didn't you say you wouldn't interfere in another country's internal affairs? Why did you take their Hexagonal Crystal?"

Shuofang Si ignored him and surveyed the situation in the hall.

Sandayu held Kazahana Dōtō at bladepoint, the three Snow Ninja held Naruto at kunaipoint, and the Konoha group stood in the middle.

Everyone had gotten tangled up together. His brow furrowed slightly, and he had already cursed the Main God eight hundred times in his head.

Seriously, is this your way of making things harder for me? Why is everyone gathered in one place?

Still, he spotted the crucial detail at once. Kazahana Dōtō was restrained by a Chakra Restrictor, allowing an ordinary man like Sandayu to hold a blade to his neck. That was practically a free C-Rank Side Plot.

As Shuofang Si weighed his options, he took the Hexagonal Crystal out of his pocket.

Its clear facets refracted tiny glimmers of light from the torches in the hall.

Everyone's gaze immediately locked onto it. Sandayu's eyes filled with greed, the three Snow Ninja caught their breath, and Kakashi's expression relaxed with relief.

"Kakashi, sorry. I blamed you wrongly."

Nadare Rōga suddenly turned and said this to Kakashi.

The taut muscles in Kakashi's face relaxed slightly. But before he could finish breathing his sigh of relief, Nadare Rōga turned back, pressed his kunai against Naruto's neck again, and barked at Shuofang Si.

"Hey! Hand over the Hexagonal Crystal! Or I'll kill this brat! You wouldn't want your Konoha comrade to get hurt because of you, would you?"

Everyone from Konoha was dumbstruck.

Naruto had still been struggling, but even he stopped moving when he heard that.

The breath Kakashi had just let out caught in his throat, and his face instantly froze.

Holy shit, if you're going to guilt-trip someone, could you at least pick someone with a conscience?

Of all the people you could threaten, you picked Shuofang Si?

This guy is the most "Konoha villager" of all Konoha villagers, and you're trying to appeal to his Will of Fire?

Sure enough, Shuofang Si swung the Hexagonal Crystal's necklace around as though he had heard nothing.

He was still thinking, trying to find an opportunity to deal with these side plots one by one.

But those side plots kept yelling, one after another, giving him a headache.

"You want the Hexagonal Crystal that badly?"

Shuofang Si spoke lazily, then suddenly flicked his wrist.

The Hexagonal Crystal traced an arc through the air, flying toward Sandayu.

Then I'll kill that C-rank side plot restrained by the Chakra Restrictor first.

Seeing the Hexagonal Crystal fly toward him, Sandayu released Kazahana Dōtō without a second thought and reached out to catch it.

In his eyes, Kazahana Dōtō was useless without chakra, no match at all for his own thoroughly honed samurai strength.

But the instant the crystal landed in Sandayu's hand, Shuofang Si moved as well.

He charged straight at Kazahana Dōtō, skimming low over the floor with Serpentine Movement and reaching him in just a few steps.

The force of Heart-Destroying Palm gathered in his palm, and he struck directly at Kazahana Dōtō's face.

Just released by Sandayu, Kazahana Dōtō staggered backward and fell squarely onto his throne.

His hand slapped frantically at the armrest several times. His knuckles struck a cold protrusion, and he pressed it with the last of his strength.

A deafening crash rang out in the center of the hall.

An enormous cage dropped from above, trapping Kakashi and the entire Konoha group inside.

Blue-white light erupted from the cage's surface. It was actually a Chakra Restrictor.

The Konoha group's chakra was suppressed instantly, and they crumpled to the floor one after another. Kakashi clung to the bars, clutching his lower back, his face pale.

Shuofang Si did not turn around. The hearing granted by his Ear Aperture told him that the danger was still far from him.

His Heart-Destroying Palm was already right in front of Kazahana Dōtō's face. Kazahana Dōtō had no chance left to dodge.

The palm struck his forehead squarely. Its force penetrated his skull and shredded his brain.

Kazahana Dōtō died on the spot. Shuofang Si withdrew his palm and took a step back, listening as the Main God's cold voice rang out in his mind.

Killed Kazahana Dōtō. Obtained one C-Rank Side Plot and 3,000 reward points.

"Damn you, Shuofang Si! You bastard Konoha villager! How dare you! How dare you!"

Nadare Rōga's furious roar came from behind him.

His eyes were bloodshot and his face twisted. The kunai in his hand trembled constantly with rage.

The already emotional Fubuki Kakuyoku recalled how highly Kazahana Dōtō had valued them, remembering all the good he had done for them.

Her reason snapped completely at that moment, and she drove her kunai viciously at Naruto.

"Then I'll make this brat join Lord Dotō in death! I'll make you spend the rest of your life tormented by the Will of Fire, regretting the stupid thing you did today!"

Naruto felt a chill in his shoulder, followed by a burst of searing pain from the wound that instantly consumed his entire awareness.

His eyes widened, his head filled with questions.

Wait, what the hell just happened?

If you hate Shuofang Si, go stab him! Why are you stabbing me?

Hey, I'm a victim too!