They were sitting inside a trailer pulled by an expedition team traveling across the Snow Country, together with the others.
Sakura Haruno was using the [Mystical Palm Technique] to heal Naruto's fingers while listening closely to its subtle sounds.
Tenten sat by the table:
"Who exactly are those people?"
Naruto answered:
"Shinobi from the Snow Shadow Village. They're looking for Koyuki. And you've known about this all along, right, Santa?"
Santa's eyes widened in shock:
"How could you possibly know that, Naruto? There's no way you could know what happened in our country years ago—you're too young."
Crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, Naruto said:
"That doesn't matter. Regardless, bringing her here is extremely dangerous."
Santa sighed:
"You're right, but this was the only way I could think of to bring the princess back to the Snow Country."
Sakura turned toward Koyuki standing in the corner:
"So Koyuki is truly the princess of a nation? And Santa is also from the Snow Country?"
"Yes." The middle-aged man admitted, "When she was just a little girl, I was her assistant… before the rebellion." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I served Princess Kazahana Sosetsu's father. We were a peaceful country. Lord Sosetsu loved his daughter dearly and was deeply beloved by the people. But later, his younger brother Nadare staged a rebellion. The palace was reduced to rubble in the fire, and I believed the princess and her father had died together in that disaster."
Then he looked at Naruto:
"But how did you even know about our princess? Konoha has no ties to our country—except for one person who was here negotiating the day of the rebellion."
Naruto glanced at Sai, who gave a silent nod.
"Well," Naruto said, "I was there too."
Everyone in the room froze in shock.
Santa nearly had a heart attack:
"Y-You were there? But that was ten years ago—you couldn't have been more than five!"
"Yeah," Naruto replied casually. "I was five then. Oh, don't act so surprised. Kakashi-sensei became a Chunin at six. Is it really that hard to believe I received training at five?"
"A bit," Sakura said. "What were you doing in this country back then? A five-year-old doing a mission overseas? Who even sent you here?"
Sakura and Tenten were especially curious about that part. While they'd witnessed Naruto's strength grow year by year, it was still difficult imagining him doing something like this as a child.
Naruto's face remained blank:
"I was collecting intel on the Snow Country to report back to my master and help decide if we needed to intervene. When the rebellion erupted, I was there—but I was powerless to do anything. All I could do was ensure Kakashi-sensei could escape with the princess."
"Who's your master?" Tenten asked curiously.
"That's not necessary to say," Naruto replied. He didn't reveal Danzo's name.
"How did you help Kakashi-sensei escape?" Sakura asked.
"The squad leader back then was Nadare Roga. At the time, I had to fight him so Kakashi-sensei could escape with the princess. If I hadn't had the Nine-Tails, he would've killed me."
"I still don't know what happened to Koyuki after that," Naruto continued.
"I should've been dead back then."
Everyone turned toward Koyuki, who showed no expression on her face.
Santa stepped toward her:
"You shouldn't speak like that, Princess! Everyone was worried about the worst possible outcome! We never stopped praying for your safety!"
"Then you can stop praying now, Santa…" Koyuki said. "I'm alive, but my heart died long ago. Years ago that day, I cried all my tears away."
Santa wiped away his tears:
"Eventually, I found the Princess and became her manager. Since that time, I've been waiting for the right moment to escort her back to our homeland."
Santa turned toward Koyuki, kneeling with his hands and knees pressed to the ground:
"Koyuki, you must bravely face Nadare and reclaim your rightful position as our leader. I will unhesitatingly sacrifice myself to protect you, so I beg you—take up your sword and lead our people!"
"You have to be kidding me!" Koyuki angrily replied.
"But, but…" Santa stammered. "What about your people? They need you, Koyuki!"
"I don't care about any of them! Stop being naive. There's no way you can defeat Nadare."
"We're already here. Shouldn't we stay and protect her? So who's ready to overthrow the tyrant?" Naruto asked.
Tenten cracked her knuckles, smirking:
"Naruto, I'd love another fight against that awkward lug on the glacier."
Sai simply nodded:
"I'll follow your lead, Senior Naruto."
Sakura Haruno smiled:
"There's no way we're letting things end like this. We fight together."
"Are you all out of your minds?!" Koyuki shouted. "Nadare will massacre all of you! You can't beat him!"
Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes as he stood up from the chair:
"Are you guys ready?"
"Of course," Tenten said confidently.
Sai nodded.
Sakura cracked her knuckles:
"I'll tear them apart."
******
Over the next few hours while they marched ahead, Naruto devised a plan in case Avalice and his men attacked again.
They stopped outside a cave Santa had indicated.
"Koyuki's gone missing again!" the director's assistant shouted.
Hearing this, Naruto covered his face with his hand:
"That reckless woman…"
With those words, Naruto vanished from their sight using the Shifting Body Technique.
******
Koyuki ran frantically through the snowy forest.
"Impossible! Absolutely not! I won't go back there!"
Suddenly, she slipped in the snow, tumbled down the hill, and finally came to a stop.
She lay motionless, her eyes slowly closing:
"You lied to me, Father… There's no spring here."
After a while, she opened her eyes again, heard footsteps, and saw a pair of ninja shoes.
Her gaze slowly moved upward until she saw Naruto standing above her.
"Running won't solve anything. It's time to face this. Let's go back. They're all waiting for you."
Naruto carried her on his back, preparing to bring her back to the others.
A light appeared behind Naruto and Koyuki.
Suddenly, a train whistle blew, and railroad tracks came into view.
"A train?" Naruto exclaimed in frustration.
The whole tunnel began to tremble as icicles rained down from above. Naruto bolted forward at full speed, but the train was closing in fast.
"We're going to be crushed!" Koyuki held tightly onto Naruto and shouted.
Naruto clenched his teeth and kept running.
"You can't possibly outrun that thing!"
"If I set you down, I could."
"No!"
"Then stay quiet!"
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