Chapter 343: Plans of Both Sides

“Sigh, novels really are full of lies. Protecting a princess is so boring…” Obito sighed as he squatted on the ground, poking a snow pile with his finger.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Obito was as disappointed now as he had been excited when he first arrived.

The princess protection mission Obito imagined: “A kind and beautiful princess and a powerful, evil enemy, ending with a hard-fought victory to save the princess and become a hero.”

The reality of the princess protection mission: “The princess is a little brat, there’s no sign of any enemies, and no possibility of becoming a hero.”

“Look on the bright side, if someone actually dares to assassinate the princess, they must be a very strong enemy, right? It would be hard work,” Rin Nohara comforted him.

“But how can I become a hero without defeating a strong enemy?” Obito was extremely depressed.

“If you’re really bored, come build a snowman with me. It would be a waste not to build a few with such good snow,” Rin Nohara invited Obito while rolling a snowball.

“Then let’s have a competition to see whose snowman looks better!” Obito’s eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

Although the mission disappointed him, building a snowman with Rin Nohara was indeed something to be happy about.

“Kakashi, you join us too. I feel like you could build a very exquisite snowman,” Rin Nohara invited Kakashi as well.

The smile on Obito’s face became less brilliant; after all, with Kakashi there, the atmosphere would be different.

“Being good at sculpting doesn’t mean you’re great at building snowmen. After all, there’s no Ice Release Ninjutsu to help with the sculpting,” Obito hinted that Kakashi’s exquisite sculptures relied entirely on Ninjutsu.

“Is that so? I think I’ll still be better than your snowman no matter what,” Kakashi, who originally didn’t want to participate, decided to show Obito some real skill.

“Then just wait and see!” Obito scanned the area and quickly chose a spot to start building his snowman.

Fuka Kazehana, seeing how happy the three were, also wanted to participate in this snowman competition.

Children don’t hide their emotions. A nearby guard saw through Fuka Kazehana’s thoughts and reminded her, “Lady Fuka Kazehana, it’s too cold right now. Playing in the snow makes it easy to get sick.”

“I know that! I didn’t say I was going to play in the snow,” Fuka Kazehana said, puffing out her cheeks.

Although she knew the guard was worried about her health, Fuka Kazehana felt uncomfortable just watching others have fun.

But a good princess shouldn’t scold people. Fuka Kazehana kept her father’s teachings firmly in mind, so she only used her expression to vent her dissatisfaction.

“Could I trouble you to be their judge, Princess Fuka Kazehana? A competition always needs a judge, otherwise, it’s hard to determine the winner,” Muzuki requested with a smile at this moment.

As an ordinary child, Fuka Kazehana playing in the snow at this age could indeed lead to catching a cold. So Muzuki came up with an idea for her to participate without actually playing in the snow, giving her a sense of involvement.

“Is that okay?” Fuka Kazehana looked at Muzuki excitedly, then immediately felt that this was unbecoming of a princess and changed her tone.

“Ahem, I mean, although I am a princess, I am a kind and generous princess. Since you’ve requested it, I will reluctantly agree.”

“Then I shall trouble you, Princess Fuka Kazehana,” Muzuki said, smiling in cooperation.

Although she could still only sit inside and watch Obito and the others play, because she could judge and evaluate, Fuka Kazehana felt a sense of anticipation. For example, she thought about how to nitpick the impolite Obito, or what points to praise if Rin Nohara’s snowman turned out ugly.

“Brother Muzuki, does your country get snow like this too?” Fuka Kazehana was curious about other countries.

“It does snow, but usually it’s not this big or this much, and it happens later. It only snows when winter comes,” Muzuki explained.

“Is that so? I used to wonder why there were four seasons when they all seemed about the same,” Fuka Kazehana showed a look of half-understanding.

“Because the Land of Snow is in a special location. Actually, each of the four seasons has its own characteristics. For example, in spring, although it’s not hot, it’s much warmer than winter, so many flowers bloom then. Summer is the hottest season of the four…” Muzuki explained the differences between the seasons with examples.

Since Fuka Kazehana was very young, Muzuki tried to describe things as detailed as possible so she could understand.

Listening to Muzuki describe the scene of spring flowers blooming, a hint of yearning flashed in Fuka Kazehana’s eyes. This was a sight she had never seen in the Land of Snow.

If Obito had said this, Fuka Kazehana might have even doubted its truthfulness; after all, the content was a bit dreamlike to her.

“Rin, my snowman is pretty good, right?” After finishing his snowman, Obito immediately called out Rin Nohara’s name.

Obito was very confident in his snowman. To make the proportions more accurate, he had even used his Sharingan.

By this time, Rin Nohara’s snowman was also almost finished, so she looked towards Obito’s voice and saw a snowman that looked just like Obito.

“It looks a lot like me, right?” Obito asked proudly. To make it realistic, he had even taken off his goggles and put them on the snowman.

In order to stop Kakashi from showing off when giving gifts, Obito had practiced various skills hard, and now they were finally of some use.

“It really is quite good. I didn’t expect you to be so good at building snowmen, Obito,” Rin Nohara praised softly and generously showed her own snowman.

Rin Nohara didn’t build a snowman of herself like Obito. She built two small snowmen, and both of their expressions were not very good, as if they were arguing. One snowman had a black cloth over its face, while the other had branch goggles on its forehead.

Although it was a bit abstract, Obito could still tell that this was the daily life of him and Kakashi.

“You guys argue way too easily. I feel like any random memory is a different scene of you two bickering,” Rin Nohara wanted to use a subtle method to persuade the two to be more harmonious.

“It’s not like I want to argue, Kakashi is just too annoying,” Obito shifted the blame onto Kakashi.

“I should be the one saying that,” Kakashi didn’t let Obito slander him.

Only then did Rin Nohara notice that Kakashi’s snowman was actually in the likeness of Fuka Kazehana, and it was even more exquisite than Obito’s.

“I feel like you’re good at everything, Kakashi,” Rin Nohara remarked, looking at the snowman that seemed to be puffing out its cheeks in a huff.

Hearing Rin Nohara’s words, Obito quickly looked at Kakashi’s snowman. Seeing the lifelike snowman, Obito could hardly believe it. A snowman could actually be made like this, and with snow, in such a short time.

“Are you all done? Then the judge is going to score them,” Fuka Kazehana, inside the house, stood up and shouted after hearing their conversation.

“You’re the judge?” Obito looked at Fuka Kazehana as she walked out, questioning her aesthetic judgment.

“Hmph, if Brother Muzuki hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t even bother looking at your snowman,” Fuka Kazehana pouted.

Hearing it was Muzuki’s arrangement, Obito had nothing more to say.

Then Fuka Kazehana carefully looked at the three snowmen in turn and gave her evaluations.

Her evaluation for Obito was: “He actually put real goggles on the snowman. It ruins the feel. Not good-looking.”

Her evaluation for Rin Nohara was: “Although I don’t quite understand it, I feel like Sister Rin’s snowman is just beautiful.”

“That damn Land of Snow brat!” Fuka Kazehana’s blatant double standard made Obito a bit heated.

Although Obito also admitted that Rin Nohara’s snowman was indeed good, how could his snowman possibly not be good-looking?

When she finally walked up to Kakashi’s snowman, Fuka Kazehana was very surprised. Although this pouting look made her a bit embarrassed, it really did look like her.

“Why did you make such a weird expression?” Fuka Kazehana couldn’t help but ask.

“Because I wanted to, so I did,” Kakashi answered flatly.

His purpose for making a snowman in Fuka Kazehana’s likeness was simple: he just wanted to give Fuka Kazehana, who was inside the house, a sense of involvement. As for the expression, Kakashi just thought it would be more interesting that way.

“Something’s not right, this snowman isn’t right.” The more Obito looked at Kakashi’s snowman, the more he felt something was wrong. He couldn’t help but poke the snowman’s arm with his hand, only to find that the snowman actually had a core—there was a rock inside.

“Why are you poking my arm?” Fuka Kazehana looked at Obito with dissatisfaction.

“Kakashi, you cheater!” Obito ignored Fuka Kazehana and pointed out Kakashi’s unethical behavior.

“Did you use Earth Release Ninjutsu to make a statue first and then build the snowman over the statue?”

“That’s right. Is there a rule saying you can’t build a snowman like this?” Kakashi admitted it but didn’t consider it cheating.

Obito was momentarily speechless. Where would rules for building snowmen come from?

“Anyway, I don’t recognize this kind of snowman. It’s not pure!” Obito declared this kind of snowman a heresy in the snowman world.

“But the resulting snowman was fast and looks good, doesn’t it?” Kakashi felt there was no problem.

“I think you’re just jealous that Brother Kakashi’s snowman is better,” the judge Fuka Kazehana chose to support Kakashi.

Muzuki didn’t stop them when he saw this. Sometimes saying a few more words is better than no communication at all.

“I wonder how things are progressing on the main body’s side,” Muzuki looked up into the distance.

Even though he was on a mission, Muzuki wasn’t so idle that his main body would spend time telling stories to a child. Wouldn’t it be better to use that time to research Sealing Technique or Breathing Technique? Except for the first day they arrived in the Land of Snow, it had always been Muzuki’s Shadow Clone by Fuka Kazehana’s side.

Muzuki’s plan was to keep researching Sealing Technique until the mission ended, as long as no one came to disturb him.

But someone just had to try and disrupt his plan. On the second day, Muzuki discovered that Ninjas were monitoring them.

If it were the Land of Snow Daimyo’s people, Muzuki wouldn’t have cared—protecting his daughter and all—but the Daimyo didn’t send anyone to monitor them in secret because there was no need; several guards were already following Fuka Kazehana openly.

Muzuki’s main body investigated and found they were Fūka Dotō’s men, and based on those Ninjas’ stats, he could determine they were Snow Ninja Village Ninjas.

Familiar with the plot, Muzuki instantly guessed that Fūka Dotō might already be preparing to usurp the throne. After all, a major event like a coup isn’t something one does on a whim; it was normal to be prepared well in advance.

Muzuki didn’t act rashly. He first observed the character of the current Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Fūka Sōsetsu, and after confirming he was a Daimyo who could be called a benevolent ruler, Muzuki decided to nip this coup in the bud.

Muzuki wasn’t a blind do-gooder, but many times he was willing to do some good deeds within his power.

If a hawk like Fūka Dotō succeeded in a coup, Muzuki believed the people of the Land of Snow would suffer quite a bit.

Based on the performance of those Snow Ninja in the original work, Muzuki was certain that the matters of the Land of Snow were within his capabilities, so he began to take action.

However, this was a real world after all, and only a few Snow Ninja appeared in the original work. To be cautious, Muzuki chose to first investigate all the forces on Fūka Dotō’s side, which wasn’t a difficult task for him with his Appraisal Technique… “Has the matter of the mole been figured out yet?” Fūka Dotō held his hot tea without drinking, asking the question he cared about most first.

He couldn’t rest easy as long as the mole wasn’t found. For his own safety, Fūka Dotō was now having his subordinates use Transformation Technique to disguise themselves as him to attend court meetings, while also sending Ninjas to keep a close eye on those Konoha Ninja. Safety first was his main priority.

“I sent Ninjas to conduct a rigorous investigation and didn’t find the mole you mentioned, Dotō. Are you being a bit too sensitive? Maybe those Konoha Ninja really just took a mission to protect the princess,” Hango Binfu said, shaking his head after drinking his hot tea in one gulp.

Since it was a major matter like a coup, Hango Binfu immediately conducted a strict investigation of the Snow Ninja after receiving the news from Fūka Dotō, but found no problems.

“Right now our plans are still in the plotting stage, it’s not that easy to be exposed. Besides, those who know now are all high-levels of the Village. How could they possibly commit such a treacherous act for a naive Daimyo like Fūka Sōsetsu?”

“Everything we do is for the strength of the Land of Snow. No Snow Ninja would betray their own country,” Hango Binfu said, putting down his teacup.

Fūka Dotō was also of the Land of Snow’s royalty, so Hango Binfu didn’t feel that helping him take the throne was betraying the country. On the contrary, he felt Fūka Dotō’s ideology was more suitable for being the Daimyo of the Land of Snow.

“After all, it’s a Ninja with a considerable reputation like Hayate Mugetsu. If Fūka Sōsetsu really invited him to deal with us, it would be a very troublesome existence.”

After listening to Hango Binfu’s analysis, Fūka Dotō relaxed a bit and then voiced his concerns.

“So what? Dotō, do you not believe in my strength? He’s just a brat not even twenty years old,” Hango Binfu’s words showed plenty of confidence.

If it were the Sannin or someone like that, he would have some concerns, as they were indeed famous throughout the Ninja World. But with Hayate Mugetsu, he felt that as the leader of the Snow Ninja, he would have no problem.

“I naturally believe in your strength, Binfu,” Fūka Dotō showed a smile. He said all that just to get Hango Binfu to say those words.

“By the way, how is the Village’s Chakra Armor coming along?” Fūka Dotō asked, now completely at ease.

“We have some preliminary results; it can enhance the power of Ninjutsu. However, due to tight funding, it’s difficult to continue development,” Hango Binfu replied with a frown.

“There will be funding soon, once the plan succeeds,” Fūka Dotō promised.

Hango Binfu smiled and nodded. This was exactly why he supported Fūka Dotō.

But what the two didn’t know was that someone was watching them from a dark spot nearby.

“Chakra Armor that can enhance Ninjutsu? Interesting. I wonder if it can be used as an external power bank,” Muzuki, with his Byakugan active, showed an interested expression.

The Byakugan allowed him to conduct reconnaissance from a long distance. Additionally, with his Root background, he also mastered the skill of lip-reading, so even though the distance was far, Muzuki knew the content of their conversation.

He gave the Snow Ninja leader an Appraisal Technique, wanting to know where his courage came from.

There’s one more chapter coming later, but I’m not sure if I can write up to 5.8k words. I hope I don’t really have to lose my bonus; I don’t want that to happen.