Chapter 32 — From This Day On, the Land of Snow Shall Regard the Land of Fields as Its Father
Why… why have I fallen to this point?
Why am I reduced to a bound insect, waiting for judgment?
This question churned endlessly in Kazahana Doto's mind.
Trussed up like a helpless caterpillar by Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear threads, Doto squeezed his brain dry, yet still couldn't understand who the hell these nighttime raiders were—
or where they came from.
He scanned the surroundings.
Silent. Efficient. Impassive.
The Oto-nin moved through the ruins like shadows—
retrieving useful materials,
slitting the throats of any survivors trapped beneath rubble,
never saying a word.
And Doto's eyes shone with something ugly:
Longing. Jealousy. Greed.
If these killers were my subordinates…
If they worked with Snow Country's scientific ninja tools…
If my damned brother hadn't gone to the grave refusing to reveal our nation's world-changing secret…
Doto clenched his teeth and strained his neck, finally turning to face the direction those green-eyed men (Kakuzu and Kimimaro) were staring.
He wanted—no, needed—to see with his own eyes…
What kind of monster had destroyed Snow Country in a single night?
But then—
He froze.
Oda Nobunaga was walking toward the cliff's edge,
as if the yawning drop before him simply did not exist.
Doto's face twisted.
"Is… is your leader stupid?"
Even he knew the insult was flimsy, but anger needed somewhere to go.
He spat the words toward Kakuzu and Kimimaro.
"…Tch."
Kakuzu didn't even bother replying.
Nobunaga? Fall to his death?
That would be the funniest joke in the entire shinobi world.
This was the man who talked Six Paths of Pain into second-guessing his god-complex.
The mastermind who orchestrated a flawless nighttime assault,
manipulated terrain, weather, and timing,
and turned Snow Country's own land against it.
And—far more painful to Kakuzu—
the man who burned through mountains of explosive tags without blinking.
Just the explosive tag consumption in tonight's operation made Kakuzu's five hearts ache in unison.
Most shinobi dreamed of using one explosive tag in battle.
Nobunaga?
He used them like confetti.
If I had known the idiot fought wars like this, Kakuzu thought bitterly,
I'd have told him—just give all that money to me. I'll give you results ten times prettier than this!
While Kakuzu mourned the explosive tag budget,
Kimimaro and Kazahana Doto continued staring at Nobunaga's slow, steady march toward the cliff.
Kimimaro was seconds away from politely reminding Nobunaga that he was about to step into thin air.
Doto, meanwhile, bit back a laugh.
If the enemy commander really slipped and died like an idiot—
His mind exploded into delusional fantasy.
If Nobunaga dies here…
I can rally these mysterious shinobi!
Then with Snow Country's scientific ninja tools…
We might even rise to become the Sixth Great Nation!
"Lord Nobunaga—be careful!"
Unlike Doto's hideous daydreams, Princess Koyuki's voice was filled with genuine panic.
She no longer saw Nobunaga as a foreign ally.
In her heart, he had already become—
A savior.
A banner of hope.
A man she could trust with her homeland's vengeance.
How could she stand by and watch her champion walk off a cliff?
Koyuki hurried two steps forward, reaching out instinctively to grab Oda Nobunaga's arm.
She couldn't—absolutely couldn't—let him fall to his death.
In Kazahana Doto's eager, hopeful gaze…
her hand was just about to touch Nobunaga—
---
"Earth Style — Ascending Terrace Technique!"
The Oto-nin stationed around the battlefield—previously assumed to be merely forming a perimeter—suddenly stepped forward as one.
Their hands flashed through seals; palms slammed onto the ground.
Chakra—precious to most shinobi—gushed out as if it cost nothing.
The same chakra they refused to waste during battle was now being lavishly poured into a single purpose:
To build a road worthy of a king.
---
"Impossible…"
Kazahana Doto stared in disbelief as step after step of solid earth rose from the ground.
Each staircase emerged exactly beneath Nobunaga's descending feet.
Stable. Smooth. Perfectly timed.
The reflected glow of the snow cast a soft radiance across Nobunaga's face as he descended like a deity stepping down from heaven itself.
In that moment—
Koyuki, Doto, the Oto-nin, even Kakuzu—
everyone's vision of "divinity" finally had a concrete form:
The figure of Oda Nobunaga, descending from the heavens to walk upon the earth.
---
"Tch."
Kakuzu stepped back, unable—and unwilling—to steal the spotlight from Nobunaga.
Compared to their own self-proclaimed "god" Pain,
Nobunaga's entrance was in an entirely different league.
A true ruler's aura.
As Nobunaga walked step by step toward the captive Kazahana Doto,
Oto-nin bowed deeply on both sides, forming a reverent corridor.
"The path of a king, huh…"
Kakuzu murmured.
He suddenly felt he might have found himself a very promising long-term employer.
---
"You… you people!"
Half slithering like a snake now that Kakuzu's threads had loosened,
Doto forced himself to look away from Nobunaga's regal ascent.
His eyes locked onto Koyuki and the elderly retainer Asama Sandayū—
The two he had believed he killed years ago.
He had never imagined the "stray survivors" could one day turn the tables.
With venom in his gaze, Doto shouted toward Nobunaga:
"Whatever they offered you—I'll pay double! Triple! Name your price, I'll match it!"
"Anything Snow Country has—I'll give it! Wealth, land, technology—anything to win your favor!"
---
"Shameless!"
The joy in Koyuki's heart—
from seeing her father's murderer captured
and her avenger seated like a king—
vanished the instant Doto opened his filthy mouth.
Her hands trembled with fury.
Before anyone could stop her, she marched right up to Doto and slapped him twice—hard enough to ring across the snow.
---
"Lord Nobunaga!"
As Koyuki rained more blows, the flustered Asama Sandayū rushed forward.
Though he dearly wanted to slap Doto too,
Doto's offer left him terrified.
He knelt before Nobunaga and whispered urgently:
"Please, Your Highness—do not believe a word he says!"
"From this day forward, Snow Country and the Land of Fields shall be father and child!"
---
"Hah! Interesting."
Kakuzu strolled up as well—though not to defend Doto.
Eyes glinting with amusement, he addressed Nobunaga:
"If you want, boss, just let me handle it."
"I'll scrape Snow Country so clean you'll see the sky from the basement."
"Why bother listening to the nonsense this idiot is spouting?"
---
"You—!"
Asama Sandayū nearly fainted on the spot.
He'd met shameless people before,
but never anything quite like Kakuzu.
Fortunately Nobunaga chose this moment to speak.
Otherwise Sandayū truly might have fought Kakuzu to the death.
---
"Koyuki.
Shall we kill him now?"
It was the decisive moment.
Nobunaga had no intention of making mistakes.
Once Koyuki ascended as Daimyō of Snow Country—
the nation would naturally fall under his influence.
Doto's fate? It was hers to decide.
But perhaps… he still had one last use before dying.
---
"Kill him!"
Panting from rage and exhaustion,
Koyuki glared at the kneeling Doto.
"For my father's blood…
Kazahana Doto—your time to pay has come!"
---
Doto raised his chin defiantly.
"Hmph. Victory and defeat are all that matter."
"Your father wasn't some saint!"
"Our people suffered in this frozen wasteland—starving while he hoarded the one power that could change everything!"
"He refused to strengthen Snow Country. A selfish tyrant deserves to die!"
Even with death moments away, he spat venom,
trying to tarnish his brother's legacy one final time.
The same way he had rewritten history after seizing power—
smearing the previous Daimyō to justify his own coup.
If he was to die today,
he would drag his brother's reputation down with him.
Even in death, Doto refused to lose.
--