"Splash!"
The sound of so many waves resounded in his ears, and the air carried the scent of the ocean tide.
Jokichi was awakened by a sudden chill, his eyes snapping open.
Directly ahead in the shipping lane, a treacherous ice island blocked their path.
"Have they finally arrived?"
Jokichi murmured to himself.
The ship had been sailing for three days, and the journey had been calm and peaceful.
But Jokichi had maintained a high level of vigilance at all times, guarding against a surprise attack from Pain and Obito.
Right now, he only wanted to finish the mission of escorting Yukie early, and then have a real fight with the Akatsuki organization with real swords and spears.
Even if Pain and Obito didn't come, he would take the initiative to seek them out.
One can be a thief for a thousand days, but how can one guard against a thief for a thousand days?
Just waiting for people to come knocking on the door like this was simply too passive.
Now, having waited for three days.
The enemies from the Land of Snow had finally come knocking.
It hadn't been a waste of effort for him to intentionally let that scout go.
"Oh! This must be a blessing from the God of Cinema!"
The director and his crew rushed out of the cabin, exclaiming in awe at the iceberg in the distance.
"I've decided, we're changing the script. We're going to the iceberg to shoot on location."
"..."
On the mast, Jokichi looked completely speechless.
Changing the movie script on a whim, can you really shoot a good movie like this?
Following the director's orders, the ship slowly sailed towards the iceberg, then docked on the shore.
The group picked up their filming equipment and ran down.
As her guard, Jokichi stayed close by Yukie's side.
"Jokichi-san, I leave Miss Yukie's safety in your hands."
Sandayu bowed deeply to Jokichi.
"Rest assured, I will resolve everything."
Jokichi replied confidently.
"Then I'm relying on you."
Sandayu bowed deeply to him once again.
As a hero who had ended a war single-handedly not long ago, Sandayu trusted Jokichi's strength very much.
On the other side, filming had already begun.
Yukie, having changed into a traditional costume, was playing the role of Princess Gale.
And the scene they were shooting this time was the princess and her followers being attacked by a demon king on their way to the Rainbow Land, an extremely cliché plotline.
However, with Yukie's veteran acting skills, even a cliché plotline often stirred up emotions or moved people to tears.
"Princess Gale, you'd better give up. I, the Demon King, will bury you all here today. Take this!"
The actor playing the demon king held his scepter high, pretending to unleash his ultimate move. The iceberg behind him seemed to respond to him, actually triggering an explosion. The giant iceberg fractured from the middle and crashed down toward the crowd.
"Uh!"
The actors stared at this scene in astonishment, actually forgetting to run away.
"Idiots, they're so immersed in filming that they forgot they don't actually have powers, have they no self-awareness?"
Jokichi cursed internally and clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release: Banyan Tree Jutsu."
A massive banyan tree uprooted itself from the ground. Its strong, powerful branches held the iceberg mid-air like a giant's hands, while the smaller fragments falling around were whipped away and blocked by other vines.
"Cut!"
The director had somehow snatched the cameraman's camera and perfectly captured this scene.
"This is truly astonishing. Being able to capture such rare footage makes this trip more than worthwhile."
"..."
Jokichi looked at him speechlessly, a row of black lines dropping down the back of his head.
This guy really threw his life away for the sake of making a movie.
However—
"Delete that part for me."
Jokichi threatened fiercely.
"A ninja's ninjutsu cannot be casually shown off to outsiders. If you dare to put that part in the movie and broadcast it, I will absolutely not let you off."
"Don't be like that!"
The director hid the camera behind his back, laughing sheepishly.
"Who would take something in a movie seriously!"
"Even if someone takes it seriously, there's no need to delete it. Anyway, after today, you won't exist anymore."
From the iceberg, a robust voice suddenly rang out.
The crowd looked towards the sound, realizing that several people were standing up there.
Leading them was a burly middle-aged man, wearing black armor connected to pipes and an energy core.
Behind him were three other people.
A burly fat man, a woman with short pink hair and a face full of freckles, and a relatively thinner man with a ponytail.
They were all wearing snow-style bodysuits, with similar armor connected to pipes and energy cores worn on the outside.
However, based on the design, they were much simpler than the one worn by the middle-aged man in front.
And behind them, there were about a dozen more people dressed similarly.
These people were precisely the ninjas of Yukigakure in the Land of Snow, and the middle-aged man leading them was Yukie's uncle, Kazahana Doto.
The three behind him were the elites of Yukigakure: Roga Nadare, Fuyukuma Mizore, and Kakuyoku Fubuki.
As for the rest, they were just a bunch of small fry, unworthy of having names.
"How could this be!?"
Yukie looked at Kazahana Doto in terror, her body trembling as she slumped to the ground.
This man had brought her endless trauma.
Even though she had prepared to meet and negotiate with him before coming.
But when she actually saw him, the memories that had once caused her psychological trauma involuntarily surfaced in her mind. Fear swelled from within, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Sandayu consoled her by her side, telling her to flee back to the ship first.
But she couldn't stand up no matter how hard she tried.
The inner terror sapped all her strength.
Seeing Yukie's reaction, Doto smiled in satisfaction.
"Koyuki, it's been ten years. You've grown beautiful!"
"Who exactly are you people?"
The director questioned loudly, holding his megaphone.
Doto noticed the others, his brows furrowing in annoyance.
"Kill all the irrelevant people."
"Yes!"
Receiving their orders, the three Yukigakure elites jumped straight down from the mountain.
Fuyukuma Mizore unstrapped the snowboard from his back, placed it under his feet, and glided down the nearly 90-degree vertical ice cliff.
Kakuyoku Fubuki spread a pair of bat-like wings in the air, gliding through the sky.
As for the man with the ponytail, Roga Nadare, he simply sprinted all the way down.
"Everyone, get back to the ship."
Jokichi blocked the very front, covering the crowd's retreat.
The members of the filming crew hugged their equipment and ran back one by one.
Even when their lives were threatened, they didn't forget the tools of their trade. This was a group of people who truly loved cinema.
However, Yukie seemed somewhat broken internally, slumping on the ground in despair, ignoring Sandayu's attempts to console her.
"You two just stay in there!"
Jokichi took out Absolute Defense, injected chakra into it, and then threw it towards the two.
Instantly, an omnidirectional sand sphere without any blind spots tightly wrapped Yukie and Sandayu inside.
Having done all this, he proactively went to meet the three Yukigakure elites.
Jokichi was slightly surprised by Doto's arrival.
He wasn't just the leader of Yukigakure, but also the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, possessing countless subordinates.
He hadn't expected him to personally lead a team to hijack and kill Yukie.
It seemed that the scout he let go had returned and relayed his words to Doto with extra embellishments.
Otherwise, this guy couldn't possibly have led people here personally.
However, this suited me perfectly!
Jokichi looked at the charging enemies, a smile spreading across the corners of his mouth.