Silence. A deathly silence. Only the sound of the wind and snow mingling echoed in the sky.
"Cut!"
The director's exclamation of awe came from the ship. "This is simply the mighty power of heaven and earth. To be able to capture this kind of footage, we are too lucky."
Jokichi turned back and glared at him fiercely. "I told you to delete all footage of me."
"Don't mind it! If worse comes to worst, you can be an actor. I guarantee you will become a massive hit, and you will earn much more than a ninja."
"Do you think ninjas do what they do just for money?"
"Of course. Most ninjas do it for the money."
"..."
Jokichi was left speechless.
Although Naruto was a hot-blooded anime where everyone seemed to be growing for the sake of their dreams, the real world was not as beautiful as a cartoon. The vast majority of ninjas constantly took on missions for the sake of money.
Suddenly, the roar of machinery echoed in the sky, accompanied by turbulent winds and snow.
Jokichi looked back and saw an airship rising from behind the iceberg. Doto stood at the door of the airship, laughing loudly.
"Hahaha... So what if you possess unparalleled might? If you cannot fly, there is nothing you can do to me!"
"Idiot."
Jokichi cursed internally. High-speed spinning chakra condensed in his hand. Then, water blades spawned one after another, resembling a water windmill.
Jokichi raised the water windmill high above his head. The water blades rapidly expanded and grew, reaching about a meter in diameter.
"I was worried about destroying the armor on your body, which is why I did not attack you directly. But since you are trying to escape now, I have no choice but to disregard everything and kill you."
"Water Release: Spiraling Water Wheel."
Jokichi hurled the spiraling water wheel with tremendous force.
The water wheel howled as it shot out. The highly compressed water blades spun at a speed difficult for the naked eye to discern, and its power was unstoppable.
That massive airship with a rather high-tech feel was sliced cleanly in half from the middle by the spiraling water wheel like a piece of paper. Then, it exploded with a deafening boom. The people inside turned into a sea of fire along with the airship.
Jokichi took out his scouter and confirmed. There were no survivors.
"Hurry up, hurry up and film this scene!" The director commanded, holding his megaphone.
However, the aftermath of the airship's explosion whipped up a hurricane and giant waves. The galleon swayed endlessly, and the people on board were thrown off balance, finding it hard to stand firm.
"Director, let's just forget it. We're going to get thrown off," the assistant advised while clinging to the railing.
"No! Do not let people look down on us filmmakers. Even if it costs our lives, we must capture these spectacular shots."
"Yes, Director!"
The filming crew's morale surged instantly, and they united as one to continue filming.
Jokichi was speechless once again.
He was too lazy to even complain anymore. When the mission ended and they left, he would just go and delete the footage involving himself.
After a while, the wind and waves calmed down. Jokichi walked over to Yukie and withdrew the Absolute Defense.
Yukie was still hugging her arms tightly, shivering violently. Seeing the defensive barrier suddenly open, she screamed in panic.
Jokichi said with some amusement.
"Alright, go back to the ship!"
"Eh!"
Hearing Jokichi's voice, Yukie calmed down. She looked around and noticed the corpses of the three Yukigakure elites, as well as the tornado-like ice sculpture. Her mouth involuntarily opened wide.
"Jokichi-san, did you drive Doto away?" Sandayu asked.
As a retainer of the previous Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Sandayu's psychological fortitude was quite good. He didn't panic like Yukie.
After the Absolute Defense was removed, he had been scanning the battlefield, but he did not see Doto's corpse. Therefore, he subconsciously assumed that Doto had escaped.
"No, that guy is already dead." Jokichi pointed to the thick smoke rising behind the iceberg. "If that guy still has a corpse left, it has probably sunk into the ocean by now!"
"D-Dead!?" Yukie was stunned.
And Sandayu trembled with excitement.
"Is it true, Jokichi-san? Is Doto really dead?"
"If you do not believe me, go check in the ocean for yourself!"
"No, no, no, I am just too excited." Sandayu took off his small glasses and wiped away his tears of excitement.
"Is Doto really just gone like that?"
Yukie still hadn't recovered her wits. The shadow that had haunted her like a nightmare for ten years was gone just like that, as lightly as a passing breeze. It felt like a dream, lacking any sense of reality.
Jokichi snorted disdainfully. "I told you I was very strong. That uncle of yours is nothing in my eyes."
"Is Doto really dead?"
Yukie didn't care about Jokichi's tone. Instead, she pressed the question with a trace of anticipation and disbelief.
"Ah, he's gone," Jokichi replied somewhat impatiently.
"That is wonderful."
Yukie was so happy that she threw herself completely onto Jokichi, crying in excitement.
"Thank you. Thank you for freeing me from a ten-year shadow."
Sensing her emotions, Jokichi stood silently in place, lending his body to her so she could cry her heart out.
After a good while, Yukie calmed down and released her embrace around Jokichi. A slight, unnatural blush crept onto her cheeks.
Although Jokichi was still young, his height and build were already larger than some adults. Combined with his handsome face and attire, taking a closer look would easily make a girl blush. Not to mention that she had been hugging him so tightly.
"Are you still filming!" Jokichi asked. "If we are not filming, let us continue our journey!"
Hearing this, Sandayu also turned his gaze toward Yukie.
"Shoot, of course we are shooting."
Yukie said without hesitation.
Doto was already dead. Once she returned to the Land of Snow, she would likely be crowned as the Queen. This was probably her last chance to film a movie.
Since childhood, Yukie had two dreams. One was to be a kind-hearted princess who cared for her people. The other was to become a famous actress.
The director led the filming crew back to the iceberg to shoot. For this final shoot, Yukie brought out 200% of her acting skills and attitude, making the filming process exceptionally smooth.
Watching Yukie, who looked completely different on-screen versus off-screen, Jokichi sincerely mused: I hope she can be as strong as Princess Gale in the movie!
After all, being a Queen wasn't as simple as being an actress.
Time slowly slipped away, and a month quickly passed.
Jokichi protected Yukie as she finished filming in the Land of Snow, and incidentally attended her coronation ceremony. Finally, he returned to Konoha, carrying the alliance treaty she had written as the supreme leader of the Land of Snow and Yukigakure.
This treaty was what Konoha truly wanted.
Otherwise, Team 7 wouldn't have been dispatched to escort Yukie in the anime. An elite Jonin and a Jinchuriki—this was entirely aimed at helping Yukie reclaim her country through military force.
On the journey back, Jokichi was much more relaxed.
He leaned against the railing, gazing at the boundless ocean, visions of his upcoming travels surfacing in his mind.
The rings of the various Tailed Beasts, the power of the Dragon Vein. Once he gathered all these powers into one body, he would become an invincible existence in this world. Even Kaguya Otsutsuki could not possibly be his match.
Suddenly, an intense whistling of air came from afar.
He looked up.
Above the sea level, a massive missile trailing a tail of flames kicked up giant waves as it flew toward the ship.
Jokichi's face turned exceptionally grim.
He had just scouted with his scouter. There were no abnormal chakras within a 50-kilometer radius.
In other words, this missile was flying in from over 50 kilometers away. To be able to snipe from such a vast distance, one could somewhat imagine the strength of this person.
The first thing Jokichi thought of was the Asura Path of Pain.