Chapter 39: The Terrifying "Snow Falling Upon the World"
Shiromo and Kakashi's group arrived at the film crew's campsite.
After a brief round of greetings, Kakashi looked around and asked Santayū, "Where is Yukie-san?"
"Ah… when she heard we were going to film in the Land of Snow, she ran off on her own. We sent people to look for her, but we still haven't found her. Kakashi-dono, could you help us search for her?"
Asama Santayū sighed deeply as he made the request.
"That's nonsense, isn't it? The people under you are basically cannon fodder. With just this handful of people, you want to go back and overthrow the regime to restore the country, how is that anything but suicide?"
"Don't tell me you've made so many movies that you really believe shouting 'Never give up!' with enough passion will make it work?"
"Please, not everyone is a Jinchūriki or an Uchiha who can power up just by getting angry or emotional."
"Your princess understands this perfectly well. She knows that going back would just be throwing her life away. Even if she did overthrow the regime, all she knows how to do is make movies, she doesn't understand economics or politics, and she wouldn't be able to develop the country at all."
Shiromo's blunt words left Santayū extremely awkward.
Kakashi hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "It's okay, Santayū-san, I'll help you, hm?!"
He froze halfway through his sentence.
What did Shiromo just say?
Restoring the country?
Wasn't this supposed to be an escort mission for filming?
"He's absolutely right. He said exactly what I've been thinking!"
A woman's voice came from the doorway.
It was Fujikaze Yukie, who had been hiding nearby and eavesdropping, or rather, Kazahana Koyuki, the daughter of the previous daimyo of the Land of Snow.
"Santayū, give up. Stop clinging to illusions. We're destined to fail."
Koyuki spoke with a deeply pessimistic expression.
"It's not necessarily that you will fail," Shiromo said, changing his tone. "Kazahana Dotō is currently exhausting his resources to develop chakra armor and is clearly planning to start a war. That's a threat to every other country and ninja village."
"If they want to eliminate that threat, supporting a daimyo with little ability and no ambition is actually the simplest solution."
"His subordinates are trash, but you can borrow Konoha's power. They'd be more than happy to help."
Hearing this, hope reignited in Santayū's eyes as he looked toward Kakashi.
As a famous movie star throughout the shinobi world, Kazahana Koyuki naturally wasn't short on money. There was no need for her to hide the mission's true rank for financial reasons, unlike Tazuna from the Land of Waves.
"I'll need to ask the Hokage about this."
Kakashi's expression turned serious.
"What about the prank? The prank!"
Naruto sat on a chair, swinging his arms and shouting.
He didn't understand a single word Shiromo had just said. All he remembered was that Shiromo told him they were coming here to prepare props for a prank.
"Naruto, don't rush."
Shiromo took two disposable cups and borrowed a cup of water.
He took a sip, rinsed his mouth, then spat the water into the empty cup.
Then he handed the filled cup to Naruto.
"What do you want me to do?"
Naruto took the cup excitedly.
"Evenly pour the water in that cup into… Konoha's… facilities."
Shiromo whispered the instructions.
"Ohhh!"
The moment Naruto heard the destination Shiromo mentioned, his eyes shone even brighter.
Back then, when he splashed paint on the Hokage Rock, he ran out of paint when he reached the Fourth Hokage's face, so he had gone to fetch a bucket of feces instead.
"What are you doing?"
Kakashi, who was about to leave to report to the Third Hokage, stopped and looked at Shiromo in confusion.
"Relax. It's a safe prank. No one's life will be in danger. By the way, Kakashi, did you go today?"
"Huh?"
Kakashi was completely confused.
Why ask that?
Of course he had.
To prepare for the escort mission, he had deliberately gone to a public restroom earlier to empty his bowels, ready to set off in peak condition.
So why was Shiromo asking this?
Kakashi's mind was full of questions.
Sasuke looked like he didn't care about the prank, but in reality his attention had been fixed on this situation the entire time.
He really wanted to know just what kind of strength Shiromo possessed, this person who looked only three or four years older than them, yet was able to team up with Uchiha Itachi.
"Big bro, I'm done!"
Naruto's voice arrived before he did.
"OK."
Shiromo slightly raised his right hand and clenched his fist.
"Crazy Diamond."
Crazy Diamond, ability activated!
At first, everything was calm, as if nothing had happened.
But very quickly, waves of anguished screams and cries erupted all around.
Kakashi's expression changed drastically when he heard them.
Didn't Shiromo say this was just a prank with no danger to life?
Was it a deception?
Kakashi rushed out of the film crew's camp and looked outside.
What he saw was a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
What did "snow falling upon the world" mean?
What did "freely flying upon your heart" mean?!
Countless unidentified objects were frantically chasing villagers, burrowing into them from behind…
Kakashi suddenly felt a chill tighten behind him.
This was ten thousand times more terrifying than the Thousand Years of Death his father, White Fang, had passed down to him!
What kind of evil forbidden technique could possibly create such a horrifying effect?!
Wait!
Kakashi suddenly remembered the question Shiromo had asked earlier.
Had he gone or not?
Why ask that?
As a Konoha elite and a famous shinobi of the ninja world, Kakashi's combat instincts and years of experience made him realize a terrifying possibility.
"Sharingan!"
Without worrying about anything else, Kakashi lifted his forehead protector and revealed his Sharingan, scanning his surroundings with heightened perception.
He muttered under his breath, "Please don't let it be true… I must be wrong…"
But very quickly, his Sharingan caught sight of something flying straight toward him.
Run!
Kakashi vanished from his spot in a flash, sprinting at full speed.
Yet the thing behind him didn't slow down at all, chasing him through the air.
Crazy Diamond's ability was to repair all objects.
One classic application of this power was using "repair" to recall or pursue another part of the same object.
For example, if a photograph was torn in half and one half was taken by someone else, this method could be used to track down that person by repairing the photo.
What Shiromo did was very simple.
He had Naruto pour water infused with his aura into the toilets.
The things inside were covered by Crazy Diamond's ability and began to "repair", that is, to pursue and seek out their other halves.
And those other halves were, naturally, inside everyone's intestines.
"Yamero! Yamerooooo!!!" (Yamero = Stop)
Kakashi ran wildly through Konoha, tears forming at the corners of his eyes as the unidentified object drew closer and closer to his backside.
He deeply regretted not running hundreds or thousands of laps around Konoha every day with Guy.
"Yamero, Kamui!!!"
Driven to desperation, Kakashi suddenly remembered the Mangekyō ability he had only just begun to develop. At the critical moment, he used Kamui on the object behind him.
Space twisted, and the thing disappeared.
Kakashi collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath, overwhelmed with relief and the feeling of having survived a disaster.
Elsewhere.
In the Kamui dimension, a certain someone was eating curry rice.
Just as he took off his mask and picked up his spoon, a lump suddenly dropped, 'plop', straight into the curry.
The man's face instantly went dark.
He slammed the curry onto the ground in rage.
"KAKASHI!!!"
(End of this chapter)