Chapter 106: I, Your Father, am the Realist

While Sakura was dealing with Nadare, Kaia and Fu were engaged in significantly less climactic battles. Fu was a Perfect Jinchuriki, so her strength and speed were far beyond what most humans could hope to achieve. The woman she was facing was a Ninjutsu specialist that relied on her wings to keep a safe distance from her opponents. As a result, the moment Fu managed to catch her by surprise, demonstrating a far more proficient ability to fly, the fight was over.

Contrasting the ease with which Fu was able to deal with the pink-haired Kunoichi, Kaia was struggling quite a bit with the heavily armored, purple-haired man. He was comically slow, but his blows were heavy, and most of Kaia’s attacks were either repelled by his Chakra barrier or blocked by his mechanical gauntlet.

Fortunately, while Kaia was unable to deal any damage to her opponent, the man was too slow and stupid to land a hit on her. He was completely dependent on his mechanical arm and Chakra Armor, seemingly incapable of using even basic Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Thus, so long as she dodged his extendable arm, Kaia could dance around the purple-haired man, slowly shaving away at his Chakra with her far superior agility and reflexes.

Seeing the massive whale generated by Nadare, the purple-haired man’s eyes widened as he took off running as quickly as he could. He wasn’t in danger of being crushed, but the whale impacting the iceberg caused it to split down the center while simultaneously producing an avalanche-like shockwave that consumed and buried everything in its path.

Contrasting her opponent, Kaia gave one look at the massive whale and ensuing avalanche before raising her arms and shouting, “Aniki…!”

Though he was originally planning to see how Kaia dealt with the tidal wave of ice and snow on her own, Wu immediately appeared next to the bushy-haired girl and scooped her to safety.

Understanding she had messed up, Kaia adopted an apologetic, pouty expression as she nestled into Wu’s embrace and said, “Sorry, Ani…I’ll get stronger in the future…”

Nodding his head in approval, Wu gave the catty dog girl a firm squeeze as he said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be helping you and several others soon. So long as you apply yourself during that training, you’ll become stronger in no time…”

“Nn~!”

As she was expecting Wu to be a lot angrier, Kaia buried her face into his chest and began to fidget excitedly. Wu smiled wryly in response but let her do as she pleased. Sakura’s performance had put him in a fairly good mood, so he didn’t want to squander it getting angry over something Kaia had no control over. The Chakra Armor used by her opponent was a direct counter against her present capabilities, so he permitted one of his clones to smack the purple-haired man over the head before tearing the armor from his body.

Touching down a few meters away from Sakura, Wu placed Kaia on the ground before walking over to find the pinkette trying to heal her Nadare. She had yet to kill anyone while on a mission, and her training as a Medic-nin had primed her to at least try and save her opponent.

Fortunately, while Wu found Sakura’s behavior incredibly naive, she at least had the wherewithal to sever the tendons of the man’s wrists and ankles while treating his more serious injuries. Iryojutsu required a lot of focus, so it wouldn’t take much for a skilled Shinobi to attack and kill her while she was trying to save their life.

Instead of interrupting Sakura’s attempts to treat Nadara, Wu elicited a relieved sigh from the pinkette as he sat down nearby and began to fluff up Kaia. She had expected him to stop or chastise her, but, as someone who despised hypocrites, Wu didn’t have the right as he was becoming increasingly famous for sparing, treating, and even ‘revitalizing’ those he had defeated in battle…

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After Sakura treated each of them, Wu bound the armorless trio using rope inscribed with Fuinjutsu before tossing them into one of the ship’s storage compartments for interrogation. In the meantime, he gathered in the ship’s navigation-turned-dining-room with Director Makino, some of the higher-ranking members of the production, Sandayu, and Yukie, now embracing her actual name of Princess Koyuki.

Adopting one of his characteristic smiles, Director Makino caressed his chin as he mused, “So, that’s how it is. It’s no wonder Miss Yukie was such a natural in the role of Princess Gale. It turns out we were dealing with an actual Princess all this time…!”

Nodding his head, Sandayu admitted, “Indeed. Miss Yukie is the rightful heir to the throne of the Land of Snow. Ten years ago, Lord Sosetsu’s younger brother, the monstrous Doto, hired a group of Snow Shinobi and instigated a revolt, seizing control over the Land of Snow through a coup d’etat. Princess Koyuki’s home, Kazehana Castle, was burnt to the ground. Everyone feared the Princess had perished along with it, but then-”

Interrupting the dialogue, Koyuki stated, “That’s enough, Sandayu. None of that matters anymore. Not now.”

With tears streaming down his face, Sandayu asked, “How can you say such a thing, Princess? Can you imagine how frantic we all were when you disappeared all those years ago? The day I found you, I-”

Narrowing her eyes and adopting a faint scowl, Kyouki asserted, “I said that was enough! You’ve had three and a half years to confront me on this matter but chose to remain silent. You weaseled your way into becoming my Manager and then manipulated me into returning to the Land of Snow against my will. And for what? If not for Wu and his subordinates, I would be dead, or worse. You’re a fool, Sandayu, and your selfish actions nearly cost the lives of everyone in the production company.”

“But Princess…everything I did was was for the sake of the Land of Snow and its people! Doto is a tyrant! Under his reign, our once-peaceful nation has become a hellscape where men, women, and even children are forced to toil away in factories from dawn to dusk producing weapons! If he isn’t stopped soon, the snows of our homeland will be dyed red with the blood of endless conflict! Please, Princess! You cannot allow everything-”

Surprising nearly everyone, Koyuki silenced Sandayu by slamming her fist into the wall with enough force to shatter the reinforced wooden planks it was comprised from. She hadn’t progressed nearly as much as Wu would have liked, but the gradual ‘refining’ of her body and the awakening of her Chakra made her a lot stronger than the average human.

Seeing the hole she had created, Koyuki took a moment to stare at her fist before directing her stunned gaze to Wu. The latter had told her she was becoming stronger, but she never imagined herself being able to punch a hole in a wall without sustaining a single injury…

Taking advantage of Koyuki’s gaze, Wu drew the attention of everyone in the room as he said, “There’s no reason to get worked up, Sandayu. Since I was the one assigned to this mission, Doto’s days are numbered. Those three Shinobi we captured were his most elite combat force, so even if he has a small army and a bunch of powerful weapons and armor, it doesn’t matter. Nothing in his arsenal can protect him against me.”

Instead of feeling relieved by Wu’s words, a conflicted look appeared on Sandayu’s face. After witnessing the performances of Sakura, Fu, and, to a lesser extent, Kaia, he was absolutely certain that Wu could resolve the Land of Snow’s problems. The problem was…

Piggybacking off Wu’s words, Koyuki revealed, “Consider yourself lucky, Sandayu. I have already decided to supplant my uncle as the Daimyo of the Land of Snow. Lord Senju and I have already reached an agreement, so, in exchange for his assistance, the Land of Snow will form an alliance with Konoha and the Land of Fire.”

“Princess Koyuki…!”

Opening his eyes for the first time, a stern expression adorned Sandayu’s face as he shouted, “You musn’t permit yourself to be deceived and taken advantage of by this man! The Land of Snow is a neutral country created by people who desire peace over all else! If we were to join hands with-”

Before Sandayu could finish, Koyuki shouted, “Are you even listening to yourself!? Do you seriously expect a man who murdered his brother and burned down my home to hand over the throne without a fight! It’s been more than ten years since my uncle took over and converted the Land of Snow into a military dictatorship! Without the aid of someone as powerful as Wu, we have no hope of reclaiming the throne, much less holding onto it…!”

Breathing heavily after shouting, Koyuki took several steadying breaths to calm herself, her expression gradually hardening into a fierce and resolute look as she added, “There is nothing wrong with desiring peace, Sandayu. But without the power to protect it, all you’re doing is inviting catastrophe upon yourself and others. My uncle is a monster, but my father was a fool to believe we could prosper as a country without the means to protect the advanced technologies we were creating. I will not repeat his mistake…”

Finished with what she intended to say, Koyuki turned around and walked away, her expression unwavering even as Sandayu dropped to his knees and cried out to her. She no longer cared what the manipulative, foolishly idealistic man had to say. The time she spent with Wu had taught her that the only way to obtain and keep what she wanted was to have the power to grasp and protect it. Thus, until she was strong enough to preserve the things she wanted to protect, she would use Wu as her proxy, entrusting him with her everything until she was competent enough to stand on her own two feet…

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“Oh, gods, Wu-kun…! You’re being too rough…!”

Contrasting her words, Sakura’s nails failed to dig into Wu’s back as she locked her legs around his hips like a vice. He was currently drilling into her with her back pressed against a wall, her tongue protruding and eyes unfocused as she clung to him like a lifeline.

In response to the lithe and athletic girl’s words, Wu whispered, “You know you love it…” in a smoldering tone. At the same time, he slowed his movements and began to grind the pinkette’s inside, willfully targetting a few of her ‘sweet spots.’

As her body trembled against her will, Sakura clung to Wu with as much strength as she could muster, her voice quivering as if she were about to cry as she whimpered, “You’re driving me crazy…”

Peppering the pinkette’s neck and shoulders with kisses, Wu replied, “So long as you’re crazy for me…” before targetting the most sensitive spot in the already climaxing girl’s body. This was her ‘reward’ for doing so well in her fight against Nadare, so he wasn’t stopping until she had climaxed at least one hundred times. His record with Hinata was 138 times in a single hour, so 100 spread out across two was fairly tame.

While Sakura was receiving her reward, Kaia was off to the side, watching the scene with a feverish expression as she was forced to comfort herself as a form of punishment. Wu initially hadn’t planned to punish her, but the faithful Inuzuka had insisted, citing that discipline was as important as being rewarded when trying to maintain a ‘pack.’ Thus, while Fu watched on from the side, hugging a pillow to her chest, Wu drove both Sakura and Kaia crazy, albeit in very different ways…

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(A/N: Koyuki’s feigned apathy has turned to cold resolution…rather fitting for the future Snow Daimyo…)