Chapter 107: I, Your Father, Inspire Helplessness

After making landfall in the Land of Snow, far from any actual ports, the production team unloaded the ship’s cargo and set up a bunch of tents in a small clearing near the shore. Sakura helped by creating a wall of earth around the encampment, but most of the heavy lifting was done by Wu as the lack of a pier and a container crane made it difficult to unload most of the larger pieces of equipment and supplies.

Since she felt at least a slight obligation toward Director Makino and the rest of the cast and crew, Koyuki agreed to stay with the production team until filming had concluded. Director Makino was fine with just filming a few of the battles that would take place between Wu and the forces of Doto, but Koyuki insisted as she wanted to use the final installment of the Princess Gale series as a conclusion to her life as Yukie.

While the production team prepared to start filming, Sandayu and a few others split off from the main group, purportedly to ‘rally’ their forces for the coming fight. Koyuki taunted Sandayu by pointing out it wasn’t all that peaceful to prepare soldiers to overthrow Doto, but the middle-aged man departed with a resolute look on his face, determined to liberate the Land of Snow ‘without’ the aid of Wu.

Never the type to leave things to chance, Wu periodically sent out clones to keep watch over Sandayu and his meager insurgent forces while others scouted the area around Doto’s rather villainous-looking castle. The man had built a fortress out of peculiar black stone in the nook between two of the largest mountains in the region. Even during the middle of the day, the intimidating structure screamed ‘I am evil,’ so Wu was unsurprised to find a laboratory conducting human experimentations and a factory producing Chakra Armor and various types of weapons in the basement.

What did surprise Wu, at least a little, was the small fleet of ‘airships’ that Doto was producing. They navigated through the air using balloons and a device called a Chakra Engine, but while they were slow and difficult to maneuver, their ability to hover tens of thousands of meters in the air put them well out of range from the average Shinobi.

Though he generally disdained most technological innovations, seeing them as an excuse for weak people to remain weak, Wu could recognize the infinite potential of both trains and airships. He believed using storage scrolls was much more ‘efficient’ than transporting cargo via trains, but as Shinobi made up fewer than 1% of the population, such innovations could revolutionize transportation and trade between civilian cities.

After experiencing how shitty things were in Kumo, Iwa, Suna, and even Kiri, Wu had developed a middling appreciation for modern conveniences. Radios and television made communication much easier, and he was also looking forward to seeing his girls wearing some of the items on display in Yokohama. Such articles of clothing wouldn’t exist if not for innovations in textile manufacturing, so, as someone attempting to ‘unite’ the Elemental Nations, Wu had ‘a lot’ of plans for the technologies pioneered in the Land of Snow…

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After letting them starve for around a week, Wu dropped in on Nadara and his two comrades from Yukigakure, the bulky Mizore, and the pink-haired Fubuki.

Fortunately for the trio, while they were prohibited from eating, they were given water and allowed bathroom breaks. They were also smart enough not to cause trouble during their imprisonment, understanding that, even if they were to escape, they wouldn’t get very far with sealed Chakra and thin clothing.

Entering the group’s chamber, Wu had a massive grin on his face as he sat down in the air with a trio of piping hot meat skewers, each seasoned with Natural Energy. His actions earned him indignant and hungry glowers from Fubuki and Mizore, but Nadare remained comparably calm as he inquired, “Have you finally defeated Doto…?”

Shaking his head, Wu revealed, “I’ve been keeping tabs on him, but my mission is to protect Princess Koyuki, not overthrow Doto. His time will come, but only once he makes the mistake of attacking, or the Princess decides to end him.”

Hanging his head slightly, a wry smile developed across Nadare’s face as he replied, “I see…” in an ostensibly regretful tone. With Wu’s response, he was pretty sure that the only reason they were being kept alive was to face ‘judgment’ for the murder of Koyuki’s father, Sosetsu.

Refuting this notion, Wu surprised the trio by revealing, “I’m thinking of hiring the three of you for a job. I won’t pay you, but in exchange for your cooperation, I won’t destroy Yukigakure. How about it…?”

Adopting an even wrier smile, Nadare remarked, “It doesn’t sound like we have much choice. We may have deposed Lord Sosetsu at the direction of Doto, but our friends and family reside in the village…just tell us what the mission is, and we’ll carry it out without fail…”

Surprising the trio yet again, Wu passed over the meat skewers, saying, “Here, eat these while you listen. I’m going to explain to you my ambition, not for the Land of Snow, but for the Elemental Nations as a whole. Great changes are about to sweep across the nations, so I’m going to give you, or, more accurately, Yukigakure, one last opportunity to stand on the right side of history…”

Accepting the meat skewers, Nadare and his cohorts only hesitated for a brief moment before gobbling them down like ravenous beasts. When Wu pulled out more, they accepted them without hesitation while he went on to explain his plans for a brighter future for all…especially those who were willing to make an effort to improve…

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Seeing Nadare, Mizore, and Fubuki depart the ship from the vantage of her cabin, Koyuki’s gaze narrowed as she remarked, “Their village should be burned to the ground after what they’ve done…”

While holding the woman from behind, Wu nodded his head and replied, “You’re right. Unfortunately, I’ve come to learn that peace and prosperity can only be achieved when those at the top are willing to forgive the sins of the past. Unless you can envision yourself personally slaughtering the people of Yuki down to the last man, woman, and child, you should stop looking back and set your sights firmly on the future. Be better than both your uncle ‘and’ your father…”

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Instead of responding to Wu’s words with her own, Koyuki placed her left hand overtop his. She knew she would have been captured and forced to endure a fate worse than death if not for his presence, so she was willing to suppress her desire for vengeance so long as he continued to support her. It wasn’t like she could waltz into Yukigakure to carry out the deed herself, and, even if she could, she knew she didn’t have the stomach to kill children or slaughter their parents right in front of them…

Breaking the silence between them, Wu appended, “Besides, even if they betrayed you in the past, Yukigakure still represents the military power of the Land of Snow. Konoha will send people over once our alliance has been ratified, but it would take decades to build a force large enough to defend the nation from scratch. Exhibiting ‘compassion’ to the people of Yuki is the best way to ensure your people’s safety until you can form an army of your own…”

Believing Wu knew more about such things than she did, Koyuki nodded her head and replied, “I understand. For the sake of the Land of Snow, I will seal away this grudge in the deepest recesses of my heart…however, should Yukigakure exhibit any signs of treachery in the future…”

Concluding the icy Princess’s words, Wu planted a kiss on the nape of her neck before whispering, “All those even remotely responsible will burn…”

Nodding her head in approval, Koyuki turned to face Wu, linking her hands around his neck and shoulders before leaning in to kiss him. The amount of resentment she had toward Yukigakure was difficult to put into words, but she could tolerate their existence, knowing that Wu had the power to eradicate them the moment they crossed her…

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With Doto seemingly too gutless to take action after losing his best men, five weeks passed without incident. He had tried to send officials to oust the production team from the nation, but Wu’s clones had dealt with them along with the airships he attempted to utilize as bombers. After that, he tried contacting the Fire Daimyo to have Wu withdrawn, but the latter had already apprised both Konoha and their Lordship of the situation.

While Wu and the Fire Daimyo didn’t always see eye to eye, the man was a brilliant politician. He understood the Land of Fire would be the greatest beneficiary if Koyuki were to become Daimyo, so there was no way in hell he would oppose Wu’s takeover of the isolated nation. He had even tried to set Wu up with one of his daughters in the past, only giving up once he realized the latter had no real interest in politics or ‘authority.’ He dabbled in both, but only in so far as they served his actual interests.

With the Fire Daimyo ignoring his appeals, most of his men ‘disappearing’ from their posts, all of his airships disabled, and the power to his fortress cut, Doto’s only real options were to wait until Koyuki came to reclaim her throne or to flee. However, since his fortress was located in the middle of the mountains and the railways used by his train had literally been ripped from the ground, his only way out was to flee on foot, exposing himself to both the environment and potential ambushes.

Without so much as a single servant to accompany him, as Wu’s clones had even removed the civilians he had been keeping prisoner to operate his factories, Doto spent weeks just sitting atop his throne or sleeping in his room. He knew he was fucked, but he refused to take his own life or give up without a fight. His only paths toward salvation were defeating Wu or killing Koyuki in the skirmish.

Doto had thought about rigging the castle to explode, dropping it down on Wu’s head the moment he appeared, but along with all the Chakra Armors and Engines he had accumulated, all his weapons and explosives had ‘disappeared’ along with his men. Thus, all he could do was wait until Koyuki, accompanied by Wu, Sakura, Kaia, Fu, the entire production team, and Sandayu’s men, arrived at his front door.

As they had formed an agreement, Wu permitted Sandayu and his men to lead the first charge against Doto. There was no way he would give up on the Land of Snow now that he had sunk his teeth into both the nation and its ruler, but he didn’t mind giving them a crack at the severely depressed and rage-filled Daimyo.

Unfortunately, at least for Sandayu and his men, they were just a bunch of normal, peace-loving fools. Even the weakest Team of Genin could fodder the entire group, so they didn’t stand a chance against Doto and his Mark 2 Chakra Armor. The man had hired a Missing-nin from Kirigakure to train him in the Arts of a Shinobi, so, with his pitch-black Chakra Armor, he had the Chakra Reserves of an Elite Jonin while also being immune to the vast majority of physical and ranged attacks.

Understanding he was likely about to die, Doto didn’t hold anything back when Sandayu and his men forced their way into his throne room. It only took him a single Ninjutsu to annihilate the entire group, manipulating the snow and ice stored within the chamber to produce a fierce black dragon that tore most of them apart without mercy…

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(A/N: Wu be like, “For the greater good(of myself)…!”)