Snow howled fiercely in the night wind. Dark clouds churned overhead, unleashing a silvery-white tornado across the landscape.
The faint crunch of footsteps in the snow jolted Haku awake. As an assassin trained under Zabuza, he was a light sleeper; even the slightest sound could wake him instantly.
Click.
The quiet creak of a cabinet opening was all it took. In the blink of an eye, Haku had already slipped into the combat gear he always kept prepared.
"What is it this time?"
Fujikaze Yukie, who had finally managed to drift off despite the pain wracking her body, stirred and instinctively moved to spread her legs—a habit formed from too many nights spent bargaining her safety. But upon realizing that only she and Haku were in the room, she awkwardly pulled her legs back together.
"Quiet. We have company."
"W-what?!"
Fujikaze Yukie's brow twitched instinctively. Anyone foolish enough to stir up trouble here—where even demons might fear to tread—had to be seriously dangerous.
She hoped she wouldn't die tonight.
Perhaps sensing her anxiety, Haku snorted softly. "Relax. You've already been granted admission. You're one of us now."
"Unless Lord Naruto decides otherwise, no one here's going to kill you."
After saying that, Haku gently pulled the quilt up to cover her completely before gliding silently out of the room.
Fujikaze Yukie let out a long breath under the covers, oddly reassured.
"Maybe… I won't have to live in fear anymore."
After fleeing the Land of Snow, she had spent most of her life on the run. She never dreamed of grandeur—just a peaceful, stable life. But fate always threw her into chaos, surrounded her with unstable people, and denied her peace.
Now, maybe—just maybe—she'd finally found someone powerful enough to shelter her.
On the rooftop of the main estate's tallest building:
Zabuza Momochi stood alone, massive sword slung over his back, facing four shinobi from the Land of Snow. All four were clad in chakra armor, prepared for battle.
"As long as you hand over Fujikaze Yukie," their leader offered smoothly, "we'll double whatever reward she promised you."
"Be it power or wealth."
"Unlike Yukie, Lord Dotō can make good on his promises immediately."
Zabuza tilted his head. "What if I want something more—something your so-called king could never provide?"
The Snow shinobi's leader smiled faintly. "So long as it's within the Land of Snow, there's nothing Lord Dotō can't deliver. Let's not waste time posturing, senior."
He didn't believe his own words. There were limits, of course—but acknowledging them would mean the end of negotiations. And that would leave only one path: war.
They didn't want to fight.
But Zabuza clearly did.
"What we want," he said coldly, "is the entire Land of Snow. And your king can't deliver that."
Without another word, Zabuza formed hand seals and vanished into a rolling mist.
"Caution! It's his Hidden Mist Technique—form up!"
"Can you even manage that?!"
Whoosh!
Steel sliced through the air. Zabuza's great blade slammed into one of them, sparks flying from the impact.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell is this armor made of? It withstood my sword?"
It looked like simple soft armor—but clearly wasn't.
"Hmph. This is chakra armor," sneered a pink-haired kunoichi—Tsurugi Fubuki. "It lets us manipulate chakra with more flexibility."
"And it wasn't the armor that stopped you. It was my jutsu."
Zabuza glanced down. Her wrist had frozen into solid ice. With her other arm, she struck upward, forming a blade of ice aimed at his chest.
"Ice Release, huh?" He leapt back. "Still immature. I'll kill you eventually."
Compared to Haku's frighteningly refined Ice Release, these Snow shinobi were mere children playing with power. Zabuza barely considered them threats.
"You'll soon understand the difference between a real elite jōnin and trash who rely on gadgets to fake strength."
His blade gleamed. In a flash, he was behind Fubuki.
Zheng!
Three of her allies barely managed to intercept the attack, weapons clashing violently.
"Guh!" Fubuki gasped, stumbling backward. When she turned, Zabuza had already vanished.
She clenched her fists, furious. "You might be strong alone—but the four of us won't lose to you!"
Her chakra flared, blasting away much of the obscuring mist.
She smirked.
"You really think there are only four of us here?"
"Did you think the Snow Country would only send four shinobi to hunt traitors like you? That's cute, Mist ninja."
"As soon as we capture Yukie, your turn will come."
She was confident. Over a dozen Snow ninja were inside, searching for a powerless woman. It wasn't a tough job.
She even expected the mission to be completed before they finished talking.
"Hahaha…" Zabuza suddenly laughed.
"What's so funny? Think I'm bluffing?"
But then—
A faint sound pierced the air.
Before Fubuki could react, the ninja to her left staggered, took a few unsteady steps, and collapsed from the roof, landing with a dull thump in the snow.
There was a clean hole in his neck. Blood seeped out steadily.
"What was that?!"
"There's someone else here!"
"Who is it?! Show yourself!"
Panic spread.
They hadn't seen or sensed anything—and now one of their own was dead. It was unnerving.
Fubuki's face twisted. "It was you!" she shouted at Zabuza.
Zabuza just smirked.
"Zabuza, be careful. This is the real Silent Killing Technique."
A gentle female voice floated in on the wind, followed by another gust.
The two remaining shinobi dropped silently, one after the other.
No warning. No resistance. Just death.
Fubuki's eyes widened in horror.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
She leapt into the sky, chakra armor flaring. It gave her the ability to fly freely—one of its more terrifying functions.
On a distant rooftop, Haku raised an eyebrow in mild surprise.
"She can fly?"
His surprise faded instantly as he launched into action. Fubuki finally saw his face—cold as a December frost—before he grabbed her by the throat and slammed her down into the snow.
BOOM!
The soft snow cratered under the impact.
Blood gushed from her mouth as she curled up, whimpering.
When the fog cleared, she saw the corpses of her comrades—all lying in the snow around her.
"How… how could this be? How did Fujikaze Yukie manage to hire such monsters?!"
Before she could process it all, ice encased her limbs.
"Ice Release: Freeze."
Haku strolled up to her calmly, lowered his gaze, and muttered, "She's quite pretty. When Lord Naruto arrives, I'll ask if he likes her."
"If you're lucky, he might let you stay. As a pet…"
"…or as a toilet."
His voice dripped with venom.
"You got off easy," he growled.
Jealousy burned behind his eyes. It felt like this woman was trying to steal Lord Naruto's favor.
"No matter what… I'll always be his most loyal dog."
"Fujikaze Yukie, Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata Hyuga—none of them are worthy."
Hmph!
Meanwhile, deep underground in the dungeon:
A violent battle raged.
Naruto's shadow clone fought toe-to-toe with the intruder in a fast-paced ninjutsu duel, executing dazzling techniques—but none of them hit.
Whenever he struck, Hinata couldn't get a clear view of the target, and Kurenai Yuhi couldn't find a window for support.
As a full-fledged Konoha jōnin, Kurenai found herself painfully sidelined. She cursed her lack of offensive ninjutsu; if only she hadn't specialized so deeply in genjutsu…
Helplessness gnawed at her.
Fed up, she looked above—there weren't many attacks from the ceiling yet.
"Hinata!" Kurenai shouted. "Give me a kunai and a paper bomb. I'm helping Naruto."
Hinata blushed, her breath unsteady.
A strange heat prickled beneath her skin—an itching that seemed to burrow into her bones. Still, she nodded.
"Sensei… are you sure?"
"It's worth a try."
"Okay."
Hinata handed over her weapons obediently, rubbing her thighs together subconsciously.
Kurenai noticed something odd… about Hinata, and about herself.
But she didn't have time to reflect. She chalked it up to adrenaline or heat. After all, she was still an innocent woman—pure in experience if not in theory.
She didn't understand the deeper implications.
Right now, all that mattered was helping Naruto.
She flipped through the air, attaching herself upside-down to the ceiling, catching a glimpse of the masked Naruto clone.
Now!
Shing! Shing!
She hurled four kunai in different directions—aimed to trap the masked Naruto with explosive tags and allow the clone's Fire Jutsu to finish him off.
That's how it should've gone.
But Naruto wasn't playing along.
He had been waiting for this exact moment.
"Back off." He inhaled sharply. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
A ferocious wind exploded from his mouth—one of the most basic Wind Jutsu, but packed with enormous chakra.
The fireballs and kunai were all blasted backward.
Then Naruto opened a bottle of medicinal powder—taken from Uchiha Izumi—and blew it into the air.
A thick cloud engulfed Kurenai.
She inhaled it all.
Her body heated up rapidly—too rapidly. Her vision blurred, her balance failed, and she plummeted.
"Poison gas—!"
Thud.
Kurenai hit the ground hard.
She saw Naruto and Hinata collapse too—though she didn't notice Naruto had knocked Hinata out beforehand.
From the corridor, the masked figure slowly entered.
Click… click… click…
Each step echoed like a death knell.
"Too late for warnings now," Kurenai thought bitterly.
"I failed… again. I'd rather die than be imprisoned down here forever."
But just as despair set in, Naruto stood up again.
His face was flushed red with exertion, but he formed a Rasengan—massive, furious—and slammed it forward.
The masked intruder gasped.
"Where the hell are you getting all this chakra?!"
Realizing he was depleted, the figure turned and fled.
Naruto charged after him, smashing through the narrow corridor with sheer force, Rasengan widening the path with every step.
"Naruto, stop chasing him!"
Kurenai shouted—but was startled to hear how seductive her own voice had become.
The itching only worsened. It was unbearable.
She needed relief. Desperately.
And there was only one person on her mind.
"...Naruto…"
But he was gone. So she searched for… anything.
Every step she took deeper into the ruined dungeon made her breathing heavier. Her vision blurred.
Then she stumbled into a horrifying sight:
"Asuma! Kiba! Shino!"
They lay unconscious. Asuma was pinned to the wall.
Panic surged. She didn't want them to see her like this.
She turned to run—only for Naruto to reappear and pin her down.
His face was bright red.
He had clearly inhaled the same poison.