"I've seen through all your attacks. Freeze to death before me! Ice Style, Black Dragon Blizzard!"
His fist swung out, the black dragon silhouette entwined around his fist sped forth, carrying a chilling cold air that seemed to freeze the blood, a giant black dragon charged at Ayane.
The Black Dragon tore open its mouth, spewing a freezing breath into the air around it, intending to swallow Ayane whole.
"He should be frozen solid to death now. How foolish. If he hadn't met me, he might have lived a little longer."
Kazahana Doto's face held a contemptuous smile.
Just as he finished speaking, a dark silhouette appeared before him.
Ayane's hat was blown off by the black storm, her long black hair fluttered wildly, her pure white eyes stared emotionlessly at Kazahana Doto's face, as if looking at the dead.
The black dragon vanished at some point, turning into an insignificant gentle breeze, blowing through the corridor, bringing only a refreshing coolness.
Kazahana Doto had yet to react when what seemed to him like a light and weak hand lightly struck his chest's Chakra Armor.
His body trembled violently, the fierce impact directly penetrated the outer layer of the Chakra Armor, hitting straight into Kazahana Doto's body.
A constant buzzing in his ears, brain blank, his eyes burst with blood threads crisscrossing, his body shot backward like a cannonball, crashing violently into the wall at the corridor's end.
Boom!
Kazahana Doto's body was buried in dust and debris.
Ayane walked to the location where Kazahana Doto was, effortlessly removing the large stones covering him.
The person lay there, almost breathing his last. If treated swiftly, there might be a chance to survive.
However, the Chakra Armor on his body remained intact, perfectly preserved.
Ayane grabbed Kazahana Doto by the back of his collar, dragging him out of the rubble without any regard for his current state.
Koyuki looked at Kazahana Doto, who was like a dead dog, and sighed inwardly.
She hadn't decided how to deal with Kazahana Doto.
Just as she was about to speak, Ayane suddenly said, "Speaking of which, part of the reason why this guy caused an uprising in the Land of Snow is because of the treasure, right?"
"Treasure?" Koyuki was slightly taken aback, lowering her head to look at the crystal ornament hanging in front of her, the very same Hexagonal Crystal that Kazahana Doto was so desperately pursuing.
Sandayu looked confused, and said, "I haven't heard His Highness Sosetsu mention any treasure buried in the Land of Snow."
As a former attendant to Kazahana Sosetsu, Sandayu indeed had the standing to say such a thing.
Koyuki nodded in agreement; the Hexagonal Crystal was a treasure left to her by her father, Kazahana Sosetsu, meant to be kept safe, but she had never heard that the Hexagonal Crystal was related to the Land of Snow's treasure.
Unexpectedly, Kazahana Doto, who was on the brink of death, coughed a few times, spitting up blood upon hearing Koyuki's words.
"Don't, don't joke around. That's a treasure worth a fortune. How could my information be wrong? Take me there quickly, after all, I'm already defeated."
Kazahana Doto knew he had utterly failed, with a high possibility of being publicly executed in front of the nation.
"I told you, there is no such treasure."
Koyuki frowned in displeasure, thinking Kazahana Doto had lost his mind.
"Impossible! The great treasure is hidden at the Rainbow Ice Wall, and the Hexagonal Crystal is needed to open the treasure's entrance. Koyuki, take me there, and then you can decide my fate as you see fit."
Kazahana Doto spoke with conviction, rare pleadings in his eyes as he looked at Koyuki.
He wouldn't rest in peace until he saw the great treasure of the Land of Snow.
Koyuki hesitated for a moment before eventually nodding with a complex expression.
Hakushi, seeing this, also became interested in the so-called treasure of the Land of Snow.
But why did Kazahana Doto assert the existence of the Land of Snow's treasure while Koyuki and Sandayu firmly denied any such treasure?
It truly was strange.
The Rainbow Ice Wall, the very site Kazahana Doto was obsessed with, was where the supposed treasure of the Land of Snow was buried.
The Rainbow Ice Wall was located in a frozen lake not far from Kazahana City, several enormous smooth ice walls towering, covering most of the lake.
From the construction craftsmanship, it indeed could be called a masterpiece.
In the center surrounded by several massive ice walls is a small island, the size of a standard room, with mysterious runes engraved on it. At its center, there is a hexagonal hole missing a key to activate the mechanism.
Hakushi set foot there, subtly sensing something unusual.
He looked over at Ayane, who was smiling expectantly as if waiting to watch a good show.
Koyuki saw the hexagonal keyhole at the center of the island's formations, hesitated for a moment, then removed the Hexagonal Crystal hanging around her neck and inserted it into the matching-sized keyhole under Kazahana Doto's expectant gaze.
Rumble!
Rumble!
"The great treasure... the great treasure is coming out..."
The tremors on the ground did not cause Kazahana Doto to panic, but instead he excitedly muttered to himself.
After searching for so many years, he could finally witness the great treasure of the Land of Snow hidden by his brother Kazahana Sosetsu.
Even as a loser, as long as he saw the priceless treasure, he would have no regrets in dying.
Koyuki and Sandayu watched in amazement at the scene before them, completely unaware that a mysterious treasure was hidden here behind the Rainbow Ice Wall.
After a minor earthquake, the surrounding ice surfaces gradually began to melt.
Streams of warm air emerged from nowhere.
Warm current? Hakushi raised an eyebrow, feeling something was amiss.
The massive light shone down, making the night as bright as day.
Under the erosion of the warm air, the surrounding ice and snow melted faster and faster.
After the ice and snow melted, the surroundings dramatically transformed, with verdant grass and vibrant flowers growing as if in spring, and the ice lake turned into a springtime scenery.
This scene, defying the seasons, stunned Hakushi with the snow country's craftsmen's wondrous skills.
"The treasure... Where is my great treasure?"
Coughing blood, Kazahana Doto staggered forward with his heavily injured body, greedily scanning his surroundings, hoping to find the treasure he had dreamed of.
However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't see even a trace of the treasure.
"Where's the treasure? Why is my treasure missing? Tell me, did you hide it?"
At this moment, Kazahana Doto realized something was wrong, and he glanced at everyone with a fierce and sinister look.
Ayane, however, didn't care about Kazahana Doto's questioning, simply admiring the landscape that defied the seasons and smiled, "This is the treasure. Is there anything more precious than seeing spring scenery in the snow-bound Land of Snow?"
"Wh-what?"
Spring scenery?
The treasure of the Land of Snow... is seeing spring scenery in a snowy country? What kind of treasure is this?
Kazahana Doto's blood surged immediately, coughing continuously, almost unable to catch his breath.
"If that's hard to accept, there are things that can barely be called treasures too, like the warm air machine that melts the winter snow into spring scenery."
Ayane answered with a smile.
Kazahana Doto heard that and was dumbfounded.
Treasure... warm air machine?
Everything he had done in life, the regicide, the fratricide, was for the warm air machine here?
He couldn't hold it any longer and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Falling to the ground, eyes wide open, utterly restless even in death.
"Hey, can't you stop being so morbid?"
Hakushi smiled bitterly at Ayane.
Under the observation of Byakugan, it was likely that Hakushi had known from the start that the so-called treasure of the Land of Snow was the warm air machine.
"I just wanted him to be at peace, to satisfy Kazahana Doto's dying wish. Who knew he was so fragile? That's not my fault, Hakushi-kun."
Ayane's gentle smile appeared devilish in Koyuki and Sandayu's eyes, making them shiver involuntarily.
Only then did they understand why Ayane suddenly brought up the treasure of the Land of Snow in front of Kazahana Doto.
It was to amuse herself by witnessing Kazahana Doto's ludicrous death.
This woman is terrifying! Koyuki and Sandayu thought simultaneously.
"Remember, Koyuki. Don't show mercy to those who harm you; excessive kindness may not make them grateful. The correct way to deal with enemies is to repay them with vengeance, with the heartlessly cold determination like winter, making them never rise again."
Ayane stood before Koyuki, gently stroking her head.
Koyuki nodded repeatedly, everything mother says is right.