"You aren't Doto, who are you?" Kazahana Sosetsu demanded.
"It's really strange, a normal person actually saw through my exquisite Transformation Jutsu. You should know that this is the result of me constantly imitating Lord Doto while following him every day." The substitute no longer pretended after being exposed.
The ninjas on Kazahana Sosetsu's side instantly turned pale, because this meant that Kazahana Doto had slipped away right under their noses.
"I'm sorry, Lord Sosetsu, we failed to complete the task properly." The lead ninja knelt halfway in admission of his mistake.
"I will immediately send people to conduct a large-scale search, and strive to find Kazahana Doto, the criminal, as soon as possible." The lead ninja then proposed a remedial measure.
"Hahaha, it's already too late, no need for you to look for Lord Doto, Lord Doto will soon come to find you, only Lord Doto can bring strength to the Snow Country!" the substitute laughed and said.
Seeing how arrogant the substitute was, the ninja who caught him gave his abdomen a hard punch, indicating for him to be quiet.
As if in response to the substitute's words, in the afternoon Kazahana Doto led a group of Snow Ninjas to launch a surprise attack on Kazahana City.
Although Kazahana Sosetsu had strengthened Kazahana City's power thanks to Mokgetsu's reminder, the ninja forces he controlled were far from comparable to Snow Village. His cuts on the funds weren't just for the Ninja Village, but for the entire country's military funding.
As for the regular armies or samurai, they were even less useful. The Snow Ninja could easily use some large-scale Snow Ninjutsu to render them unable to fight.
Fearing Mokgetsu and thinking that Kazahana Koyuki's existence might pose a threat, Kazahana Doto led the Snow Ninjas to attack Kazahana Koyuki's location. Kazahana Doto knew his naive brother too well; he wouldn't run away.
Thus, the main battlefield gradually shifted towards Kazahana Koyuki, the commotion growing louder, drawing the attention of Obito and Kazahana Setsugetsu.
"It's so noisy, what's happening?" Kazahana Koyuki stood on her tiptoes, looking into the distance.
At this moment, Kazahana Sosetsu came here with a bunch of guards, and with an apologetic expression, he said to Mokgetsu:
"Sorry, I wasted the intelligence you obtained, Mokgetsu, and didn't solve the problem immediately. Please take Koyuki away from Kazahana City, away from the Snow Country. This is my request as a father."
The development of events exceeded Kazahana Sosetsu's expectations. He didn't expect Kazahana Doto to act so swiftly. If they hadn't acted sooner, the evidence might not have even been fully uncovered by now.
The power supporting Kazahana Doto also exceeded Kazahana Sosetsu's expectations. The defense forces in Kazahana City were no match.
Although Mokgetsu might be an excellent ninja, Kazahana Doto had hundreds of Snow Ninjas on his side, so Kazahana Sosetsu decided to have Mokgetsu take his daughter and break through, leaving himself to live or die with Kazahana City.
"Why do we have to leave the Snow Country? I don't want to part with my father." Kazahana Koyuki asked in confusion.
Although she was a bit curious about the Land of Fire, she felt something was off.
"Because your father made a big mistake, and is going to be punished. If you're with him, you'll be punished too." Kazahana Sosetsu gently touched Kazahana Koyuki's head with a smile and said.
"Then I want to be punished with Father." Kazahana Koyuki grabbed Kazahana Sosetsu's arm with both hands.
Kazahana Sosetsu showed a helpless expression as he picked up Kazahana Koyuki, attempting to have Mokgetsu take her away by force.
But Mokgetsu didn't take Kazahana Koyuki whom Sosetsu handed over. Mokgetsu lifted his black-framed glasses with his right hand and smiled:
"Although the task is to protect the princess, upgrading it to quelling a rebellion isn't a big problem, but additional commission fees need to be supplemented later."
The way Kazahana Sosetsu handled things could definitely be called the antics of a foolish ally. However, for Mokgetsu, with his overwhelming power, the best or worst-case scenario didn't make much difference. At most, it was just a remote Small Ninja Village.
In fact, the worst-case scenario might be more beneficial to Mokgetsu; after all, it would allow Obito and the others to exercise themselves and earn more rewards for the mission.
"Mokgetsu, I must remind you, Doto has hundreds of ninjas on his side." Kazahana Sosetsu reminded.
With Mokgetsu's intelligence skills, he must be an excellent ninja, but no matter how strong Mokgetsu is, he can't fight hundreds of ninjas alone.
"Daimyo, I need to remind you, Teacher Mokgetsu is really strong," Obito stepped forward and said.