Chapter 29 — Ninja From Abroad Really Have No Manners
A moonless, wind-cutting night.
Bending low like hunting felines, Oda Nobunaga's trained shinobi moved silently through the Snow Daimyō's estate.
Things were very different now—Princess Koyuki's plan to reclaim her homeland was conducted with absolute secrecy. There was no "famous actress returning home to shoot a movie" nonsense this time.
And after the spectacle Nobunaga caused outside Grass Village, all eyes on the continent were fixated on Grass shinobi scouring every bush of Grass Country in humiliation.
Which meant:
No one—not even Kazahana Doto, the usurping uncle sitting smugly on the Snow Country throne—could imagine that an entire elite force had slipped right into his backyard.
After all, who in their right mind would believe someone actually led troops through closed-border Amegakure, survived, then crossed Earth Country at blitzkrieg speed—killing anyone who noticed—and arrived without being detected?
Thus, as Oto-nin crept behind the sentries stationed around the mansion's perimeter…
And as those sentries felt a hand clamp over their mouths, a kunai slide across their throats…
The traitors inside the mansion were still drunkenly enjoying their revelry, totally unaware.
Fresh blood steamed briefly against the cold air before the wind of Snow Country scattered their souls.
Bodies were quietly propped against walls, lowered onto the ground like discarded puppets.
The Oto-nin regrouped with cold, emotionless precision.
No one barked commands.
They didn't need to.
Ever since Nobunaga reorganized them with the special-operations doctrine of his home world, every Oto-nin understood their role perfectly.
A few hand signals flashed in the darkness—silent, deadly, efficient.
Not the blunt, brute-force "ninja" style of this era.
In moments, the Oto-nin divided into multiple infiltration teams.
Each advanced in layered waves—scouts leading, others crouched in wait—silent as ghosts.
Explosive tags were then placed one by one at every structural pillar that supported the main mansion.
Time dripped by.
And at the exact agreed moment—
BOOOOM!!!
A thunderous roar shattered the night—the only noise the Oto-nin produced for the entire operation.
With its load-bearing pillars annihilated, the luxurious mansion representing the Snow Daimyō's power collapsed instantly.
Its past grandeur became rubble.
Its celebrating occupants became corpses buried beneath it.
Even then, with victory seconds away, the Oto-nin's eyes remained frozen cold.
They withdrew to safe distance like carved statues of ice—kunai and shuriken drawn—waiting patiently for survivors to crawl out so they could finish the job.
---
"...Tch."
On a high vantage point overlooking the carnage, Kakuzu clicked his tongue.
He'd seen powerful individuals before—nothing special.
But this—this emotionless discipline, this efficient slaughter—this was rare.
These shinobi moved like puppets of death, not like the loud, reckless fighters this era called "ninja."
Kakuzu's sharp gaze drifted toward Oda Nobunaga.
With subordinates like these, did this man even need to hire outside help?
The veteran from the era of Hashirama Senju felt his curiosity deepen.
After the events in Rain Country, even Pain had developed an interest in Nobunaga.
Otherwise, even if Nobunaga had disguised Jūgo and Kimimaro before entering Rain, Pain would have still sensed Orochimaru's lingering serpent scent.
Yet he let it go.
Which meant something was changing.
"Heh… interesting."
A grin tugged at the stitched corners of Kakuzu's mask-like face.
Kakuzu let out a low chuckle—his thoughts came fast and left even faster.
He patted the pouch hidden in his cloak, the one stuffed with a reward so enormous it could rival the combined payout of several S-rank missions from the underground exchange.
With that much money in hand, Kakuzu could sell even his soul if the employer asked.
And now, fully paid, he was prepared to act like every generously paid mercenary:
Treat your employer like your father.
"...They're coming."
His whisper was soft but his eyes gleamed with bloodthirsty anticipation.
He was moments away from leaping down—after all, taking money and not working?
Even his thick skin couldn't justify that.
"Please wait a moment, Mr. Kakuzu."
Nobunaga raised a hand to stop him.
The night wind blew past them, and under the pale moon Nobunaga looked at him with that same calm, gentle smile—yet in those eyes was a feeling Kakuzu had begun to recognize.
The same look Pain gave atop the tower in Amegakure.
A look that saw right through you… and still welcomed you.
---
"Ice Release: Ice-Breaking Sledgehammer!"
From the ruins of the collapsed Snow Daimyō residence, debris suddenly blasted skyward.
A burly man with a square jaw and the build of a full-blooded brawler heaved an entire slab of collapsed roof aside with brute force.
Behind him, three other snow-shinobi crawled out of the rubble, coughing and dazed.
"You bastard—who the hell dares to—!"
He had been dreaming peacefully only moments ago, and suddenly someone tried to send him to the Pure Land.
Anyone would explode with rage.
Luckily, as rebels, these Snow shinobi lived in paranoia day and night—always expecting assassins.
Which is why they slept in full Snow-style chakra armor.
This man—Kazahana Doto—had barely pulled his comrades out when fury erupted like a volcano.
Unfortunately…
He didn't even get to finish his sentence.
---
"ATTACK!"
Oto-nin did not waste time on theatrics, speeches, or dramatic reveals.
And mercy? That wasn't in their dictionary.
At the instant Kinoshita Jirō—sword already drawn—gave the order, a storm of kunai and shuriken filled the sky like a metallic hailstorm.
"You—!"
Freshly freed from danger, Kazahana Doto barely had time to inhale before his eyes widened at the wall of incoming steel.
At that moment he knew:
These attackers definitely were NOT locals of Snow Country.
Locals, no matter how treacherous…
"—would NEVER be this rude!"
With a roar, he grabbed the largest piece of debris he could reach—a broad slab of flooring—and raised it like a giant shield.
Kunai and shuriken hammered against it with loud *clang!*s, vibrating through his arms.
He could tell the slab wouldn't last long.
"Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!"
He wasn't about to stand there like an idiot waiting to die.
Feeling the slab weakening, Doto shouted to the three he had shielded behind him.
"Hurry! Move!"
"You don't need to tell me twice!"
With a sharp shake of her head to clear the ringing in her ears, a voluptuous woman with bright pink hair—Fubuki Kakuyoku—answered back at full volume.
One glance told her all she needed:
They were being hunted.
Without hesitation, she slapped the armored plates on her body—activating the chakra system embedded within.
FWOOOM—
A pair of bat-like wings burst from her back, beating powerfully.
An ability so rare even the great shinobi villages could barely produce a handful of such users…
Flight.
And there she was—rising into the night sky before the Oto-nin's stunned gazes.