Rengoku straightened up, "Go answer the door, Karin."
Karin adjusted her clothes. The room was probably too warm, and her face was slightly flushed.
She hopped off the bed and let Sasuke and the other two inside.
"Come in. It's cold outside."
After entering, Sasuke stretched a little before taking off his scarf and coat.
It was just too cold here. He hadn't really noticed while driving the snow vehicle earlier.
But after going out to gather information, he had nearly frozen into an icicle.
Haku covered his mouth and laughed, "I already told you we could've gone by ourselves, but you insisted on coming."
Since he specialized in Ice Release, the cold didn't bother him. All he did after coming back inside was remove the cloak he was wearing.
"I just didn't want to watch Shishou and Karin...", Sasuke muttered something under his breath, but his voice was too low for anyone to make out.
Kimimaro stepped forward and reported to Rengoku, "Lord Rengoku, we've confirmed that the current ruler of the Land of Snow is Kazahana Doto."
"Nothing like the melting of the ice at the Ice Wall has happened."
"Kazahana Doto has been searching for someone all these years, but despite looking for many years, he still hasn't found them."
"Over the years, he's ruled with an iron fist, repeatedly raising taxes, expanding the military, and developing weapons."
"A great many people are dissatisfied with him. On average, there have been three or four assassination attempts against Kazahana Doto every year."
"But he's managed to survive every one of them."
Sasuke looked rather pleased with himself, "If I hadn't gone with them, they wouldn't have gotten this information so easily."
He wasn't wrong.
Talking openly about these things outside could easily get someone arrested.
It was thanks to Sasuke using his Sharingan to hypnotize a few people that they managed to obtain this intelligence.
Rengoku reached over and flicked Sasuke on the head.
"Using your Sharingan so recklessly, what if someone noticed?"
Sasuke tilted his head, trying to dodge Rengoku's hand, but failed.
Thunk!
He rubbed his forehead.
"They wouldn't. I was very careful."
A faint smile tugged at Rengoku's lips. He simply nodded without saying anything else.
Then he stroked his chin in thought.
Since Kazahana Koyuki hadn't been making movies these past two years, her identity had obviously been exposed.
But the Ice Wall still hadn't been opened, meaning Kazahana Doto hadn't caught her.
After all, the key to opening the Ice Wall had always been hanging around her neck.
'Forget it. Tomorrow I'll just deal with Kazahana Doto. If Kazahana Koyuki hears the news, she should show up.'
After thinking it over briefly, Rengoku decided to solve this problem in the simplest way.
"This information is enough. That's it for today. Tomorrow's plan is to assassinate Kazahana Doto."
Hearing Rengoku's words, neither Haku nor Kimimaro showed any reaction. To them, Rengoku's words were the truth itself. They had never doubted him.
A look of excitement flashed through Sasuke's eyes.
After all, Kazahana Doto was still the ruler of a country. There was bound to be plenty of fighting.
Karin loved it when things got lively. Hearing that tomorrow's activity would be so exciting made her eyes light up as well.
Rengoku glanced at the time, "That's enough. It's getting late. Everyone get some rest."
Everyone found their own bed and drew the curtain beside it shut.
That's right, they were all sharing one room with four beds, separated only by curtains.
Normally, when traveling, they should have rented several rooms.
But the fee for heating with firewood was charged by room, so nearly every room in the inn was laid out like this.
Rengoku and the others weren't picky. They were only staying for one night anyway.
Since they were on a mission, they all slept fully dressed.
Still, with the fireplace burning, the room wasn't cold.
Karin hugged Rengoku and whispered, "Shishou, outside..."
Rengoku gently patted her head twice, "I know. Don't worry about them. Go to sleep."
Karin answered softly and, holding Rengoku, quickly fell asleep.
———
[Outside the Inn]
In the alley beneath the window, someone was watching Rengoku's room, "They're staying here?"
"Yeah."
Two ninja wearing camouflage outfits whispered to each other.
Judging by the forehead protectors they wore, they were Snow ninja.
"Have you figured out who they are?", the taller Snow ninja asked quietly.
"No. But the crystal ore powder reacts to them."
The other Snow ninja took out a colorful, irregularly shaped crystal from his pocket and held it in his hand. He scraped it a few times with a kunai.
Fine, glittering powder fell from the crystal.
Even though there was no wind, the powder drifted on its own toward the room where Rengoku was staying.
"Let's go take a look."
Seeing this, the taller Snow ninja realized the matter was important and signaled to his companion.
The two immediately ran silently along the wall.
The moment they reached the window, before they could make a move, two hands suddenly emerged from the wall and grabbed them by the throat.
The two Snow ninja looked over in shock.
But a pair of crimson Sharingan filled their vision.
Neither of them even had time to make a sound before they passed out.
Both Rengoku and Karin possessed sensory abilities, so naturally they wouldn't leave them unused while traveling.
The reason Rengoku could sleep peacefully despite knowing someone was outside was because he had left a dojutsu clone standing guard.
He carried the two men into a corner, pried open one of their eyelids, and cast a genjutsu on him.
The Snow ninja immediately stood upright like a puppet and took out the crystal ore from his clothes.
Rengoku picked up the crystal and sensed the enormous amount of natural energy contained within it.
"Natural energy has actually condensed into crystal?"
He finally understood why they had been targeted.
Rengoku, Kimimaro, and Haku were all capable of using Sage Mode.
Under normal circumstances, the Sage Chakra stored in a person's body gradually dissipated, and it couldn't be stored in large quantities.
So they were all in the habit of constantly absorbing natural energy and converting it into Sage Chakra.
Once the crystal was scraped into powder, it would naturally drift toward wherever natural energy was being absorbed.
"Where did this crystal ore come from? What is it used for? Who do you work for?"
Under the influence of the genjutsu, the Snow ninja answered everything.
They were all subordinates of Kazahana Doto.
The crystal ore was all mined from the area around the Ice Wall.
Kazahana Doto used these crystals to power Chakra Armor.
It was something he had been developing for a long time. It could not only enhance physical strength but also amplify ninjutsu, functioning in much the same way as Sage Mode.
However, because it didn't combine spiritual energy and physical energy, its enhancement wasn't as great as Sage Mode's.
Its advantage was that any ninja could wear this armor.
By now, Kazahana Doto had already recruited many rogue ninja and equipped them with Chakra Armor.
Naturally, the goal was to fulfill his ambition of conquering the world.
Rengoku shook his head helplessly.
In this world, ordinary civilians had a very limited understanding of the world.
Even the ruler of a small country like Kazahana Doto was shortsighted.
After all, people like him had never seen what a Tailed Beast was, or what a true powerhouse looked like.
After questioning him for almost everything he needed to know, Rengoku killed the two Snow ninja with a single slash each, then buried them directly beneath the snow.
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