The stone tiles on the ground were ripped open, and the snow was forced aside from the moment the first bone spear burst out of the ground.
An endless stream of bone spears shot toward the machines firing volleys of kunai.
The bone spears ignored the barrage of kunai completely. Kimimaro crossed several hundred meters in an instant and reached the weapons launching them.
Thud! Thud!
The bone spears of the Dance of the Seedling Fern struck with incredible speed. The soldiers were quickly skewered and killed.
In front of Rengoku, Karin raised one hand.
A sealing array spread out from her palm.
Like a shield, it blocked every kunai fired at them.
Sasuke had activated Susanoo and chose to take the attack head-on, but doing so consumed quite a bit of chakra.
By the time the rain of kunai ended, he was already breathing heavily.
Haku had it easiest. He created an ice mirror beneath his feet and slipped into it.
All the kunai flew harmlessly over the mirror.
Rengoku walked up to Nadare Roga and knocked him unconscious with a chop to the neck.
Then he examined the chakra armor on his body.
Simple sealing arrays were engraved onto it, allowing the energy stored in the crystal ore embedded in the chest to be drawn out.
There was nothing especially profound about it. The only truly valuable part was the crystal ore itself.
"Susanoo is a combat method, but you still need to think more about when and how to use it," Seeing Sasuke walk over, Rengoku gave him a reminder.
Sasuke knew his master was dissatisfied with how he'd used Susanoo to block the kunai barrage, "Yes, Shishou. I understand."
He had panicked just now. There had actually been several ways to avoid the attack without relying on Susanoo to tank it.
He had been training his Mangekyo Sharingan a lot lately, so he'd used it almost instinctively.
Rengoku waved his hand, and the group quickly entered the palace.
Inside, large numbers of soldiers stood ready behind shields and long spears in defensive formation.
Beside them were rows of the same kunai volley launchers.
The space inside was much narrower. If all those launchers fired at once, they would be far more dangerous than they had been outside.
Meanwhile, Kazahana Doto had changed into a different set of chakra armor from the three Snow ninja.
Seeing Rengoku's group enter, Doto said coldly, "What exactly are you after?"
This time, Rengoku questioned, "Where is Kazahana Koyuki?"
Doto froze for a moment before his face darkened, "So you're looking for Kazahana Koyuki."
"I've been searching for her for over ten years and haven't found a single trace of her."
Rengoku had only thrown the question out to test him. Whether he found Koyuki or not, he could still open the Ice Wall.
In fact, while they were talking, his Dojutsu clone had already slipped through the shadows inside the palace and moved deeper in.
"If you're after the treasure left behind by Kazahana Sosetsu..."
Doto watched Rengoku's reaction carefully as he probed him.
At that moment, Rengoku raised one hand, "Universal Pull!"
A tremendous force of attraction swept over the kunai launchers ahead.
The machines, which had been bolted to the ground, twisted apart as they rolled through the air toward Rengoku.
At the same time, his Dojutsu clone rose from the shadows and cut down the soldiers below who had been preparing to fire the launchers.
Only then did Doto realize he'd been tricked.
"Attack! Kill them!", he roared.
The soldiers raised their shields and spears and advanced toward Rengoku's group.
Rengoku formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Demon Lantern!"
Large numbers of fireballs suddenly appeared beside the soldiers. Basketball-sized flames exploded right next to their faces.
"Ah!"
"Help!"
"Run!"
The fireballs appearing out of nowhere instantly threw the soldiers into chaos.
Rengoku waved his hand.
Sasuke charged in with the Kusanagi Sword, while Kimimaro drew two bone swords and followed.
At the rear, Doto pressed a button on his arm.
A series of dull rumbles echoed through the palace.
The entire palace had been rigged with explosives beneath it.
But Doto clearly had no intention of blowing himself up, so he'd set them on a delayed fuse.
Just then, the roof of the palace was suddenly torn away, and freezing wind poured inside.
Looking up, they saw a massive airship overhead. Thick cables hanging beneath it had ripped the roof off the palace.
Two wings extended from Doto's back.
He flew into the air with a smug look.
"Enjoy the feast I've prepared for you."
The sounds of explosions were rapidly drawing closer.
The floor beneath Rengoku and the others suddenly gave way, and they all fell.
———
After receiving Asama Shiro's report, Kazahana Koyuki hurried to the watchtower and picked up a telescope.
She watched as Rengoku's group fought their way through the palace's front entrance.
Three years ago, when Doto had lured her back to the Land of Snow under the pretense of filming, he had nearly captured her.
Only Asama Sandayu's desperate efforts had allowed her to escape.
Over the past few years, she had concealed her identity and contacted many resistance groups, preparing to overthrow Doto.
As for why Koyuki had been able to establish a base so close to the palace, Doto's tyranny had driven many of his own subordinates to secretly defect to the resistance.
Even so, the resistance was still too weak to stand against him.
Watching Rengoku's group charge straight into the palace, uncertainty filled her face.
A remote place like the Land of Snow rarely attracted powerful people.
For years, no one had been able to defeat Doto.
Now, it seemed he had finally picked a fight with the wrong people.
"Shiro, gather our people. Let's go see what's happening."
"Yes!"
By the time they had led several dozen people close to the palace to investigate, a deafening explosion came from inside.
The entire roof of the palace was blown away, and the center of the building collapsed in.
The people who had just stormed into the palace had vanished.
Doto, clad in his chakra armor, hovered in the sky with two wings spread behind him.
"So they still failed..."
Disappointment filled Koyuki's face.
Even opponents that strong couldn't defeat Doto. Did her side have any chance at all?
Just as despair began to take hold of her, she suddenly saw a massive flame shoot out from the collapsed palace and race toward Doto.
Startled and furious, Doto hadn't expected the enemy to still be able to attack from such a distance.
He quickly formed hand seals, his face twisted in a furious roar.
"Twin Dragon Blizzard!"
The chakra armor covering Doto emitted two gray beams of light that transformed into dragon-shaped projectiles.
But the flames Rengoku had transformed into suddenly swelled, smashing both gray dragons apart.
Doto was stunned.
How could his opponent be this powerful?
"Damn it! How is this possible?"
He frantically beat his wings, trying to escape.
But after shattering his jutsu, the flames transformed back into a human figure.
The next moment, a single finger touched Doto's forehead.
His vision went black, and he never moved again.