Near the Land of Snow, dense fog swirled.
A massive flagship was hidden in the sea mist, rising and falling with the waves.
"The research here is at a critical stage."
"The rejection reaction of the White Zetsu cells still needs a few more adjustments, so I won't be playing house with you all."
At the cabin entrance, Tsunade, wearing a lab coat, waved dismissively at Naruto.
As for Orochimaru, he didn't even show his face.
"Do as you please."
Naruto didn't care about the attitude of these two mad scientists.
As long as they could produce the results he wanted, he wouldn't mind even if they dismantled the ship for fuel.
Standing at the ship's railing, Haku glanced at the distant coastline and reminded him softly.
"Lord Naruto, according to intelligence, Doto Kazahana seems to possess some kind of armor capable of amplifying chakra."
"If we land the main force rashly without knowing the opponent's trump cards, it might cause unnecessary losses."
"Hmm," Naruto nodded slightly.
"Then, we'll go and test the waters first to see just how sharp this country's teeth really are."
Naruto tightened his cloak and issued an order.
"The main force will stay on standby and wait for the signal."
"Yes," everyone replied in unison.
Subsequently, Naruto, accompanied by Yakushi Kabuto, Haku, Suigetsu, and Karin, stepped onto this northern frozen land as the vanguard.
This was a land completely different from other countries in the ninja world.
After the group passed through the icy mist of the port and climbed over a mountain, the scene before them surprised everyone.
It was not as wild or backward as they had imagined.
In the distant sky, a massive airship was slowly cruising.
On the plains covered with thick snow, neatly laid railway tracks extended to the edge of sight.
This country had a rigorous surveillance system and an industrialized transportation network.
"It's much better than I imagined."
Standing on a high point, looking at the town in the distance, Naruto gave an objective assessment.
"Although Doto Kazahana is an ambitious man, when it comes to national construction, he is far better than ninety percent of the feudal lords who only know how to enjoy themselves."
"This level of industrialization even exceeds most areas of the Land of Fire."
"It is indeed astonishing," Kabuto pushed up his glasses and agreed.
"The transport capacity of these steam trains, trucks, and airships far exceeds the average level of the Five Great Nations."
"If we can take it over, the logistics efficiency of the Mutual Aid Society will increase several times over."
"Tch, what's the use of industrialization if it's that good?"
Suigetsu hunched his shoulders and complained, exhaling white mist.
"Isn't this country still dirt poor and freezing cold?"
"It's almost forgotten by the world."
To gather intelligence, the group infiltrated a small border town.
The atmosphere here was strange.
It was very quiet, terrifyingly quiet.
Although there were many houses along the streets and smoke was rising from the chimneys, one could barely hear any conversation.
Every passerby was wrapped in thick cotton clothes, walking quickly with their heads down, their faces bearing an almost numb expression.
Even when passing each other, there was no eye contact.
It was as if they were a group of components desperately operating just to survive.
Walking to the town center, they encountered an extremely silent funeral.
There was no wailing, nor were there many onlookers.
A family silently carried a simple stretcher, taking a corpse covered in a thin cloth out of the village to be buried in the frozen soil behind the mountain.
"How pitiful."
Karin couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the corpse's pale, frost-covered skin exposed to the air.
Naruto stopped.
He looked at an old man clearing snow by the roadside and asked calmly, "Old man, how did that person die?"
The old man stopped his shovel and raised his cloudy eyes to look at this group of well-dressed strangers.
Perhaps because he was too numb, he didn't show much wariness toward these outsiders, just glancing at the stretcher moving away.
"How else could they die? They froze to death, of course."
"The heating tax has gone up again this year."
"Their family only has one young man working in the mines, who is the pillar of the family."
"As it turned out, he got seriously ill a while ago, and they spent all their savings on medicine, so they couldn't pay the full tax on time."
"To keep his son from freezing to death, his father voluntarily gave up his own heating quota and left all the coal for his son—"
The old man sighed and shook his head.
"He was old, couldn't make it through, and passed away yesterday."
Hearing this, Haku and Karin were stunned.
It wasn't murder, nor was it an accident.
Just because of an illness, to save a little bit of fuel and to let a descendant with more labor value survive, the old man had voluntarily chosen death.
"There was nothing else to be done," the old man looked at the airship in the sky with nostalgia and said bitterly.
"If Lord Sosetsu were still here, it would be good."
"Back then, although there weren't such big airships or trains, at least everyone could get enough coal and wouldn't freeze to death in their own homes."
"Now, if you want to survive, you have to work hard and pay taxes."
"People without value—well, look at the one being carried away, that's their fate."
It seemed he hadn't chatted with anyone for a long time, so the old man rambled on with quite a few complaints.
After listening, Naruto remained expressionless, only pushing up his glasses.
That was it.
It was indeed that same old routine.
It had just transformed from bandit-style open robbery to economic oppression and resource plundering.
Doto Kazahana had established a rigorous military-industrial system, achieving prosperity and strength at the national level.
The cost was squeezing the bottom-level civilians to their limit.
So much so that the lower classes felt feudalism wasn't that hard to accept.
"Let's go," Naruto didn't say much more and turned to leave.
After walking out of the town, Kabuto followed behind Naruto and analyzed in a low voice.
"High-pressure rule, resource monopoly—the civilians have only fear for the rulers, no loyalty."
"This means that once we defeat the top leadership headed by Doto Kazahana, the country will change hands instantly."
"Not only will there be no spontaneous resistance from the people, but they might even welcome us with open arms."
Naruto nodded, his gaze fixed on an important facility at the edge of the town.
"The situation in the country is basically clear."
"Now, I want to see their armed forces."
It was a small train station, responsible for dispatching materials from the surrounding mining areas.
There were scattered about thirty Snow Ninjas in white uniforms defending it.
"Suigetsu, go say hello."
"Hehe, is it finally my turn?"
Suigetsu had long been unable to restrain himself.
He ripped off his cloak, revealing the Kubikiribocho on his back, and swaggered over.
"Hey, you idiots over there!"
"Huh? Who's there?"
A patrolling Snow Ninja squad instantly became alert.
The leader saw Suigetsu carrying the large sword, exuding killing intent, and frowned.
"Suspicious armed personnel?"
"Take him down!"
The leading ninja pressed the switch on the armor behind him.
Immediately, a layer of chakra shield, invisible to the naked eye, enveloped his entire body.
"Is this the so-called Chakra Armor?"
A flash of excitement crossed Suigetsu's eyes.
He shaped his fingers into a pistol and aimed at the opponent's forehead.
"Go to hell, bastard!"
"Water Release: Water Gun Technique!"
Bang!