Not long after, Naruto and Kiba returned, having caught the fleeing Koyuki Kazahana.
"Hmm?"
Kiyosuke and Kakashi turned toward the snowy ground. The cold frost beneath their feet suddenly melted away, revealing two long steel tracks, steaming with heat.
"This is… a railway? I didn't expect this country's technology to have reached this level."
Where there's a railway, there's a train. And a working train—whether for cargo or passengers—made transportation far more convenient.
In contrast, even the powerful Land of Fire had yet to lay a single railway. Steam-powered vehicles were rare, with most transport still relying on animals. Comparing the two was like night and day.
"Konoha really needs to start building these," Kiyosuke murmured. It was bound to happen sooner or later—better to start early.
The sudden appearance of the tracks left the film crew stunned. They had never seen anything like it. Sandayū Asama sensed something was wrong and hurried over to inspect them.
"It's chakra," he said quickly. "A small amount of chakra is being fed into the tracks to melt the ice. That guy's here, Kiyosuke-sama!"
At that moment, Kiyosuke and Kakashi were more intrigued by the fact that chakra could be used to melt an entire section of frozen railway.
"Hey, hey, no way—melting a railway this long with chakra? Do you know how many Kakashis that would take?" Kiyosuke exclaimed.
Everyone's chakra was limited. Not everyone was like him, Naruto, or Hashirama—able to spend chakra recklessly. Two full tracks like this… how many Kakashi-units worth of chakra would it take?
Kakashi gave a helpless sigh.
"Don't make me your unit of measurement. And besides, he's got all the Snow Country's shinobi under his command. He probably used their chakra."
"Kiyosuke-sensei, what is this?" Hinata and the others returned and stared at the tracks, unable to recognize them. In their minds, if anyone knew, it would be Kiyosuke.
"These are train tracks," Kiyosuke explained. "They're the exclusive road for a kind of transport called a train. Trains can only run on the tracks—they can't go elsewhere—and they only move forward or backward. The advantage is that they're huge, able to carry lots of people and goods. Do you hear that?"
Woo—woo—woo—
The sound of a train echoed from the depths of a dark tunnel. Everyone turned to look. A black, serpent-like giant surged out of the darkness, startling those who had never seen such a machine.
Screech!
The train screeched to a halt, sparks flying from its wheels. Kiyosuke looked at it—it was an old-fashioned steam locomotive pulling a long, specially made carriage.
"HINATA," he said softly.
"Yes! Byakugan!"
Hinata activated her Byakugan to peer inside the carriage. She saw a maze of mechanisms filled with sharp kunai and other weapons she'd never seen before, then relayed her findings to her teacher.
Kiyosuke turned to the director.
"Director, get your crew to hide. Otherwise… well, I can't promise what will happen."
The director understood the gravity of the situation and immediately ordered everyone back, hiding by the tunnel wall.
Just then, a sharp, mocking voice rang out from the train.
"Long time no see, Koyuki!"
"Kazahana… Dotō…"
Koyuki Kazahana's face went pale, her eyes wide, as if the voice had stirred up bitter memories.
From the carriage emerged a tall man dressed in the Snow Country daimyo's ornate robes, with Rōge Nadare standing watchfully at his side. Holding a loudspeaker in his hand, the square-jawed man smiled.
"It's been… what, ten years? My dear niece! Come now—let me see the lovely face of the famous actress Yukie Fujikaze!"
Kiyosuke stepped protectively to Koyuki's side, making Kazahana Dotō frown.
"So, you're the shinobi from Konoha? Young. I know of your strength… but this is the Snow Country's internal matter. Interfering is tantamount to provoking war."
Kiyosuke scratched his ear.
"War? It's not that easy to start one. And honestly, the Snow Country is so small, the Land of Fire wouldn't care. It's far, it's freezing—Fire Country wouldn't want it even if it were free. So don't get ahead of yourself, Kazahana Dotō. You're not as important as you think."
War?
Who's afraid of that?
It's not like I haven't been in one.
What, does he think I was doing during the Third Shinobi War?
He snorted, utterly unimpressed by Dotō's threat—if anything, amused.
Being ignored only fueled Dotō's anger. His expression hardened.
"In that case… attack! Kill them!"
At his command, turret-like structures rose from the train's roof, each with a man seated at it. The carriages' sides split open, revealing rows upon rows of sharpened kunai primed to fire.
"The Snow Country's tech really is something else."
Even Kiyosuke had to admit—when it came to technology, the Snow Country left the Five Great Nations in the dust.
But he wasn't about to give them a chance to use it.
In a flash, he split into shadow clones, each leaping onto a separate carriage, flames bursting to life around them before—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A chain of explosions rocked the area, catching Dotō and Rōge completely off guard.
But both wore chakra armor. They reacted instantly, escaping the blast zone.
Snow sprayed skyward. The thunderous detonations triggered a massive avalanche. Standing before the roaring snow, Kiyosuke swung his fist, flames melting the white torrent to reveal earth that hadn't seen sunlight in years.
"Amazing!"
The younger ones' eyes sparkled with awe. Dangerous as it was, Kiyosuke's move was undeniably cool.
Above them, Dotō's ornate robes were gone—ripped away to reveal black chakra armor different from Rōge's. Black wings spread from his back, holding him aloft, his face dark with fury.
That train had cost him a fortune to build, and now it was gone in an instant. It made his heart bleed.
"Fortunately… I have a backup plan!"
With a sweep of his hand, an airship rose from the cliffside beside the tracks. Dotō dove down at speed, snatching Koyuki.
Kiyosuke clicked his tongue and prepared to give chase, but snow shinobi aboard the airship hurled kunai bound with glowing blue spheres. The frigid chakra radiating from them caught his attention.
He exhaled a wave of flame, melting most of the spheres midair. The few that struck the ground sprouted razor-sharp ice spikes like frozen trees—lethal and unyielding.
Koyuki was dragged into the airship, forcing Kiyosuke to land. But Naruto had already thrown a rope-tied kunai into its hull and was racing after it.
"That brat…"
Then again—fine. Let him go.
They won't get far.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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