"Scorch Release: Extreme Steam!!"
Before the Sand Ninja team could even react, a blazing white fireball shot toward them with terrifying speed.
"There's an ambush! Be careful!"
"This jutsu… it's Pakura! Scatter!"
The Sand shinobi's expressions twisted in horror.
As natives of Sunagakure, they all knew the terror Pakura's Scorch Release carried. And compared to her, their strength was laughably inadequate.
"Ahhh!"
A scream pierced the night. Moments later, another desiccated corpse collapsed onto the ground its body drained dry.
Now, in the bloodstained courtyard, only one girl remained standing.
Though her comrades had all fallen, her face carried no fear only shock, disbelief, and sorrow.
"Pakura-sensei… is that you?"
Her trembling voice carried into the shadows, where the moonlight could not reach.
Tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps echoed. From the darkness, a mature, beautiful figure emerged slowly into view.
"It's really you… Pakura-sensei…"
The girl's eyes widened, her voice quivering as tears welled up.
"Maki…"
Pakura looked upon her former student with complicated eyes, a sigh slipping from her lips.
"You shouldn't have come here."
"If I hadn't come, how could I have seen you again, sensei?"
Tears spilled down Maki's cheeks as she cried out, her voice breaking.
"But why… why did you abandon the village?"
"That's none of your concern."
Pakura's face turned cold, her words sharp and indifferent.
"Maki, for the sake of our past bond, I'll say this only once...leave the Land of Snow immediately, and never come back."
"Sensei, you…"
Maki stared at Pakura's cold expression, disbelief flickering in her eyes.
"Did you really… betray the village?"
"Betrayal?"
Pakura's expression wavered for an instant, anger threatening to crack her composure. Who betrayed whom? she thought bitterly.
But after a brief pause, she exhaled and spoke with a calm, unyielding face.
"If that's how you see it, then so be it. I'll remind you again, leave the Land of Snow."
"Sensei…"
Seeing Pakura's distant and merciless demeanor, Maki's heart clenched.
She finally understood, this was no longer the teacher she had once admired.
"You're no longer the Pakura-sensei I knew."
"That's right."
Pakura's voice was faint, almost detached.
"The Pakura of Sunagakure is already dead. The one standing before you now… is Pakura of the Land of Snow."
Her eyes hardened as she continued:
"As a kunoichi of the Land of Snow, I'll remind you once more, shinobi from other nations have no right to set foot here without permission."
"Those who violate this law will be treated as enemies of the Land of Snow. I have the authority to deport you… or kill you where you stand."
Her words cut like ice.
"I'll warn you one last time...leave."
"Sensei…"
Maki's voice trembled. She shut her eyes tightly, a deep breath forcing down her grief, though tears still slid from their corners.
When she opened them again, her gaze was resolute. She raised her kunai, pointing it directly at her teacher.
"In that case… Pakura of Sunagakure, classified as a missing-nin—I, by the order of the Fourth Kazekage, command you to return to the village!"
"Oh?"
Pakura's lips curved into a faint, almost mocking smile.
"Then show me… how much you've grown since I left."
Her body blurred, vanishing from sight.
"What—?!"
Maki froze, unable to track her movement.
A sharp impact struck the back of her neck with a thud. Pain shot through her body before everything went dark, and she collapsed unconscious to the ground.
"You're still far too naive…"
Pakura sighed as she looked down at the fainted girl lying at her feet.
"Why didn't you tell her the truth...about how Sunagakure betrayed you?"
As those words fell, a swirling distortion formed beside Pakura. Uchiha Obito stepped out of the void, his Sharingan glinting in the moonlight.
Pakura's expression didn't waver.
"Because she still has a mother… and friends in the village. If she knew everything, she would have no place left in Sunagakure. And Rasa would never let her go."
Her tone was calm, almost detached, but the words revealed her intent. She wanted to spare Maki.
To protect her ties to the village. To ensure her disciple never had to stand in open rebellion against the shinobi world.
Obito chuckled softly. "So gentle."
Understanding flickered in his gaze, followed by a sly smile. So she really does care for this one… interesting.
Pakura bent down, lifting the unconscious girl into her arms, then passed her to him. "I'll leave her to you."
"Don't worry," Obito replied smoothly, taking Maki without hesitation. "I'll put her on a cargo ship bound for the Land of Wind."
"That will suffice." Pakura gave a small nod, then turned away.
Later that night, a lone cargo ship creaked across the waves toward the Land of Wind. In a dimly lit cabin, Obito laid Maki gently against a wooden crate.
A splash of water jolted her awake.
"Mmm… where am I?"
Her blurred eyes fluttered open only to meet a pair of crimson tomoe spinning in the dark.
"Ah—"
Her body stiffened. Her gaze went dull. Within seconds, she collapsed once more into unconsciousness.
Obito smirked beneath his mask. "Heh… Pakura will have to thank me for this one day."
He wove subtle hand seals, his Sharingan glimmering as he layered a genjutsu over the girl's mind, locking it with a seal.
"For seven days, it won't break."
The illusion he planted was merciless: the betrayal of Pakura by Sunagakure's elders, the ambush staged by Kirigakure's shinobi, every ugly truth replayed before Maki's eyes.
"When the time comes… after she sees how filthy her village's leaders really are, and the suffering her beloved teacher endured… let's see how she judges Sunagakure then."
Obito smiled wickedly.
"Girl, I look forward to the day you meet your teacher again."
With those words, his body twisted into a spiral of space and vanished from the cabin.
A few days later, an envoy from the Land of Earth arrived in the Land of Snow.
Under the guidance of Snow Country officials, the delegation carefully inspected the operation of the railways and locomotives.
After several days of negotiations, heated arguments, and back-and-forth bargaining, both sides finally reached an agreement.
The Snow Country would send a specialized construction team to the Land of Earth to build railway tracks, while shinobi from Iwagakure would be assigned to protect them during construction.
In return, the Land of Earth would dispatch its own personnel to the Land of Snow to study railway operations—driving, dispatching, and management.
Furthermore, every train would be manufactured exclusively in the Land of Snow, custom-built according to the specifications requested by the Land of Earth.
As for transportation? That was the Snow Country's responsibility. How they delivered the massive machines across the sea was their secret. The Land of Earth's only duty was to pay the price.
It was a safeguard against the risk of technology leaking. After all monopoly always brought the greatest profit.
"Tut, tut… The Land of Earth is bolder than I expected."
Inside the Snow Country's castle tower, Obito looked over the freshly signed agreement, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"This is our first time selling a train. The deal had to be flawless our reputation depends on it."
"Yes, sir!" one of the officials responded respectfully.
With this, the Snow Country's industrial products had once again spread abroad.
First it was cargo ships; now it was trains. But trains were far different from ships, the demand was far greater, and the audience much wider.
If this first deal succeeded, if the Snow Country's craftsmanship won recognition, then the signboard of "Snow Country Industry" would shine bright.
And when that happened, future orders would not merely arrive… they would flood in.
𝘼/𝙉: 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘 ⬇️ 𝙉𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙤: 𝙍𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙃𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙄𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙡