Kakashi carried Yukie Fujikaze out of the small tavern with the others and boarded the ship bound for the Land of Snow.
The next morning, Yukie Fujikaze woke up to see the vast, rolling ocean before her. She was completely dumbfounded—she had been forcibly brought aboard by this group, despite having no desire whatsoever to go to the Land of Snow.
For some reason, that country gave her a bad feeling. She wanted nothing to do with it.
But now that she had boarded this "pirate ship," she had no choice but to grit her teeth and go.
The film crew's staff touched up Yukie Fujikaze's makeup and helped her into her costume. The beautiful Princess Gale once again appeared before everyone's eyes.
Filming began. Normally cold and aloof, Yukie Fujikaze seemed like a completely different person in front of the camera, slipping right into the role of Princess Gale with explosive acting skill. The younger ones, watching a movie shoot for the first time, couldn't help but be impressed.
"How does it look to you?" Kiyosuke walked up beside Kakashi and asked.
He was watching Yukie Fujikaze sobbing over a "corpse" in the scene.
"Her acting's good," Kakashi replied with his signature dead-fish eyes.
"Don't be glib. I think there's more to this than meets the eye," Kiyosuke said, crossing his arms.
"That Asama Sandayū guy isn't as simple as he looks. At the very least, he's not just an ordinary talent agent."
As a manager, Asama Sandayū should have considered his client's wishes. Yukie Fujikaze clearly didn't want to go to the Land of Snow, yet he was pushing hard for her to go, even being forceful about it. That reeked of ulterior motives.
Besides, rumor had it he was the original director of Princess Gale. But in order to persuade the investors to shoot in the Land of Snow, he had willingly given up his position as director.
That was far too deliberate.
"Mm, true. But our mission is just to escort her, not to interfere too much," Kakashi said calmly. He had a bad feeling about this whole thing and decided it was better not to stir up trouble.
Kiyosuke shook his head. With Naruto around, there was no way things would stay quiet—Naruto was a born troublemaker.
Still… the Land of Snow. Why did that sound so familiar? Hadn't Naruto been on a mission there before?
It had been too long. His memory was fuzzy, and he couldn't recall the details.
He shook his head and pushed the thought aside. There were very few things left that could truly hold his attention now.
The ship sailed across the vast, heaving ocean, rising and falling with the waves. Filming for Princess Gale continued without pause. Yukie Fujikaze proved herself a true professional—most of her scenes were done in a single take, without the need for retakes. Her temper might be bad, but her professionalism as an actress was beyond question.
Time passed quickly.
That night, after wrapping up for the day and having dinner, Kiyosuke told the kids to make sure to keep warm while sleeping. Then he went to rest himself.
By morning, Kiyosuke and Kakashi were both awakened by the cold.
"Man, why is it so freezing this early in the day?" Kiyosuke sneezed as he sat up, quickly adjusting his body to adapt to the chill.
Because of his unique constitution, he could regulate his own temperature in any season. In moments, his body radiated warmth like a furnace.
After washing up, Kakashi put on an extra layer and wrapped a scarf around his neck. Hot air puffed out from behind his mask as he said,
"What's with this weather? It suddenly got this cold? Judging by the distance, we should be near the Land of Snow, but it shouldn't be this cold yet."
"Something unusual must have happened. Let's go take a look."
They stepped out onto the deck and saw an iceberg suddenly looming in the middle of the sea.
It radiated an icy chill—that explained the sudden drop in temperature.
The director, seeing the iceberg that had drifted into view, immediately decided to use it as a backdrop for some scenes, eager to make the most of this free "set" delivered by nature.
The crew began hauling equipment onto the ice. Kiyosuke and the others followed, since Yukie Fujikaze—their escort target—was there. They couldn't just stay behind.
Once on the iceberg, Kiyosuke noticed it wasn't pure ice; a thick layer of snow covered its surface.
Filming began again. Kiyosuke approached Hinata.
"Hinata, use your Byakugan to check the surroundings."
"Got it. Byakugan!"
Hinata activated her Byakugan and spotted several figures hiding under the thick snow, slowly making their way toward Yukie Fujikaze, who was filming nearby.
"Kiyosuke-sensei, there are people here."
They weren't part of the crew—the crew members who had come up with them were all in plain sight. The ones buried in the snow were clearly outsiders.
"Just as I thought."
Switching to thermal imaging, Kiyosuke confirmed it: over a dozen people were lying in wait beneath the snow.
So they really were here for him.
He signaled Hinata to stay quiet, then exchanged a glance with Kakashi—he'd spotted them too.
They both nodded. Kiyosuke walked over to stand directly above one of the hidden figures, grinned, and stomped down hard.
"Aaagh!"
A scream rang out. Kakashi immediately sprang into action, hurling a kunai with an explosive tag toward the ice above the actor playing the villain in the scene.
The sudden blast startled everyone.
"What the hell's going on?!" the director yelled angrily.
Having such a perfect shot ruined irritated him greatly—film stock wasn't cheap!
"Enemies incoming!" Kiyosuke called out.
Sure enough, out of the cloud of snow and ice stepped a man in a blue-and-white bodysuit with strange pieces of armor attached to it. He wore a forehead protector from the Land of Snow's ninja village, his pale lavender hair tied back in a ponytail, a wicked smile on his face.
"Welcome to the Land of Snow. Been a while, hasn't it, Kakashi? Must be about ten years now, right? I'm surprised you're still this sharp after all these years. Wonder if you'll end up running away like last time I chased you out of the Land of Snow!"
The man laughed arrogantly, his eyes full of mockery.
"Rōga Nadare… yeah, it's been a long time," Kakashi said with a cold snort before warning,
"Everyone, be careful—they're Snow Ninja! Kiyosuke!"
"Snow Ninja, huh? First time I've run into them. Now that you mention it, Kakashi, you did make a trip to the Land of Snow ten years ago. I think I had another mission then, so I didn't go with you. That mission failed, didn't it?"
That had been a solo mission for Kakashi, and as far as Kiyosuke remembered, it hadn't ended well.
It was one of the few failures in Kakashi's career.
"Yeah. By the time I got there, my client's cause was already lost. Staying would've been pointless. With their armor's enhancements, I couldn't beat them. All I could do was escort his daughter to safety before leaving the Land of Snow. You could call that mission a failure."
Kakashi admitted it plainly—there had been nothing he could do back then. Without teammates, there was no way he could defeat them alone.