[64] Rescuing Kazahana Koyuki

After dodging fifteen patrol squads, Sora and Kakashi finally reached the vicinity of the dungeon.

"It seems like Kazahana Dotō knew that Sandayū Asama had requested assistance from Konoha. Otherwise, security wouldn't be this tight," Kakashi remarked thoughtfully as he observed a patrol squad moving into the distance.

Kakashi was curious why Sora didn't just help Kazahana Koyuki reclaim her country directly, as he clearly had the strength to do so.

However, since Sora hadn't explained his reasons, Kakashi chose not to inquire further. He figured it must have something to do with Konoha's long-term plans anyway.

As they advanced, an open clearing appeared in front of them, stretching about a hundred meters. At the center stood the entrance to the dungeon.

"So, what's your plan now?" Sora turned his head toward Kakashi with a teasing grin.

Using the Earth-Style: Underground Projection Fish Technique wasn't an option, since the area around the dungeon was reinforced with solid rock.

The dungeon entrance was about a hundred meters away, guarded by forty or fifty soldiers.

Though Kakashi could handle them, doing so without alerting others was clearly impossible.

Kakashi calmly smiled. "Since stealth isn't feasible, we'll just charge in directly. As long as we rescue them and leave before enemy reinforcements arrive, it'll be fine."

Thinking for a moment, he added, "From the moment Kazahana Dotō receives the alert, it'll take about ten minutes for him to get here. We must finish everything within eight minutes."

Despite sounding confident, Kakashi wasn't truly worried.

If everything went smoothly, they would just save the captives and leave; if things went poorly, well...sorry, enemies, you'll have to die.

After all, he was accompanied by a guy who could thrash the Nine-Tails head-on. If Sora really got involved, what could the enemy even do but await death?

"Great, your idea sounds solid." Sora jumped onto a rooftop, pulled out snacks from his portable space, and lazily gestured ahead. "Go get them, Kakashi!"

Hearing that, Kakashi's face darkened. He seriously wanted to beat this spectator up—but sadly, he couldn't win.

"No provoking this guy…" Kakashi comforted himself inwardly, then dashed forward.

Activating the Body Flicker Jutsu, his speed was astonishing. The soldiers barely saw a blur.

But even this blur was enough for them to realize someone had infiltrated.

These were Dotō's loyal men guarding the dungeon, much more alert than those regular patrol soldiers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bodies hit the ground one after another, but Kakashi couldn't prevent their shouting.

"Enemy—Enemy attack!"

"Quick, someone—Enemy attack!"

As these cries rang out, Kakashi appeared behind the final guard and knocked him unconscious with a swift strike to the neck.

"Thud!" The last soldier collapsed onto the ground.

"Not bad." Instantly appearing beside Kakashi, Sora commented, "Fifty men, taken down in one minute!"

"Quickly, let's head in before reinforcements arrive!" Dropping this, Kakashi rushed into the dungeon.

Fighting in open terrain wasn't ideal; inside the dungeon, at least he could move faster.

Sora shrugged helplessly, strolling leisurely after him at a slow pace.

"Ice Style—Narwhal Blizzard!"

When Sora finally entered, Kakashi had already knocked out the guards inside but was now being chased around by Rouga Nadare.

Kakashi's clothes were torn in several places, making him look quite miserable.

Sora glanced briefly and understood instantly: Kakashi wasn't weaker than Nadare; he was just avoiding causing collateral damage to the unconscious soldiers around him.

Those soldiers had already fainted; they had no way to avoid stray ninjutsu attacks.

But Nadare didn't care about friendly fire, throwing around large-scale jutsu without hesitation.

To avoid harming the unconscious soldiers, Kakashi had no choice but to keep dodging, unable to find an opportunity to counterattack.

"Tch! This won't do!" In the next moment, numerous afterimages of Sora appeared within the dungeon.

When the afterimages vanished, all unconscious soldiers had been tossed outside by Sora.

"Now it's my turn!" Kakashi growled coldly, glaring at Nadare, who had been laughing arrogantly.

Sora glanced at the two briefly and then headed deeper into the dungeon to look for Kazahana Koyuki and Sandayū Asama.

Seeing this, Nadare tried to stop Sora, but Kakashi immediately blocked his way.

"Your opponent is me—don't try anything extra!"

"Damn you! Then just die!"

"Ice Style—Narwhal Blizzard!"

"Ice Style—Narwhal Blizzard!"

Kakashi activated his Sharingan, perfectly replicating Nadare's movements. In the next instant, two whales of ice and snow collided fiercely.

Normally, the Sharingan couldn't copy kekkei genkai, but the ice techniques Nadare used weren't true kekkei genkai.

Nadare merely used the environment of the Land of Snow combined with his chakra armor to mimic ice-style techniques.

Thus, Kakashi could copy it without issue.

As they clashed, Sora had already reached the deepest part of the dungeon.

Numerous prisoners were locked here, but they stayed silent. They had heard the commotion outside and assumed Sora was a ninja, so they dared not speak up.

At the second-to-last cell, Sora saw Sandayū Asama.

He looked much younger than his anime counterpart, but otherwise, he appeared exactly the same.

Sora walked straight past his cell and stopped in front of Koyuki's cell instead.

Why would he rescue an old man first, when a lovely young lady was right here? Was that some kind of joke?

"Kazahana Koyuki?" Sora asked, looking at the dirty, timid little girl, about eleven or twelve years old.

She nervously nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"Then there's no problem." Sora casually snapped the chains on the cell door. "I'm a ninja from Konoha. I've accepted the mission to get you safely out of the Land of Snow."

Creak. Opening the door, Sora said, "Let's go!"

She stepped out cautiously, visibly relaxing when she saw that Sora was around her age.

She timidly asked, "Could you...could you also bring Sandayū Asama with us?"

"Sure." Nodding, Sora stepped over to Sandayū's cell, repeating his previous action and freeing him.

Throughout this process, Sandayū kept asking about the situation in the Land of Snow, even hoping Sora would help them reclaim their country.

However, no matter what he said, Sora completely ignored him, occasionally chatting lightly with Koyuki instead.

Seeing Sora's attitude, Sandayū helplessly shut his mouth.

What Sandayū didn't realize was that this choice had inadvertently saved his own life.

Sora didn't appreciate people pushing their luck. Saving you was already generous enough—how dare you try to exploit me further?

Though Sora wouldn't outright kill Sandayū, he certainly could have chosen to take only Koyuki.

/// 30+ advanced chapters on patreon.com/Emik01