Naruto: Cherry Blossoms in the Snow

Chapter 29: Konoha's Strategist at the Border

When Shisui started talking about peace, the hope gleaming in his eyes made Sakura almost want to scoff. All that talk about peace—and you ended up getting tricked by Danzo into dying for it.

Hearing Shisui's final words, a trace of sadness flashed in Kakashi's right eye. If it hadn't been for the war, maybe Obito and Rin wouldn't have died either…

Guy silently nodded in agreement. If not for war, he wouldn't have been sent to the battlefield at such a young age, and his father wouldn't have had to sacrifice his life to protect him.

With this shared topic, the atmosphere between them eased considerably. All three—Shisui, Kakashi, and Guy—had lived through war firsthand. Their longing for peace was real. And Sakura, having lived in a peaceful world in her previous life, naturally wished for peace as well.

Kakashi felt like he was slipping. As an elite ANBU, he was supposed to carry out missions with razor-sharp focus. But now? What was this? Flying through the sky on a magic sword, no fear of enemy attacks, surrounded by food and drink thanks to Shisui's storage scrolls—and the rest of the time spent reading Icha Icha Paradise. At this rate, all his hard-earned ninja discipline was going to rot away.

But… he had to admit, this laid-back life felt amazing.

After years of suffering, Kakashi was entertaining the idea of just letting go. If the Third Hokage ever found out that this mission was what turned Kakashi into such a lazy bum in the future, he'd probably regret assigning him to it for the rest of his life.

Shisui, too, thoroughly enjoyed the peace of the mission. No killing, no sudden attacks to guard against. His mind felt lighter. And best of all, he had Sakura—a comrade who also loved peace. The two of them could freely imagine and talk about a life without war. It all seemed so perfect.

The only one not enjoying himself was Guy. As someone who swore to let his youth blaze eternally, he considered rigorous training a daily necessity. But now, stuck high in the sky with only a strange floating sword beneath his feet, he couldn't even let his youthful passion burn. Even though Sakura had reassured him multiple times that the sword was perfectly safe, he remained uneasy. After several days of this idle life, Guy had grown completely listless.

After several days of nonstop travel, they finally reached the border. The moment they landed, Guy collapsed to the ground in tears, embracing the earth.

"At last! We've made it! My youth has not been completely eroded!"

When the border camp received the report that four strange individuals had descended from the sky, Nara Shikaku, the strategist, immediately remembered the message he had received from the Third Hokage. Without delay, he ran out of his tent.

"…What the—"

Shikaku's mouth twitched as he watched Guy crying on the ground. His head throbbed instantly.

"He's just emotional that his youth isn't gone yet," Kakashi explained casually. He and Shikaku were fairly familiar with each other.

"This must be Sakura," Shikaku said, his eyes filled with curiosity. The Third had briefed him, but more than that, Sakura was a close friend of his son. She had even helped change his son's notoriously lazy personality—something Shikaku still found hard to believe.

"Hello, Uncle Shikaku!" Sakura greeted him with a smile. This renowned genius of the Hidden Leaf would one day meet his end by a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Ten Tails… but at least his son would eventually succeed him as Konoha's strategist. A legacy passed down in the Nara clan.

"Shikaku-senpai!" Shisui also gave a respectful nod. He had always looked up to his seniors.

"Yo! Shikaku-senpai!" Guy leapt to his feet, the dried tracks of tears still on his face. Flashing a blinding smile, he suddenly dropped to the ground and began doing laps around the camp.

"Ohhh! Youth, burn brightly once again! If I can't run 200 laps upside down, then I'll punish myself with 3,000 push-ups!"

His bizarre war cry echoed through the camp, leaving the watching ninja utterly baffled.

"Shikaku-senpai, things seem tense here," Kakashi said, noting the heavy mood in the camp. Every ninja they passed wore a grim expression.

"Yes," Shikaku said with a frown. "It looks like Kumogakure is dead set on going to war. They've not only gathered a large number of ninja but have also sent their Two-Tails Jinchūriki to the front…"

Nara Shikaku spoke in a low voice, "Yesterday, there was a flash of movement in the opposing camp. I'm certain it was the Two-Tails Jinchūriki from the intel we received. For them to deploy a Jinchūriki… they're clearly serious about going to war."

"Two-Tails… Matatabi, right?" Sakura thought for a moment. The Jinchūriki was Yugito Nii from the Hidden Cloud Village. In the original story, she was captured by Kakuzu and Hidan. She was strong—very strong. And more importantly, the Hidden Cloud's Jinchūriki had perfect control over their tailed beasts.

"The Third Hokage told me you might have a way to make them retreat voluntarily." Even with Shikaku's high-level intellect, he still couldn't wrap his head around it. How could a four-year-old child possibly force the Hidden Cloud to back down? After all, those guys were infamous warmongers.

"That's easy," Sakura said with a smile. "All we have to do is invite them to watch a meteor shower."

"A… meteor shower?" Question marks practically popped up over everyone's heads. Watching a meteor shower would make the Hidden Cloud retreat?

Finally, Akimichi Chōza couldn't hold back and blurted out the question everyone was thinking.

"Of course just watching it wouldn't be enough," Sakura replied sweetly. "But what if… they got a bit of a close-up experience with it?"

Her smile was gentle, but the eyes of Shikaku, Kakashi, and Shisui widened in shock. They weren't stupid—they understood exactly what she meant.

Meteors? She means meteors as in… falling from the sky? As in, being smashed to death?

"Is… is that really something you can do?" Shikaku couldn't help but ask. If someone could control meteors, it would be a lethal threat—not just to a single ninja village, but to entire nations.

"No problem at all," Sakura said with a grin, giving an 'OK' hand gesture. Then she added with mock disappointment, "Too bad I'm still a bit too weak. Otherwise, I could just pull down a small asteroid and give them a real surprise."

"Heh… heh…" Shikaku gave a dry laugh. Surprise? More like mass extinction. A small asteroid plummeting from the sky? Forget the Hidden Cloud—the entire Five Great Nations would be wiped out. The whole ninja world would be doomed.