Chapter 145: Back to the Frost Country
"YES!"
"I finally get to be on the same team as Sakura!"
Kushina let out a delighted whoop the moment she heard the news.
"But — why do I have to work with this red octopus?"
Ino glared at the girl standing next to Sakura.
"Excuse me?! You think I want to be here with you?!"
Kushina put both hands on her hips and shot back immediately.
"What did you just say?!"
"Conceited wild boar!"
"Red octopus!"
"Wild boar!"
"Octopus!"
"Boar!"
"Octopus!"
Sakura stood to the side watching the two of them go at it, expression conveying the full depth of her exhaustion.
"Women are such a pain..."
Shikamaru was crouched at the roadside with his signature dead-fish stare.
He caught Sakura's eye and immediately added:
"Ah — obviously not including you, Sakura."
"It's fine. You can just think of me as one of the guys."
Arms crossed, completely unbothered.
Shikamaru stared at her.
I don't know what to do with that.
"Actually — you and Sasuke are going to the Frost Country front, and Kakashi-sensei is already there. What's going to happen with Naruto?"
He glanced toward Asuma, who was in the distance organizing the supply convoy.
The plan Sakura had proposed to Hiruzen was this: use Kushina's Mystic Palm Eye — its sensory range of dozens of kilometers — combined with the Yamanaka clan's exclusive techniques to build a real-time information network blanketing the entire battlefield. Every Konoha ninja connected. Continuous intelligence updates. Precision strike teams dispatched to counter Kumogakure's guerrilla squads as they appeared.
Hiruzen had approved it without hesitation.
Asuma's team — Ino, Shikamaru, Choji — along with Sakura, Sasuke, and Kushina were being attached to the supply convoy currently heading for the front.
"Naruto..."
Sakura crouched beside Shikamaru and looked up at the overcast sky.
"Probably somewhere singing the praises of youth with Rock Lee."
Hokage Tower — mission assignment desk —
"YES!"
"Naruto! This mission — we will be escorting a prince of a foreign land safely back to the Land of the Moon!"
Might Guy caught sight of the mission posting and ignited.
"A PRINCE?!"
Naruto's eyes went wide with excitement.
"OH!"
"MY YOUTH IS BURNING!"
"I, Rock Lee, shall deliver this prince safely to his homeland without a scratch!"
Lee heard the words and his fighting spirit detonated.
"That's right!"
"This is an A-rank mission!"
Guy flashed his signature blinding smile and pointed a thumb at Naruto.
Wartime had upgraded what would normally be a B-rank escort to A-rank.
"YEAH!"
"Where is the prince?! I have to meet this prince!"
"Now, now — before we meet the prince, there is something even MORE important!"
Guy's expression went grave in an instant.
Naruto froze, staring at that serious face, and swallowed.
"No way..."
"It's definitely happening..."
Neji and Tenten, standing to the side, exchanged a look of profound resignation.
They could already see where this was going.
"TA-DA!"
"Might Guy's signature uniform!"
From somewhere — nobody was entirely sure where — Guy produced a green jumpsuit and held it up in front of Naruto's face.
"This garment does not merely warm and ventilate!"
"It displays the musculature of the human body to its fullest ideal!"
"But most importantly—"
"This vibrant, life-affirming color—"
"PERFECTLY expresses our undying, passionate, ever-burning YOUTH!"
"Now — this amazing jumpsuit is not nine hundred and ninety-eight ryō! Not ninety-nine point eight!"
"Just nine point nine!"
"NINE POINT NINE AND IT'S YOURS!"
"OHHHHHH!"
"THAT IS SUCH AN INCREDIBLE DEAL!"
"GUY-SENSEI! I'LL TAKE A HUNDRED!"
Lee's eyes lit up with the intensity of a man who had found religion. He dove for the jumpsuit.
BOOM.
"YOU IDIOT, LEE!"
Guy punched him sideways without hesitation.
"You're ALREADY my student! You can have as many jumpsuits as you WANT!"
"The point is getting MORE PEOPLE to understand our youth! THAT'S the MISSION!"
"YES!"
"GUY-SENSEI! I WAS WRONG!"
"MY YOUTH IS NOWHERE NEAR AS PURE AS YOURS!"
Lee clambered back up, eyes streaming, and flung his arms around Guy in a fierce embrace.
Naruto stared at the scene.
"It's alright, Naruto. You'll get used to it."
Tenten put a hand on his shoulder.
Then she noticed something was off about his expression.
"It's just..."
"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DEAL!"
"I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
Warm! Breathable! Shows off muscle definition! Celebrates the eternal flame of youth!
The only flaw was that it was too perfect.
"NARUTO!"
"GUY-SENSEI!"
"NARUTO!!"
"GUY-SENSEI!!"
Naruto and Guy clasped hands. Tears of joy streamed down both their faces.
Neji was silent for a very long time.
"...I have a feeling things are only going to get worse from here."
"Yeah..."
Tenten stared at the scene.
Sakura had asked her to keep an eye on Naruto before leaving.
Looking at this, she was fairly certain that request had been unnecessary.
Naruto and Guy-sensei and Lee were utterly, perfectly compatible.
The Land of Frost.
Crunch.
Familiar snow under her feet again. The white cloak settled around her shoulders.
Sakura felt something quietly settle in her chest.
Last time she'd been pulled from this front because of Inner Sakura. This time, she was taking back everything she'd left behind.
She had the latest intelligence.
Kumogakure's guerrilla tactics had reduced Jiraiya to a constant firefighting operation. The Konoha line had been pushed back repeatedly. Even with Hyūga sensory support, their defensive deployment was being outmaneuvered consistently.
Nearly twenty Hyūga ninja had been killed — something essentially unheard of before this campaign. Kumogakure was somehow bypassing the Byakugan and executing targeted assassinations. The front line was rattled.
Jiraiya's personal authority was holding it together, but that wasn't sustainable.
Something had to break the pattern.
And the Hyūga casualties — the clan itself had said nothing. They'd simply continued sending more white-eye ninja to the front, each replacement arriving in silence. That wordless endurance was, somehow, more pressure on Jiraiya than any complaint would have been.
Ino looked out at the white expanse with wide eyes.
Snow-laden pines stretched in every direction, each branch laden with white until the trees looked like sculptures. Even Konoha's winters rarely produced this.
"Ino. Don't lose focus."
"This is a warzone."
Sakura's quiet reminder.
She'd known Ino long enough to predict her to the syllable. But the battlefield and their usual haunts were different environments.
"...Right. Yeah."
Ino's mood came down.
Kushina, for once, wasn't bothering to argue with Ino. The hardship she'd grown up with had made her threat detection reflexive. In an unfamiliar place like this, her first instinct was never the scenery — it was the angles of approach.
Asuma checked on the girls, said nothing, and urged the convoy faster.
The deep snow was already slowing them down.
He hadn't lit a single cigarette since they'd left Konoha. He pulled one out now — from a fresh pack, tapped it against the box — and held it until the right moment. Until they reached the front.
They moved through the white.
"Twenty-four people approaching," Kushina said suddenly. "Straight ahead. About twenty kilometers. Chakra signatures suggest two jōnin, twelve chūnin."
Ino stared at her.
That far?
"I wasn't informed of any friendly contact at this position," Sakura said, voice even.
"Then they're hostile," Asuma said, and produced his trench knives.
He'd been briefed on Kushina before departure. Uzumaki bloodline. Kekkei genkai: Mystic Palm Eye — sensory range vastly exceeding even the Byakugan.
She was the key to dismantling Kumogakure's guerrilla advantage.
"Kumogakure has good sensor-types."
Asuma touched the cigarette to his lips and finally lit it.
"Kushina — can you detect their sensor among them?"
They were still technically in Konoha's rear area. Twenty-plus Kumogakure ninja here meant the enemy's intelligence on Konoha's movements was precise. This unit was probably heading directly for this supply convoy.
Kushina shook her head.
No sensor presence detected. They'd come to this position with a specific target already identified — no active searching needed.
Sakura stayed quiet.
White Zetsu's concealment was the best in the world. Only Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode emotional sensing could reliably detect it. To transform completely, Zetsu needed contact with the target's chakra — but it could observe without being noticed.
Most likely one had spotted them during a rest stop and reported back. It hadn't approached close enough to be detected, especially knowing there might be a sensor present in the convoy — otherwise, recognizing Sakura was in this group, it would never have sent an intercept team.
"Ten kilometers."
"Five."
"Three."
"They've split into four-man cells. Surrounding us."
Asuma had given the order to prepare the moment Kushina first spoke.
Fifty ninja in the convoy including combat support. The two Konoha jōnin put their numbers firmly ahead.
Even so, he held the order. Let them come to the formation.
Sasuke moved quietly alongside one of the supply carts, hand resting near his sword handle. The weeks since the fight with Darui hadn't been idle — during recovery he'd replayed every exchange, analyzed every mistake.
Darui was a Raikage guard. That was a jōnin. Sasuke hadn't beaten him.
The rank didn't change the fact. He'd lost. There was no excuse to make.
There was only getting stronger.
"They've formed six units. We're surrounded."
"Choji," Sakura said quietly, "your job is to keep Kushina safe."
Choji, already tense, became more tense.
"You can do this. You're strong."
He exhaled.
"I — I can. Yeah."
Shikamaru said nothing. He was thinking about the difference between this and every training exercise they'd ever done.
This was war. The other side was trying to kill them.
"Here."
Kushina's word landed like a starting shot.
Dozens of kunai, paper bombs attached to their tails, came screaming in from six directions simultaneously.
They were visible against the snow — black on white.
Six Konoha ninja stepped forward in unison.
"Earth Release — Earth-Style Wall!"
Six walls of stone erupted from the snowfield.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The explosions shook the snow from every pine nearby. Heat and white, fire and ice, for one strange moment almost beautiful.
Nobody had time to appreciate it.
The moment the six Konoha ninja moved forward, Kumogakure knew they were detected. A ninja's duty was to execute the mission regardless.
They came.
Their Earth Release users began forming seals — aiming for the convoy vehicles.
"Earth Release — Sinkhole!"
The ground rippled, moving like water toward the convoy.
A pink figure crossed the distance in an instant. A raised fist came down.
CRACK.
A section of earth the size of a building face was simply lifted, redirected, the ripple shattered on contact.
No jutsu. Just precise chakra and overwhelming force, producing an effect that looked exactly like Earth Release.
Asuma and the rest were already engaging the incoming fighters.
"Sakura!"
Kushina's voice cut through the noise.
"Two jōnin unaccounted for! One underground, one in the snow — both moving toward us!"
Sakura was already running her Heaven Concealment Array.
She called back a single instruction — stay hidden — and drove her fist into the ground above where the underground jōnin was moving.
If you want to hide underground, go ahead.
Then stay there.
BOOM.
The impact was like an explosive charge detonating underground.
A Kumogakure jōnin in a dirt tunnel had no room to dodge, no surface to push off from, no response to offer. Sakura's force reached him through the earth like a hammer through paper.
He didn't make a sound.
"That was..."
Kushina sensed the chakra signature vanish and exhaled.
One down. Sakura was already moving toward the second.
"That's Haruno Sakura—!"
Recognition ran through the Kumogakure ninja on the field.
She'd beaten and captured the Two-Tails at Kumogakure's own facility. She'd gone blow for blow with the Raikage. Her face was known to every Kumogakure ninja in service.
The Raikage had placed a bounty on her through the black market.
Thirty-five million ryō. On par with Asuma Sarutobi.
A high number. By current standards, it put her just below the Five Kage and the established legends — people like Orochimaru, Chiyo, Master On and Dodai. Those names and the Kage were fifty million and up.
The highest bounty on record remained Hashirama Senju — one billion, placed by someone with notable courage and poor decision-making. Second was Madara Uchiha at eight hundred fifty million.
Recognizing her didn't stop the Kumogakure ninja from pressing the mission. Her name alone hadn't reached the threshold where encountering her was an automatic abort.
Asuma's trench knives moved with the ease of someone who'd been doing this since before most of these ninja were born.
His weapon looked similar to Sakura's brass knuckles — both punch-fighter tools. But Asuma's style was entirely different: Wind Release chakra on the blades, cutting and shearing rather than smashing. The Third Hokage's son, a veteran of the Third Shinobi World War. No hesitation, no mercy for enemies, all of it reserved for comrades.
A Kumogakure ninja's Lightning Release was torn apart by a single clean swing. The blade continued. A clean strike. Blood, bright and hot.
Wind Release beat Lightning Release. On this front, Asuma was in his element.
"Lightning Release — False Darkness!"
The jōnin hiding in the snowfield saw the nightmare approaching and came up swinging, launching a Lightning Release beam at Sakura.
"Ha."
Sakura's expression didn't change.
Pink chakra blazed in her hand — Inner Sakura's power, woven into her own. She'd been practicing the integration since returning from the inner world.
Before, facing elemental jutsu, she'd either dodged or tanked it with the Strength of a Hundred.
Now—
The chakra shaped itself into something with weight and form.
"Here's my Roaring Tiger Strike!"
Her fist met the lightning bolt head-on and shattered it.
"What—"
The Kumogakure jōnin went pale.
He could understand Wind Release countering Lightning, or Water or Earth absorbing it. But a bare fist breaking through his technique—
He didn't have time to process it. She was already in front of him.
He knew her fighting style — every Kumogakure ninja on this front had been briefed. Close-range combat specialist. Enormous strength. Reportedly capable of fighting the Raikage to a draw.
Fighting her in close quarters was a death sentence.
But right now he didn't have a choice.
Gold light gathered on his blade. He swung.
Sakura recognized him.
He was the ninja from the original story who'd faced a reanimated Madara Uchiha — sword coated in Lightning Release, fighting taijutsu against a fully-active Sharingan. The one Madara had grabbed by the throat with the line "Would you like to dance?"
Comparable in sheer nerve to the Iwagakure ninja who'd charged Madara's front line first.
She slipped the swing, drove her elbow into his sword arm, and followed immediately with a high kick to the chest.
If the elbow had connected it would have ended the arm.
He avoided it.
He didn't avoid the kick.
BOOM.
A black shape flew backward through the snow, carving a long furrow before stopping.
(Chapter End)
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you