Naruto: Let the glory of the giants spread throughout the ninja world!

Metal fragments flew everywhere.

Yukie's body plummeted downwards, and her breathing became rapid for a moment.

Ryukura Akira pulled her onto the aircraft. When her feet touched the metal surface, her knees buckled, and Naruto reached out and dragged her in from the edge.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto was still holding her arm.

"Kami-sama?"

A trembling voice came from the side. The leading snow ninja stared wide-eyed at Ryukura Akira's recovering right hand, the purple scales fading away one by one.

Ryukura Akira's fingers paused for a moment.

He turned his head, his emerald green eyes looking at the snow ninja.

"What did you call me?"

The lead snow ninja's lips trembled slightly, then he suddenly lowered his head, his forehead hitting the surface of the aircraft with a dull thud. The other two snow ninjas also lay down, their bodies tense.

Ryukura Akira squatted down.

"I'm asking you," his voice wasn't loud, "what did you just call me?"

No one answered, and beads of sweat appeared on the back of the neck of the leader, Xue Ren.

"They called me a god when they saw my hands look like that," Ryukura Akira tilted his head. "Is it because your 'Snow God' looks like that too?"

Xue Ren's shoulders were shaking.

"Or perhaps you've seen this ability before?" There was a hint of amusement in Ryukura Akira's voice. "That's why you blurted out that you called me a god."

The three snow ninjas remained motionless, and only the low hum of the engine could be heard from the aircraft.

Ryukura Akira stood up and looked at his right hand.

"Wind, flowers, raging waves," he said, uttering the name.

The leader, Xue Ren, suddenly trembled.

"Ten years ago, he came into contact with something inside a meteorite and gained power." Akira Ryukura looked towards the sky in the direction of the Land of Snow. "The power he gained is the ability to transform into some kind of form, just like mine."

"Am I right?"

Naruto was squatting next to Yukie when he suddenly remembered the right hand that Ryukura Akira had transformed into.

"Akira." Naruto's voice changed. "Was that guy who attacked us?"

The aircraft fell silent.

Yukie suddenly looked up at Ryukura Akira.

Ryukura Akira looked at Naruto but didn't speak immediately.

Naruto eagerly took a step forward. "Not long ago, when we were sailing at sea, we encountered a monster whose hands looked exactly like yours!"

There was a two-second silence.

"Really?" he said, his tone flat. "That monster, it's like my hand?"

"Exactly the same," Naruto said, "the color of the scales, the shape of the claws."

Ryukura Akira turned his hand over and looked at his palm.

"I see."

He put his hand down.

"I don't know when I awakened this power. It's probably some kind of strange bloodline limit. You should also remember my state when we first met in the Land of Waves."

"But it's different! That time we were peaceful, but this time you killed so many people! Everyone is torn apart because of you! Even Yukie was..."

"Why do you think I killed someone, Naruto?" Ryukura Akira walked up to Naruto, his tall stature forcing Naruto to look up at him.

"Akira, I know you're a good person, and we fought side-by-side in Konoha! But you can't just hurt others like that; they have families too!"

Seeing that Naruto was about to use his talk-no-jutsu to persuade him, Ryukura Akira quickly raised his hand to signal him to shut up.

"Stop, stop, stop. I came to this godforsaken place, the Land of Snow, because I lose my rationality every now and then. Who knew you guys would come too? This is quite an unpleasant coincidence."

That's a lie.

"But don't worry, I've never killed anyone for this. Did you see me kill those people?"

"This...but!" Naruto was speechless for a moment, then thought of something and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Ryukura Akira.

"Don't worry, I also quite like this big star's movies. I've heard about this film crew. These people all have connections in the Snow Country and have an impressive survival spirit. There's no need to worry about them not surviving."

"Uh, okay, never mind then." Naruto scratched his head awkwardly upon hearing this.

Ryukura Akira had already turned around, walked to Yukie, squatted down in front of her, and looked her in the eye.

"Alright, now it's your turn."

Yukie lowered her head, looking at her hands resting on her knees. Her fingers were still trembling slightly.

"You just said that your father's death was what the Feng Hua family deserved," Ryukura Akira said. "You said you owed Nu Tao your life, so it didn't matter whether you were taken back or killed."

Yuki didn't say anything.

"A person who truly feels 'it doesn't matter' won't have trembling hands," Akira Ryukura said. "You're afraid; you don't want to die."

"So what?"

Yukie looked up, her eyes red.

"Even if I don't want to die, so what?" she said. "I've lived for so many years, and all I know how to do is run away. My father told me to run away, so I ran away. I've played so many roles and worn so many masks, but in the end, I don't even know who I am."

She clenched her fists even tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"You haven't seen what the Land of Snow is like. In the villages in the north, there is no charcoal in winter, and the old people and children huddle together. They can't be woken up again the next morning. In the fishing ports in the south, the boats are frozen in the ice and can't get out. The fishermen squat on the dock in a daze."

She took a breath.

"The raging waves are made better by the Snow God, so if the Snow God's power needs me to continue, then take it," Yukie said. "Anyway, I have no other use for living."

She loosened her fist and looked down at her palm.

"Giving him back his life is no big deal."

Naruto stood to the side, his hands hanging at his sides, head bowed.

"Are you done talking?" he asked.

Yuki didn't look up.

"What you're talking about—mines, trade routes, charcoal, and fish," Naruto said in a low voice, "I don't understand. I'm not from the Land of Snow."

He took a step forward.

"But you said, 'It wouldn't matter if he had that kind of life back?'"

His voice suddenly rose.

"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'?! This life of yours is your own! Not your father's, not that 'Angry Wave' guy's! It's your own!"

Yukie hunched her shoulders slightly.

"You just said that you ran away when your father told you to, and you hid when Nu Tao tried to catch you. Wasn't that because you were afraid of dying?" Naruto stared at her. "What's wrong with being afraid of dying? Being afraid of dying means you want to live!"

"So what..."

"Wanting to live is enough!" Naruto interrupted her. "Do you need any other reason to want to live?"

Yukie's lips were trembling.

"But..." her voice trailed off, "But the raging waves, using the power of the Snow God, truly made the Snow Kingdom better... If my life could be exchanged for this..."

"Who told you that?"

Akira Ryukura's voice broke in.

Yuki looked up.

Ryukura Akira squatted down in front of her, looking at her with his bright green eyes.

"Who told you your life could buy this?"

Yuki was stunned.

"What that snow ninja just said was that Fuuka Nutō rebuilt the Land of Snow with the power of the Snow God," Ryūkura Akira tilted his head. "But if he really built the Land of Snow so well, why would he need you to 'continue' the Snow God's power?"

Yukie opened her mouth.

"You said he used the power of the Snow God to make the Land of Snow better, but even if that's true, those Snow Ninja themselves said that the cores in their chests are consuming their lifespans." Ryukura Akira pointed to the leading Snow Ninja. "Didn't you see what he coughed up just now?"

The leader, a snow ninja, still had a trace of blood and ice shards remaining at the corner of his mouth.

Yukie's eyes slowly widened.

"I've never been to the Land of Snow," said Akira Ryukura. "I don't know what it's become there, but are you sure a power that's costing its own soldiers' lives can really make a country better?"

Yukie's breathing became rapid.

"I..." Her voice caught in her throat.

Ryukura Akira stood up and looked down at her.

Yukie looked up at him.

Ryukura Akira's expression didn't convey any sense of coercion; he simply stood there.

Yuki closed her eyes.