Chapter 348: Becoming a Hero

"What a huge ice ball. If it accidentally rolled, Feng Hua City would be crushed into ruins," Obito said, stroking his chin.

Obito's words instantly plunged the scene into silence. Some people looked at Obito with exasperation, while others stared at the enormous ice ball with cold sweat on their foreheads—if that ice ball did roll, it really would be devastating.

"Haha, I was just joking to lighten the mood. That's Muzuki-sensei—there won't be any problem," Obito said with a snicker.

He believed Muzuki-sensei would never make a mistake like that.

"Honestly, now is not the time for jokes like that," Rin Nohara said, pressing her forehead, having given up any hope of Obito reading the room.

The battle had just ended, and everyone was happy, and then he had to chime in with that.

"So, am I amazing or what? You'd better thank me properly. I'll let bygones be bygones about what happened before," Obito said smugly, noticing Yukie Fubuki looking around as if searching for someone.

"Do you think I forgot what you said earlier? You rude Obito, you said I don't act like a princess and that I'm not likable. Slandering a princess is against the law!" Yukie Fubuki puffed out her cheeks in reply.

Though the later part of Obito's words did move her a little, she hadn't forgotten how he badmouthed her earlier.

Even Sōsetsu Fubuki and Muzuki admitted she was cute, but that Obito still said she wasn't likable.

"Slander? I'm just stating the facts. You should learn from the princesses in those stories!" Obito felt his words were perfectly fine.

Yukie Fubuki:...

Fists clenched—she wanted nothing more than to punch Obito right then and there.

Of course, as a proper princess, Yukie Fubuki only thought about it and didn't act on it, because Obito was indeed her savior.

"But still... thank you," Yukie Fubuki said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito.

Although Obito had many flaws—like being rude and having poor aesthetic sense—the fire punch he threw this time was quite cool.

"Hahaha!" Though Yukie Fubuki's voice was very soft, Obito, being a sharp-eared and sharp-eyed ninja, heard it and burst into smug laughter.

Feeling embarrassed, Yukie Fubuki promptly ran over to Sōsetsu Fubuki's side.

Then everyone walked onto the battlefield. Standing beneath that enormous ice ball, they could feel their own insignificance and Muzuki's immense power.

"Muzuki, you saved the Land of Snow," Sōsetsu Fubuki said solemnly, bowing to Muzuki in thanks.

At this moment, he finally understood why Obito and the others could trust Muzuki so much—because Muzuki was truly someone you could always rely on.

When Muzuki had given him the intelligence about Dotō Fubuki's usurpation plot, he hadn't chosen to believe it, which cost him the best chance to arrest Dotō, directly leading to Dotō Fubuki attacking Feng Hua City with the Snow Ninja Village.

He also hadn't believed Muzuki when Muzuki said he could handle the Snow Ninja Village, and had wanted Muzuki to leave with Yukie Fubuki. Sōsetsu Fubuki was grateful that Muzuki hadn't left immediately, or else he would never have seen his daughter again.

The guards also bowed one after another in gratitude; without Muzuki's timely support, they would all have been killed by the Snow Ninja.

Seeing this, Obito felt a sense of pride—after all, he was also a member of Muzuki's squad.

"So that means the mission is complete," Muzuki said with a faint smile.

Though the Daimyō of the Land of Snow, Sōsetsu Fubuki, led the bow of gratitude, it didn't stir much emotion in Muzuki.

Because in his mind, this wasn't really saving the Land of Snow; it was only saving Yukie Fubuki's family and the people of Feng Hua City.

After all, he hadn't resolved a disaster that would have destroyed the entire Land of Snow; even if Dotō Fubuki's usurpation succeeded, he wouldn't have massacred the populace.

"It's complete, and perfectly executed," Sōsetsu Fubuki nodded in approval.

In this incident, Muzuki had left a deep impression on him. If there were ever a need for ninjas from other villages in the future, he would definitely choose Konoha and choose Muzuki.

"Muzuki-nii, how did you make such a huge ice ball? It's incredible," Yukie Fubuki said, spreading her arms and drawing the biggest circle she could to convey her amazement.

"First make a water sphere, then freeze it—that's all," Muzuki answered succinctly.

Yukie Fubuki scratched her head, feeling like she'd heard the explanation, but also like she hadn't.

Obito couldn't help laughing at Yukie Fubuki's bewildered expression, which set the others laughing too, and the atmosphere gradually became cheerful.

With Dotō Fubuki dead and the Snow Ninja defeated by Muzuki, the Battle of Feng Hua City could be declared a complete victory.

Of course, although they had won, there was still quite a bit of miscellaneous work to handle.

A major event like a usurpation couldn't have been carried out by Dotō Fubuki alone; it involved some other officials of the Land of Snow.

Then came checking the damage to Feng Hua City from the battle and repairing it. Awkwardly enough, Muzuki was the single greatest source of damage to the city—by far.

Because throughout the battle, Muzuki had been using large-scale ninjutsu, and the techniques were very powerful, so some destruction was inevitable.

Of course, including Fūka Sōsetsu, everyone ignored this matter, after all, Muyue was also trying to defeat the Snow Ninja, so the destruction was the Snow Ninja's fault, not Muyue's problem.

As for the commendations for Muyue and the others, after discussions among the high-ranking officials of the Land of Snow, it was finally decided to grant Muyue alone the title of Ice and Snow Hero, while Obito and the other two were granted the title of Ice and Snow Warrior.

Although Obito and the others also defeated Fūka Dotō and earned merit, the decisive role was still played by Muyue.

If Muyue hadn't held off all the Snow Ninja alone on the battlefield, then Fūka Dotō wouldn't have needed to specifically take the Snow Ninja on a detour to attack Fūka Sōsetsu, so Obito and the others' titles are one rank lower.

The titles brought many benefits. An Ice and Snow Hero could enjoy the treatment of a great noble in the Land of Snow, and then there were various rewards, including money and items.

Since the original mission was to protect Fūka Yukie until the end of the Snow God Festival, Fūka Sōsetsu simply set the time for granting the titles on the day of the Snow God Festival, as a way to express gratitude and respect to Muyue and the others.

After solving the Land of Snow's problems in one go, Muyue led his disciples in continuous training while waiting for the Snow God Festival.

The environment of the Land of Snow was a bit unfriendly to ordinary people, but for ninja, it was a decent place for training.

Because it was by the sea and snowed frequently, training Water Release here was especially convenient. Then, due to the temperature, Fire Release was more difficult, which also had an effect on training Fire Release. The harsh weather could also train the disciples' bodies.

"Muyue-sensei, isn't the bloodline limit very rare? Why do all the ninja in the Land of Snow use Ice Release?" Obito asked in confusion while resting.

This was common knowledge among ninja, so Obito also knew it.

"Because that's not a bloodline limit at all." Muyue answered directly without beating around the bush.

The so-called Ice Release of the Snow Ninja was a fake Ice Release—it could be considered Water Release, or a snow secret technique; in essence, it was a nature transformation of water-attributed chakra, and outside the Land of Snow, it might not even be usable.

"Huh? But there's ice, and I think I heard someone say Ice Release." Obito was a bit confused.

He hadn't expected that there could be fake bloodline limits.

"No one can stop you from naming your own jutsu. You can shout 'Water Release' and then release a Fire Release if you want." Muyue said tactfully.

This was obviously because the small ninja village had little experience; seeing something that looked like Ice Release, they directly called it Ice Release.

"Wouldn't that catch the opponent off guard in battle?" Obito's eyes lit up. Normally, he didn't have the habit of shouting out jutsu names, but he thought he could change.

If he shouted "Water Dragon Bullet" and then spit out a "Great Dragon Fire", perhaps there would be unexpected results.

"Then, Muyue-sensei, is that jutsu of yours Ice Release?" Obito recalled the huge ice ball that still hadn't disappeared to this day.

Hearing this, Kakashi, who was training, also looked over.

Muyue nodded affirmatively: "That's right, what I used is indeed Ice Release, but since I only mastered it recently, it's not very strong yet."

Although his Ice Release was not very strong, only half of the proficiency level, putting Ice Release in the open could further demonstrate his genius, and then it would enhance his apparent strength.

As for why he suddenly could use Ice Release, it was simple: he would say that after watching the Snow Ninja's fake Ice Release techniques, he figured out the real one, especially since Muyue himself already had considerable Water and Wind nature transformations.

Moreover, others really could only believe Muyue's words, because Ice Release was different from the Sharingan; it wasn't something you could just hot-swap by killing an Uchiha. Either you were born with it, or you trained it yourself.

"This is still not very strong?" Obito recalled the shocking scene from that day and complained.

But Muyue saying he only mastered it recently made Obito fill in a lot of information, thinking that Muyue might have watched the Snow Ninja's snow techniques and then figured out Ice Release himself.

Although it sounded a bit far-fetched, Obito felt that it was very "Muyue the Sage".

"It should be because of the environment here, and when dealing with enemies, the strong part wasn't Ice Release, but Water Release." Kakashi thought for a moment and said.

Although the huge ice ball was shocking, from Kakashi's perspective, the Super Exploding Water Wave did the heavy lifting, and the Freeze Ray was just a finishing move.

Muyue nodded, affirming Kakashi's analysis. The Snow Ninja's fake Ice Release could already benefit from the Land of Snow's boost, let alone Muyue's real Ice Release—it was like a fish in water.

"It's all the same. Anyway, Muyue-sensei's Ice Release will eventually become as strong as his other jutsu." Obito waved his hand, indicating that the small details didn't matter.

"I'm really looking forward to it. Tomorrow is the Snow God Festival. It'll be my first time attending a festival of another country, and as a hero at that." Thinking about tomorrow's event, Obito let out a sly laugh.

Although the princess wasn't the princess he had imagined, and the mission wasn't the mission he had wanted to do, the result was the result he had wanted.

Saving the princess, saving the country, becoming a hero—Obito's only regret was that he could only get the title of Ice and Snow Warrior, not Ice and Snow Hero, but he was quite convinced that only Muyue got it.

Still busy outside, can only find time to write a bit.

Also recommend a friend's Naruto fanfic.

Title: "Starting from the Akatsuki as the Mastermind"

Synopsis: Transmigrating into the Akatsuki during Yahiko's time, Bai Ye originally wanted to run away early, but unexpectedly obtained a system bound to the Akatsuki. As long as he made the Akatsuki grow and develop, he could receive system rewards.

To prevent the Akatsuki from being wiped out, Bai Ye had to start guiding the Akatsuki's development, making the Akatsuki take a completely different path.

Many years later, when Hanzō and Danzo joined forces to wipe out the Akatsuki, they were surprised to discover that the Akatsuki actually had the strength to overthrow Amegakure.