11 Tears of Ice

Kakashi was put into the pantry in the kitchen.

Two shinobi roughly kicked him in. The door locked behind him with a klak. They laughed like barking seals.

“Can’t believe we actually caught the Hatake Kakashi!” one shouted through bursts of laughter.

The other called out in a strange voice, still laughing, “Whoo! Ryuha Armed Alliance is number one!”

The air pressure within the cabin had dropped, and they were clearly not getting enough oxygen. When the oxygen making it to the brain was insufficient, people could become abnormally exuberant.

“See, Kakashi! You don’t get to lord yourself over us forever!” The two shinobi kicked and banged on the door. “We came prepared to die with this ship. Don’t go underestimating us!”

Right, like these two were doing at that moment.

They were feeling triumphant, and next, they would lose the ability to concentrate or make proper judgments. Then their muscles would grow weak, they’d lose consciousness, and finally they’d drop into something like a coma, and in the worst case, death.

Which is why Kakashi decided it was sink-or-swim time; he’d have to pull a trick out of his hat. He waited for his enemies’ judgment to become impaired.

Looking at the shelves lined with vegetables and meat, he noticed glass bottles of milk. After a little thought, he decided he could use the milk. He took the cap off one bottle and drank the whole thing down. Then he grabbed another bottle and got as much of the contents into his mouth as he could.

Steeling himself, he spit out the milk in his mouth as loudly as he possibly could. He coughed dramatically as he poured more milk into his mouth and vomited it out. When he had done that three times, it got quiet outside the door, and he knew that his enemies were listening closely. Without a moment’s delay, he bent his body into a sideways “V” and lay on the floor.

The little window on the top part of the door soon opened, and he saw two eyeballs rolling around.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Unnnh… Unnnnh…”

Pretending to cover his mouth, Kakashi stuck a finger deep into his throat and successfully threw up all the milk he had drunk only minutes earlier.

“W-what the—” The ninjas were stunned as they watched Kakashi vomiting up this white stuff. “Kakashi’s throwing up!”

“M-my head…hurts,” Kakashi said, brokenly, breathing heavily. “Th-the ship’s going…up…”

“What, that all?”

“You…don’t know…? The air’s…so thin…the ship’s probably…more than eighteen thousand meters up…”

Of course, this was nonsense.

“So what?” But his enemies were flustered. “What’s the altitude got to do with you throwing up?”

“Y-you don’t know? …If we get up to nineteen thousand meters…the boiling point for blood…is the same temperature as the human body.”

This was true.

“So? You expect us to do something?” But the enemy didn’t quite get it. “No reason for throwing up, is it?”

“From how I see it…five more minutes.”

The enemies exchanged looks.

“Five more minutes and…if we keep ascending like this…in five more minutes…we’ll reach nineteen thousand meters,” Kakashi said, weakly. “Our blood will…boil at body temperature… We’ll all…die.”

The panicked confusion in his enemies when they heard that last word was such that he almost wanted to apologize: Sorry for lying to you guys.

“W-w-what should we do?!” One clutched his head, while the other basically turned in circles. “W-we gotta tell Rahyo right awa—”

“You won’t make it in time!” Kakashi cried. “Let me out of here… It’s do or die. The only thing left to do is for me to use my jutsu to make a hole in the balloon and lower our altitude!”

“Th-that’s—But you got hit with Kahyo’s Earth Chain Ice and you can’t manipulate your chakra, can—”

Here, Kakashi plunged a finger into his throat again and vomited more milk rather magnificently.

“Who do you think I am…” He pulled himself up, panting. “I’m Konoha’s…Hatake Kakashi.”

Kakashi had never before seen his own name have such an effect.

Both enemies nodded, unlocked the door, and rather admirably, even offered him a hand to help him stand up.

Kakashi’s eyes glittered fiercely.

Thud!

Crack!

“Don’t think too badly of me.” A minute later, Kakashi had locked the two unconscious shinobi up in the pantry, slipped out of the kitchen, and was leaping down from the suspended scaffolding into the storehouse.

If he tried to summon Pakkun and the others again, he would freeze from his feet up the moment he changed the way he was manipulating his chakra. He would just have to hunt down the blue fire powder himself.

There was nothing particularly suspicious in the wooden boxes piled up in the storehouse; sake, foodstuffs, the parachute vests.

Blue fire powder exploded when it touched water. Normally, the user kept it separate from the water in some kind of partitioned container, one that would shatter upon impact, allowing the water and the blue fire powder to mix. But he couldn’t see anything resembling such a container anywhere.

The bad feeling he had got worse.

If I were Rahyo, where would I hide blue fire powder?

He didn’t even have to think about it. He looked up at the envelope of the airship. He could see the bottom of the air bladder that kept the Tobishachimaru afloat above the scaffolding hanging in midair.

If Rahyo was planning to ram the ship into Hozuki Castle, the most effective method would be to set the blue fire powder in that air bladder. For water, they could use Kahyo’s ice. In the shock of the collision, the air bladder would catch fire, the ice would melt, and the blue fire powder would explode. Hozuki Castle would be buried under a storm of flame.

No, there’s no way. Kakashi banished the ominous thought from his mind. If they slam the ship into Hozuki Castle, then Garyo, the very person they were trying to rescue, might be caught up in the explosion and die.

Their comrades were standing by on the ground. Most likely, Rahyo was going to drop the blue fire powder on Hozuki Castle from the air and try to rescue Garyo while Shikamaru and the others were caught up in the confusion.

“Ino? Can you hear me Ino?”

“I can hear you, Master Kakashi.”

“They’re going to drop blue fire powder on Hozuki Castle.”

“That’s what Lady Tsunade told me.”

“They’re dropping it from up in the sky, so they’ll need some kind of target. Keep close watch around the castle. There just might be someone sending up smoke signals or something.”

“Understood.”

And then the sound of footfalls coming down the ramp echoed throughout the empty storehouse.

Kakashi immediately hid himself behind a wooden box.

The two shinobi who appeared headed straight for another wooden box, as though it were marked with a symbol that only they understood, and lifted it up with a count of “One! Two! Heave!”

It was at that moment that the wind gusted up against them, and the ship listed heavily to one side.

One of the ninja dropped the box, and the one supporting the opposite side tore into him. “Be careful! You wanna die?!”

At the angry look, the one picking up the box again grew pale. Perhaps he wasn’t able to concentrate because of the low oxygen.

The pair carefully lifted the box and started walked back toward the dining lounge.

Kakashi immediately inspected the remaining boxes. It seemed that the attackers had carried off the box stuffed with parachute vests. Which made no sense.

Normally, he would jump back up to the scaffolding in the air with a single leap, but he couldn’t use his chakra like he usually did at that moment, so he raced up the ramp and took the scaffolding back to the kitchen.

He started to climb up to the air duct, but changed his mind and instead approached the dining lounge on stealthy feet. He couldn’t do much with his chakra, and if he were attacked by Kahyo’s icicles in the duct, he’d be helpless.

Fortunately, the grand piano had been knocked on its side near the entrance connecting the kitchen and the dining lounge. Quickly jumping behind it, Kakashi assessed the situation.

Rahyo was near the entrance on the pilothouse side of the room, opening the wooden box the two ninja had carried away. Above his head, the angled chandelier swayed dangerously.

The passengers, herded by the attackers, were in a cluster by the ice blocking the hole. Kahyo was also there with them.

“The Ryuha Armed Alliance takes no pleasure in meaningless slaughter!” Rahyo declared. “We will now release the hostages!”

The passengers looked at each other in confusion, but when the shinobi handed them the parachute vests, a cheer rose up.

“I’m sorry.” Kahyo helped the passengers put on the vests. “I know we can’t be forgiven just because we released you, but…I’m truly sorry.”

Outside the ship, the wind howled, and the Tobishachimaru shook and shuddered once more.

The ship plunged forward through the turbulence, but the passengers, hearts completely taken over by the relief at being released from this nightmare, didn’t appear to even notice it. They scrambled among themselves for the vests.

“Do not panic!” Rahyo shouted. “There are enough parachutes for everyone!”

Strange, Kakashi’s sixth sense called to him. That Rahyo would release his hostages so simply as this. But he could sense no evil intent from Kahyo gallantly assisting the passengers. She seemed to be sincerely apologetic toward them.

“Good, everyone has their parachute on, yes?” Rahyo said. “Once you jump, pull the cord on your vest. That will cause the parachute to open.”

Kahyo waved one arm, and the ice blocking the hole in the ship melted away in the blink of an eye.

Wind and snow blew in from outside. There was a commotion among the passengers as they crouched down on the floor and reached out for something to hold on to. And then, with a hand from the attackers, they jumped out of the ship one at a time.

Kakashi didn’t take his eyes off Rahyo, who was asking his underlings about the wind speed and the landing points of the passengers.

Why… Why would he let the hostages go now? Sending his eyes over to the window, Kakashi could see nothing but the gray rain clouds. And why would Rahyo be so concerned about the passengers’ landing points?

I-it can’t be! In a flash of insight, a fire began to spread within Kakashi. When they had carried the parachutes out of the storehouse, the attackers had carelessly dropped the wooden box. Their panicked countenances when they did came back to life before his eyes. It can’t be. Rahyo’s—

“No!” Before he could think, his body was moving. “You can’t put on those vests!”

“Hatake Kakashi!” Rahyo’s eyes grew wide as he watched Kakashi leap out from behind the piano. “Hnngh! How on earth did you—”

“The vests are filled with blue fire powder!” Kakashi yelled. “They’ll explode when you hit the ground!”

Kahyo stared at Kakashi with saucerlike eyes, and then looked back at Rahyo before bringing her gaze back to rest on Kakashi.

“I-I can’t get it off!” The passengers began to break down. “I can’t get the vest off!”

“Ah ha ha ha!” Rahyo’s laughing voice rang out. “You’re too late! Do it!”

The ninja grabbed on to passengers running about trying to escape and threw them one after another out of the ship.

Listening to the screams as they fell and disappeared from view, Rahyo glared at Kakashi. “If you and your people had just released Lord Garyo right away, I wouldn’t have had to do something like this. All of this is Konoha’s fault!”

A fierce rage erupted inside Kakashi, and before he knew it, he was flying at his opponent.

“Ice Style! Ice Smashing Hammer!” Rahyo’s instantly hardened fists swung out to welcome Kakashi.

Darting quickly from side to side, Kakashi thrust kunai at his opponent, but given that he couldn’t currently mold his chakra, the speed of the kunai didn’t amount to much.

Carefully watching the tips of those kunai, Rahyo opened his body and launched iron fists at Kakashi’s stomach.

“Hngah!” All the air was knocked from Kakashi’s body. And Rahyo’s kick sent him flying to the other side of the lounge.

He immediately got himself back on his feet and commenced his next attack. “Violet Bolt!” Heedless of the fact that his body would freeze up, he activated the jutsu.

“What!” Rahyo faltered.

The thunder became a sword and raced along the floor. Instantly, he dispersed his chakra throughout his body to push back the mist that had already reached his waist.

Rahyo leapt back.

But Kakashi’s target wasn’t Rahyo.

The bolt of purple lightning hit the passengers and ripped open the parachute vests attached to their bodies.

It was a serious gamble for Kakashi. If his aim had been even the slightest bit off, the blue fire powder might have exploded.

But the fasteners on the vests bounced off and away, sending sparks fluttering in every direction. The passengers frantically pulled the vests off and threw them away, before falling all over themselves trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the hole.

Watching this out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi dropped to one knee, panting. Just molding his chakra the tiniest amount had completely exhausted him. Even if he decided to risk his life, one more blast of Violet Bolt was probably the limit.

“Seems that’s all you’ve got?” Rahyo sneered, brandishing his fists at Kakashi. “It ends here!”

“Ngh!” Kakashi had no strength left in his legs with which to brace himself. He crossed his arms above his head and readied himself to meet his enemy’s fists.

But there was no explosion of Rahyo’s iron punch. His fist crackled as it was repelled by fangs of ice.

Kakashi was surprised, but his enemy seemed equally so.

“What are you doing, Kahyo?!” Rahyo roared with anger. “Why are you getting in my way?!”

“Is what he said true, brother?” Kahyo took in Rahyo with a gaze as cold as ice. “Those vests… Did you put blue fire powder in them?”

“C-calm down, Kahyo.” Flustered, Rahyo became increasingly unsettled. “I-I’m sorry for not telling you. But it was to save Lord Garyo.”

A lone tear spilled out of Kahyo’s eye and trickled down her face.

Silence fell over the lounge, as if all sound had been sealed away within that single tear.

Kahyo’s tear, spilling over and falling, froze in midair, hit the floor, and shattered like glass. Almost like seeds planted in the ground sprouting up, ice fangs grew up from the floor with a roar and assaulted Kakashi.

Kakashi immediately threw himself to one side and the sharp icicles brushed past him.

Kahyo cast the jutsu over and over in rapid succession. Ice fangs writhed and wriggled like snakes, tirelessly chasing him. When Kakashi kicked at a wall to push himself aside, the icicles smashed that wall. When he leapt up into the air, the icicles pierced the ceiling.

Concentrating his remaining chakra in his right hand, Kakashi sprang at Kahyo. “Violet Bolt!”

He realized something wasn’t quite right when he went to hit Kahyo with Violet Bolt: His body was not frozen. As he realized this, he noticed that Kahyo had closed her eyes.

Two centimeters in front of Kahyo’s face, the fight drained out of Kakashi’s right hand, still discharging electricity.

“Why don’t you hit me?”

“Why did you release your jutsu? You had to have attacked me on purpose.” He paused. “Did you want me to kill you?”

As she slowly opened her eyes, he saw on Kahyo’s face nothing of the severity of a shinobi, just the completely bewildered sadness from when he first met her, when she had pretended to trip and cast the jutsu on Kakashi.

“I’ve been thinking all this time…about what you said.” He couldn’t see her eyes hiding behind that long, curly hair, but her voice was trembling. “ ‘When two rights clash, the most important thing is to risk your life and put yourself in your opponent’s position.’ What I was seeking was simply that. If, at that time, the people of the Land of Waves had been able to put themselves in the position of people like us for even a moment, perhaps my son wouldn’t have had to die.”

Kakashi said nothing.

“But, now, I-I’m doing the same thing as the people I hate the most. I—” But she did not get to tell this story to the end.

A random bout of turbulence caused the body of the Tobishachimaru to cant deeply to one side—which snapped the final wire, and the chandelier on the ceiling came crashing down on top of the box full of parachute vests.

Ka-boom!

The deafening roar of the explosion thundered around them, and the lounge was instantly engulfed in flames.

A large hole reaching from the bottom of the ship up its side spewed fire, and several of the attackers were thrown outside.

“Aaaaaaah!” It was no longer clear who was screaming.

And not only that.

The boundary between the air bladder and the passenger gondola splintered and ripped with an ominous sound, and just when he thought the floor was sinking, the dining lounge tilted and the ceiling broke open in a gaping hole.

“Everyone! To the stern!” Kakashi shouted. “This place isn’t going to hold much longer!”

The passengers tumbled and fell on the inclined floor.

“Ice Style! Earth Chain Ice!”

Icicles stretched out and prevented them from being flung out through the burning hole.

The whistling wind fanned the flames. Those flames quickly became a pillar of fire, reaching up to the bottom of the air bladder. The spread of the crimson inferno was held in check by Kahyo’s Earth Chain Ice. Cracking as it raced along, the ice covered the air bladder and did not allow the flames to eat into it.

“Just run straight this way!” Glancing back at Kahyo frantically weaving signs, Kakashi guided one passenger after another to the kitchen. “When you get past the kitchen, keep going to the stern!”

“It’s too late!” The pilots came running and tumbling from the pilothouse. “The gondola’s going to drop off!”

“This way!” Kakashi yanked on their hands, hit their backs, and shoved them toward the kitchen. “Hurry!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rahyo running toward him. But the floor sank down deeply, entangling Rahyo’s feet. Beside him, the grand piano broke free and flew out of the ship, taking one of the attackers along with it.

“Come on, Rahyo!” Kakashi threw himself onto the floor and stretched out a desperate hand. “Grab my hand!”

Rahyo blinked in surprise.

“Hurry!” he yelled. “This is no time for hesitation!”

Rahyo grabbed onto Kakashi’s hand at the same time as the floor turned itself inside out. Rahyo’s enormous body flew up into the air.

“Hng!” An intense pain ran through the hand clutching Rahyo, and Kakashi remembered rather belatedly that his fingers were broken.

He couldn’t hold on.

Still, he gritted his teeth and held Rahyo fast.

“W-why…” Rahyo. “Why me, your enemy…”

“I-I understand how you all feel.” Kakashi put everything he had into his arm. “But it’s nonsense to think you can do anything and everything if your goal is a just one. If you’re going to change the world, no matter what happens, no matter how hard it is, the only thing to do is keep being a just person yourself.”

Rahyo opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Brother!” Kahyo had somehow managed to put the fire out and was running up the now slanted floor.

But it was already too late.

When she flung her body forward and tried to grab on to her brother’s arm, the bottom of the ship dropped out, accompanied by a collision like the ship was being shoved upward.

The incredible force ripped Rahyo from Kakashi’s hand. As he was launched into the air, the look on Rahyo’s face seemed to be asking how exactly they had gotten to this place.

“Brother!”

“Rahyo!”

There was nothing they could do. The force of gravity pulled everything down to the surface of the earth with its large hand.

“Hatake Kakashi.” As he fell, the expression on Rahyo’s face abruptly softened. “So there are shinobi like you in this world too.”

Holding the sobbing Kahyo to his chest, Kakashi just barely managed to leap into the kitchen.

A second later, the gondola, torn in two, pulled away from the Tobishachimaru and fell to the ground.