At dawn, Naruto and his group set off.
The Land of Waterfalls, filled with cascading waters, had initially amazed Naruto, but the novelty wore off quickly, so he decided to quicken their pace.
By afternoon, they reached the border of the Land of Waterfalls.
"Phew! So cold!" Naruto exclaimed, drawing a sharp breath.
Kakuzu explained, "If we continue eastward, we'll enter the Land of Iron. It's always covered in snow, so of course, it's freezing."
"I see."
Naruto nodded in realization.
Opening the system inventory, Naruto pulled out a pile of winter coats.
"Kakuzu, tailor these clothes to fit everyone and distribute them."
Naruto instructed.
The coats fit Naruto perfectly, but the others, being much larger than him, couldn't wear them as they were.
Kakuzu didn't protest and began tailoring the clothes to each person's size. His years of using black threads had made him a skilled hand at sewing.
Once everyone donned their winter coats, Naruto nodded in satisfaction.
'Sure enough, having an experienced person like Kakuzu saved a lot of hassle.'
After another half-hour of walking, the world around them turned white with snow.
"It looks like we've reached the Land of Iron. Let's camp here for the night."
Naturally, no one else had any objection to Naruto's suggestion.
However, instead of immediately pulling out his portable villa, Naruto smiled mischievously and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen snow. How about we play a snow-themed game today?"
"Of course!"
This time, the first person to respondwas not Kisame, but Itachi.
Having failed to win the last two games, Itachi found this unacceptable. Naruto's increasing kindness toward him only fueled his determination to prove his worth and show that Naruto hadn't chosen the wrong person.
"What about the rest of you?" Naruto asked again.
"No problem!"
"I can't wait!"
"Hurry up and tell us the rules!"
The other three were equally eager.
Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise upon seeing this.
It was natural for Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu to cooperate, but Hidan's enthusiasm caught him off guard.
Through his Observation Haki, Naruto discovered that Hidan's convictions were wavering more and more.
Hidan was clearly undergoing subtle changes, which was a good sign.
"Alright, no more chatter. Let me explain the rules."
Naruto went straight to the point and said, "This game is divided into three parts. First, you'll form teams of two. Second, each team will have an hour to build their own snow fort. Third, the teams will attack each other's forts, and the last snow fort standing will win. Got it?"
"I have one question." Kakuzu interjected, "There are five of us. How do we form two-person teams?"
"I've already chosen my teammates."
As he said that, Naruto took out the Poke Ball from the system inventory, pressed the button on the Poke Ball, and threw it forward and said, "It's your time to shine, Wartortle!"
A blue glow erupted from the ball, and moments later, a chubby blue turtle appeared in the snow.
Naruto introduced it with pride, "This is Wartortle. I've been raising him like my own child. This time, we, father and son, will team up and dominate the game!"
"Wartortle, Wartortle!"
Wartortle nodded energetically, but seemed utterly captivated by the snow.
It was its first time seeing snow, and the soft, cool sensation beneath its feet made it so excited that it jumped around gleefully.
"In that case, I will team up with Kisame." Itachi said calmly.
"Well, I don't have much choice, then," Kakuzu said with a shrug.
Fortunately, he and Hidan were long-time partners, so their teamwork should be seamless.
"Alright, with the teams decided, we'll move on to the second phase: building snow forts. Each team can build as many forts as they want, but each fort must be large enough to fit both team members."
As he said that, Naruto drew an equilateral triangle on the ground, marking its edges with A, B, and C.
"The area extending ten kilometers outward from area A is mine and Wartortle's area, the area extending ten kilometers outward from area B is Kisame and Itachi's area, and the area extending ten kilometers outward from area C is Kakuzu and Hidan's area. Does anyone have any questions?"
Naruto asked as he scanned the group. Seeing no objections, he waved his hand and said, "Alright then, one hour to build your snow forts… starting now!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The moment Naruto finished speaking, the other two teams dashed off in a flash.
Seeing this, Naruto grabbed Wartortle and said, "Let's go. We've got a snow fort to build."
Wartortle nodded excitedly.
Leading Wartortle to the ten-kilometer edge of area A, Naruto began molding snowballs while showing Wartortle how to work with the snow. The scene resembled a parent and child playing together.
From the beginning, Naruto didn't plan to build multiple snow forts. For him, the focus was on constructing one large and sturdy snow fort.
In his previous life, he had only built snowmen due to time and energy constraints, so this was a novel experience for him.
"Wartortle, these snowballs are too loose. You have to…" Naruto began to explain but stopped when Wartortle launched a water gun at the snow.
The snow melted into slush, which then froze into fragments of ice under the cold wind. Wartortle, thoroughly entertained, began jumping around in the snow.
"I've got a good idea!"
Naruto chuckled. Building a sturdy snow fort in an hour with just snow was impossible, and it would collapse halfway through.
Naruto directed Wartortle to fire its water gun into the snow, creating small craters. Naruto filled the pit with more snow, packed it tightly, and ended up with a solid, half-snow, half-ice sphere.
While this method produced sturdy materials for building the fort, it was far too slow and inefficient for the limited time.
Naruto's eyes lit up with an idea, then he opened the eight gates and stomped the ground, creating a massive pit 100 meters long, wide, and deep.
Then, he performed the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, flooding the pit with water.
Unlike the small lake he had created during Team 3's training, this time, Naruto wanted ice instead of water!
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Naruto formed hand seals, and a large number of shadow clones appeared. Together, they filled the pit with snow, compressing it tightly until no more could be added. By the end, the pit contained an ultra-dense block of ice and snow.
The block was then divided into brick-sized pieces, and Naruto, Wartortle, and the shadow clones began assembling their snow fort with precision and speed...
On the other side, Kisame and Itachi also started building a snow fort.
Kisame frowned as he observed Itachi's work, "Itachi, why are you building so many snow forts? And why are they spaced so far apart?"
Itachi, as calm as ever, replied, "If you were the enemy, what would you hope to see?"
"Obviously, just one snow fort. Destroying it would end the game. Even if there were multiple forts, if they're clustered together, they'd be easy to destroy all at once."
Kisame said without hesitation.
The moment he finished speaking, he froze, realization dawning on him.
'Now it made sense. Itachi's seemingly excessive efforts weren't random… they were part of a layered strategy to complicate the enemy's attack plan...'
…
Elsewhere, Hidan was grumbling loudly, "Kakuzu, you're such an idiot! Building all the forts in one spot? If the enemy attacks, we'll lose them all in one go."
Kakuzu sneered, "That's the plan. Let them think this is all we've got. Later, we'll secretly construct another fort a few kilometers away in a hidden location. They'll never see it coming. With this, our chances of winning skyrocket!"
"Kakuzu, you are indeed as smart as me!"
At this moment, Hidan finally caught on Kakuzu's plan.
It was a classic 'you think I think' scenario… a layered deception to outwit their opponents.
However, neither Itachi's clever strategy nor Kakuzu's intricate plan escaped Naruto's notice.
Thanks to shadow clones stationed 100 meters underground, Naruto was aware of every move being made.
"Amateurs. This is just like the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind them..."