Chapter 195 The Dust Settles
Just as Fuuka Natsumi finished counting his ninjas and led them out of the palace, a flying insect buzzed away at the palace gate.
...
"The fish has taken the bait." In Team 8, who was setting up traps with Shikamaru's team, Shino Aburame suddenly looked up and said to the others.
"Speaking of which, did we really need to set up so many traps?" Kiba Inuzuka laboriously dug through the frozen ground while burying a trigger-activated electromagnetic interference trap. After finishing, he looked up and wiped the beads of sweat that had frozen into ice crystals on his forehead, saying, "The enemies are at most a few Jonin with some special skills, and some Chunin and Genin. We don't even need Shisui-sensei to take action. Naruto and the other two can handle the Jonin, and we can take care of the rest, right?"
"Woof!" Akamaru, who was perched on Kiba Inuzuka's shoulder, also barked, echoing his master's words.
"It's absolutely necessary," Shikamaru said as he and Choji set up a new trap. "These traps aren't for killing the enemy, but for protecting the civilians drawn here by our plan."
"Our plan will attract many unarmed civilians to Rainbow Glacier. If we just recklessly engage them, under Sasuke and the others' ninjutsu, even a 20% chance of these civilians surviving would be pure luck. This would be detrimental to our future cooperation with Konoha and the Land of Snow."
"Besides, didn't Shisui-sensei already say that he won't intervene in this battle unless absolutely necessary? If we want to qualify for the Chunin Exams, we'll have to deal with these enemies ourselves."
"That's true, but this kind of work is really boring," Kiba Inuzuka complained.
"That's true, but Kiba, we're the reconnaissance team. Besides gathering intelligence, setting traps is also something we need to do."
"That's about it." Ino breathed a sigh of relief after planting a string of explosive tags in a weak spot in the ice. "Now, all that's left is for Sasuke and Neji to lure the enemy over."
"Hinata, go check on Naruto's preparations. We'll need him to lead the charge in the battle later." Shikamaru glanced at the map and called to Hinata, who was standing not far away.
"Yes!" Hinata nodded, rubbed her slightly reddened hands, and after a series of leaps, she reached the top of the ice cliff. Naruto had been lying in ambush there for some time.
At this moment, Naruto was wrapped in a warm robe, sitting cross-legged at the top of the cliff. The cold wind occasionally blew his golden hair, which shone brightly in the sunlight. Hinata's face flushed slightly at the sight.
"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered.
"Ah? It's Hinata." Naruto's face lit up with a bright smile upon seeing her. "What's up?"
"Um... Shikamaru asked me to come and ask how your preparations are going?" Although Naruto's slightly naive and innocent smile seemed a bit out of place with his previous air of superiority to others, Hinata loved this side of him, so her face turned even redder.
"Don't worry! According to the plan, after Her Highness the Princess and the civilians pass through, I'll go down to intercept the enemy and activate the traps you set targeting the electronic circuitry." Naruto waved his hand, indicating that he understood. Then, seeing Hinata's face growing increasingly red, Naruto couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why is your face so red? Are you cold? Here, wear this."
Naruto took off his coat and draped it over Hinata's shoulders. The lingering scent of Naruto on the coat instantly overloaded Hinata's brain, and steam began to rise from her head.
Hinata's reaction startled Naruto: "Are you alright? If you're not feeling well, be more discreet during the operation."
"N-no... I'm fine. Um, Naruto-kun, I'll head back now." Hinata suppressed the urge to faint, said goodbye to Naruto, and returned to her assigned area.
...
Not long after, from the perspective of the hidden group, they saw Kazahana Koyuki leading a large group of hundreds of people towards them.
"Sasuke, there are nearly fifty chakra fluctuations behind us." At this moment, Neji, disguised as Kazahana Koyuki's follower, used his Byakugan's 360-degree view to survey the area behind them before lowering his voice to speak to Sasuke beside him.
"Shikamaru, how are the preparations going?" Sasuke contacted Shikamaru, who was hiding, via radio. After receiving a confirmation, he turned to Kazahana Koyuki, with whom he had just switched identities. "Well then, Your Highness, you'll have to handle the rest yourself. You should be fine, right?" Kazahana
Koyuki glanced nervously at the Snow Country civilians who had followed her to Rainbow Glacier. After hesitating for a moment, she took a deep breath. "Leave it to me."
"Very good. We can guarantee that no one will interfere with you during the process of opening the treasure, and that your uncle will remain on Rainbow Glacier forever. However, how far you go after that depends on yourself. Will you become a true queen revered by your subjects, or a puppet with nothing after losing the help of outsiders? It all depends on your performance." Sasuke chuckled and placed his hand on the hilt of Shiden. At the same time, Neji released the safety seal on his ninja tools.
The very next second after Kazahana Koyuki led the crowd past the designated location, a deafening sound resounded throughout the snowfield.
Everyone turned to look, only to see a blond-haired man descending from the sky, wielding a gigantic Rasengan several meters in diameter. The massive Rasengan slammed heavily onto the ground, but the expected explosion didn't occur. The giant chakra sphere vanished the moment it touched the snowy ground.
"Didn't it hit?" Kazaka Koyuki, standing behind, stared blankly at Naruto's back as he landed on the snow in a superhero-like manner, asking in a daze.
"Don't rush, let the chakra fly for a while," Sasuke chuckled, rushing out of the crowd with Neji on either side.
Moments later, a deafening roar echoed across the snowy plain. The traps, having absorbed the chakra of Naruto's Giant Rasengan, began to activate. Every possible hiding place for enemies, calculated by Shikamaru, exploded, forcing one ninja after another, clad in strange armor, out of the snow. Several weaker ones perished beneath the traps.
A biting wind blew across the iridescent icicles, and Kiba Inuzuka's Akamaru scratched restlessly in the snow.
Shikamaru Nara's shadow snaked along the ice, and within Hinata Hyuga's Byakugan vision, fifty blue-glowing chakra reactions, forced forth, ceased to be concealed and rapidly approached the interior of the Rainbow Glacier.
Shino Aburame's sunglasses flashed coldly, and a swarm of insects poured from his collar: "Their armor is special, but..."
He looked at Shikamaru, "Enough for my parasitic insects to find a crack."
Shikamaru bit his finger and drew the final jutsu seal on the ground. The acrid smell of the exploding tags mingled with the chilling aura of ice crystals. "Three minutes later, when Choji triggers the first avalanche, Ino, the two of us must control the guy in the middle."
The roar of machinery echoed across the wilderness. Under the cover of a group of Snow Ninja, Fuuto rushed towards the main force ahead. Terrifying chakra fluctuations surged from their armor, and the footsteps of fifty Snow Ninja echoed metallically through the icy valley.
"Choji! Move! Ino, get ready!" Shikamaru's shadow suddenly pierced the ice.
Akimichi Choji dumped the potato chips he had opened while waiting for the enemy to arrive into his mouth, then activated his clan's Expansion Technique. His enlarged body slammed heavily onto the ice. Cracks spread like a spider web, and the massive ice cones hanging above the glacier crashed down.
The Snow Ninja, who were forming hand seals, suddenly heard a piercing alarm from their chakra armor. Looking up, they saw heavy, solid ice spikes raining down on them.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!" Sasuke appeared amidst the Snow Ninja's ranks, his purple lightning piercing the glacier. Purple lightning snakes shot out from the cracks in the ice, and the Snow Ninja, trying to dodge the ice spikes, suddenly convulsed, sparks flying from their armor joints.
Ino Yamanaka's blonde hair billowed in the snowstorm as she aimed her Mind Transfer Jutsu at Fuuka Nuotou, a long shadow appearing beneath her feet.
In the chaos, Shino's swarm of insects had already covered half of the Snow Ninja, the scraping sound of their armor making their teeth ache.
The Snow Ninja, their scalps tingling from Sasuke's Lightning Release ninjutsu, now had to contend with the constant alarms blaring from their chakra armor.
Fuuto's roar shook ice shards: "Konoha ninjas! Do you want to wage war against our Land of Snow?"
But the next second, he suddenly found himself out of control, his mind entering a strange black space. A blonde girl brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and made a throat-slitting gesture at him.
Regaining his senses, Fuuto realized he was completely immobilized; a long shadow beneath his feet connected him to the body of a boy not far away.
"Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique!"
Just then, Neji descended from the sky, and Hinata arrived behind Fuuka Nutsuo. Various sealing techniques flashed on the arm guards on their wrists, which were covered with small sealing scrolls. Steel needles appeared in their hands, and they continuously pierced the gaps in Fuuka Nutsuo's chakra armor, completely severing the opponent's chakra circulation. At this moment, Sasuke, who had given the Snow Ninja a set of electrotherapy ninjutsu, calmly came to Fuuka Nutsuo's side. After lightly wiping his purple lightning, he sneered and said, "Go to war with Konoha? Are you qualified?"
The Snow Ninja brought by Fuuka Nutsuo suffered heavy losses under the ice spikes falling from the sky and Sasuke's lightning ninjutsu. Before the remaining survivors could even breathe a sigh of relief, two crimson whirlwinds swept in.
Kiba and Akamaru's combined ninjutsu, Fang Wolf Fang, instantly tore apart the remaining Snow Ninja formation. Naruto's shadow clone army also joined the battle at this moment, and in no time, they had finished off the remaining Snow Ninja.
At this time, Kazehana Noto, who was completely unable to move, looked at the few boys wearing Konoha headbands in front of him, gritted his teeth, and decided to make a final effort.
"What exactly did Kazehana Noto promise your Konoha? I'm willing to give you double!"
"Is that so?" Sasuke walked slowly to Kazehana Noto with interest and said with a light laugh, "That's really a condition that's hard to refuse, but I refuse."
"Why?" Kazehana Noto asked incredulously.
"Actually, if you could act even a little bit like a proper Daimyo, our Konoha would cooperate with you directly, instead of going through all the trouble of helping Kazehana Noto." Sasuke shook his head and said.
After receiving Uchiha Touko's mission, Sasuke had carefully considered Uchiha Touko's purpose.
The geographical location of the Land of Snow isn't as crucial as that of the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs. Firstly, the Land of Snow doesn't border the Land of Fire, and its economic development is hampered by its climate. As a mere ally, it offers limited value to the Land of Fire.
In fact, a formal alliance might require the Land of Fire to contribute financially to support the Land of Snow's development.
However, if Konoha were to go to war with the Land of Earth, the Land of Snow's location could become a significant obstacle, allowing Konoha
to gain an advantage. This requires the people of the Land of Snow to genuinely accept the Land of Fire as an ally and be willing to stand with them through thick and thin in war.
Therefore, given the choice between Kazeka Nagato and Kazeka Koyuki, Sasuke chose Kazeka Koyuki without hesitation. While Kazeka Koyuki has significant issues as a head of state, she genuinely loves the country she was born in. Therefore, she's unlikely to embezzle Konoha's economic aid.
As for Fuuka Nutō, Sasuke hadn't held any hope for this insect, especially after learning about his actions in the Land of Snow over the years. Sasuke suddenly thought of the negative example of a world without chakra, a world that Uchiha Toukō had "fabricated" for him and Neji when he was teaching them, named Kaishin. Sasuke
sized up Fuuka Nutō, guessing that the aid supplies Konoha had just sent to the Land of Snow that morning would probably be in this guy's private coffers by the afternoon. If
the people of the Land of Snow didn't benefit, why should they stand on the same side as the Land of Fire?
"What do you say?" Neji looked at Sasuke, raised an eyebrow, and asked.
"Let's do it. Give him a decent death; after all, he's a daimyo," Sasuke said.
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(End of Chapter)