"Who I am isn't important. As for why I'm here… the reason is quite simple."
Facing Sara's question, Natsuhiko answered calmly.
He had already decided how to deal with the Queen of Rōran, so there was no need to worry about complications.
It was true that he had located the Ryūmyaku's sealing site using the mark left behind by Minato Namikaze. But before that, he had also spent time wandering through the city itself.
After all, he needed supplies to last through this period.
More importantly, he had to determine whether Rōran knew anything about what was happening outside—especially about him.
During those days moving around the city, he discovered something interesting.
Rōran was completely cut off from Sunagakure's intelligence network.
They had no idea what was happening in the outside world.
Even worse, the situation within the city was far worse than he had expected.
This wasn't the prosperous Rōran he remembered from the stories about Naruto Uzumaki's time-travel incident.
Yes, remnants of its former glory still lingered here and there—but beneath them, the signs of decay were impossible to miss.
Natsuhiko remembered that Rōran's destruction had supposedly come from war.
But now that he had seen things for himself… that didn't seem entirely accurate.
On the way here, although he avoided the main roads, he still noticed something disturbing.
Bandits.
Plenty of them.
Groups of raiders were entrenched around the trade routes like parasites.
Just imagining it—bandits roaming freely within the Land of Wind, without a single ninja sent to deal with them—made the implication painfully obvious.
Natsuhiko could already guess what was going on.
This was likely something Sunagakure—and perhaps even the Wind Daimyō himself—had chosen to ignore.
And the reason behind it?
That probably had something to do with Minato.
After all, missions that should have belonged to the Land of Wind had ended up going to the Land of Fire instead. No matter who sat in the Kazekage's chair, that would be impossible to swallow.
On top of that, beneath Rōran lay the Ryūmyaku—a power far too tempting to ignore.
And for the Wind Daimyō, having a city sitting in his territory yet refusing to obey him was hardly something he would tolerate.
Once both sides quietly reached an understanding…
Rōran's fate had essentially been sealed.
Even now, this queen is still holding on… probably because of the people of Rōran.
Natsuhiko recalled a fragment from his memory.
In the future, that girl who looked suspiciously like Naruto's daughter had once spoken about protecting the people of Rōran.
Which meant something very clear.
For this queen, nothing mattered more than her citizens.
Natsuhiko pieced everything together in a matter of moments.
Once someone's purpose—or weakness—was exposed…
They were no longer in control of the game.
He had no intention of slaughtering the entire city.
Not because he couldn't.
But because it would be meaningless.
And killing innocent, defenseless civilians—while he could do it in a wartime situation without hesitation—was something he wasn't willing to do when they weren't enemies.
"So," Sara said at last, staring at him with unwavering focus, "what exactly is your goal?"
"Very simple."
Natsuhiko smiled faintly.
"I'd like to make a deal with Her Majesty."
He raised a hand slightly, cutting off the protest he could already see forming.
"Don't refuse so quickly. And don't say you have nothing left to offer."
"For the sake of you and your people… I suggest Your Majesty think carefully."
Sara's eyes hardened.
"You're after the Ryūmyaku, aren't you?" she demanded through clenched teeth.
"You don't understand what kind of power that is. It's not something you can control."
"Give up your ambitions."
"Sorry," Natsuhiko replied with a slight shake of his head.
Then he began walking slowly toward her.
"You can't stop me."
"And you don't really have the right to refuse."
He stopped just a few steps away.
"I think Her Majesty should consider her people a bit more carefully."
The threat behind those words was painfully obvious.
Sara's face turned pale.
Perhaps her illness was already severe—because in the very next moment, she suddenly began coughing violently.
Her cheeks flushed red for a brief instant…before draining into an almost deathly white.
Natsuhiko frowned slightly at the sight. After a moment, he pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her.
Unfortunately, Sara didn't take it.
When the coughing finally subsided, she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at him.
"You cannot harm innocent people."
"That depends on you, Your Majesty."
Natsuhiko gave a slight bow. His voice remained as gentle as ever as he continued.
"And besides—even if I did nothing, how long do you think things can last the way they are now?"
"Even if I die, I will never abandon my people!" Sara declared, her tone firm and unwavering.
Yet the helplessness buried beneath that resolve was impossible to hide. It lingered faintly on her pale face.
This time, Natsuhiko didn't indulge her stubbornness.
He stepped forward and gently pressed the handkerchief to the blood at the corner of her lips.
Sara immediately turned her head away in resistance, but he simply held the cloth there anyway.
His movements were surprisingly gentle.
Paired with the mask covering his face, however, the scene looked strangely unsettling.
Still, he continued calmly as he wiped the blood away.
"Truly worthy of a great queen. Your determination is admirable," Natsuhiko said with a faint smile. "That's precisely why I didn't take harsher measures. Instead, I chose to offer you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Sara raised her head, her voice cold. "A bargain with the devil?"
"Let's start with what I can offer you."
Ignoring the hostility in her tone, Natsuhiko finished cleaning the blood before speaking again.
"Your situation is rather dire right now, isn't it?"
"The trade routes are blocked. Your economy is collapsing. And neither the Sunagakure nor the Land of Wind seems particularly fond of you."
"On top of that, your health is deteriorating rapidly. At this rate, it won't be long before your people lose their queen… and your daughter loses her mother."
He paused briefly before adding softly:
"And after you're gone—have you thought about what will happen to Rōran? To your daughter? To your people?"
"You—"
Sara looked up at him with a serious expression.
She realized, with growing unease, that she couldn't refute a single word he had said.
She had no idea how he knew so much.
But every sentence struck directly at the center of her fears.
Rōran's situation was already desperate—so desperate that even she, the queen, had no solution.
And if she died…
The burden would fall entirely upon her daughter.
Her people would lose their guiding figure, and in the chaos that followed, what would become of the city was impossible to predict.
"So," Natsuhiko continued, noticing the subtle crack forming in her composure, "I have a proposal."
"I will attempt to cure your illness. I can't guarantee success—but it's worth trying."
"Second, in the future I will provide you with a sum of money. Consider it part of our transaction."
"And finally… I will offer you a suggestion."
"A suggestion about the future path for you—and your people."
He tilted his head slightly.
"So tell me, Your Majesty. What do you think of this deal?"
Faced with the terms Natsuhiko laid out, Sara suddenly found herself unable to refuse.
Or perhaps more accurately—
She didn't even know how she could refuse.
In that moment, she realized something she had suspected from the start.
The man standing before her… the one proposing this bargain…
Was offering a deal that felt exactly like a devil's contract.
Because only a devil could peer into someone's heart, discover their deepest desires—
And then present terms that were impossible to reject.
Even so, Sara was still the queen.
Though she was young, years of ruling Rōran had shaped her temperament. At the very least, she had learned how to force herself to remain calm when it mattered.
She didn't rush to accept everything Natsuhiko had promised.
Instead, she steadied her breathing and asked the most important question.
"Then… what are your conditions?"
"My conditions are simple."
Natsuhiko's tone remained calm and almost gentle.
"First, I need a certain amount of supplies."
"Recently I caused a bit of trouble. Unfortunately, that little incident seems to have angered the Kazekage quite a bit. Right now, there are probably quite a few people trying to hunt me down."
He shrugged slightly.
"Of course, I played a small trick on them. They believe I escaped toward the Land of Rivers, so they have no idea I'm actually here."
"As for the second condition… well, you can see it for yourself."
Hearing this, Sara immediately turned toward the sealing site.
She didn't even react to the part where he casually mentioned offending the Kazekage.
But in truth, she understood exactly what he meant.
He wasn't confiding in her.
He was warning her.
Someone who could anger the leader of Sunagakure, slip past their forces, and toy with their ninja like that… was not someone to take lightly.
This wasn't a confession of weakness.
It was a naked threat.
All she had to do was ask around within the Land of Wind, and she would likely hear what had happened.
And the message was clear.
If she spoke recklessly… the consequences might fall not only on her, but on her people as well.
Sara was intelligent enough to understand that.
And besides—if the man's promises were genuine, angering him might mean losing the only chance she had left.
"…The seal hasn't been destroyed?" Sara studied it for a long while before finally speaking, her voice uncertain. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Well, it's fine if you can't see it." Natsuhiko shook his head lightly.
"It's actually very simple. I damaged the seal slightly, but it's still functioning."
"I can't take all of this chakra at once. This time I'll only extract a small portion. Later, I'll return to take the rest."
"That's why I need someone here to cooperate with me."
His gaze settled on her.
"You—and your people—are the best candidates."
"So in the end… your goal is still the Ryūmyaku." Sara let out a soft sigh before continuing quietly. "When will you come back? How long will this take?"
"And the money you mentioned—how much are we talking about, and when will you deliver it?"
Hearing her ask these questions so directly, a faint smile appeared beneath Natsuhiko's mask.
Once again, he had made the correct judgment.
For this queen, the Ryūmyaku itself wasn't the most important thing.
What mattered to her were her daughter…
…and the people of Rōran.
Everything else was secondary.
Of course, her desperate circumstances played a role as well.
After all—
she was practically desperate with poverty.
"My target is indeed the Ryūmyaku," Natsuhiko said calmly. "But don't worry—I'm not like Anrokuzan. I don't have ambitions that big."
He paused briefly before adding with a faint hint of disdain.
"Honestly, that man was nothing more than a fool."
Natsuhiko gave a casual smile before speaking slowly.
"The next time I return… it may be half a year from now. Possibly longer. I have my own matters to deal with, after all."
"As for the money—there's no need to worry about that."
He paused briefly, as if doing a rough calculation.
"Let's say… about one million ryō."
In Natsuhiko's eyes, that fellow—whether he went by Anrokuzan or Mukade—was nothing more than an idiot.
Yes, the Ryūmyaku was an incredibly powerful source of chakra.
But even overwhelming power meant little if its wielder was a fool.
Unless, of course, that person happened to be one of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
In Natsuhiko's memory, many of those terrifyingly powerful Ōtsutsuki were—if he was being honest—like pigs holding weapons of unimaginable strength.
Whether it was Toneri Ōtsutsuki or the ones that appeared later in the era of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, the pattern was the same.
Even if they were fools…
Their power was still beyond ordinary imagination.
Those eyes alone were enough to suffocate anyone with fear.
As for Natsuhiko?
His goal in obtaining the Ryūmyaku was simple.
To expand his own chakra reserves.
Nothing more.
The exact timing of his return, however, was uncertain. After all, as one of the three division commanders of Konoha's ANBU, he didn't have the freedom to leave the village whenever he pleased.
When it came to the payment, Natsuhiko rested his chin on his hand and thought for a moment before speaking again, somewhat uncertain.
"One million ryō… should be fine, right?"
In truth, the purchasing power of one million ryō in this world wasn't particularly impressive.
Even as he said it, Natsuhiko felt a little embarrassed.
It really was a rather small sum.
Over the years, the rewards from his missions had added up to a respectable amount. One million ryō wasn't difficult for him to produce.
Still… saving where he could wasn't a bad habit.
"What?" Sara suddenly looked startled.
"One million ryō?"
"…Hmm?" Seeing her reaction, Natsuhiko sighed slightly. "Too little?"
"In that case… two million ryō?"
"T-two million?" Sara's expression changed again, as if she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
Now it was Natsuhiko's turn to frown.
He was actually quite skilled at bargaining, but he knew perfectly well that in this negotiation he was clearly the one at fault.
The price he offered really was too low.
Still, his own savings weren't exactly enormous. Even if he emptied everything he had, it was probably only around a seventh of the bounty that would one day be placed on Asuma Sarutobi's head.
After thinking about it for a moment, Natsuhiko decided to leave the number to Sara instead—as long as she didn't go too far.
"Alright," he said with a resigned sigh. "How much do you want? Just don't be unreasonable."
"You… you're letting me decide?" Sara blinked.
She had already realized that Natsuhiko had misunderstood her reaction. But since that was the case… there was no harm in playing along.
"How about… four million ryō?" she suggested carefully.
"Four million?"
This time, Natsuhiko was the one caught off guard.
But only for a second.
"Deal!" he said immediately. "I'll bring it the next time I return."
At that moment, Natsuhiko realized something.
He had seriously underestimated just how poor this queen had become.
Four million ryō, if converted roughly into the currency of his previous world, probably amounted to only about 25,000 USD—or something in that range.
After five years serving in the ANBU, even after deducting the cost of equipment and necessities, Natsuhiko had still managed to save around five million ryō.
Not a fortune, but not insignificant either.
Yet Sara looked almost delighted.
Natsuhiko knew he had been played a little.
But he didn't mind.
Because no matter how he looked at it—
he was still making an enormous profit from this deal.
...
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin