Chapter 190: Coercion and Enticement
The Snow Ninja hastily formed hand seals: "Ice Release: Ice Shield!" Just as the hexagonal ice crystal shields took shape, the Rasengan, carrying a storm, had already roared upon them.
Ice shards and chakra fragments flew in all directions. Twelve Snow Ninja were sent flying by the shockwave, crashing into the ice wall they had created earlier. The ice surface fractured inch by inch, and their blood seeped into the cracks of the ice.
Veins bulged around Neji's eyes. Treading with the Eight Trigrams footwork, he instantly appeared before several enemies.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" His figure became an afterimage, chakra condensed at his fingertips precisely striking the Snow Ninjas' chakra pathway nodes.
Six enemies attempting a sneak attack froze on the spot in their hand-seal postures, ice-blue chakra halos erupting from the acupoints around their bodies.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Stream!" Sasuke's roar shattered ice pillars. Violent lightning snakes exploded outwards with him at the center. Seven Snow Ninjas' Ice Release ninjutsu had yet to form when their full body armor was melted into molten iron by the super-high voltage current. Ziden plunged into the ice surface, and spiderweb-like arcs of lightning spread along the glacier cracks, electrocuting five ambushers hidden beneath the ice layer until their bodies convulsed.
The Snow Ninja leader's eyes looked ready to split with rage. An attack he thought would be an easy capture suddenly encountered three variables. Within just a few minutes, they had suffered heavy losses. But now, Sasuke and the other two were already charging towards him. He could only rapidly begin forming hand seals: "Ice Release Secret Technique: Extreme Cold..."
Before the man could finish his seals, Neji suddenly flashed behind him, unleashing Rotation. The chakra hurricane formed by Rotation blew away the just-condensed ice crystals. The next moment, an Eight Trigrams Empty Palm penetrated three ice mirrors. The leader, spraying a mist of blood, flew backwards, the chakra flowing through his meridians completely sealed.
Naruto's real body leaped high, treading on shattered ice. A five-meter diameter Odama Rasengan whistled through the air, engulfing the last ten Snow Ninja along with their techniques.
The shockwave swept through the canyon. The perennial snow was actually cleared away, revealing a patch of bare rock over ten meters square.
When Sasuke sheathed his sword, the last wisp of lightning was still dancing on the ice surface.
Thirty corpses lay scattered here and there across the snowfield, the bloodstains exceptionally conspicuous on the pristine white snow.
Neji's Byakugan swept across the battlefield. He gently shook his head: "All chakra flow has ceased."
Kazahana Koyuki stood up, her heart still palpitating with fear, ice crystals clinging to her eyelashes. As far as her eyes could see, the three ninjas before her didn't even have a single snowflake on the hems of their clothes, as if crushing thirty elite ninjas just now had merely been a warm-up exercise.
The blizzard had stopped at some unknown point. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on the crystalline glacier, refracting into a seven-colored rainbow.
Asama Sandayū hastily came to Kazahana Koyuki's side, checking her safety: "Koyuki, are you alright?"
"I'm fine..." Kazahana Koyuki was still in a state of shock. The Land of Snow ninjas, who had left a huge shadow on her young mind, were like toys before these three Konoha youths, who were several years younger than her.
"We owe you three a great debt this time. Otherwise, who knows what terrible things might have happened," Asama Sandayū said quickly upon seeing Sasuke and the other two approaching.
"Mr. Asama, instead of saying this to us, why don't you tell us why your film crew was ambushed by the Land of Snow's official ninja forces?" Neji ignored Asama Sandayū's show of goodwill, instead holding up a forehead protector he had just taken from a Snow Ninja's head and questioning coldly.
"Mr. Asama, you concealed information when you posted the mission, didn't you? Missions involving foreign governments, even a small country like the Land of Snow, are S-rank missions. S-rank missions are not something just anyone can post," Sasuke's face was like frost. "Out of respect for the sovereignty of other nations, during peacetime, even when facing a small country like the Land of Snow, Konoha would not casually issue official S-rank missions. Your actions like this, can I interpret them as you trying to drag our Hidden Leaf Village into the quagmire of war?"
"This..." Asama Sandayū was struck dumb by Sasuke's words. Never mind that he was just a manager now; even when he was previously a minister in the Land of Snow, Konoha was a behemoth he absolutely couldn't afford to offend.
"Naruto, go restrain everyone in this film crew. I suspect they are spies sent by another ninja village," Neji ordered at this point.
Naruto didn't say much either. After forming seals and creating a group of clones, each clone approached a member of the film crew, bringing them under control.
"Don't, don't, don't! We'll talk! We'll talk!" Asama Sandayū, seeing Neji was about to act personally, quickly raised his hands in a French military salute.
Sasuke, at this moment, took out an alarm clock from a sealing scroll, set the dial to the 5-minute mark, threw it in front of Asama Sandayū and Kazahana Koyuki, then planted a kunai beside the alarm clock.
"You only have five minutes to explain everything clearly. Otherwise, if there are any problems, you can wait until you're in the Konoha Security Department's interrogation room to talk," Sasuke said coldly.
Asama Sandayū and Kazahana Koyuki were intimidated by the chilling aura emanating from Sasuke at this moment, even forgetting how to speak. Kazahana Koyuki, especially, was so frightened by the kunai glinting coldly not far in front of her that she was on the verge of tears.
"Crying? Crying also counts towards the time!" Sasuke, without any intention of cherishing the fairer sex, shouted loudly.
"Sigh, let me speak," Asama Sandayū, realizing at this point that he might have played his hand wrong, then recounted the entire sequence of events to Sasuke.
"So, this 'Princess Gale' is actually an exiled princess?" Sasuke said, looking Kazahana Koyuki up and down, then frowning. "Is there any credential to prove it?"
"Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi, your Konoha's Hokage Aide," Kazahana Koyuki spoke up at this time. "Back then, it was he who took me away from the Land of Snow's royal palace."
"Kakashi-bro?" Naruto was stunned upon hearing this. "I never heard him mention this!"
"We will verify this matter," Neji said. "Let's assume for now that what you said is all true. Then, what was your purpose in concealing mission intelligence from us? Did you want us to help this princess reclaim her throne?"
"To be perfectly honest, that was indeed my intention," Asama Sandayū said after a sigh.
"Do you know that your actions like this are already enough to land you on Konoha's most wanted list?" Neji stated.
"Apologies. However, everything was my plan alone. Koyuki knew nothing about it. I hope you can let her off the hook," Asama Sandayū lowered his head in resignation.
"And you? Do you have nothing to say?" Sasuke then looked towards Kazahana Koyuki.
Kazahana Koyuki lowered her head, remaining silent.
"Um, Sasuke, Neji, how about we just help them? They look quite pitiful," Naruto suddenly spoke up at this point.
"Naruto, this isn't a matter of whether we help or not. It's that once we help them, it will drag the village into the diplomatic quagmire of interfering in another country's internal affairs," Sasuke patiently explained to Naruto. "Moreover, even if what they said is true, their deception of the village through such means is unforgivable. Think about it, if it were another ninja squad from the village that accepted this mission and faced the Snow Ninjas' ambush just now, what would have happened?"
Hearing this, Naruto also closed his mouth. Those 30 Snow Ninja just now, although they didn't cause them too much trouble, that was predicated on their own considerable strength and each of them possessing large-scale destructive ninjutsu. If, by misfortune, a slightly weaker Jounin had accepted this mission, they probably really would have met their end here.
"Besides, if they truly wanted Konoha to step in and help this princess restore her country, then they could have gone through formal channels to discuss it with Lord Hokage. As long as it could be confirmed that she truly is the exiled princess of the Land of Snow, and that the current Land of Snow Daimyo usurped the throne through dishonorable means of a palace coup, I believe Teacher would be very willing to step forward and help the Land of Snow restore order," Sasuke said.
Sasuke's words instantly ignited hope in Asama Sandayū's eyes. He immediately spoke, "I am willing to pay any price for my previous actions! However, I still implore Konoha to step forward and help Koyuki restore her country! The Land of Snow truly needs Konoha's aid! These past few years, under the tyranny of that tyrant Kazahana Dotō, the people of the Land of Snow have been living in dire straits!"
With that, Asama Sandayū directly knelt down and kowtowed deeply towards Sasuke and the other two.
At this moment, Kazahana Koyuki also raised her head, gazing at the three, a look of hope also in her eyes.
"Well, how about we still help them?" Naruto said to the two beside him after hesitating for a moment.
Sasuke, seeing the timing was about right, then said to Kazahana Koyuki, "You said earlier that Lord Kakashi can prove your identity, correct? You should know the consequences of lying, right?"
The purpose of Sasuke and Neji putting on such a show was precisely to intimidate the other party, allowing them to gain the upper hand in subsequent negotiations. Now that the other party had been brought under control, it was also time to start stating conditions.
Sasuke summoned a messenger snake, wrote down the situation here on an intelligence scroll with some feigned deliberation, and then had the messenger snake take it away.
Afterwards, there was a long wait. No one dared to speak at this moment and risk provoking the three.
On the vast ice field, an eerie silence instantly fell.
After a little over half an hour, the messenger snake returned to Sasuke's side, bringing back the reply Uchiha Douhuan had prepared long ago.
As Sasuke examined the scroll, the atmosphere at the scene dropped completely to freezing point. Cold sweat had long since drenched Asama Sandayū's forehead, subsequently freezing into ice crystals in the low temperature of the snowfield.
A long time later, Sasuke finally looked up, glanced at the other party, then said indifferently, "Mr. Asama, Lord Hokage's decision is that you and your esteemed film crew must pay the price for concealing mission intelligence. Of course, considering your actions did not cause severe consequences, you only need to pay five times the mission fee as compensation, and that will be all. Naturally, this mission will also be terminated herewith."
"I understand," Asama Sandayū nodded. If it was just paying money, then he could still accept it. "Then, regarding the matter of restoring our Land of Snow..."
"Lord Kakashi has already given me a reply. He did indeed rescue a Land of Snow princess named Kazahana Koyuki from the Land of Snow's royal palace back then," Sasuke said calmly. "Simultaneously, Lord Hokage has also learned how the people of the Land of Snow have been living in dire straits these years under the rule of the tyrant Kazahana Dotō. Therefore, out of consideration for justice, Lord Hokage has decided to form a special operations force, with me as the commander, to help you reclaim your homeland."
"Really?" Asama Sandayū was instantly overjoyed upon hearing this. "No wonder others say Konoha is the most righteous organization in the ninja world! Seeing it today, it truly is so! The citizens of the Land of Snow will forever remember Lord Hokage's kindness in their hearts!"
"Let's ask the opinion of the person concerned first," Sasuke, indifferent to Asama Sandayū's flattery, turned to look at Kazahana Koyuki. "Princess, I may call you that, right? What is your opinion? If you disagree with this matter, then Konoha has no standing to help you."
"The conditions?" Kazahana Koyuki didn't rush to nod but looked up at Sasuke. "I imagine your Konoha wouldn't help our Land of Snow for free, would it?"
"The conditions are simple," Sasuke revealed a warm smile at this point. "Our Konoha hopes that after helping you successfully restore your country, we can achieve friendly cooperation with your Land of Snow."
"Friendly cooperation?" Kazahana Koyuki took a deep breath upon hearing this. "Like the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Rice Paddies? Join your Konoha Pact?"
"Why not?" Sasuke said unhurriedly at this point. "The Land of Hot Water and the Land of Rice Paddies, these past few years, with the help of our Land of Fire, have vigorously developed tourism, agriculture, and animal husbandry. Their economies have grown rapidly, and the quality of life for their citizens has also improved year by year."
"And more importantly, our Konoha can completely guarantee they will not be harassed by surrounding major powers and protect their safety. Of course, considering your Land of Snow's special location, Konoha will not dispatch garrison troops after the pact is reached. However, we can promise that when other countries launch war against you, it will be tantamount to declaring war on Konoha, and Konoha will dispatch aid at the first opportunity."
"Princess, why not consider, if the Land of Snow had such a powerful ally as Konoha back then, would your uncle still have had the guts to launch a palace coup?"
Sasuke wore a smile on his face, speaking slowly to Kazahana Koyuki. His words were extremely polite, making Kazahana Koyuki dazed as she looked at him. It was hard to imagine that this charming young nobleman currently speaking so pleasantly was the same cold-faced, sword-wielding brute from before.
For Sasuke, this degree of changing face posed no difficulty. And the reason for changing his attitude towards Kazahana Koyuki was also very simple: just now was coercion; after coercion, it was time for enticement.
(End of Chapter)
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