Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 192 Coercion and inducement

The Snow Ninja hurriedly formed hand seals: "Ice Release: Ice Shield!" The hexagonal ice crystal shield had just taken shape when the Rasengan arrived with a whirlwind.

Ice shards and chakra fragments flew everywhere as the shockwave sent the twelve Snow Ninja flying and crashing into the ice wall they had created. The ice surface cracked inch by inch, and their blood seeped into the cracks.

Neji's eyes bulged with veins, and he used the Bagua Step technique to instantly appear in front of several enemies.

"Gentle Fist Technique - Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" His figure blurred into afterimages, and the chakra gathered at his fingertips precisely pierced the meridian nodes of the Snow Ninja.

The six enemies who were attempting a sneak attack remained frozen in place, their hand seals forming, and icy blue chakra halos erupted from their acupoints.

"Lightning Release: Chidori Stream!" Sasuke's roar shattered the ice pillars, and a raging lightning snake exploded outwards from him. Before the seven Snow Ninja's ice-release ninjutsu could even take shape, their armor was melted into molten iron by the ultra-high-voltage current. Purple lightning pierced the ice surface, and spiderweb-like lightning spread along the glacier cracks, electrocuting the five ambushers hiding beneath the ice, causing them to convulse.

The Snow Ninja leader's eyes widened in fury. What he thought would be a straightforward attack had suddenly turned into three unexpected variables, resulting in heavy losses within minutes. Now, Sasuke and his two companions were charging towards him, leaving him no choice but to rapidly form hand seals: "Ice Release Secret Technique: Extreme Cold..."

Before the man could finish his hand seals, Neji suddenly appeared behind him and used the Reincarnation Technique. The chakra hurricane formed by the Reincarnation Technique dispersed the ice crystals that had just condensed. The next moment, the Eight Trigrams Empty Palm pierced through the triple ice mirrors, and the leader was sent flying backward, spitting out blood mist. The chakra flowing in his meridians was completely sealed off.

Naruto leaped high into the air, stepping on the shattered ice. A giant Rasengan, five meters in diameter, roared out, engulfing the last ten Snow Ninja along with their ninjutsu.

The shockwave swept across the canyon, clearing away the snow that never melted, revealing a layer of bare rock more than ten meters square.

As Sasuke sheathed his sword, the last ray of lightning still danced on the ice.

Thirty corpses lay scattered haphazardly across the snowfield, their bloodstains standing out starkly against the pristine white snow.

Neji's Byakugan swept across the battlefield, and he gently shook his head: "The flow of chakra has completely stopped."

Kazeka Koyuki stood up with lingering fear, her eyelashes covered in ice crystals. As far as she could see, not a single snowflake touched the hem of the three ninjas in front of her, as if crushing thirty elite soldiers was just a warm-up exercise.

The blizzard had stopped sometime earlier, and sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining on the glistening glacier and refracting a rainbow of colors.

Asama Santayu rushed to Fuuka Koyuki's side to check on her safety: "Koyuki, are you alright?"

"I'm fine..." Kazahana Koyuki was still in shock. The Snow Country ninja who had left a great shadow on her when she was young was like a toy in front of these three Konoha boys who were a few years younger than her.

"Thanks to the three of you this time, otherwise who knows what terrible things might have happened," Asama Santayu said hurriedly after seeing Sasuke and the others approaching.

"Mr. Asama, instead of telling us this, why don't you tell us why your movie crew was ambushed by the official ninja forces of the Land of Snow?" Neji ignored Asama Santayu's overtures and instead coldly questioned him, holding a headband he had just taken from a Snow Ninja.

"Mr. Asama, you withheld information when issuing the mission, didn't you? Missions involving other governments, even small ones like the Land of Snow, are S-rank missions. S-rank missions aren't issued by just anyone." Sasuke's face was frosty. "Out of respect for other governments, even in peacetime, Konoha wouldn't casually issue S-rank missions involving official bodies, even to a small country like the Land of Snow. Can I interpret your actions as an attempt to drag our Hidden Leaf Village into a quagmire of war?"

"This..." Asama Santayu was stunned by Sasuke's words. Not to mention that he was just a manager now, even when he was still a minister of the Land of Snow, Konoha was a behemoth that he could not afford to offend.

"Naruto, take control of everyone in this film crew. I suspect they are spies sent by other ninja villages," Neji ordered.

Naruto didn't say much. After forming hand seals and creating a group of clones, each clone approached a member of the film crew and took them into custody.

"No, no, no, we'll talk! We'll talk!" Asama Santayu quickly raised his hand in a French military salute when he saw Neji was about to take action himself.

At that moment, Sasuke took out an alarm clock from the sealing scroll, turned the scale to the 5-minute mark, threw it in front of Asama Santayu and Fuuka Koyuki, and then stuck a kunai next to the alarm clock.

"You only have five minutes to explain everything clearly. Otherwise, any questions will have to wait until you get to the Konoha Police Department's interrogation room," Sasuke said coldly.

Asama Santayu and Fuka Koyuki were so stunned by the cold aura emanating from Sasuke that they forgot what to say. Fuka Koyuki was even more frightened by the kunai flashing with a cold light not far in front of her that she was on the verge of tears.

"Crying? Crying counts as time!" Sasuke shouted loudly, showing no mercy whatsoever.

"Sigh, let me explain." Asama Santayu realized that he might have gone too far, so he told Sasuke the whole story.

"So, this Princess Fengyun really is an exiled princess?" Sasuke frowned as he looked Feng Hua Xiaoxue up and down. "Is there any proof?"

“Kakashi, your Konoha's Hokage assistant, Hatake Kakashi.” At this moment, Kazahana Koyuki spoke up, “Back then, it was he who took me away from the royal palace of the Land of Snow.”

"Kakashi-nii-san?" Naruto was stunned when he heard this. "I've never heard him mention this before."

“We will verify this,” Neji said. “Let’s assume what you’re saying is true for now. So, what is your purpose in withholding mission information from us? Do you want us to help this princess reclaim her throne?”

"To be honest, that's exactly what I was planning," Asama Santayu said with a sigh. "Do you know that your actions are enough to land you on Konoha's wanted list?" Neji said.

"I'm sorry, but everything was my plan. Xiaoxue was unaware of it. I hope you can let her off the hook." Asama Santayu lowered his head resignedly.

"And you, don't you have anything to say?" Sasuke asked, looking at Koyuki.

Feng Hua Xiaoxue lowered her head and remained silent.

"Hey Sasuke, Neji, why don't we just help them out? They look kind of pitiful," Naruto suddenly said.

“Naruto, this isn’t a question of whether we help them or not. The problem is that if we help them, the village will be mired in a public opinion storm of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs,” Sasuke patiently explained to Naruto. “Besides, even if what they said is true, it’s unforgivable for them to deceive the village using such methods. Think about it, what would happen if another ninja team from the village took on the mission and faced the ambush by the Snow Ninja just now?”

Upon hearing this, Naruto also shut his mouth. Although the 30 Snow Ninja from before hadn't caused them much trouble, that was only because they were already quite strong and each possessed wide-range destructive ninjutsu. If, unfortunately, the Jonin who accepted this mission was slightly weaker, they might have really failed here.

"Furthermore, if they really want Konoha to help this princess restore her kingdom, they can go through the proper channels and talk to the Hokage. As long as it can be confirmed that she is indeed the exiled princess of the Land of Snow, and that the current Daimyo of the Land of Snow came to power through dishonorable means such as a palace coup, I believe that Master would be very happy to step in and help the Land of Snow set things right," Sasuke said.

Sasuke's words instantly ignited hope in Asama Santayu's eyes. He immediately said, "I am willing to pay any price for my previous actions. However, I implore Konoha to help Yuki restore her country. The Land of Snow truly needs Konoha's assistance! Over the years, the Land of Snow has been suffering terribly under the tyranny of that tyrant, Fuuka Nata!"

After saying that, Asama Santayu knelt down and kowtowed deeply to Sasuke and the other two.

At this moment, Feng Hua Xiaoxue also raised her head, gazing at the three of them with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Well, how about we help them out?" Naruto said to the two people beside him after hesitating for a moment.

Sasuke, seeing that the time was right, said to Fuuka Koyuki, "You just said that Lord Kakashi could prove your identity, right? You should know what the consequences of lying are, right?"

The purpose of Sasuke and Neji's performance was to intimidate the other party and gain the upper hand in subsequent negotiations. Now that the other party has been taken into their hands, it's time to start making demands.

Sasuke summoned a communication snake, wrote down the situation on an information scroll, and then the snake carried it away.

After that came a long wait, and no one dared to speak up and provoke the three of them.

An eerie silence fell over the vast ice field.

About half an hour later, the messenger snake returned to Sasuke's side, bringing back a reply that Uchiha Touko had prepared long ago.

As Sasuke examined the scroll, the atmosphere at the scene plummeted to freezing point. Asama Santayu's head was already soaked with cold sweat, which then condensed into ice crystals in the low temperature of the snowfield.

After a long while, Sasuke finally raised his head, glanced at the other person, and said indifferently, "Mr. Asama, the Hokage means that you and your production team must pay the price for concealing mission information. Of course, considering that your actions did not cause serious consequences, you only need to pay five times the mission reward as compensation. Naturally, this mission will also be terminated."

“I understand.” Asama Santayu nodded. If it was just about compensation, he could accept it. “Then, regarding the restoration of our Snow Country…”

"Lord Kakashi has already given me his answer. He did indeed rescue a princess from the Land of Snow named Kazahana Koyuki from the palace back then," Sasuke said calmly. "At the same time, the Hokage has also learned of the terrible suffering the people of the Land of Snow have endured under the rule of the tyrant Kazahana Noto. Therefore, out of consideration for justice, the Hokage has decided to form a special operations force, with me as its commander, to help you reclaim your homeland."

"Really?" Asama Santayu was extremely excited upon hearing this. "No wonder everyone says that Konoha is the most righteous organization in the ninja world. Now it seems that it is indeed true! The people of the Land of Snow will forever remember the Hokage's kindness!"

"Let's ask the parties involved first." Sasuke didn't care about Asama Santayu's flattery and turned to Fuuka Koyuki. "Your Highness, may I call you that? What's your opinion? If you don't agree with this, then Konoha has no right to help you."

"What are the conditions?" Fuuka Koyuki didn't nod immediately, but looked up at Sasuke. "I don't think your Konoha would help our Land of Snow for nothing."

“The conditions are simple.” Sasuke then revealed a warm smile. “Our Konoha hopes to establish a friendly cooperation with your Land of Snow after helping you successfully restore your country.”

"Friendly cooperation?" Fuuka Koyuki took a deep breath upon hearing this. "Like the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields? Joining your Konoha Pact?"

"Why not?" Sasuke said calmly. "In recent years, with the help of our Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Rice Fields have vigorously developed tourism, agriculture, and animal husbandry, resulting in rapid economic growth and a year-on-year improvement in the quality of life of their citizens."

"More importantly, we in Konoha can fully guarantee that they will not be disturbed by the surrounding great powers and will protect their safety. Of course, considering the special location of your Land of Snow, we in Konoha will not send troops to garrison after the agreement is reached. However, we can promise that when other countries launch a war against you, it is equivalent to declaring war on Konoha, and Konoha will send troops to help you immediately."

"Your Highness, why don't you consider this: if the Land of Snow had a powerful ally like Konoha back then, would your uncle have dared to launch a palace coup?"

Sasuke spoke slowly and politely to Kazahana Koyuki with a smile on his face. Kazahana Koyuki was momentarily dazed, finding it hard to believe that the gentle and refined young master in front of her was the same person as the cold-faced, knife-wielding thug from before.

For Sasuke, this level of change of attitude was not difficult, and the reason for changing his attitude towards Fuuka Koyuki was also very simple: he had just used coercion, and now it was time to use bribery.

(End of this chapter)