Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 193 The Restoration Plan
After listing a whole host of benefits of joining the Konoha Pact, Sasuke finally smiled lightly at Koyuki Fuuka and said unhurriedly:

"Most importantly, Your Highness, you wouldn't want to see the country your father has painstakingly governed continue to suffer, would you?"

Sasuke's words undoubtedly sealed the deal. At this moment, Kazahana Koyuki finally made up her mind and nodded, saying, "Alright, once I reclaim the throne, I will sign this contract on behalf of the Land of Snow."

“A wise choice, it’s a pleasure to cooperate, Your Highness,” Sasuke said with a smile.

"So what do we do now?" Feng Hua Xiaoxue asked.

"Of course we'll wait for Konoha's support. We can't just have the three of us accompany you to storm the palace, can we?" Sasuke said with a shrug.

"Also, let's finalize the plan," Sasuke said. "By the way, we should also ask Your Highness for your opinion."

"My thoughts?" Feng Hua Xiaoxue asked, somewhat puzzled.

“That’s right. It depends on how Your Highness plans to reclaim your throne. Will you wait for our Konoha reinforcements to arrive in a couple of days, then escort you into the palace and kill your traitorous uncle? Or will you take your time and plan accordingly?” Sasuke said.

"If possible, please don't cause too much damage to the Snow Country's palace..." Kazahana Koyuki said hesitantly upon hearing this.

“I understand, you and your father have precious memories there, right?” Sasuke chuckled. “However, that comes at a different price.”

“Yes, but you must ensure that Snow City is not damaged too much, and also ensure the safety of the civilians in Snow City,” said Kazahana Koyuki.

"You're already showing some princess-like qualities, aren't you?" Sasuke chuckled. "In that case, let's wait until our future chief of staff arrives. But you can rest assured about one thing: Konoha ninjas always take it upon themselves to fulfill their employers' requirements."

After deciding to help Kazahana Koyuki restore her kingdom, everyone in her film crew was temporarily taken into custody. The group returned to a small town in the Land of Demons. After waiting there for two days, Uchiha Shisui arrived in the town with Team 10 and Team 8, where they reunited with Sasuke and his two companions.

Soon, a strategic meeting began in a hotel room.

"Sasuke, before we came here, the Hokage instructed me that all three teams, including myself, would be under your command." The first thing Shisui did after the meeting began was to establish Sasuke's leading role in this operation.

However, his words puzzled some of the people present. Wasn't this matter decided by the Hokage before they set off? Was it really necessary to emphasize it again?

However, what they didn't know was that this was a habit Shisui had developed since Uchiha Tokō took over and restarted his ninja career. Whenever he took action, regardless of the size of the team, from a joint mission of dozens of people to a small team of only two or three people, Shisui would immediately determine the commander. It didn't matter whether it was him or not, but he had to ensure that there was only one voice during the operation.

This was a rare lesson he had learned from his family's previous predicament. Before Uchiha Toko took action, the Uchiha clan's endless clan meetings had almost led the family into the abyss. However, after Uchiha Toko made a strong move, the Uchiha clan, with only one voice, unleashed an astonishing level of execution, and the historical issues between the family and the village were perfectly resolved.

So, Shisui also developed this habit after that.

“Okay.” Sasuke nodded and took the seat of honor.

"Let me start by explaining the mission objective," Sasuke said, unfolding a map in the center of the room. "This is a map of the capital of the Land of Snow, Snow City. There are no ninja villages in the Land of Snow. The ninjas in their country are armed forces that obey the direct orders of the daimyo, so they are basically stationed around the palace."

“Based on the intelligence we have so far, the enemy only has two or three Jonin at most. A direct attack wouldn't be too difficult, but that contradicts our employer's goal of protecting the Imperial Palace from destruction. Therefore, my idea is to lure the usurper, Fuuka Nata, out of the palace and then kill him,” Sasuke said. “As for how to lure him out of the palace, Shikamaru, what are your thoughts?”

“Based on the current intelligence, Fuuka Nutō should already know that Princess is still alive, and there must be a mole in the film crew you were in before.” Shikamaru began to analyze immediately after being called out. “After all, the location where you were attacked was less than 20 kilometers from the border of the Land of Snow.”

“That’s right, that’s what I thought too, which is why I had Mr. Asama take control of everyone in the crew. However, it’s still a bit troublesome to investigate who the mole is one by one. After all, these people only signed work contracts with the crew, and they’ve already become very agitated during the few days we’ve detained them here,” Sasuke said.

“Since we can’t find out, then let’s not investigate. Let’s find a reason to transfer them all away,” Shikamaru said. “Mr. Asama, this movie should have been filmed in other locations besides the Snow Country, right?”

“Apart from the filming location in the Snow Country, all the other scenes have been filmed,” said Asama Santayu.

“Then let’s make up a place and take the whole crew far away. The news of our arrival shouldn’t have reached the mole in the crew yet. We can’t let this mole pass on any more information,” Sasuke said. “Also, Shino, can your insects parasitize each crew member for a period of time and monitor their condition in real time?”

“Okay,” Shino Aburame nodded and said.

“That makes things easier.” Shikamaru nodded and said, “After we split up with the other side, the mole lurking in the crew will definitely make a move, and then we can catch the mole.”

“Let’s arrange the matter of the mole as it is,” Sasuke said. “The most important thing now is to find a way to lure Fuuka Nouto out of the palace. We’ve dealt with all the Snow Country ninjas who came to attack us. Fuuka Nouto should have received the news by now. Although he may not know who did it, I think he won’t dare to leave the palace for a while.”

"Your Highness, do you have any token that can directly prove your identity?" Shikamaru asked at this moment.

“Yes, yes.” Feng Hua Xiaoxue nodded, then took off a hexagonal crystal pendant from her neck. “This is an important token of the Snow Kingdom, and also the key to unlocking the treasure of our Snow Kingdom. The reason why my uncle has been chasing me so relentlessly is because of this.”

“I see,” Shikamaru nodded. “Do you know where the treasure is? Don’t misunderstand, we have no interest in your Land of Snow’s treasure. We’re just confirming it so we can make a plan.”

“I know.” Feng Hua Xiaoxue nodded. “The treasure is located in Rainbow Glacier, but let me make it clear first, the treasure left by my father is not something in terms of money.”

“That makes things easier.” Shikamaru nodded. “With this, we should be able to lure him out of the palace quite easily. However, it might require your cooperation, Your Highness.”

"What do you need me to do?" Feng Hua Xiao Xue asked.

"Naruto, you can disguise an entire film crew all by yourself using Shadow Clone Jutsu and Transformation Jutsu, right?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Naruto. "No problem," Naruto replied.

“Then we can just swagger into Snow Castle like this. And then, Mr. Asama, I need you to subtly reveal Princess Santayu’s identity within Snow Castle, preferably in a cryptic way,” Shikamaru said, looking at Asama Santayu.

“I understand.” Asama Santayu nodded. “However, based on my understanding of that usurper, even if Koyuki does this, he won’t personally leave the palace to take action until the situation is clear.”

“Of course I know that’s not enough to lure him out, so the next step is to escalate the situation,” Shikamaru said with a smile. “Once the common people of Snow City know that the princess may have returned, we will release the news that the princess’s identity is just a publicity stunt used by the ‘Princess of the Storm’ production team to boost the movie’s popularity, and that Princess Snow’s identity is fake.”

"Why...why is this?" Asama Santayu asked, puzzled.

Shikamaru looked at Asama Santayu speechlessly. "Dude, you don't even understand this most basic way of starting a conversation? What kind of manager are you? So, Kazahana Koyuki's popularity in the ninja world is all thanks to her own hard work?"

“I understand.” Sasuke nodded in agreement. “After that, all we need to do is fan the flames. The more heated the debate about the princess’s true identity gets in the Land of Snow, the more restless the palace will be, right?”

“That’s right,” Shikamaru nodded. “Then, all we need to do is have the princess make a high-profile appearance when this matter is at its most popular, take out this pendant, and announce to everyone that she will use this key to unlock the treasure of the Snow Country in front of everyone.”

“By then, even if Feng Hua Nu Tao can’t come up with a solution, he probably won’t have a choice,” Shikamaru said.

“However, Her Highness’s safety may be in some trouble during this process,” Sasuke said. After speaking, Sasuke looked at Uchiha Shisui, who had not spoken until now, and said, “Shisui-nii, I’ll be asking you to protect the princess closely for the next few days.”

"No problem." Shisui nodded and smiled. "Leave it to me."

"Kiba, Shino, and Hinata, while we're in Snow Castle, you'll be the eighth reconnaissance team, constantly checking for potential risks in the surrounding area to ensure Her Highness's safety."

“Understood!” The three from Class 8 nodded.

"Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, your Team 10 will work with our Team 7 to create public opinion in Snow Castle after using the Transformation Jutsu."

"Understood!" The three members of Class 10 nodded in acceptance.

“Then, let’s set off first thing tomorrow morning to help Princess Fuuka reclaim the throne of the Land of Snow,” Sasuke decided.

"Yes!" everyone replied confidently.

As Shisui watched Sasuke steadily control the pace of the entire battle plan, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. Compared to Itachi when he was 12 years old, Sasuke's strength was no less, and even a bit stronger. In other aspects, especially in terms of leadership, the maturity that Sasuke showed far surpassed that of Itachi Uchiha back then.

At least, when Itachi Uchiha was twelve years old, he couldn't unite a group of equally strong peers around him and have them obey his commands.

After the battle plan was finalized, Asama Santayu immediately arranged for the film crew to change their destination. Shino also went with him and manipulated the insects to carry out parasitic surveillance on the members of the film crew.

The others, on the other hand, were making their own preparations.

"Neji-nii, this is something Tenten-nee-san asked me to bring you after she found out I was coming to help you. Also, here's a bento I made." After the meeting, Hinata approached Neji and handed him a scroll and a lunchbox.

"Thank you." Neji smiled and took the scroll, then asked, "Hinata, how have you been feeling doing missions lately?"

"It's alright..." Hinata said weakly, "Kiba, Shino, and Shisui-sensei have all taken good care of me."

"That's good." Neji nodded. "While I was away, those old fogies in the clan didn't say anything they shouldn't have to you and Hanabi, did they?"

"No, that's not true." Hinata shook her head. "After you taught that elder a lesson last time, no one has dared to cause trouble for me and Hanabi."

"Alright, but if anything comes up, you must tell me. Those old bastards are still determined to put you and Hanabi in the Caged Bird Seal. Give me a little more time, and I'll take care of it completely," Neji said.

"Okay." Hinata nodded.

Having experienced being caged like a bird, Neji didn't want his two younger sisters to go through the same thing, so he always kept a close watch on the old men of the main branch of the family.

"Well then, Neji-nii, I'll be going now," Hinata said at that moment.

"Where are you going?"

"Um..." Hinata blushed slightly upon hearing this, then tapped her finger, "Um, before I came out, I made an extra bento box, and I wanted Naruto-kun to try it too."

Neji's face began to turn red upon hearing this. For a brother who is obsessed with his sister, the most painful thing is not that his beloved sister was taken by a pig, but that his beloved sister took the initiative to take the pig.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you deserve to die!" Neji gritted his teeth inwardly as he watched Hinata's departing figure.

(End of this chapter)