Naruto: Uchiha Youngjo's Konoha Spring

Chapter 195 The dust has settled
Just as Feng Hua Nu Tao finished counting his ninjas and led them out of the palace, a flying insect buzzed away from the palace gate.

……

"The fish has taken the bait." In Team 8, who was setting up the trap with Shikamaru's team, Shino Aburame suddenly looked up and said to the others.

"Seriously, do we really need to set up so many traps?" Kiba Inuzuka said, struggling to break 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. "The enemy is at most a few Jonin with some special skills, and some Chunin and Genin. We don't even need Shisui-sensei to lift a finger. Naruto and the other two can handle the Jonin, and we can take care of the rest, right?"

"Woof!" Akamaru, perched on Kiba Inuzuka's shoulder, barked in response to his master's words.

“It’s necessary.” Shikamaru said as he and Choji set up a new trap. “These traps are not set to kill the enemy, but to protect the civilians who have been drawn here by our plan.”

"Our plan will attract many unarmed civilians to Rainbow Glacier. If we directly engage in battle with them without any regard for the consequences, it would be lucky if even 20% of these civilians survive under the ninjutsu of Sasuke and the others. This would be detrimental to our future cooperation with Konoha and the Land of Snow."

"Besides, didn't Shisui-sensei already say that he wouldn't make a move in this battle unless it was absolutely necessary? If we want to qualify for the Chunin Exams, we'll have to take care of these enemies ourselves."

"That's true, but this kind of work is really boring," Kiba Inuzuka complained.

“That’s true, but, Ya, we’re the reconnaissance team. Besides gathering intelligence, setting traps is also one of our tasks.”

"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 upcoming battle," Shikamaru called out to Hinata, who was standing not far away, after glancing at the map.

"Yes!" Hinata nodded, gently rubbed her little hands, which were a little red from the cold, and then jumped up to the top of the ice cliff after a series of leaps. Naruto had been lying in ambush there for a long time.

At this moment, Naruto was wrapped in a warm robe and sat cross-legged at the top of the cliff. The cold wind occasionally blew his golden hair, which shone brightly in the sunlight. Hinata blushed slightly at the sight.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata said softly.

"Ah? It's Hinata." Naruto's face lit up with a bright smile upon seeing who it was. "What's up?"

"Um... Shikamaru asked me to come and ask you how your preparations are going?" Although to others, Naruto's slightly innocent and foolish smile seemed a bit out of place with his previous air of superiority, Hinata liked Naruto just the way he was, so Hinata's face turned even redder.

"Don't worry! According to the plan, after Her Highness the Princess leads the civilians through, it will be my turn to go down and intercept the enemy while activating the traps you set for the electronic circuits." Naruto waved his hand to indicate that he understood. Then, seeing Hinata's face getting redder and redder, Naruto couldn't help but ask curiously, "Why is your face so red? Are you cold? Here, wear this."

As Naruto spoke, he 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 the top of her head.

Hinata's reaction startled Naruto: "Are you alright? If you're not feeling well, you should stay hidden during the operation later."

"N-nothing... Um, Naruto-kun, I'll head back now." Hinata suppressed the urge to faint, said goodbye to Naruto, and returned to her assigned area.

……

Before long, from the perspective of the hidden crowd, they saw Feng Hua Xiaoxue leading a large group of hundreds of people heading in this direction.

"Sasuke, there are nearly fifty chakra fluctuations behind us." At this moment, Neji, disguised as a follower of Kazaka Koyuki, used his Byakugan's 360-degree view to survey the area behind him before lowering his voice to speak to Sasuke beside him.

"Shikamaru, how are the preparations going on your end?" Sasuke contacted Shikamaru, who was hiding, via radio. After receiving a confirmation, he turned to Kazahana Koyuki, who had just switched identities with him. "Well then, Your Highness, you'll have to handle the rest yourself. You should be fine, right?"

Feng Hua Xiaoxue glanced nervously at the Snow Kingdom civilians who had followed her to Rainbow Glacier, hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, "Leave it to me."

“Very good. We can guarantee that no one will interfere with you during the process of opening the treasure, and we will leave your uncle in Rainbow Glacier forever. However, how far you go after that is up to you. Whether you become a true queen adored by your subjects, or a puppet who loses all support after the loss of outsiders, it all depends on your own performance.” Sasuke chuckled and placed his hand on the hilt of Shiden, while Neji at that moment released the safety seal on his ninja tools.

Just a second after Feng Hua Xiaoxue led the crowd past the designated location, a deafening sound resounded throughout the entire snowfield.

Everyone present turned around and saw a blond man descending from the sky, wielding a giant Rasengan several meters in diameter. The giant Rasengan slammed heavily onto the ground. However, the huge explosion that everyone had expected did not occur. The giant chakra sphere vanished the moment it touched the snowfield.

"Didn't you hit him?" Kazahana Koyuki stared blankly at Naruto's back as he landed on the snowfield in a superhero-like pose, and asked in a daze.

"Don't rush, let the chakra fly for a while." Sasuke chuckled, and he and Neji rushed out of the crowd, one on the left and one on the right.

Before long, a sound as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split apart came from the snowfield. The traps that had been buried earlier began to operate after absorbing the chakra of Naruto's Giant Rasengan. Every possible hiding place of the enemy that Shikamaru had calculated was suddenly blown up. One after another, ninjas wearing strange armor were forced out of the snowfield. Several of the weaker ones were directly buried under the traps.

A cold wind blew across the colorful icicles, and Kiba Inuzuka's Akamaru scratched restlessly on the snow.

Nara Shikamaru's shadow meandered along the ice surface. In Hinata Hyuga's Byakugan vision, fifty blue-glowing chakra reactions, once forced out, no longer concealed themselves and rapidly approached the interior of Rainbow Glacier.

Aburame Shino's sunglasses flashed coldly, and a swarm of insects poured out from his collar: "Their armor is special, but..." He looked at Shikamaru, "it's enough for my parasitic insects to find a gap."

Shikamaru bit his finger and drew the final incantation on the ground. The acrid smell of the exploding tags mingled with the chilling aura of ice crystals: "Three minutes from now, when Choji triggers the first avalanche, Ino, the two of us must control that guy in the middle."

The roar of machinery echoed across the wilderness. Under the cover of a group of Snow Ninja, Feng Hua Nu Tao charged straight towards the main force ahead. Terrifying chakra fluctuations surged from their armor, and the footsteps of fifty Snow Ninja echoed with a metallic sound in the icy valley.

"Choji! Move! Ino, get ready!" Shikamaru's shadow suddenly pierced the ice.

Choji Akimichi shoved the potato chips he'd been holding, which he'd opened while waiting for the enemy to arrive, into his mouth. Then, he activated his clan's Multiply Technique, his enlarged body slamming heavily onto the ice. Cracks spread like a spiderweb, and the massive ice spikes hanging above the glacier plummeted to the ground.

The Snow Ninja, who were forming hand seals, suddenly heard a piercing alarm coming from their chakra armor. When they looked up, they saw solid and heavy ice spikes falling down on them.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!" Sasuke arrived in the Snow Ninja's formation, stepping on lightning. His purple lightning pierced the glacier, and purple lightning snakes shot out along the cracks in the ice. The Snow Ninja, who were about to dodge the ice spikes, suddenly convulsed, and sparks flew from the joints of their armor.

Yamanaka Ino's golden hair fluttered in the wind and snow as she used her Mind Turn Technique to target Fuuka Nutsui, and a long, trailing shadow appeared at Fuuka Nutsui's feet.

In the chaos, Shino's swarm of insects had covered half of the Snow Ninja, and the sound of their shells rubbing together was enough to make your teeth ache.

The snow ninjas, their scalps tingling from Sasuke's lightning release ninjutsu, were now forced to endure the constant error warnings emanating from their chakra armor.

The roar of the wind and waves shook down ice shards: "Konoha ninjas! Do you want to wage war against our Land of Snow?"

However, the next second, he suddenly realized that his body was out of control and his mind had entered a strange black space. A blonde girl in front of him smoothed her hair behind her ear and made a throat-slitting gesture at him.

After regaining her senses, Feng Hua Nu Tao suddenly realized that she couldn't move her body at all, and a long shadow under her feet connected her to the body of a boy not far away.

"Eight Trigrams Sealing Points!"

Just then, Neji descended from the sky, and Hinata arrived behind Fuuka Nuta. Various sealing techniques flashed on their arm guards, which were covered in small sealing scrolls. Steel needles appeared in their hands, which they used to pierce the gaps in Fuuka Nuta's chakra armor, completely severing his chakra pathways. At this moment, Sasuke, who had given the Snow Ninja a set of electrotherapy ninjutsu, calmly approached Fuuka Nuta, lightly wiped his purple lightning, and said with a cold smile, "Go to war with Konoha? Are you even qualified?"

The Snow Ninja brought by the raging wind and waves suffered heavy losses under the falling ice spikes and Sasuke's lightning ninjutsu. Before the survivors could even catch their breath, 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 moment, Feng Hua Nutao, who was completely unable to move, looked at the several boys wearing Konoha headbands in front of him, gritted his teeth, and decided to make a final effort.

"What exactly did Kazeka Koyuki promise Konoha? I'm willing to give you double!"

"Is that so?" Sasuke walked slowly to Fuuka Noutō with interest and said with a light laugh, "That's quite an offer to make, but I refuse."

"Why?" Feng Hua Nu Tao asked in disbelief.

“Actually, if you were even slightly more like a competent daimyo, Konoha would have cooperated with you directly, instead of going to all the trouble of helping Kazahana Koyuki,” Sasuke said, shaking his head.

After receiving the mission from Uchiha Touko, Sasuke carefully considered Uchiha Touko's purpose.

The geographical location of the Land of Snow is not as crucial as that of the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs. First of all, the Land of Snow does not border the Land of Fire, and the economic development of the entire country is limited by the weather environment. If it is just an ordinary ally, the value it can bring to the Land of Fire is very limited.

Once the two countries formally form an alliance, in many cases the Fire Country may have to bleed money to support the Snow Country's development.

However, if Konoha goes to war with the Land of Earth in the future, the geographical location of the Land of Snow could become a burden that completely holds back the Land of Earth, allowing Konoha to gain the upper hand in the war.

The prerequisite for achieving this effect is that the people of the Land of Snow truly recognize the Land of Fire as an ally and are willing to stand with the Land of Fire in times of war.

Therefore, if Sasuke had to choose between Kazehana Naoto and Kazehana Koyuki, he would choose Kazehana Koyuki without hesitation. Although Kazehana Koyuki has many problems as the head of state, there is one thing: this woman truly loves the country she was born in. Therefore, when facing Konoha's economic aid in the future, she should not do anything to enrich herself.

As for the Wind Flower Raging Waves, Sasuke had no hope for this insect, especially after learning about its actions in the Land of Snow over the years. Sasuke suddenly thought of the negative example of a world called Kaishin, which Uchiha Touko had "fabricated" when he was teaching him and Neji, a world without chakra.

Sasuke sized up Feng Hua Nutao, guessing that the aid supplies Konoha had just sent to the Land of Snow that morning would probably end up in this guy's private coffers by the afternoon.

If the people of the Land of Snow don't benefit, why should they stand on the same side as the Land of Fire?
"What do you mean?" Neji looked at Sasuke, raised an eyebrow, and asked.

"Let's do it. Give him a decent death, after all, he is a daimyo," Sasuke said.

(End of this chapter)