I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 534: New News Regarding [Chakra Crystallization]!

"The Land of Snow..."

Nara Rinka finished reviewing the mission file in his hand and fell into deep thought.

The so-called "civil war" in the Land of Snow is not complicated to explain.

Small country with few people, brothers fight amongst themselves.

The elder brother, the daimyo, held sway over the nation's moral principles, while the younger brother, the minister, controlled the nation's ninjas.

Clearly outmatched, the older brother, in a moment of crisis, decisively requested assistance from Konoha.

Well, in the ninja world, it's quite normal for a daimyo to be no match for a ninja.

Nara Rinka was not surprised by this.

He fell into deep thought because of the somewhat familiar name, "Land of Snow".

"Wind and flowers, early snow; wind and flowers, raging waves..."

Nara Ranka mentioned the name of the daimyo of the Land of Snow and the name of his minister, then suddenly looked up.

"Brother Shikaku, did the clan gather intelligence beforehand that the Daimyo of the Land of Snow purchased a chakra crystal?"

"Indeed."

Nara Shikaku nodded without hesitation.

"That's also the main reason why I brought this task here."

The Land of Snow is far too weak.

In terms of overall strength, it is no match for the Land of Rain, and may not even be as good as the Land of Grass.

At best, it's only slightly better than a small, ordinary country like Loulan, which doesn't have a ninja village.

Based on the intelligence information currently available to Nara Shikaku, the strongest ninja in the Land of Snow and Yukigami Village should be at the level of an elite Jonin—this is even taking into account the geographical environment.

The Land of Snow is covered in snow all year round, and its borders are basically covered by thick white snow.

Due to this unique geographical environment, the ninjas of Yukigakure possess a rather special ninjutsu—Ice Release.

This Ice Release is not the same as that Ice Release.

The Ice Release technique of the Yuki clan in Kirigakure is a genuine bloodline limit, a completely new nature change resulting from the fusion of Water Release and Wind Release.

While the Ice Release technique of Yukigami Village in the Land of Snow manifests as "manipulating ice and snow," it is actually a ninjutsu that resembles an alternative version of "Earth Release."

Ninjutsu adapted to local conditions—or rather, secret techniques.

In any case, as far as Nara Shikaku knows, the Ice Release of the Snow Village ninjas does not fall into the category of Kekkei Genkai.

Therefore, the enemy level involved in the request for assistance from the Land of Snow is at most Jonin.

Normally, Nara Shikaku could handle this mission on his own, arranging for a ninja team to go to the Land of Snow.

Why? Because the Fourth Hokage had already handed over the authority to handle village affairs to him long ago.

Based on past experience, Nara Shikaku doesn't even need to report this mission information to Nara Rankei—after all, there would be no positive feedback, and he might even be resented.

We are all ninjas of the Nara clan, and we know each other very well.

Nara Shikaku came to Nara Rankei to deliver a message from the Land of Snow requesting aid.

It's still because of the special country of "Land of Snow".

Several years ago, Nara Rinkei obtained the [Chakra Crystal] and was immediately captivated by this powerful ninja tool that could further increase chakra levels.

To this end, Nara Rinkei specifically asked his clan to gather information about [Chakra Crystals].

Unfortunately, [Chakra Crystals] are far too precious.

A Chakra Crystal the size of a little finger is worth enough to buy several mountains; it is truly priceless.

Information about [Chakra Crystals] circulating in the market is extremely scarce.

The Nara clan only managed to gather two pieces of relevant information.

According to Nara Rinka's recollections.

There was a [Chakra Crystal] that seemed to have been purchased by a special secret technique family within the Land of Fire.

The other piece was bought by the daimyo of the Land of Snow!

"According to the intelligence gathered by the village, the daimyo of the Land of Snow has not changed over the past few years."

Nara Shikaku gave a serious report to his supervisor.

"The current Daimyo of the Land of Snow should be the one who bought the [Chakra Crystal] back then."

"I've come today to inquire with the Fourth Hokage whether we should take this opportunity to try and buy back that [Chakra Crystal] from the Daimyo of the Land of Snow?"

If Nara Rinkaku were to do this, Nara Shikaku would immediately elevate the importance of this aid mission and dispatch even stronger elite ninjas to the Land of Snow at top speed.

It is imperative to ensure the safety of the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, especially that [Chakra Crystal]!

"Buying back [Chakra Crystals]..."

Nara Rinka frowned and subconsciously touched the ring on her finger a few times.

His ring is inlaid with an A-grade Chakra Crystal, which contains an A-grade level of chakra that can resonate with Nara Ranke's own chakra.

Back then, Nara Rankei craved new [Chakra Crystals] in order to indirectly increase the amount of chakra he could use.

Now, although Nara Rinka's chakra, especially Yin Release chakra, has exceeded Rank A, his need for [Chakra Crystals] has not decreased much as a result.

Snapped!

Nara Ranka suddenly opened his five fingers, and a slender black rod suddenly emerged from his palm.

This black rod comes from Madara Uchiha's secret collection of techniques: the Black Rod Forging Method.

Using the [Black Rod Forging Method], Nara Rinka can simultaneously use Yin Release and Yang Release chakra to create hard [Black Rods] from scratch.

At the same time, this [black rod] can also resonate with one's own chakra.

When Nara Rinkei obtained the Black Rod Forging Method, he wanted to use the Black Rod to replace the Chakra Crystal.

However, after testing it, he realized that the idea was somewhat naive.

The "black rod" is a kind of "substance" created using Yin-Yang Escape Technique.

To be honest, it doesn't have much chakra to hold.

Nara Rinka can certainly use [Sealing Technique] to solve this problem.

The main function of sealing techniques is to seal chakra.

however.

The Black Rod Forging Method is itself a type of Yin-Yang Escape Technique.

Nara Rinka wants to add a sealing technique to the [Black Rod], which is equivalent to using Yin-Yang Release and a sealing technique at the same time.

The operation is extremely difficult.

The efforts to secure the Nara laurel tree have been slow and unsuccessful.

In comparison, [Chakra Crystal] is still more useful.

For Nara Rinka currently, the greatest use of [Chakra Crystal] is to increase chakra levels.

Secondly, the usage time of [Sage Mode] will be extended.

The duration of Sage Mode depends on the amount of Sage Chakra, which in turn depends on the amount of Chakra the user possesses.

The amount of chakra one possesses determines the amount of natural energy one can absorb from the outside world, and thus the amount of Sage Chakra one can synthesize.

However, there is ultimately a limit to the amount of chakra a normal person can have.

Nara Rinkazu is currently not outside the category of a "normal ninja".

One of his strategies for trying to solve the problem of the duration of Sage Mode was through Chakra Crystallization.

Nara Ranke thought to himself, "The more of these special ninja tools, the better!"

But the Land of Snow...

Nara Rinka closed her eyes, and more information about the Land of Snow surfaced in her mind.

That doesn't come from the present, but from the future of another world!

"The Land of Snow, where gentle snowflakes fall, a hexagonal crystal necklace, the great treasure of spring that will affect the entire kingdom..."

"In an instant, the snow-covered land was transformed into a spring-like land covered in green grass. This thing looks so abnormal... Could it be another Loulan dragon vein?"

Nara Rinka took a deep breath and quickly made a decision.

He had just made a trip to the Land of Rain and was not really keen on undertaking long-distance international travel for the time being.

Furthermore, the ninjas from the Land of Snow were simply too weak, so Nara Rinka had absolutely no interest in playing along with their games.

"Send Minato Namikaze to the Land of Snow, as fast as he can!"

Nara Rinka found a very suitable person to help with the task.

"The minimum requirement for this rescue mission is: to save the life of the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, Hayayuki Kazahana, at all costs!"

The land of snow.

Source: Theatrical film "Snow Princess Ninja Scroll".

(End of this chapter)