Chapter 120: Treasure
"Hmph! Anyway, I'll remember how much you owe me! When the time comes, I'll dig a base right here, and you can just wait for me to come and collect the debt every year!" Sakura said irritably, baring her teeth and making a face at her.
She had indeed taken a fancy to a location for a base in the Land of Snow: the Snow Ninja's castle.
This building, which had become desolate with the collapse of the Snow Ninja, had enough rooms, daily necessities, and suitable training grounds. It was indeed suitable for a ninja to live, train, and do research in.
She was afraid that when she reached a certain level in the future, she really would have to come to the Land of Snow to open up a base.
Thinking of this, Sakura's expression became serious. "I'm serious, leave that castle for me!"
"Wow! As payment? As payment?" Koyuki's eyes lit up.
Sakura flicked her smooth forehead irritably. "All you think about is paying off debts! Why don't you just pay with your body! A discounted price, one S-rank mission... ahem." She saw Sandayū enter the room and quickly swallowed her teasing words.
"Uh, um... if the Land of Snow is short on money," Asama Sandayū, who had just walked in from outside, said as if he had suddenly remembered something upon hearing this topic, "Koyuki, I seem to remember that back when your father was still around, he said he had left a treasure in the Land of Snow..."
"A treasure?" Sakura was a little surprised.
The first thing that came to her mind when she heard "treasure" was One Piece. It was obvious that the former daimyo was not the kind of man who had become the Pirate King. So where would a dirt-poor place like the Land of Snow get a treasure from? She was skeptical.
On the other hand, if Kazahana Sōsetsu really had such a large fortune, then why would he hide it instead of using it on the Land of Snow? From Asama Sandayū's description, Kazahana Sōsetsu was not that kind of fatuous, miserly daimyo!
Furthermore, Kazahana Dotō had been scraping the Land of Snow clean for over a decade. What treasure could have been hidden for so long without being found by him?
Come to think of it, Asama Sandayū also probably felt that this matter was unreliable, which was why he hadn't mentioned it. It was just that now the Land of Snow was so poor, then even if it was just a rumor, maybe they should give it a try. It was like treating a dead horse as if it were still alive!
Sakura, however, was disdainful of this desperate attitude: this kind of plot device, where a treasure clue suddenly appears when you're short on money, was something that even a third-rate webnovel wouldn't write anymore. Pinning one's hopes on a rumor would only lead to a greater disappointment!
The girl shook her head and firmly denied it. "No matter how you look at it, it's impossible for the Land of Snow to still have a treasure! It must be just a rumor."
"No..." Kazahana Koyuki frowned and interrupted Sakura. She pondered for a while, trying hard to search through her past memories.
"The matter of the treasure is true."
Kazahana Koyuki's words were resolute.
"My father did indeed mention a treasure to me back then, just as he was sending me out of the Land of Snow..."
She took out the crystal necklace she had always worn from her clothes and pointed to the hexagonal prismatic crystal on it. "If I remember correctly, this is the key to the treasure!"
"So, where is the treasure? Kazahana Dotō didn't find it after so many years, after all!" Sakura asked.
Asama Sandayū thought for a moment. "I think it should be this place..."
The Mirror Plaza.
The largest man-made structure in the Land of Snow. The Rainbow Ice Walls, dozens of meters high, stood on the edge of the circular plaza like six unfurled flower petals. It was truly a spectacular sight.
"These six Rainbow Ice Walls were built when the previous daimyo, Lord Kazahana Sōsetsu, was in power. After Kazahana Dotō usurped the throne, he spent some time searching everywhere for the so-called treasure left by the previous daimyo. He also searched this place, but only found a pile of machines with unknown uses," the official leading the way explained. "As everyone knows, when the previous daimyo, Lord Kazahana Sōsetsu, was alive, he was obsessed with machinery and had spent a lot of effort researching machines. Later, these machines were placed everywhere."
Heh... Hearing this, Sakura felt very speechless. Another monarch who neglected his proper duties. But then again, a small country like the Land of Snow didn't really have much to govern. Being a daimyo for a long time must have been very boring. The fact that he could spend his spare time tinkering with machines instead of tinkering with the common people was already a great merit.
"So, is the treasure hidden inside these machines?" Sasuke asked. He and Naruto, having heard that they were going to open a treasure, had also followed along with great interest.
"No, no, no. Kazahana Dotō had people check. Those machines are indeed purely machines; there is no treasure hidden inside," the leading official said, shaking his head.
Another official continued, "However, these machines do have a master switch, and Kazahana Dotō also discovered that the hexagonal key for the switch was in your hands, Lady Kazahana Koyuki. So later he believed that the so-called treasure was actually these beloved machines of Lord Kazahana Sōsetsu, and so he stopped the search for the treasure." After he finished speaking, he bowed to Kazahana Koyuki and looked at the hexagonal key in her hand with a rather expectant gaze.
Sakura walked around these machines. She really couldn't see any trace of a treasure.
It was obvious that these were purely machines, although the workmanship was quite exquisite. But Sakura couldn't tell what these machines were for, at least not for a while. In any case, they had nothing to do with gold and silver treasures. Perhaps Kazahana Dotō was right; the so-called treasure was just what Kazahana Sōsetsu himself considered a treasure... a pile of scrap metal, not worth mentioning.
"Whether it is or not, we just have to try it," Sakura said, sending an ice clone to take the key from Kazahana Koyuki's hand. She inserted it into the keyhole on the switch and waved her hand. "Everyone, stand back."
The group retreated more than ten meters away and watched as the machines on the plaza started up as the key was inserted. After a roar, the Rainbow Ice Walls also began to light up.
After a long wait, apart from feeling the heat emitted by the machines, there was no other strange movement.
The ice clone carefully looked around. There were no other changes. It then spread its hands and shrugged at the others. "It seems that, at least on this issue, Kazahana Dotō was right."
She impatiently used her hand as a fan and fanned her face. "I hate this heat!"
The others also discovered that the so-called treasure did not exist. All that existed was a pile of machines with unknown uses left by Kazahana Sōsetsu.
"As I thought," Sakura said with a pout.
The disappointment on Kazahana Koyuki's face was unconcealable. "Sigh, I knew it would be like this from the beginning. The Land of Snow couldn't possibly have the kind of treasure we imagined. Forget it. The Land of Snow won't collapse without a treasure. At least, this plaza is much warmer now. Everyone can come here to play often."
That's right. The heat emitted from the Rainbow Ice Walls was gentle and continuous. The temperature on the plaza had already crossed the zero-degree line and reached over ten degrees Celsius. The group had, without realizing it, already taken off all their thick clothes.
The accumulated snow began to melt, turning into a gurgling stream that rushed outwards, wetting the cotton shoes on Kazahana Koyuki's feet.
Seeing this scene, Sakura was moved.
"No... I think, perhaps this is the real treasure?" she said thoughtfully, looking at a pipe extending into the distance that was faintly glowing, the accumulated snow on the ground constantly melting.
"This is a geothermal generator! Do you see? My god, it's so hot. I'm an ice clone! I'm about to melt," the ice clone said with a pout. Her thinking ability was slightly inferior to the original's, but she had also reacted at this time. "It's extracting the geothermal energy from underground and transporting it to the distance through pipes!"
"You said just now that there are machines like this all over the country?" the real Sakura said to the official who had led the way at the beginning. "These machines can generate heat and make the villages and towns all over the Land of Snow as warm as spring. It seems that the treasure left by Lord Kazahana Sōsetsu is a super-large-scale heating system that covers the entire country!"
"So that's what it is..." Kazahana Koyuki walked forward and pressed herself against the Rainbow Ice Wall. The mirror-like, crystal-clear surface clearly reflected her moist eyes.
She felt the waves of warmth emanating from the machine and said softly, "This is the treasure Father left for the Land of Snow... a treasure more precious than any gold or silver!"
The accumulated snow turned into a gurgling stream. The waves of warmth made one feel as if they were basking in a spring breeze. The people of the Land of Snow seemed to be about to welcome spring.
Two days later, Sakura relied on her ice clone to complete the investigation report on the geothermal generator.
Kazahana Koyuki, who was taking a break from her busy schedule to have afternoon tea with Sakura, picked up the report and began to read it with a sense of anticipation. Then, as she read, her old face fell.
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