That's right—profit.
Before Koyuki Kazahana returned, the Land of Snow had been completely occupied and controlled by Doto Kazahana.
He was never a good man, and the ministers under him were just as corrupt.
Protected by Doto, those officials even ran all kinds of shady, sometimes outright illegal, industries throughout the country.
But now that Koyuki had ascended, those "festivities" were gone.
And unlike Doto, Koyuki Kazahana could not tolerate her own people being oppressed by corrupt ministers.
So the "scene" today happened.
Many of those ministers banded together—some to criticize Koyuki, some to highlight her supposed mistakes, and some to use her age as an excuse.
For example:
"I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice! This is how things should be done. Your Majesty, you must think twice!"
Koyuki had grown weary of such hypocritical, patronizing words wrapped in fake respect.
At this moment, she and Karin were more like close friends, venting their frustrations to each other.
Koyuki complained about how hard it was to be a queen, and Karin complained that Naruto had been gone too long.
Just as Karin finished speaking, Naruto's figure suddenly appeared before her.
"Huh? Naruto?" Karin's eyes lit up. "Does what I say have some kind of magical summoning power?"
Naruto had originally only come to check on Karin, but her words puzzled him.
"What magic? A new jutsu?"
Karin shook her head, walked over, and grabbed Naruto's hand, giving him a meaningful wink.
Naruto's lips twitched. He knew in his heart that tonight would definitely be sleepless.
He then looked around and realized this was Koyuki's palace.
"I've heard about it, but this is my first time seeing it."
He looked around the grand hall with interest. "Do you usually hold court here?"
To Koyuki, Naruto was someone she respected deeply.
If Karin weren't here, some of her little thoughts wouldn't have been so well hidden.
Koyuki nodded. "Yes. It's big, but everyone inside has their own agenda."
Naruto recalled some ancient dramas he'd watched in his previous life—ministers, emperors… all sorts of complicated politics.
He had no desire to get involved. After seeing that Karin was safe, he left.
Back at his residence, Naruto began planning to cover the entire Daimyō's Mansion with a large barrier.
After taking out the barrier materials, he asked the barrier team's captain,
"How long will this take?"
The captain estimated the mansion's size, then answered:
"This is our second time building such a large-scale barrier, and our first time with this type. But this place isn't as big as Konoha, and there are six of us. Two weeks will be enough."
"Great!" Naruto smiled. "Then I'm counting on you, uncle. I'll make sure the reward is generous."
The captain quickly waved his hands.
"No, no, Naruto—you might not know this, but all of us are orphans who were saved by the Fourth Hokage. How could we take money from you?"
The others agreed enthusiastically.
Naruto was surprised. He could only thank them verbally and stopped insisting on payment.
But of course, he still planned to give them rewards later.
Tsunade was the one who sent them, but Tsunade is Tsunade, and Naruto is Naruto—he wouldn't treat that as the same thing.
Before construction began, the captain reminded Naruto that the barrier required people to maintain it, or else it would only serve as defense, not as reconnaissance.
If Naruto could find a few people, they'd teach him barrier maintenance for free.
Naruto felt even more grateful.
If it weren't for his father, they wouldn't have bothered to remind him, let alone teach a stranger barrier techniques.
Although Minato Namikaze had been dead for many years, this incident still showed Naruto the depth of Minato's reputation.
Not everyone could be called a hero.
When the barrier team started constructing, Naruto stayed in the Land of Snow—both to ensure their safety and to look for people suitable to learn barrier maintenance.
As the saying goes, "Fate comes even if you try to avoid it."
Naruto actually found two familiar faces near the Land of Snow.
Unfortunately, they were being chased—and the fight was still ongoing.
Naruto threw a Flying Thunder God kunai toward the presence he sensed with Kagura's Mind Eye…
…
"Zabuza, you can't escape this time!"
Five members of the Kirigakure Assassination Corps surrounded Zabuza Momochi and Haku.
All of them held ninja swords, their expressions tense.
Their kenjutsu had reached at least the level of Special Jōnin.
But Zabuza was not someone to trifle with.
He was a prodigy of the sword, ruthless, and wielded the Executioner's Blade.
Not to mention he had trained Haku of the Yuki clan into a lethal tool.
Despite the difference in numbers, Zabuza and Haku still had a real chance to kill several of them before going down.
Zabuza sneered.
"I didn't expect the village to care more and more about a missing-nin like me."
Usually, the first half-year after defecting was when the pursuit was the most intense.
Afterward, when the village realized the target couldn't be killed easily, the hunt usually weakened.
Chasing missing-nin consumed manpower, after all.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They clashed intensely. Zabuza alone couldn't handle five opponents, and Haku could barely keep one at bay.
Zabuza's expression grew increasingly feral.
"All right, then let me show you what a real demon is!"
He was prepared to fight to the death.
But at that critical moment—
A kunai fell from the sky. One that belonged to none of them.
Everyone immediately backed off several steps, tense and alert.
A foreign projectile in a battle like this meant only one thing—a third party.
Before anyone could react, Naruto appeared beside the kunai.
He bent down, picked up the Flying Thunder God kunai, and waved casually at Zabuza.
"Long time no see, Zabuza."
"It's you?!" Zabuza's eye twitched, immediately remembering that miserable experience.
He had finally hunted down a big target, only for Naruto to steal most of the credit.
He would never forget that.
The Kirigakure Anbu didn't know their past.
Seeing Naruto greet Zabuza, they assumed he was an ally.
One of them warned sharply:
"Friend, that man with the Executioner's Blade is a missing-nin from Kirigakure.
We're here to capture him. Don't interfere or you'll make an enemy of the Mist."
Naruto ignored them completely and asked Zabuza calmly:
"So, want to make a deal?"
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