"What exactly are you thinking?"
Three minutes passed, and Uzumaki Naruto finally lost his patience.
He frowned and said to Kurotsuchi, "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."
Kurotsuchi took a deep breath, quickly stepped forward, and said, "We can agree to all your demands—but I also have one condition."
"Oh?" Naruto became interested again. "What condition?"
Dust Release.
Tailed Beast Chakra.
If Naruto had to negotiate for these two things, it would definitely take some time.
Now that Kurotsuchi was willing to provide them directly, Naruto naturally wasn't in a hurry and was willing to hear her out.
After careful consideration, Kurotsuchi said, "You just need to go through with our fake engagement."
"What?" Naruto frowned. "You mean the engagement? You want me to go through with it?"
Kurotsuchi nodded firmly. "Yes."
Naruto gave a faint smile and said dismissively, "Heh. You're quite calculating. You don't actually think I'm some kind of pervert who'll take anyone, do you?"
That single sentence completely stunned Kurotsuchi.
What does that mean?!
Uzumaki Naruto, what exactly are you implying?!
Am I not good-looking?!
What do you mean by 'take anyone'?!
No matter what, I'm the village beauty, alright?!
I'm offering you such a huge advantage, and you actually—actually?!
Although Kurotsuchi was burning with shame and anger inside, she didn't show it on her face.
She leaned closer to Naruto, her lips parting slightly as she asked softly, "Is it because I'm not pretty enough?"
Naruto caught a faint, refreshing fragrance. He glanced at her well-proportioned figure, and a smile crept onto his face.
An advantage offered shouldn't be wasted.
Since they were already so close, Naruto casually reached out and wrapped an arm around Kurotsuchi's waist, pulling her toward him.
"Hiss—" Kurotsuchi instinctively pushed him away.
Naruto didn't linger on that soft, delicate body. He stepped back two paces, then looked at her angrily and said, "You're clearly a pervert…"
Naruto chuckled. "Of course. If a man isn't a little perverted, life would be too boring."
"But what I mean is this: if you want to date me, then with your looks, I'd be interested in learning about your preferences and personality."
"But if it's just a political marriage—sorry, I can't accept that."
Kurotsuchi looked confused after hearing this. "Huh? Then what about Temari?"
"Oh~ her?" Naruto recalled the scene where Temari helped him drive off the Konoha villagers and commented, "That tomboy is pretty interesting."
Naruto did want to build his own influence, and naturally, the better his relationship with the major powers, the better.
A political marriage would certainly deepen ties between Iwagakure and the Land of Snow.
But Naruto was strong enough to discard that option entirely.
More importantly, he didn't want to accept Kurotsuchi if there were no feelings at all.
If that were the case, his so-called "harem" would lose all its meaning.
Temari was different—Naruto had interacted with her and found her genuinely interesting.
Kurotsuchi, however, was different.
She was too shrewd. After all, she had the potential to become a Kage-level politician.
Even if she was beautiful and had an excellent figure… that alone wasn't enough to attract Naruto.
To be honest, Naruto's standards had unknowingly risen quite a bit.
They had to be beautiful—but feelings mattered too.
Very picky.
"I see~" Kurotsuchi looked at Naruto in surprise. "I didn't expect you to have such strong principles."
Naruto: "…"
Then Kurotsuchi let out a relieved sigh. "But that's good too. As long as you're not rejecting me because I'm ugly, I can accept it."
Naruto: "…"
Naruto's words earlier had almost shattered Kurotsuchi's confidence.
Immediately afterward, she said, "Alright, since you've put it that way, let's treat this as a transaction."
"First, what you want is Tailed Beast Chakra and Dust Release."
"No problem. I can explain this matter to our Kage."
"But you'll need to pay a certain amount of money and cooperate with me in acting."
"Additionally, you'll need to disclose some information about yourself."
Naruto didn't find these terms hard to accept.
However, he was curious about one thing.
He asked, puzzled, "What does a transaction have to do with my personal information?"
Kurotsuchi replied thoughtfully, "Oh~ that's because, to outsiders, we really are engaged."
"In that case, I need to know you better, don't I?"
"Didn't you say my 'looks' were 'not bad'? If I think you're acceptable, then we can try getting to know each other"
"If it works out, we'll go through with it. If not, we'll find another solution~"
After hearing her explanation, Naruto stroked his chin with interest. "I see. If you'd been this honest from the start, things would've been much simpler~"
Kurotsuchi's eye twitched slightly as she forced a weak smile. "Hehe~"
Just as they were finalizing things, Naruto suddenly frowned, sensing that something wasn't quite right.
Kurotsuchi's first proposal:
Naruto gets Tailed Beast Chakra + Dust Release.
The price: a political marriage.
Her second proposal:
Naruto gets Tailed Beast Chakra + Dust Release.
The price: interacting with Kurotsuchi, and if their personalities matched, they'd go through with the engagement.
In other words—
The cost had changed from a forced political marriage to:
dating or acting together + a mutually agreed marriage + a sum of money.
???
Naruto quickly did the math and wondered if he had been tricked.
No… not really.
Kurotsuchi had simply changed the wording.
And that wording made it much easier for Naruto to accept psychologically.
How could that be considered a loss?
However… on paper, Naruto had indeed conceded something.
He stood there, his thoughts nearly crashing.
Seeing his expression, Kurotsuchi asked suspiciously, "You're not planning to scam me, are you? I didn't even hit you."
Naruto snapped back to reality and looked at her.
She wore a faint smile, clearly in a good mood.
She really was happy.
She had perfectly resolved a potential crisis for the village.
Moreover, for Kurotsuchi, an unavoidable political marriage had turned into an optional relationship.
Of course she would be happy.
Naruto sighed.
Some people are just like that.
They complain when food is served directly, but only find satisfaction after cooking it themselves.
Marriage alliances were the same.
A marriage alliance—
And dating first, then a marriage alliance—
The feeling was completely different.
The latter was simply easier to accept.
Naruto quickly stopped overthinking it.
He could only admit that Kurotsuchi's mind was extremely sharp.
If he ever got the chance, he'd definitely make her the diplomat of the Land of Snow.
Shaking his head slightly, Naruto said, "I'm not trying to scam you. Let's go see Ōnoki."
Kurotsuchi's expression brightened. "Alright~ But remember, in Grandpa's eyes, the marriage is real. Only the two of us can privately decide whether to go through with it or tell the truth."
Naruto nodded. "Mm…"
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