Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 252 Negotiation

"Did Feng Hua Nu Tao tell you that?" Xiao Xue calmed down quickly. When she boarded the ship, she had actually been somewhat prepared to face the past. Now that her greatest enemy was dead, she finally calmed down.

“No, Feng Hua Nu Tao died in battle. A clumsy fellow forgot to shift the position of his blade. We learned of your whereabouts from his subordinates and have been waiting for your arrival.” Tian Dan did not use honorifics, which almost clearly indicated his attitude.

Xiaoxue took a deep breath and said firmly, "I will not become the ruler of the Snow Kingdom, and you do not need to worry that I will affect your rule."

“Under Hui’s rule, there is no monarch, only a leader. The selection of leaders does not consider bloodline, but only ability.” These words completely subverted the mainstream concept of governance, shocking Xiaoxue so much that her eyes widened. But Tian Dan said it so casually, yet with a touch of humor, “Don’t be so sure of yourself. Maybe in ten or twenty years, you really might be selected.”

Does such a ruling ideology actually exist?

Xiaoxue wasn't sure whether she should agree. People always look at beautiful things with a different eye, and she certainly hadn't forgotten that fleeting glimpse of the white-haired youth. According to aristocratic principles, a king wouldn't abdicate unless he was too old to move. That person seemed like he could live for many years, so why was he replaced after only a little over a decade?

"I remember your organization's leader is a young man; he could easily do this for decades."

"Lord Jinlun doesn't have time to deal with such trivial matters; leave this to us. Besides, our leader isn't appointed for life. After the special period passes, there will be an election every five years. Those who do well will be re-elected, and those who don't will hand over the reins to the next person. Isn't that reasonable?"

Managing a country is a small matter? Then what is a big matter? Saving the world?!

After only a few short sentences, Xiaoxue felt her world crumble, and a new world was being born from her conversation with Tian Dan. This woman answered almost every question, slowly unfolding a world Xiaoxue had never imagined. Born into nobility, she had spent half her life in luxury before falling into poverty and struggling at the bottom of society. She knew that nobles could disregard the law and waste resources for momentary displays of wealth and power, and she also knew that only those truly starving would line up for food in the dead of winter. Therefore, she actually began to look forward to the future Tian Dan described.

“Since you’ve been so open about those issues, let’s get straight to the point.” Xiaoxue took out a pale purple crystal she had worn for ten years from her collar and said, “I wonder if this will allow me to meet your leader.”

Just how amazing must the person who built such an organization be?

However, this question made Tian Dan look troubled. She said, "I'm sorry, Lord Jinlun is currently on the mainland preparing supplies to support the Snow Kingdom and won't be able to come over for a while. As you can see, many people are really on the verge of starvation. This is the first time we've taken over a country with such extreme weather, and we need to do some research to ensure stable food production. Can we change the terms, Miss Feng Hua?"

"Any conditions are acceptable?"

"Of course... no. If you want to negotiate, I suggest we move indoors; it's still quite cold outside."

Xiaoxue finally revealed a genuine smile and said, "You guys are really a bunch of weirdos. I guess only weirdos would have the guts to try something like that. There's no need for negotiation. I only have one condition: I want to open the treasure myself, and then it will be your spoils."

"It should be a gift." Tian Dan bowed to Xiao Xue for the first time and said, "Thank you for your willingness to support our beliefs, Miss Feng Hua."

"It's settled!" The director practically rushed out of the makeshift negotiation room, shouting, "Where's the camera crew? Quickly check the equipment and film rolls, get them ready to leave at any moment! Assistant, assistant!"

"Yes, yes!"

"Come with me! Let's go out and find some material!"

"Huh? Aren't we filming the Rainbow Cliff? What kind of footage are we looking for?"

"Shut up! Just go!"

The few people still in the conference room watched the director's departing figure in complete silence.

"Sorry... the director gets agitated like that." Kakashi helplessly cleaned up the mess for the crew.

“It’s alright, our cooperation has been very pleasant.” The brown-haired woman responded with a rather cheerful smile.

"By the way, how are those three prisoners?" Naruto, who had been dozing off, suddenly woke up and rather rashly brought up the sensitive topic. "It took us a lot of effort to capture them, so we can't just release them."

"Rest assured, those three beasts will be put to public trial." The gentle brown-haired woman's expression remained unchanged, but her voice suddenly became rough, carrying a strong killing intent.

However, the murderous intent vanished in an instant, and the woman regained her gentle voice, standing up and saying, "I've kept you occupied for a long time. Would you like to have a simple meal together? Mr. Ren Tai seems to be too busy to eat."

"Thank you, but we have something to do. We need to go and pick up the people who went out to play." Kakashi politely declined. He had just noticed many details that belonged to a ninja, and now he was even more certain that the other person was also a ninja.

So far, all the "Hui" members we've seen in the Land of Snow are ninjas. Which country did they come from? Are there really that many wandering ninjas?

They didn't actually go to pick him up, because he came back on his own.

After going out for a walk, Yukie seemed to have figured something out, and she looked much more relaxed. The first thing she did upon returning was to call Santayu over. The two talked about something, and Yukie happily went to eat, while Santayu didn't come out.

"Has the filming date been set?" Yukie's sudden enthusiasm left everyone on the crew completely bewildered.

"...Ms. Zhiyue said that she would give us a week to prepare, and that she would send someone to pick us up from the mountain a week later."

"What?! It's a week later? No way, it's three days, three days, understand?! Where's the director?!"

"The director has gone out to find footage!"

Yukie frowned and glanced to the side. The three Konoha kids were quietly eating together. Without hesitation, she picked up her bowl and went over, plopping down next to Naruto.

"You always find me right away, so you should be able to find the director too, right? Come out with me after dinner!"

"How can you order people around like that?" Sakura muttered to herself.

Sasuke on the other side was even more direct, his cold, piercing gaze flying over, making Yukie shiver.

Tsk, young people are so impulsive. Don't mess with them, don't mess with them...

Yukie readily changed her demeanor, perfectly embodying her role as an actress, "Young Mr. Naruto, could you help me find a director? I really have something urgent to attend to, please~"

"No problem!"

That's strange, why does it feel even colder?