Koyuki suddenly felt incredibly lucky. Naruto had indeed returned and hadn't forgotten the Land of Snow, which is thousands of miles away, nor had he forgotten her.
Despite the distance, he had left behind means of communication. More than half of the Land of Snow's current prosperity was built on his efforts, so if anything happened here, Naruto wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
With that thought, Koyuki's confidence surged. She stood up with an air of authority and declared, "It's okay, let's just go and meet them. We'll see what they have to say."
"But Your Majesty…" The minister said with a worried look on his face, "The envoys from the Land of Grass clearly have ill intentions. There is no need to entertain them."
"Since they are already here, do you think they'll just leave quietly even if we ignore them?" Koyuki asked, "Don't worry, the Land of Snow is no longer the barren wasteland it once was."
"It is precisely because of this that we have attracted the unwanted attention of others." The minister sighed, "The Land of Grass has always been cunning and preyed on the weak. We should've expected they'd set their sights on us eventually."
"I just didn't expect it to come so soon, and at this exact moment. The bulk of this year's fiscal appropriations were used for people's livelihood, and we did not strengthen the military strength."
"Yeah, I'm aware of that." Koyuki nodded.
Although Naruto had initially left a large sum of money to jumpstart the Land of Snow's development, six years had passed since then. If the nation wants to speed up the pace of development, sacrifices had to be made.
After lengthy discussions with her council, Koyuki had taken a gamble and divert the money used for the military to promote the economic growth.
The Land of Snow, which located in the far north, had once been infamous as the harshest, coldest region in the Shinobi World… until the geothermal systems were installed.
Thinking that it was highly likely that no one would care about the Land of Snow, she had bet on rapid development.
The minister pointed out that the current military strength of the Land of Snow is not worth mentioning compared to that of the Land of Grass.
"Let's go." She said nothing more, her expression solemn.
…
At the main hall.
Several Jonin from the Land of Grass looked at each other with amusement in their eyes, 'This Land of Snow is truly a goldmine… Why hadn't we discovered it before?'
With the ice melted, the once-frozen wasteland had transformed into fertile land.
Not only had a small, impoverished village grown into a thriving capital, but surrounding towns had flourished as well. It was an enormous, unexpected windfall for these people.
And to their delight, the military strength of this place seemed to be extremely weak. Since entering the Land of Snow, they had not seen many Shinobi. Even the guards in the palace were ordinary people and had no deterrent power at all.
"I heard the ruler of the Land of Snow is a woman. I wonder what she looks like?" One of the ninjas, Takami, stroked his chin and an intriguing smile appeared on his face.
"Be careful. We don't know the full situation yet. It's impossible for the Land of Snow to suddenly become like this for no reason." Another Shinobi, Kusari, pushed his glasses and said cautiously.
"It doesn't matter. As long as it's not backed by one of the Five Great Nations, we're fine." The third Shinobi, the burly Seki, grinned savagely.
"We have come here from thousands of miles away and spent a lot of time on the road. Even if the Five Great Nations did care about this place, they wouldn't have time to react." Takami scoffed.
"Besides, every move the Five Great Nations make is closely watched by the other four nations If any of them had real ties to the Land of Snow, the other four would've noticed by now. But so far, it seems that no news has been reported."
"Hey, stop imagining." Takino patted Kusari, who was also a Jonin, on the shoulder, "Everyone here combined isn't a match for any of us."
"Besides, even if something unexpected happens, as long as we pass the news back to the village, the Land of Snow will be in our hands."
Hearing this, the Shinobi with glasses, Kusari, felt a little relieved.
He knew very well what the Kusagakure was like. As long as the benefits of occupying the Land of Snow outweighed the costs, the people in the village would swarm in like locusts.
Before long, movement came from the rear of the hall, and Koyuki came out with her guards.
After coming out of the hall, she calmly glanced around, and her eyes swept over the three people in the hall. Her expression did not change at all, she was still solemn and serious.
Takami, the more arrogant of the three people from the Land of Grass, stepped forward with a grin, "Your Majesty, we are the Jonin from the Land of Grass. We are passing through your country and would like to discuss matters related to cooperation with your country."
"Passing through? This place is rather remote, so why would the distinguished envoy pass by?" Koyuki knew that the other party had ulterior motives and was too lazy to be polite.
"Haha, when a frozen wasteland suddenly becomes a paradise overnight, it's hard to ignore." Takami said with an ugly smile.
"What kind of cooperation?" She looked down at the group and asked calmly.
"It is always difficult for a small country to develop alone. If we reach a cooperation agreement, our Land of Grass will inject funds to help the Land of Snow develop in all aspects, including economy and military."
"So, what's the price?"
"Seventy percent ownership of the Land of Snow. Of course, this can still be negotiated. As for the exact amount…" Takami showed his white teeth and smiled in what he thought was an elegant manner.
"… That depends on Your Majesty's sincerity."
When he said the word 'sincerity', Takigami's eyes were fixed on Koyuki. This made the bespectacled Land of Grass's Jonin, Kusari's heart skip a beat, and he felt a little panicked for some reason.
But when he looked around and saw that there were only a few guards in the Snow Country Palace, his panicked heart gradually calmed down.
'There were not many Shinobi in the Land of Snow, and their military strength was weak.'
'Yes, there is no need to panic. Even if the Land of Snow is lucky, this is a world where the strong are respected. There is nothing that cannot be solved by force.'
'If one's fists are not strong, then nothing they say will work. Even if the Queen of the Land of Snow is furious, she will never offend our Land of Grass, which is much stronger than them.'
Sure enough, Koyuki didn't react with anger when she heard this. Instead, she smiled and said, "The Land of Snow will naturally show its sincerity, but this matter is of great importance, and it's not mine to decide alone."
"Can you please give me some time and give you a reply tomorrow?"
The three of them looked at each other, all with relief in their eyes. It was reasonable to ask for only one day to consider it, after all, what could they possibly do in one day?
Besides, they thought that the people from the Land of Snow would not dare to play tricks in front of the three Jonin. If they were forced into a corner, they could simply wreak havoc and then call for reinforcements from Kusagakure to invade.
This place was no longer the frozen wasteland it once was. Without the harsh environment as a natural defense, conquering the Land of Snow wouldn't be difficult at all.
So they didn't object and readily agreed to her request.
When the three people from the Land of Grass left, the smile on Koyuki's face slowly disappeared. She rubbed her cheeks, which were somewhat stiff from smiling, and her expression darkening.
'They wanted to snatch away six years of the Land of Snow's progress without paying a single coin. He didn't even mention how much money he was going to give. It was no different from robbery. What was even more damning was that bastard actually dared to set his sights on me.'
"Your Majesty..." The minister walked out from the shadows, frowned and saluted at Koyuki.
"Your Majesty, those people…"
"Don't worry, Yukitake-san, just go back and have a rest. You don't have to worry about this matter." Koyuki waved her hand and said, "Someone will come to deal with it before dark."
Hearing this, Yukitake raised his head, his aged eyes flickered with surprise. He seemed to guess what she meant, and opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything.
"...Understood." He withdrew slowly.