Chapter 233

The Land of Snow, Daimyo Prefecture.

Inside the mansion, two figures suddenly appeared outside the main hall.

A man and a woman, one handsome and the other delicate, both possessing extraordinary bearing, were none other than Sakura Haruno and Sasuke.

However, under the effect of Sasuke's Sharingan, the two, who were originally quite eye-catching, suddenly became less noticeable, and the others in the Daimyo's mansion completely ignored the two who had suddenly barged in.

--Sasuke's Genjutsu is still quite effective against ordinary people, at least.

Knock knock.

Out of politeness, Sakura did not barge into the main hall of the daimyo's mansion, but knocked on the door from the outside.

"Who is it? No, it's my afternoon tea time after 3 PM. Don't bother me unless it's urgent," Xue's languid and charming voice came from inside the hall, the last syllable drawn out, making it even sweeter. "If it's not urgent, come back at 5 PM!"

The two people outside the door looked at each other in bewilderment.

Sasuke patted a piece of paper pasted next to the door, on which was written in large characters:

Daming office hours: 9:00-11:00 AM, 0:00-5:15 PM

In other words, excluding afternoon tea time, you only work for 45 minutes the entire afternoon?

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Ying's forehead.

As expected, I knew Kazahana Koyuki couldn't possibly become that kind of diligent daimyo... Sakura shook her head, dragged the image of Kazahana Koyuki wearing glasses, bathed in candlelight, processing official documents in the dead of night into the recycle bin of her mind, right-clicked, and permanently deleted it!

She pushed the door open and walked in—incidentally announcing that the Daming Mansion was going to get new locks again.

Kazahana Koyuki's image was exactly the same as the one she had imagined: both were languidly half-sitting and half-lying on the sofa, with the heating on full blast, listlessly eating snacks while watching a movie.

"Oh, you've arrived." Kazahana Koyuki only glanced lazily when she heard the Gate of Opening. Seeing that it was the two from Team 7, she said "Welcome, welcome," but she was too lazy to move at all. She lay on the sofa like a water snake, let alone get up to greet them.

"What extravagance! While the common people are still eating dirt, you're here indulging in food, drink, and entertainment, living a life of luxury!" Sakura Haruno walked into the hall, her voice filled with anguish.

"What common people are eating dirt? I've never heard of that." Xue rolled her eyes, showing disdain for Ying's shameless rumor. "Besides, these are all things left behind by my dad Kazahana Dōtō, might as well use them."

As the two approached, she stretched and sat up, making room on the sofa for them to sit down.

"There's electricity here! Isn't that amazing?" she laughed, pointing proudly to the television in front of her. "This is a geothermal generator that my dad invented—another precious legacy he left behind!"

Although the Land of Snow has an extremely cold climate, it has abundant geothermal resources... As a mechanical Kazahana Sōsetsu thought of using geothermal heating, and naturally she wouldn't forget that geothermal power could also be used.

His plan was to first achieve nationwide heating, and then build geothermal power plants. So he only developed the geothermal generator and then put it aside.

It's research and development, but it doesn't actually involve much technology. If you can extract geothermal energy for heating, then using the boiling water in the pipes to generate electricity is a piece of cake. From Earth in the past to the Shinobi World now, humanity in both worlds is still using the same old methods, from thermal power to nuclear power to geothermal power—it's just a matter of changing the way you boil water...

After a few casual words, the topic turned to the development of the Land of Snow.

First came the good news.

"Everything else is fine. Everyone is very enthusiastic about building their homeland. The Land of Snow is now completely transformed, as you should have seen when you came here. After you, Sakura, took charge of things, I have basically brought the Land of Snow under my control. No one dares to play any tricks. It's a time of peace and prosperity." Kazahana Koyuki said with a hint of pride.

Then came the complaining.

"However, the biggest problem is the slow progress of the heating system's installation, which is stuck on funding," Kazahana Koyuki said with a hint of helplessness. "Our country's industrial capacity is practically zero now. When my father was alive, we could manufacture all sorts of components for the heating system, but Kazahana Dōtō has long since exhausted that. So we can only import them from your Land of Fire..."

She scratched her head in frustration. "We're so short of money! I originally had a plan to rebuild the industrial system my father built, but I've completely abandoned that now. If we force that plan forward, the people of the Land of Snow will probably really be starving!"

Sakura shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. In her previous life on Earth, a country had to work hard and sell everything it owned to develop industry if it wanted to grow big and strong. However, the Land of Snow had its own unique circumstances... In the world of ninjas, the power of mechanical industry wasn't that great. The most advanced productive force should be Chakra industry. Moreover, the Land of Snow's size and natural environment weren't suitable for developing much industry. It wasn't unreasonable for a small country with a small population to pursue a path of simple happiness.

She declined to comment on Kazahana Koyuki's approach to governing the country.

Chakra and Ninjutsu are far superior to machines in every aspect, so if she were in charge, establishing Ninja Academy and popularizing Chakra among the entire population would be the path to a powerful nation... and if she did that, she would be eliminated the second time.

Yes, which daimyo would dare to do that? First of all, where would he get the teaching staff to establish Ninja Academy? Just the moment he expresses the idea of doing such a thing, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would be the first to jump out and take him down.

Unless she is like Hashirama Senju, who, with undeniable force, forcibly ended the chaotic and hellish Warring States period and established the era of order among the Five Great Nations, single-handedly advancing the history of human civilization. However, history is ultimately created by the people. Even a powerful First Hokage was able to rebuild order because everyone was tired of the era of war; his actions were merely in accordance with the times.

Let's get back to the main topic.

Let Yuki worry about the affairs of the Land of Snow; as an outsider, it's not her place to interfere.

However, the fact that there's electricity here is a pleasant surprise.

She had a lot of instruments that required electricity, and she was initially worried about the power supply, but that problem was now solved.

In addition, in the next stage of the Yin Seal, she plans to try to store external energy using the Yin Seal. With the geothermal power plant in the Land of Snow, she will not have to worry about where to find an energy source.

"Things here have basically stabilized. I plan to continue making movies starting this year to earn money to support the country!" Kazahana Koyuki said earnestly.

This matter was already resolved during the last mission to the Land of Snow. Before, she dared to make such a decision because she only had the strength of Team 7, and even if something went wrong, she could still take back the Land of Snow. However, now she has prestige throughout the Land of Snow and has gained the recognition and respect of the entire nation, so she is even more confident.

However, in other families, the men are the breadwinners, but in the Land of Snow, it's the female daimyo who earns money to support the country...

The Land of Snow is even poorer than Sakura Haruno.

"Since you think it's okay, then let's do it," Sakura said, pulling a bankbook from her Special Jonin. "This is a small token of my appreciation for the people of the Land of Snow."

This is what she got from the bounty hunt...

Of course! She didn't keep the spoils for herself; these were her war trophies!

Who told that person in charge to be so afraid of death, yelling, "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'll give you all my money!" and then obediently handing over his bankbook and PIN...

Sakura certainly didn't kill him—she was originally going to capture these people alive, so she felt perfectly justified in taking this trophy.

Sakura Haruno solemnly reiterated that the Anbu had the right to dispose of spoils of war during missions; this was an unspoken rule within the Anbu, a perk they enjoyed!

In short, although the string of zeros on the bankbook was a drop in the ocean compared to the actual spoils, it was still a considerable sum for the poor girl.

Holding a huge sum of money for the first time, she felt somewhat lost and bewildered; from being penniless to becoming a nouveau riche who could order two bowls of soy milk and throw one away, Sakura herself was a little confused.

I set aside a portion for my own experiments, but I don't know what to do with the other half.

For personal enjoyment? No, no, no, she doesn't have the habit or time for extravagance, and she wouldn't even look at the luxuries of the ninja world.

Lending money to Tsunade to pay off her gambling debts? Absolutely not. She defaulted on her debts through her own skill; why should she pay them back? Why don't you send the casino manager to Konoha to collect? As for the casino not welcoming Tsunade anymore... wouldn't that be even better? It'd be perfect for helping her master quit gambling.

Handing it over to the state? What does that have to do with the Land of Fire...? Handing it over would only enrich the daimyo. Sakura has no real connection to the Land of Fire; she's the typical person who loves her village but not her country.

There's a severe shortage of funds for building homes here. Using this money to benefit the poor is a meaningful thing. Consider it advance payment to the Land of Snow for establishing a base and for using the geothermal power plant in the future!

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