"Sis Kurenai..."
Asama Santaifu turned sideways and stepped aside, letting Kazahana Koyuki walk forward.
"I want... to give this to you, as thanks!"
Kazahana Koyuki had already changed out of her earlier finery into ordinary clothes, and she was no longer wearing the crown on her head.
She lowered her head slightly, took the necklace from around her neck, and handed it to Kurenai Yūhi.
After exchanging glances with her companions, Kurenai Yūhi stepped forward and took the Hexagonal Crystal.
If the Yukigakure Clan's treasure truly possessed some powerful force, then it was better left in the keeping of the Konoha Ninja.
She just did not know whether this idea had come from Kazahana Koyuki herself, or whether Asama Santaifu had taught it to her.
Given the current state of the Land of Snow, they had no ability whatsoever to protect this so-called treasure, and Kazahana Koyuki was only a little girl who had just ascended the throne. The loyal subordinates she had inherited from her father truly were not many, because most of them had been eliminated by Kazahana Dōtō.
If she wanted to secure her position as Daimyo, she had to win the support of the Konoha Ninja.
And taking the hot potato that was the Hexagonal Crystal and using it to exchange for further support from the Konoha Ninja was undoubtedly the best choice currently available to Kazahana Koyuki.
"Click."
As the Hexagonal Crystal was inserted into the hole, a wave of warmth rose from underground.
The accumulated snow on the ground actually began to melt slowly. Most absurd of all, after the snow melted, what was revealed beneath it was a stretch of grassland covered in flowers.
It was undoubtedly very unscientific, and yet it had happened all the same.
They could only assume that