After discussing the next steps with Shikaku,
Bai Ye would wait for him to draw up a detailed plan, then summon the other clan heads for a meeting to finalize it.
Under his leadership, Konoha needed to grow stronger, and its economy needed to improve.
There was no shortcut to increasing its strength.
He could only wait. That would take time.
Mainly because the most promising members of this generation were still at the Ninja Academy.
In Konoha, the older generation had more or less reached their limits.
The only ones who still had room for improvement were Might Guy and Kakashi.
Shisui could get a little stronger, but even that would be difficult.
After all, Shisui couldn't awaken the Eternal Eyes unless he received a transplant of Hashirama cells.
As things stood, Bai Ye didn't need to rob any graves or anything.
Because when they had raided Root,
they had found quite a few preserved Hashirama cells there.
But he didn't know how to transplant them.
To do that, he would have to bring back either Tsunade or Orochimaru.
Actually, Bai Ye's stance on Orochimaru was that he could either kill him or keep him around.
The deciding factor was whether Orochimaru could be put to use.
If not, he might as well kill him sooner rather than later.
So he absolutely had to bring Tsunade back to Konoha.
Then, of course, Sasuke and Naruto would be the main focus of his training efforts.
After all, their potential spoke for itself.
For Konoha, the priority now was to ensure its military hegemony, economic hegemony, technological hegemony, and cultural hegemony.
He already had plans for the first three.
As for cultural hegemony...
Bai Ye had set his sights on Kazahana Koyuki.
She was the last piece of his puzzle.
And when it came to bringing the other villages under his control, he could start with Sunagakure and Kirigakure.
After all, those two villages were relatively weak.
With that thought, Bai Ye settled on a plan and spoke into the empty air. "Go invite Kazahana Koyuki over. I want to discuss the Land of Snow with her!"
At the inn.
Kazahana Koyuki was a little nervous about Bai Ye's summons.
Ever since they had arrived in Konoha, Bai Ye hadn't contacted them again. No one had even bothered with them.
Koyuki had initially thought Bai Ye had forgotten about them.
Or perhaps he wanted to avoid the trouble, figuring she couldn't pay him anyway, and no longer wanted to see her.
When Bai Ye finally sent someone to fetch her, she suddenly felt nervous.
She knew where she stood.
There was no way she could come up with that much money.
This mission had to be at least A-rank, right?!
Even though she had made a name for herself in entertainment, she barely had any savings. The work itself didn't pay all that much.
"Princess Koyuki, let's hurry over. This is our chance to return to the Land of Snow. Even if I have to work myself to death and spend the rest of my life working in Konoha, I'll raise enough money to pay for your mission, Your Highness!"
Sandayu Asama looked at Koyuki and spoke with determination in his eyes.
He could see what she was worried about.
But even knowing that, Sandayu Asama understood that this was their last chance.
If they let this opportunity slip away, they might never get another.
"Sandayu, don't make it sound so grim..."
Koyuki's expression darkened with exasperation. Why was he making it sound so serious?
They didn't even know what would happen yet.
The way he put it suddenly made her feel guilty.
She was quite conflicted herself.
But the main problem was that she had no money!
If she had money, she wouldn't be so torn.
The two followed the Anbu to the Hokage's Office.
"Sit."
Bai Ye pointed to the two seats in front of him, motioning for them to sit, then placed a file before them. "We've looked into the Land of Snow.
"Its current king is Kazahana Dōtō, your uncle.
"Because of him, you've spent all these years being hunted, living in exile.
"Kakashi, a Konoha ninja, brought you to the Land of Fire. After that, you became an actress, and you've now earned a modest reputation in the industry."
By the time Bai Ye finished, he had essentially laid out all the information they had gathered.
Hearing him, Koyuki froze for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Do you have to investigate the client now before accepting a mission?!"
She was genuinely surprised. She hadn't expected Bai Ye to investigate her.
If she remembered correctly, neither ninjas nor ninja villages looked into a client's background when accepting a mission.
As long as the client paid, the information matched up, and the mission was assessed correctly, they would accept it.
"You're different."
"I'm... different?!"
Koyuki murmured those words, then gave Bai Ye a strange look.
No way!
Had the Hokage taken a liking to me?!
It seemed absurd, but they were about the same age.
"Yes. I'll get straight to the point. Given who you are, I can offer you two choices.
"First, we follow the normal mission procedure. You pay the fee, and I'll assign ninjas to help you resolve the situation in the Land of Snow.
"Second, I have a condition. If you agree to it, Konoha will help you for free. No... rather, I'll cover the mission fee for you."
Bai Ye had originally intended to say it would be free.
But on second thought, that wouldn't work.
After all, he couldn't expect the people carrying out the mission to go completely unpaid, could he?
So he would pay out of his own pocket and get it done properly.
After hearing Bai Ye's offer, Koyuki became even more convinced.
Maybe Bai Ye really was interested in her.
"Well... shouldn't we get to know each other first?! You're definitely my type in terms of looks, and you're very strong, but wouldn't it be better to develop some feelings first?!"
She had to admit it.
The men of the Uchiha really were just as the rumors across the Shinobi World said: all handsome.
And the man before her was exceptional even among them.
Koyuki actually liked his type, but how should she put it? Surely they ought to spend some time developing feelings first?
"I think you may be reading too much into this. What I have in mind is for the Land of Snow to become part of Konoha. What do you say?!"
Bai Ye's mouth twitched. He had no idea what had given her the impression that he was interested in her.
Perhaps it was because she really was quite pretty?
But Bai Ye had no intention of discussing that sort of thing during official business.
Granted, as a Naruto fan in his previous life, he had wanted to make every beautiful female character in the series his own-except swimsuit Chiyo.
But surely he couldn't bring that up during a serious discussion.
Was he really supposed to talk about that now?!
He was the Hokage, for crying out loud!
He couldn't possibly say, "Princess Koyuki, you wouldn't want the Land of Snow to..."
That would be far too perverted!
The main reason Bai Ye had made this offer was to bring the Land of Snow into Konoha.
And once he finished speaking, both Koyuki and Sandayu Asama froze on the spot.
She had thought the Hokage merely had his eye on her.
It turned out he had his eye on the Land of Snow instead.
"Impossible! I, Kazahana Koyuki, would rather die-die out there and never return to my homeland-than agree to that!"
Koyuki was certain she could never agree to this!
How was this any different from selling out her country?!
At the same time, she lost all desire to cooperate with him.
She hadn't expected her country to be what he wanted!
As she spoke, she started to rise and leave.
"You can hear me out first. If you still find it unacceptable afterward, you can leave whenever you want."
Bai Ye's words made Koyuki pause.
"I want to unify the entire Shinobi World into a single nation, so there will no longer be any divisions over which country anyone belongs to.
"In that nation, everyone will be relatively equal. There won't be so much oppression, and there will be no more great ninja wars...
"The Land of Snow is part of that vision too. I hope you'll return there and become its queen, then bring it into this kingdom...
"When that happens, the Land of Snow will be the Land of Fire, and the Land of Fire will be the Land of Snow. Whatever the Land of Fire has, the Land of Snow will have as well..."
It did sound a little like he was making grand promises.
But Bai Ye felt that this would undoubtedly be a good thing for a small country like the Land of Snow.
"This..."
Sandayu Asama's eyes widened, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
He had initially thought Bai Ye was coveting the Land of Snow.
But his ambitions were much greater. It wasn't simply the Land of Snow he wanted-he wanted to unify the entire Shinobi World.
"Then what if I refuse?!"
"I'll put you under a genjutsu and make you forget what I just told you."
"And then?!"
"Then I'll still unify it my way."
"Then I agree!"
After hearing Bai Ye's answer, Koyuki felt there was hardly any choice to make.
There was no point in choosing at all!
He was plainly telling her that no matter what she chose, he wouldn't give up in the end. What was she supposed to hold out for?!
Do I even have a choice?!
There was simply no room to choose!
"A wise choice!"
As soon as Bai Ye said that, the corners of Koyuki's mouth twitched.
How could it be anything else?!
He was already prepared to put her under a genjutsu.
Good grief...
She could only bow out gracefully. If she refused to do so, Bai Ye would help her do it.
"Wait a moment! Let me get this straight. You're saying the Land of Snow will belong to Konoha from now on?!"
Sandayu Asama hurriedly stood, his gaze darting between Bai Ye and Koyuki.
Wait!
How had their conversation ended up here?!
Though he also knew that Koyuki didn't seem to have any choice at all.
"Sandayu, I think this may be our best option."
Koyuki closed her eyes, her emotions tangled.
She didn't know whether this was a good thing.
But if she refused, what else could she do?!
"Princess Koyuki, no... Hokage, I want to know why you would do this!"
"Because this is the only way to develop more effectively. Ask yourselves honestly: don't you want to improve living conditions for the people of the Land of Snow?!"
"That may be true, but how can we be sure you'll do what you say?! Please don't blame me for being suspicious, Lord Hokage. It's just that we're gambling our entire country on this. Unless..."
Sandayu Asama fell silent for a moment.
Then he looked earnestly at Bai Ye and said, "Unless you publicly marry Princess Koyuki!"
"..."
The moment Sandayu Asama finished, the room fell silent.
Koyuki's eyes widened. She clearly hadn't expected him to say anything like that.
He actually wanted Bai Ye to marry her?!
"We can discuss that later. What you're suggesting is too much of a stretch. But I can promise to let you govern the Land of Snow for the time being, until I've unified the entire Shinobi World.
"And I can open up all trade to help the Land of Snow and Konoha do business, improving both economies."
"Of course...
In exchange, Princess Koyuki will have to make some films for us afterward to promote Konoha."
When Bai Ye finished, Kazahana Koyuki asked in surprise, "Huh?! I still have to make films?!"
As far as Kazahana Koyuki was concerned, everything he had said before that was absolutely sincere!
After all, he would handle the initial stages himself. If Bai Ye couldn't deliver, she wouldn't have to worry about any of those earlier issues.
But...
What on earth was that last part supposed to mean?!
He still wanted her to make films?!
"That's right. What do you think?"
"No problem! Sandayu, I've made up my mind. Let's do as the Hokage says. I choose the second option!"
With that single declaration, Kazahana Koyuki shut Sandayu Asama down completely.
Sandayu Asama had been about to say something, but now he had no idea what to say.
Was that... really settled, just like that?!
Sandayu Asama still had plenty to say, but then he thought about what Bai Ye had told them.
Thinking it over carefully, the terms were already very generous to the Land of Snow.
Essentially, he would first help them reclaim the Land of Snow.
Then, afterward, he would help revitalize its economy.
That was already an excellent deal for the Land of Snow.
Hadn't Bai Ye already said that he would do it anyway, even if they refused?!
So he was already showing them considerable respect!
"Then how will things work afterward?!"
"A Council! We'll form a democratic Council when the time comes. I haven't worked out the details yet, but the Land of Snow will have a seat on it."
After saying that, Bai Ye called out into the empty air, "Shisui, I'm assigning this mission to you and Kakashi. Make sure you two complete it. I'll send you straight to the Land of Snow shortly. Don't disappoint me."
With Shisui and Kakashi carrying out the mission, there probably wouldn't be much difficulty.
The mission in the Land of Snow would likely be a breeze.
"Yes, sir!"
Shisui emerged from the darkness.
His expression was rather conflicted.
Wasn't she just a fugitive princess from the Land of Snow?
Why did he suddenly have the strange feeling that she was about to become his sister-in-law?!
If Bai Ye really chose Kazahana Koyuki, what was he supposed to do then?!
Ever since Shisui had become the Hokage's bodyguard, things had changed.
Quite a few people in the clan had come to him asking for information.
Of course, more of them had reminded him to keep a close eye on Bai Ye and never let a woman from outside the clan steal him away.
After all, he was their Clan Head, who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and become Hokage.
If Bai Ye chose a woman from outside the clan, wouldn't that leave the Uchiha Clan in an awkward position?!
But...
Was he really in any position to say anything?!
Before you continue