Hearing Naruto's evaluation of her, Princess Koyuki Kazehana didn't refute it.
Because she knew her own shortcomings.
When facing Dotō Kazehana, she hadn't even had the courage to return to the Land of Snow.
She had almost no sense of responsibility.
If it weren't for Naruto, Princess Koyuki Kazehana would have either died under Dotō Kazehana's pursuit or remained a wanderer for the rest of her life.
Thinking it over carefully, Princess Koyuki Kazehana realized the gap between herself and Karin.
Karin sometimes showed weakness, but once her bottom line was touched, she would absolutely never back down.
That might be the difference between the two of them.
Some people have a bottom line they firmly uphold, one they will never allow anyone to trample on.
Others are muddle-headed, and their bottom line is easily breached.
However, Naruto's tone suddenly changed.
"There are very few people who can calmly face a powerful enemy in the first place."
Princess Koyuki Kazehana sensed that something was off in his words and felt slightly puzzled.
Her delicate brows furrowed.
What she had asked Naruto about was how he felt about her.
But Naruto was talking about evaluating her.
This was clearly… strange.
Could it be that she wasn't pretty enough?
Don't joke—she was a princess!
Even if she weren't beautiful, she certainly carried an air of elegance.
Still, Princess Koyuki Kazehana knew some things about Naruto.
Karin had told her everything.
Naruto clearly didn't lack beautiful women around him.
Karin herself was very pretty, and there was also Hinata Hyūga—the gentle Byakugan princess—who was even more outstanding than she was.
So was the problem her personality?
That didn't seem right either.
Naruto's tone had just softened.
It clearly wasn't an issue of personality.
Then, suddenly, Princess Koyuki Kazehana had an epiphany.
She realized something important.
"Naruto…" Princess Koyuki Kazehana interrupted him and said seriously, "My feelings for you are not based on politics."
"The Land of Snow already has its own Snow Ninja Village. If I didn't like you, I could have simply sent you there, couldn't I?"
"And… I'm not some casual woman. I wouldn't act this way just because a powerful ninja appeared."
The reason she had feelings for Naruto was because of everything they had experienced together.
And Naruto had misunderstood.
He thought she was merely looking for a powerful backer.
And that was something Naruto instinctively disliked.
Perhaps he was a little particular.
But that was the truth.
If he knew someone truly had feelings for him, he could accept that.
But if it was only for political gain, then that person would subconsciously be excluded from the category of "family" and treated merely as a collaborator.
Now that Princess Koyuki Kazehana had made her feelings clear,
Naruto chuckled softly.
"When did I become so roundabout…"
Wouldn't it have been better to explain things clearly from the beginning?
Making others guess—wasn't that a bit too tsundere?
"Perhaps… we can give it a try."
…
The news that Naruto was going to establish a ninja village spread quickly.
After receiving detailed information, the merchants were no longer anxious.
After discussing it with Princess Koyuki Kazehana, Naruto decided to place the ninja village near the Daimyō Manor.
The manor itself was located in a geographically advantageous position.
It was also suitable for the establishment of a ninja village.
As for the original Snow Ninja Village, it was converted into a stronghold.
After all, the Land of Snow's economy had been weak in the past.
That ninja village was already dilapidated.
There were very few ninja, and many of them were actually samurai.
Establishing a ninja village was not something that could be done with a few words.
First, it required massive manpower and resources.
Second, it required the support of ninja.
When the Five Great Nations established their villages, they first gathered a large number of ninja.
Only after the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan united—along with many other ninja clans—and gained the support of the Land of Fire's daimyō was Konohagakure finally established.
The other great nations followed similar paths.
A group of ninja gathered together, and the daimyō, in order to stabilize his rule, funded the establishment of a ninja village.
But the situation in the Land of Snow was different.
After all, there was already prior experience to draw from.
Naruto thought for a moment and began planning the structure of the ninja village.
First was the leader—the chief.
Although Naruto's strength was more than sufficient, the scale of the village was not.
So he couldn't be called a Kage.
At most, he would be the chief.
The chief would naturally be Naruto himself.
There was no dispute about that.
Then came the members.
A ninja village required many people.
But Naruto didn't have them yet, so he had to choose a different path.
That was the elite route.
Other ninja villages had large numbers of ninja.
But those who truly supported the village were only a handful.
Taking the elite route would save a lot of trouble.
At that time, with an average jōnin-level strength, they would stand out in the ninja world.
However, the provisional members of the ninja village were pitifully few.
Naruto, Karin, Haku.
At most, adding Yakumo Kurama, there were still only a handful of people.
As for Naruto's romantic entanglements across various ninja villages, those women already belonged to their own villages.
Naruto wasn't particularly worried about the village's lack of manpower.
Outside, many ninja who wished to join had already gathered.
But their backgrounds were unclear, and their strengths varied greatly.
Who knew whether they were good or bad?
So Naruto was very cautious about recruitment.
He needed a perfect solution.
A ninja village couldn't rely solely on Naruto, Karin, Haku, and Yakumo.
It also needed basic ninja.
People who would take missions—catching cats, chasing dogs, running errands.
For this, Naruto decided to openly teach the Chakra extraction method to anyone who came to the Land of Snow wanting to become a ninja.
Once they had chakra and basic ninjutsu, they would reach the level of students from Konoha's Ninja Academy.
Even if they couldn't fight, tasks like catching cats and chasing dogs would be far more efficient than normal civilians.
At the very least, they could support the ninja village's mission operations.
For those people, it meant gaining a survival skill.
They could learn ninjutsu in exchange for only a portion of their mission rewards.
That was an enormous benefit.
After all, which ninja village in the world freely taught chakra extraction?
Next were the ninja responsible for protecting merchants.
Naruto had already promised that as long as they invested and their conduct was clean, they would receive the protection of the Snow Ninja Village.
In short, countless troublesome matters awaited Naruto's attention.
Only now did Naruto truly understand how difficult it was to establish a ninja village.
No wonder that energetic young man in the original story was eventually crushed into a kidney-deficient bureaucrat by endless paperwork.
This was something he needed to be careful about.
He couldn't do everything himself.
Otherwise, he'd worry himself to death.
Next came the village's planning and construction.
After hearing Naruto's plan, Princess Koyuki Kazehana designated a vast open area next to the Daimyō Manor and handed it over to him.
Now Naruto had money.
All that remained was to spend it.
He gathered the merchants and explained his plan.
After hearing it, the merchants found it absurd.
However…
Naruto was someone capable of single-handedly destroying Kumogakure.
No matter how small the ninja village was, they were still investors.
Anyone who wanted to harm them would have to consider Naruto's reaction.
So the merchants didn't dwell on the size of the village.
They were extremely cooperative.
Recruiting workers was their specialty.
By raising wages, a large number of workers quickly gathered to participate in the construction.
The Land of Snow entered a phase of visible prosperity.
But Naruto knew very well—
Many of these merchants were involved in gray, or even outright black, dealings.
In Naruto's eyes, they were collectively referred to as capitalists.
And Naruto had no intention of truly protecting these capitalists.
He was merely making use of them.
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