After greeting them, Kazahana Dotō quickly rushed out.
Takuno watched his figure. He had calculated the distance, and at Kazahana Dotō's speed, three days was indeed a bit tight.
But what he wanted was for Kazahana Dotō to be pressed for time.
If Kazahana Dotō couldn't return within three days, then he would truly kill him.
Although his main goal in coming here was Kazahana Dotō himself, however—
Since he had already said those words in front of the Snow Ninja Trio, if he didn't kill Kazahana Dotō, it would make him seem soft-hearted.
If his words weren't followed through, would his future words still carry any weight?
Therefore, while Kazahana Dotō's death would indeed cause a lot of trouble, he wasn't indispensable. He could also choose to support Roga Nadare.
"It's getting late. Arrange a room for me," Takuno said.
"Yes! The largest room in our Hidden Snow Village is vacant. Fubuki, please take the Lord to rest," Roga Nadare said after thinking for a while, winking at Fubuki Kakuyoku as he spoke.
Fubuki Kakuyoku was startled, then her face instantly flushed red, understanding Roga Nadare's meaning.
Takuno glanced at Roga Nadare, saw his fawning smile, and naturally knew what he was thinking, but he didn't refuse.
First, Fubuki Kakuyoku's looks were indeed good.
Second, he wasn't a eunuch, so he naturally had needs in that regard.
Finally, he had never been a true gentleman.
The reason he had never considered finding a wife or similar was that the secrets of his body could not be exposed to anyone, and a wife-like role would be a bother to him.
But someone like Fubuki Kakuyoku was different; she was now his subordinate.
So he didn't need to consider her opinion; he just needed to make sure she couldn't see anything at that time.
However, with a wife, once might be considered romantic, but what about many times? If she was clever, she might discover something.
Therefore, unless his body became normal, he would not consider finding a partner.
Roga Nadare and Fuyukuma Mizore watched Fubuki Kakuyoku and Takuno's retreating figures, satisfaction showing on their faces. Now, they had resigned themselves to fate, likely working under him for the rest of their lives.
Since that was the case, they needed to curry favor with him. His not refusing Fubuki Kakuyoku was a very good sign.
What they feared most were unpredictable leaders who couldn't be swayed.
On the afternoon of the third day.
It was still the same conference room. Takuno sat there, sipping tea, just as he had two afternoons prior.
Below him were only the Snow Ninja Trio, but Kazahana Dotō was absent. Their seating arrangement had also subtly changed, with Fubuki Kakuyoku sitting closest to Takuno at the very front.
Takuno said nothing at this sight, tacitly approving the arrangement.
At this moment, they were all waiting for Kazahana Dotō.
"Do you think he can return within the allotted time? And will he return alone?" Takuno inquired.
"Reporting, Lord, I'm not sure if Kazahana Dotō can return on time, but if he does, he will certainly be alone," Roga Nadare said.
"Oh?" Takuno looked at Roga Nadare.
"Kazahana Dotō is a very cowardly person, so he wouldn't gamble his own life," Roga Nadare stated with certainty.
"Cowardly? Heh, how many people in this world aren't afraid of death? Even those who claim not to fear death while alive will still dread it when it's upon them," Takuno said with a hint of mockery.
"The Lord is right," Roga Nadare didn't refute, as it was simply the truth. If one could live, who would choose to die?
Takuno said no more, walking to the window to look at the distant snowy scenery.
Just as he said himself, he had no concept of death. Coming to this world was merely a matter of closing and opening his eyes, so—
Until the moment death arrived, he wasn't sure if he could face it directly.
But one thing he was certain of was that he wouldn't stop doing things just because there was a risk of death.
Just as he participated in the Rin Nohara Three-Tails incident after fusing with the Uzumaki bloodline using the Chimera Technique.
Afterward, he even participated in Yahiko's death incident and chose to act even though he knew Obito was secretly watching.
Didn't he know the risks involved, that he could potentially lose his life?
Even with so much preparation, the risk of death always existed.
Yet he still participated because he knew that if he wanted to continue to grow stronger, he had to do these things.
Because he knew that relying solely on the Chimera Technique was far from enough; he had to gather other resources to strengthen himself.
Perhaps some might think it's better to first research the Chimera Technique, fuse five corpses, and develop cautiously, waiting until the fusion is complete before acting.
But the problem is, even if he truly fused with five Kekkei Genkai he desired, how long would that take?
At that time, the risks of him obtaining these would be far greater than now.
At that time, he would have to deal with a peak Nagato who already possessed the Six Paths of Pain, and Obito who had Kamui and whose Ninjutsu and Taijutsu were accumulated over time?
Were they beings he could deal with after fusing five Kekkei Genkai? Could he become Kage-level after fusing five Kekkei Genkai?
Even if he were Kage-level, would he have absolute certainty in dealing with peak Nagato and Obito?
Therefore, timing is very short. Never think that if you miss this opportunity, you'll find another. Missed is missed, and there might never be a second chance in a lifetime.
And that is why he must act even before he has fully matured!
Lost in thought, Takuno walked back to the head seat and sat down.
"Everyone, sit down. Kazahana Dotō has returned," Takuno said.
"Yes!"
The Snow Ninja Trio had no doubts about Takuno's words. When Takuno had stood up earlier, they had followed suit.
Soon, a figure, seemingly devoid of all strength, pushed open the conference room door and walked in.
It was none other than Kazahana Dotō.
From his demeanor, one could tell what answer he had received from Kazahana Sōsetsu.
Takuno couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was a pity that if the time had been extended, and he had only learned about this after personally killing his brother, it might have been even more interesting.
Unfortunately, that timing was too far off, probably a few more years, and he couldn't wait that long.
"Tell us about it, let us have some fun."
Takuno said teasingly, and the Snow Ninja Trio also smiled.
Facing Takuno's teasing, Kazahana Dotō could only give a bitter smile, not daring to be angry or speak.
After the bitter smile, he still began to speak as Takuno instructed.
After returning to the Land of Snow's Daimyo's mansion, he found Kazahana Sōsetsu and directly asked if the legendary treasure was underfloor heating.
It wasn't that he wanted to be so direct, but with only three days, he had no way to ask subtly.
Kazahana Dotō still remembered that Kazahana Sōsetsu was also stunned when she heard his words, then couldn't help but retort directly, "How did you know?"
Kazahana Sōsetsu might not have known how much damage her words had inflicted on Kazahana Dotō.
The legendary treasure, underfloor heating?
He couldn't believe he could link those two!
Kazahana Dotō was furious. At that moment, he angrily asked Kazahana Sōsetsu to her face how a mere underfloor heating system could be called a legendary treasure.
Kazahana Sōsetsu, however, was not surprised by Kazahana Dotō's reaction; she merely explained the purpose of the underfloor heating to him in a gentle voice.
But clearly, Kazahana Dotō was not so easily convinced. Just like now, he was still shouting angrily.
"What's the point of this broken underfloor heating!"
Public welfare, what did public welfare have to do with him!
Takuno also smiled at Kazahana Dotō's reaction. So this was the difference; people like Kazahana Dotō wouldn't pay attention to these things, nor could they understand them.
However, wasn't what he wanted precisely for Kazahana Dotō not to care about public welfare?
If he didn't even care about his own people, would he care about test subjects who were even less related to him?
"Alright, sit down," Takuno said, letting him sit down after he finished smiling.
At this moment, Kazahana Dotō also breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally made it back within the allotted time. He had never traveled so urgently in his life, literally day and night.
After sitting down, he quickly noticed that the seating order seemed a bit off.
Then, he looked at Roga Nadare, who was still smiling uncontrollably, and cursed him inwardly as an old fox.
Fubuki Kakuyoku was almost his daughter's age, yet he had been preempted!
At this moment, Kazahana Dotō's mind also became active.
After learning that the legendary treasure Kazahana Sōsetsu had hidden was truly just underfloor heating, he completely abandoned that last sliver of hope.
Now, he just wanted to curry favor with Takuno so that he wouldn't use that Death Curse Seal.
Takuno didn't know that Kazahana Dotō was thinking about how to curry favor with him.
At this moment, he was also thinking. He had now displayed strength vastly different from theirs, and had essentially eliminated their hope of breaking free. Now—
There was only one last step left.
Constant pressure alone wouldn't work; combining rewards and punishments was the best strategy.
"Kazahana Dotō."
"Here!" Kazahana Dotō jumped up, a little afraid that he would be asked to do something else.
"Do you want to become stronger?" Takuno looked at Kazahana Dotō with a hint of amusement.
Immediately, Kazahana Dotō was stunned, then his eyes slowly lit up. Looking at Takuno, he said, "Yes, I do!"
"Heh, then instead of coveting that underfloor heating, you'd be better off working for me. I have a way to make you stronger," Takuno teased again.
Kazahana Dotō's face first fell. Was this underfloor heating thing never going to be over?
Then, after hearing the latter part of the sentence, he came alive, his gaze burning as he looked at Takuno, the desire in his eyes self-evident.
On the other side, the Snow Ninja Trio were the same; they also hoped to become stronger.
Takuno casually threw four stones, still emitting a greenish-blue light like life energy, onto the table.
These were all grell stones. There were plenty of these in the Gelel Stone, so there was no need to worry about waste.
The four stared at the grell stones before them, reached out their hands, and carefully picked up one each.
Upon touching them, they all trembled, as a comfortable energy surged from the grell stones into their bodies, seemingly improving their physique.
"This is!" Roga Nadare exclaimed. He naturally had incurable old injuries in his body.
But at this moment, he could clearly feel those long-standing ailments slowly recovering.
Now, he stared at the Gelel Stone in his hand, his gaze growing even more fervent.
Although the others didn't have the same sensation as Roga Nadare, they also knew that this stone was definitely a rare treasure!
"Its name is Gelel Stone," Takuno said.
"Gelel Stone!" The four muttered the name; they had never heard of it.
"Its function is to strengthen your physique, and it also has certain offensive capabilities. If used skillfully, its power is quite good," Takuno said casually.
They could all feel the strengthening effect of that power on their bodies, but they hadn't expected it to also have offensive capabilities?
The four looked at the grell stones in their hands, their eyes growing even more fervent.
"However, you don't need to know how to use it for attack right now, and they aren't yours yet," Takuno glanced at them. They wanted a reward without doing anything? They were dreaming.
Immediately, the four looked like frost-bitten eggplants. A very powerful force was right in front of them, yet they couldn't obtain it, which was truly maddening.
Takuno tapped the table at this moment, his meaning self-evident.
The four reluctantly looked at the grell stones in their hands, but no one dared not hand them over.
Because no matter how strong its power, it was completely useless if they didn't have a life to use it.
After Takuno retrieved the four grell stones, he picked out the one Fubuki Kakuyoku had handed over, then tossed it to her.
Fubuki Kakuyoku was startled and clumsily caught the Gelel Stone, afraid that she might accidentally break it.
After catching the Gelel Stone, Fubuki Kakuyoku looked at Takuno.
"Lord? Is this for me?"
"Yes, it's yours now," Takuno said.
This was not only because he was quite satisfied with her, but also to set an example for the other three.
Of course, they couldn't do the same things as Fubuki Kakuyoku, but they could work for him.
"Thank you, Lord!" Fubuki Kakuyoku was overjoyed, but even after what had happened, she dared not be presumptuous in front of Takuno, saying respectfully.
At this moment, the other three looked enviously at the Gelel Stone in Fubuki Kakuyoku's hand.
But even with ten times their courage, they wouldn't dare to snatch her Gelel Stone.
They also confirmed that their current Lord would indeed give such treasures to his subordinates, so the three of them stared at Takuno, seemingly saying.
"Lord, please feel free to command us! We will definitely do our utmost to complete it!"