Chapter 470: Sunagakure's Treaty of Defeat
Ōnoki nodded and asked, "So what are our demands?"
Ishiro thought for a moment. "This time, we're taking only the most practical things. None of the empty stuff."
"First, territory. While we don't care for the Land of Wind's desert, doesn't the Land of Wind own a piece of territory in the Land of Fire? We'll take that land."
Ōnoki was taken aback. "But that land is too far from us. It will be difficult to control."
Ishiro replied, "Whether it's easy to control is a problem for the future. Besides, there won't be another great war anytime soon. As long as we don't stir up trouble, the shinobi world will be at peace, so that land will be safe for now."
"Furthermore, while it's an exclave for the Land of Earth, it borders our ally, the Land of Rivers. Even if Konoha wanted to make a move, they'd have to think twice."
"Also, didn't Suna trade for a narrow land corridor from the Land of Rivers before? That corridor must be returned to the Land of Rivers. We must sever the direct land route between Suna and Konoha."
"In addition, the Land of Wind and Sunagakure are forbidden from sending any ninja into the smaller countries to their north."
"From now on, Sunagakure can just turtle up in its own country. They can stay out of major world affairs."
"The Land of Wind suffered the greatest losses in this war. With Pakura dead, their strength has dropped a tier. Whether they can even keep their title as one of the Five Great Villages will depend on our mood. I'm sure Rasa won't turn against us."
"Those are the territorial demands. Next are the war reparations. You can ask Senior Bella for a number, then tell Rasa."
"Didn't he use Gold Dust in the battle? I want one-fifth of it. I've been eyeing that Gold Dust for a long time. Finders keepers, right?"
"Besides that, Suna must publicly recognize Iwagakure as the head of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and the Land of Wind must recognize the Land of Earth as the head of the Five Great Nations."
"And, Suna must agree to the upgrading of the River Village to the Sixth Great Shinobi Village. The River-Rain Alliance will enjoy the same status as the Five Great Nations, with the two countries together being equivalent to the Sixth Great Nation."
"This is what I promised the Akatsuki before the war. It must be honored."
"We won't mention reparations in the form of jutsu. The Land of Wind doesn't have much worth our attention."
Ōnoki took a deep breath. After a long moment, he asked, "Aren't these demands too much? Too harsh? Will Suna accept?"
Ishiro said with absolute certainty, "The Kazekage is a pragmatic leader who knows when to bend and when to stand firm. He's not like the Raikage; he won't act rashly."
"When you lose a war, ceding territory and paying reparations is a normal phenomenon. If we had lost, Rasa wouldn't have shown us any mercy."
"Besides, the harsher our demands, the more at ease he'll be. He's unsettled right now. Pakura is dead, and Ryosuke hasn't returned. If we were to find a way to assassinate Ryosuke at this moment, the Land of Wind could be removed from the Five Great Nations entirely."
Ōnoki nodded. "Alright. I'll make the arrangements."
Soon, after contacting the village, a very harsh treaty was freshly drafted. Ōnoki sent a messenger to deliver it to Sunagakure at top speed.
Rasa truly was a pragmatic man. He was even calmer than Ishiro had imagined. He didn't even get angry like the Fourth Raikage would have. After briefly probing the Iwa representative and learning of Ishiro's firm stance, he signed it directly.
Only after receiving the signed treaty from Rasa did Ishiro and Ōnoki lead the army back to the Land of Bears.
Upon arriving, Ishiro first contacted Nagato via the Magic Lantern Body Technique, telling him the war was over and that the Six Paths of Pain, Sasori, and Kakuzu could return to the Land of Rain.
At the same time, Ishiro told Yahiko to prepare his negotiators to reap the fruits of victory from Konoha. Regardless of how much Konoha had participated, as far as Ishiro was concerned, when it was time to carve the meat, the knife had to be pointed at Konoha and the Land of Fire.
It was for no other reason than the Land of Fire was rich, and Konoha's leadership understood the big picture and knew when to advance and retreat. If Ishiro pointed his knife at the Land of Lightning and Kumo, there would only be one outcome: the war would continue.
After arriving in the Land of Bears, the Iwa army did not continue back to the Land of Earth.
The army split into three. Two groups returned to the Land of Snow and the Land of Demons along their original routes. The remainder stayed in the Land of Bears.
The Daimyo of the Land of Bears had sent many letters to Ishiro, expressing his willingness to follow the example of the Land of Snow and the Land of Demons and allow Iwagakure to establish a branch in his country.
So, taking this opportunity, Ishiro fulfilled the Daimyo's wish and directly occupied the Land of Bears.
Everything in the Land of Bears would follow the Takigakure model. The country's original ninja village was also dealt with in the same way as Takigakure.
The stronger ninja from the village were escorted by Kawakita to the Land of Rain to join the Dark Akatsuki as peripheral members. The mid-level ones were politely escorted out of the country to become glorious rogue ninja. The weak were relocated to the Land of Earth to live out their days as peaceful and happy civilians.
Of course, as was customary, these ninja all received a resettlement fee. After taking the money, their lives were no longer Iwagakure's concern.
All the civilians in the ninja village were dispersed and integrated into other towns and villages in the Land of Bears.
All the assets of the original village were confiscated. An S-rank earth jutsu flattened the original village buildings. A new Iwa branch would be built from scratch on the empty land.
Ōnoki stayed behind to command the army and begin the construction.
Only after meeting with the Daimyo of the Land of Bears and settling the specifics did Ishiro take his three disciples and fly back to Iwagakure.
When he returned, Ikura and Saka had already led their army back. Saka had even re-mobilized 1,500 ninja and sent them to the newly established branch in Takigakure.
After discussing with Saka, Bella, Ikura, Kitsuchi, and Megumi, Ishiro formally issued war reparation demands to Kumo and Konoha.
The claims against Konoha would require the participation of Kiri and the Akatsuki. Kiri in particular. Their hatred for Konoha was so great that even Ishiro couldn't suppress it.
It was only after returning that Ishiro learned that Obito Uchiha, after his setback in Iwagakure, had gone to Kirigakure and single-handedly wiped out all of Kiri's bloodline clans.
Although many members of these clans were fighting abroad and had survived—unlike the Kaguya clan, they weren't truly extinct—it was precisely because there were survivors that Kiri's reaction was so extreme.
At this point, no explanation from Konoha would work. Obito's Sharingan meant Konoha had to take the blame for this.
New and old hatreds surged in the hearts of the Kiri ninja.
Elder Genshi would not pass up this opportunity to take a huge slice out of Konoha.
In comparison, the agreement with Kumo was much simpler. Kumo had gained an advantage against Kiri in their fight. Although Kiri was on the winning side of the war, they didn't dare to be too harsh on Kumo. Therefore, Ishiro could basically make the decisions on Kiri's behalf.
His demands on Kumo were simple: only monetary reparations. The amount was large, but he believed Kumo's treasury could afford it.
As for Konoha...
A few days later, representatives from the Land of Fire and Konoha, the River-Rain Alliance and the Akatsuki, and the Land of Water and Kirigakure all arrived in Iwagakure.
Bella, on behalf of Iwagakure, the Land of Earth, and the Daimyo of Takigakure, hosted the peace talks.
Ishiro didn't invite Kumo or Suna this time, lest they join forces and grow bold. This time, he had summoned all his allies to deal with Konoha alone.
The negotiations lasted for more than ten days before a final treaty was reached:
The Land of Fire would pay a certain amount of war reparations to all parties. The Land of Water received the most, mainly to compensate the bloodline clans. The Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Earth were next. Ishiro wasn't lacking money; he wanted other things. The River-Rain Alliance received the least; they hadn't suffered any losses and were satisfied with receiving any funds at all.
The Land of Fire was required to cede territory to the Land of Earth and the Land of Water.
The Land of Water chose a piece of land next to the Land of Hot Water, about twice the size of the Land of Waves. The area wasn't large, but for the Land of Water and Kirigakure, it was a bridgehead onto the continent, which was of great significance. This was the first time Kirigakure had successfully expanded the Land of Water's territory.
The Land of Earth took the "salient" of Land of Fire territory that originally bordered the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Grass. Don't underestimate this piece of land; its area was no smaller than the Land of Grass. Unlike the narrow corridor on the northern border, this was a real loss of fertile territory for the Land of Fire.
Finally, the Land of Fire and Konoha, like Suna, had to recognize the promotion of the River-Rain Alliance and the River Village.
With this, the River Village officially became the Sixth Great Shinobi Village.
Land of Fire, Konoha Village, Hokage Tower.
Konoha's negotiator, Koharu Utatane, had returned with the newly signed treaty.
After Tsunade and the others finished reading it, the meeting room was oppressively silent.
"Sensei, your standoff with Nagato—did you learn anything?" Tsunade broke the silence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had also attended this high-level meeting, shook his head. "Nagato's objective was clear: to tie the two of us down. He never engaged us."
"He didn't even say a word the entire time. He just watched us quietly until the battles on all other fronts were over, then he left."
"Any news from Orochimaru? Why didn't he attack Kirigakure as agreed?" Tsunade asked after digesting Hiruzen's words.
Hiruzen shook his head. "No news yet. Since Orochimaru didn't fulfill his promise, he certainly won't come to explain himself personally."
"Send someone to the Land of Whirlpools and see. Did something happen? If I'm not mistaken, the Tsuchikage must have anticipated Orochimaru's involvement and made corresponding arrangements."
Tsunade nodded, called an Anbu squad, and gave the order.
At that moment, Hiruzen opened a map of the shinobi world and studied it for a while. "In this war, our ninja losses were not high, but our strategic situation is now infinitely more difficult than before."
This was the latest version of the map, drawn by Koharu after the treaty was signed.
The Land of Fire's territory was smaller than it had been a few years ago.
The narrow line on the northern border made the country look suppressed.
The two prominent "Earth" territories to the northwest and southwest were like two unsheathed swords stabbed into the giant that was the Land of Fire.
And the small area to the east marked "Water" was like a fishbone stuck in the Land of Fire's throat.
When did it happen that even the Land of Water, the punching bag of the Five Great Nations, could carve a piece of flesh from the giant that was the Land of Fire?
Finally, and most uncomfortably, was the long, narrow River-Rain Alliance to the west.
Previously, this area had been ignored on the map. These small countries were never taken seriously by Konoha. Their colors on the map were faded; Konoha's gaze always looked past them, to the Land of Wind beyond.
But now, on the map, the once-faded colors of the Land of Rivers and Land of Rain were as prominent as the Land of Fire's.
These two nations, connected with the three areas marked "Earth," made the Land of Fire look as if it were half-encircled.
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