When dealing with unreasonable people, appealing to physics tends to make things go more smoothly.
Under the glaring blades of the Konoha Ninja Forces, the previously stubborn Lightning Daimyo and Third Raikage chose to yield, making significant concessions within their capacity.
Danzo, as the representative, proposed war reparations of one hundred and fifty billion. The Lightning Daimyo stated that both the national treasury and the imperial treasury indeed lacked such a vast sum, hoping Konoha could show some understanding.
Danzo insisted this war reparations represented the minimum demand from Konoha—an inviolable red line, leaving no room for negotiation whatsoever.
Left with no choice, the Minister of State from the Land of Lightning turned to Hyuga Soushu, another Konoha envoy involved in the negotiations, hoping he would show leniency.
"Since there isn't enough money available right now, how about using customs duties as collateral and pay in installments?"
Hyuga Soushu's eyes darted slightly before a clever idea formed in his mind.
"Customs duties as collateral?"
The courtiers and nobles of the Land of Lightning exchanged confused glances.
In their minds regarding taxation, land rents and commercial taxes were the usual sources of revenue. The so-called customs duties were mostly just toll-like fees—little more than side income for local aristocrats guarding city gates; could something so utterly trivial really serve as collateral?
"Precisely!"
Hyuga Soushu nodded seriously without acknowledging Danzo's darkening expression. "For instance, the reparations can be paid off over ten years. During this period, the customs authority of the Land of Lightning shall be temporarily administered by the Konoha Ninja Forces stationed here, ensuring compliance with the repayment terms."
Both the Third Raikage and Danzo quickly picked up on two crucial keywords from Hyuga Soushu's statement: installment payments and ninja garrison forces.
In other words, what he was suggesting amounted to demanding military occupation rights.
But that directly contradicted the preconditions of the ceasefire negotiations with Konoha.
"I disagree!"
Danzo immediately voiced his objection. "One hundred and eighty billion is an unbreakable red line—it absolutely cannot be negotiated!"
"I merely suggested an idea aimed at expediting peace. There's no need for Elder Danzo to react too strongly," Hyuga Soushu replied nonchalantly without pressing further.
"Achieving peace is the ideal long pursued by our two countries and villages alike. Lord Soushu's suggestion is certainly quite imaginative," interjected the Minister of State from the Land of Lightning at the right moment to mediate.
"However, since Lords Danzo and Soushu have yet to reach an agreement, perhaps we should consider adjourning for today and resuming negotiations after further consultation?"
"Also, the special envoy from the Land of Fire should be present as well," added another courtier with diplomatic tact.
After all, it had taken the Land of Lightning considerable financial effort to sway Fire Country's daimyo envoy into siding with them. They couldn't just leave him out there soaking up the sun forever, now could they?
"In that case, let's take a break and have some tea!"
Hyuga Soushu nodded in agreement, rising to leave. "By the way, to help stabilize prices in the Daimyo's court area, I've already ordered supplies to be transferred from the central tax region for sale at reasonable prices in the city. I don't see any problem with that, do you?"
"No problem at all!"
"Thank you, Lord Soushu! What a great example of… uh—moral excellence—you are!"
The courtiers and nobles from the Land of Lightning immediately began heaping praise upon Hyuga Soushu, disregarding their own dignity, as flattery echoed all around.
Hyuga Soushu paid no further attention to Danzo beside him and walked out of the hall on his own.
The reason he chose such a highly disrespectful way to temporarily leave the negotiations was because he had suddenly received a telepathic transmission from his subordinate Yamanaka Toshimichi, bringing shocking news from Konoha!
"Sakumo actually agreed to take command of the Rain Country headquarters?"
After hurriedly arriving at the Command Post for Martial Law and Security in the Daimyo's court, Hyuga Soushu took the intelligence report directly from Yamanaka Toshimichi's hands. After quickly reading through it, he frowned immediately.
He knew all too well that the Land of Rain was a near-impossible death trap.
Whether it was the torrential rains that fall relentlessly, day and night, or the air saturated with extreme humidity, not to mention the occasional flash floods—for a Konoha ninja accustomed to plains and hills, adapting to the Land of Rain would be just as difficult as walking through the vast deserts of the Land of Wind!
Furthermore, due to the Land of Rain's unique geography and climate, the commonly effective Ninjutsu types here were mostly limited to Water Release and Lightning Release, which gained natural enhancement and advantages in this setting. Conversely, techniques of other natures suffered significant suppression in such an environment; especially Fire Release, which was widely used among Konoha ninjas, found its usefulness largely restricted to drying clothes inside temporary tents to combat the ever-present dampness.
Even the reason Soushu hadn't developed rheumatism, rashes, or fungal infections during his time stationed in the Land of Rain was mainly because back then he had Uchiha Mahiru to start fires and ward off the dampness.
Although the Konoha Ninja Forces had advanced victoriously without defeat since the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War, the reality was that Rain ninjas had simply been too weak to offer resistance, while their village's strongest shinobi, Sanshouo Hanzo, had been preoccupied holding off against Sunagakure from the northwest and Iwagakure from the southwest.
To put it more bluntly, aside from seizing massive tracts of territory in the Rain Country battlefield, Konoha's battlefield performance wasn't even superior to that of Sunagakure; especially when Sanshouo Hanzo turned his blade against Konoha's expeditionary forces stationed in the Land of Rain, the Command Post of the Ninja Force led by three pupils of the Third Hokage was defeated decisively in a single battle. Even after Danzo briefly reorganized things afterward, the command system never fully recovered and lacked the capability for large-scale campaign-level operations.
In this critical moment, it was truly unwise for Sakumo Hatake to agree to assume command of the Rain Country headquarters.
Yet Soushu quickly identified the reason White Fang had accepted.
It wasn't just about duty. The Proposal for Direct Jonin Election of the Hokage had already passed review at the Hokage Tower and was formally issued exactly one hour ago by Konoha's Administrative Department to all registered Konoha Jonin.
"This is a high-stakes gamble,"
Soushu sighed and turned to look at Koryo Jonin standing nearby, "What do you think?"
"I..."
Koryo Jonin hesitated before speaking.
"How many people do you need?"
Hyuga Soushu got straight to the point, voicing what Koryo was thinking.
"The more, the better."
As Soushu suspected, the Jonin hoped to add more chances of victory for Sakumo Hatake, his lifelong idol.
"Hanzo won't be easy to deal with. Have you thought this through?"
Soushu asked in a calm tone: "Moreover, those willing to abandon massive gains and return to the Land of Rain battlefield are inevitably Sakumo's most core, most crucial supporters."
"Where righteousness lies, one should charge forward fearlessly."
Koryo declared: "But I'll never force anyone into this!"
"Then go gather your forces."
Without further words, Soushu agreed directly to Koryo's request.
To him, it was also a way to clean house.
Although Sakumo Hatake's staunch followers were good people, ultimately they walked different paths than Hyuga Soushu; even if he stopped their actions through his rank or Konoha regulations, regardless of victory or defeat afterward, resentment would inevitably follow. Therefore, it was better to simply accept their behavior.
As for those Konoha ninja who supported Sakumo Hatake's stance but wouldn't go so far as risking their lives, they were the useful individuals Soushu could eventually draw into his own faction.
"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Soushu."
This time, Koryo showed great humility—not only abandoning his usual equal-standing demeanor but even bowing fully like a junior subordinate.
Hyuga Soushu did not avoid the gesture but calmly accepted the homage from Koryo.
"Go then. Just remember to stay safe."
Soushu waved his hand, signaling Koryo to act as he saw fit: "Just a friendly suggestion though—tell Sakumo to withdraw beyond the Land of Rain border when the time comes."
"I'll try my best."
Koryo let out a slight sigh, his face growing serious.
"If the war occurs near Fire Country's borders, there might still be room for negotiation."
Soushu said with genuine concern: "But within the Land of Rain itself, forget about others—once Sanshouo Hanzo decides to keep harassing relentlessly, no one in the entire Ninja Force can stand against him—not even Sakumo!"
"I understand."
Koryo bowed again in gratitude before stepping back and leaving.
After a long silence, Hyuga Soushu made his way back to the palace to resume negotiations. Whether representatives from Fire and Lightning Countries, or Danzo, had free time mattered little to him.
After all, with control over the Ninja Forces and dominance within the Daimyo's court, Soushu could indeed afford to be this audacious!
Inside the palace quarters, the Lightning Daimyo received various noble courtiers participating in the negotiations, while the envoy from Fire Country, due to his status and position, was allowed to sit beside them. As for the Third Raikage, who had voluntarily withdrawn from talks, he stayed hidden in the inner chambers acting as security.
Except for Fire Country's envoy, every single noble from Lightning Country seemed visibly nervous, barely daring to breathe loudly.
The Lightning Daimyo was furious, astounded by how remarkably foolish the Grand Chancellor appeared to be!
What exactly does 'tariff-backed collateral' mean?
"What do you mean by 'supervision and implementation'?
Actually, this is nothing but blatant territorial annexation of the Land of Lightning! And the key issue isn't even about military occupation rights!
Once Kumogakure recovers its strength, expelling those isolated Konoha troops stationed abroad wouldn't be particularly difficult. But if the fifteen most fertile districts in our southern and central regions fall into the hands of Konoha ninjas, who knows how many years or even decades it would take for Kumo Village to recover?
Furthermore, the exploitation of the ten central districts by Konoha's occupying forces has practically reached a level of draining every last drop. If they really develop these areas for ten or twenty years, the entire central and southern fifteen districts will be ruined! What good would it do us to reclaim them then?
But what was the Minister of State, the highest-ranking courtier, doing? Instead of immediately refuting Hyuga Soushu's unreasonable demands during previous negotiations, he actually treated this as a significant political achievement to boast to Your Highness!
Just as the Lightning Daimyo was fuming silently, a flustered chamberlain hurriedly ran into the inner palace.
"Y-Your Highness! The Southern barbarians from Konoha have entered the palace grounds!" [Note: "Southern barbarians" is a historical term used to denote contempt for outsiders from the south.]
"What?!"
This time, the Lightning Daimyo could no longer remain seated calmly.
Although the Daimyo's court had completely fallen under Konoha ninjas' control, the palace where the Daimyo resided still stubbornly maintained a semblance of independent defense. Those samurai and Guardian Ninjas, even though they knew their strength couldn't match the numerous Konoha ninja forces, still clung to what little dignity remained by maintaining basic guard positions—although all their weapons and ninja tools had been completely confiscated by Konoha ninjas.
Still, the Daimyo had managed to preserve a final shred of dignity.
Even during the negotiations, Hyuga Soushu had only brought an elite Jonin squad into the palace as guards; the lower-level ninjas had never set foot within the palace walls.
"How many of them are there?!"
The Inner Minister responsible for the palace security jumped up immediately.
"This..."
The chamberlain stammered, his eyes shifting nervously as he struggled to find words.
He didn't actually know the exact number. He'd just seen the palace walls—once guarded by unarmed samurai and Guardian Ninjas—taken over by Konoha ninjas, so he shit his pants and ran straight here to report to the Daimyo.
Fortunately, another extremely anxious samurai ran in at this moment and knelt down with a thud to report, "Your Highness, the Southern barbarians have already occupied all four gates of the palace!"
"How many did they mobilize?"
The Minister of State swallowed hard, glancing toward the Daimyo behind the curtain before blurting out the question.
"At least six hundred!"
The samurai replied tremblingly.
Six hundred!
Six hundred was no trivial number.
There were only about four thousand Konoha ninjas stationed in the Kinki region, plus roughly two thousand in the Shoraku forces. Besides those already deployed throughout the city on defensive duties, this six hundred probably represented Konoha Ninja Forces' entire mobile strength.
But that wasn't even the most critical part.
Most crucially, only those defiant and disrespectful rebels would dare to openly disregard authority, desecrate the sanctity of the daimyo, and occupy the palace gates in broad daylight. They certainly have no reverence for the daimyo and courtiers—they might even see them as lambs waiting to be slaughtered!
"Let's continue negotiations!"
A voice murmured from behind the curtains.
The tone was filled with deep despair.
"It's time these farces ended."
"Please, Your Highness, grant us your guidance!" pleaded the Minister of State, quickly kneeling down to request instructions.
He couldn't possibly take sole responsibility for setting the negotiation terms!
The daimyo fell silent at once.
Seeing this, all the noble courtiers seated below hurriedly rose and kowtowed, knocking their heads on the ground while begging for direction.
Morale had completely collapsed.
The Lightning Daimyo felt utterly drained.
These so-called loyal courtiers, who boasted about their devotion daily, had revealed their selfish true colors at the most critical moment—utterly unwilling to make any sacrifice for their nation!
"My lord..."
Amidst the sound of heads pounding against the floor, a voice came from the back of the hall: "Allow me to take responsibility for signing the agreement."
"Raikage!" the Lightning Daimyo exclaimed in shock.
"The invasion our country has suffered and the humiliation you've endured are all because the Kumo ninja forces were defeated," said the Third Raikage, stepping forward calmly. "Since this war began with Kumo, let it end here under its village leader."
"If that's what you wish, then do as you please."
Though initially wanting to refuse, the Lightning Daimyo immediately noticed the obvious expressions of relief among the nobles. He chose to say nothing more.
If he must choose between forcing these mediocre and incapable men to endure further disgrace or letting the Third Raikage shoulder the responsibility instead, he'd prefer the latter.
At worst, he could always boost Kumo's military budget afterward!
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