"Dead."
Shikaku sharply inhaled, making his own little contribution to global warming.
Jiraiya and Minato, however, stayed calm. After all, the image of Mitsuki wiping out Pakura in just a few exchanges was still fresh in their minds.
Both had Kekkei Genkai. Even if magnet release was stronger than scorch release, the difference wasn't overwhelming.
Chiyo took a deep breath, the wrinkles on her face seeming to deepen.
"I see… Then regarding the ransom for Rasa's body, along with the One-Tail's jinchūriki, do you have the authority to decide?"
"That's something that should wait for the official peace talks later" Shikaku stalled. It was the standard practice whenever a shinobi with a Kekkei Genkai was captured — study them thoroughly first, then sell the body back later.
…
From there, it was mostly negotiations between Shikaku and the Suna delegation. Best to leave those matters to the professionals.
Jiraiya, Minato, and Mitsuki just stood there, their presence alone enough to apply pressure.
Besides, this was only a preliminary round of talks. Eventually, the Kage from both sides would have to step forward for formal negotiations. Though in Suna's case, they'd first need to pick their own Fourth Kazekage.
After listening for a while, Mitsuki began to grow bored.
But Chiyo's next words snapped him back to attention.
"Then, shouldn't Konoha return the One-Tail to Sunagakure?"
At that moment, Shukaku was lying on its side, dozing off. Hearing those irritating Suna shinobi talk about it as though it were some object, its coin-like yellow eyes snapped open.
If it were in the past, it would've already flown into a rage, smashing them into paste for daring to treat Lord Tanuki like some mere tool.
But times had changed. Now, it wanted to be a tailed beast with ambition. It couldn't behave like its foolish brethren.
Besides, it wasn't alone anymore.
"Shukaku is my partner now. And so far, our cooperation's been going pretty well. Unless it personally wishes to return to Suna, otherwise… heh."
Mitsuki's words dripped with threat.
Chiyo was left stunned. In her eyes, the One-Tail must have been under some kind of technique, controlled by Mitsuki—he'd even given it a name, for heaven's sake.
And now he was saying it depended on the beast's own will? That was as good as saying he wasn't planning to return it at all.
This view wasn't just Chiyo's — after witnessing the One-Tail's strange behavior on the battlefield, both Konoha and Suna shinobi alike had come to the same conclusion.
To them, humans and tailed beasts were natural-born enemies, irreconcilable by nature.
And what "successful cooperation" meant… was that they'd slaughtered nearly half of Suna's forces together?
This was a threat. Definitely a threat!
Whether it was or wasn't, with Suna's current situation, if Mitsuki refused to return the One-Tail, they had no real way to force his hand.
Still, Chiyo wanted to try one last time. A tailed beast was simply too vital for her village right now, with its shortage of high-level fighters.
She carefully chose her words.
"Money is not the issue. But Konoha holding two tailed beasts at once will only draw the envy of the other villages. Isn't this also straying from the First Hokage's will?"
Her reasoning was solid, even invoking Senju Hashirama's division of the tailed beasts back in the day.
But her words stirred up some unpleasant memories in Shukaku, who had originally ignored her.
In an instant, its composure shattered.
"Damn Suna bastards! If you keep yapping, Lord Tanuki will kill you all!"
Gone was its earlier calm, replaced by raw fury.
Mitsuki had no interest in wasting more words with Chiyo either. He spoke bluntly.
"Stop dreaming, Granny Chiyo. You'd do better to go back and investigate who disappeared along with your Third Kazekage. Who knows, maybe you'll get a surprise."
Chiyo couldn't make sense of his words. Surely he wasn't just bringing up the Third Kazekage as a retort because she had mentioned the First Hokage?
Confused, she looked to the Konoha shinobi, hoping one of them might be willing to discuss the matter of the One-Tail further.
But Minato remained silent, choosing to trust Mitsuki.
Jiraiya couldn't have cared less — Konoha had been besieged in every great shinobi war anyway, what was one more grievance?
As for Shikaku, while he personally felt the One-Tail would be a hot potato for Konoha, he wasn't about to voice that opinion now. Even if a decision needed to be made, that was for the Hokage. During negotiations, one must never reveal internal discord.
So Chiyo could only grit her teeth and let go of the idea of reclaiming the One-Tail right now. This battle had already cost Suna almost everything.
She couldn't risk creating another mess over the beast.
The thought made her silently curse the Third Kazekage. Not only had he brought disaster upon himself, his stupidity had gotten her son and daughter-in-law killed at the hands of Sakumo. And then he'd gone missing on top of it all.
Now Suna was nothing but a wreck.
…
Before long, the preliminary negotiations between Konoha and Suna were complete.
Formal talks would have to wait. Konoha still had other fronts to worry about, while Suna not only had Iwa eyeing them like a tiger, but hadn't even chosen their new Kazekage yet.
Every village had its own troubles.
When the talks ended, both sides' troops returned to the battlefield — not to fight, but to recover the bodies of the fallen.
Ninja corpses held too much sensitive information, which was exactly why Chiyo had been so intent on ransoming back Rasa's and the One-Tail's jinchūriki's bodies.
But Mitsuki had already told her that the jinchūriki's body had been reduced to ashes. Whether she believed it or not was her problem.
And so, the war between Konoha and Suna came to an end.
…
Back at the Konoha camp.
Although Minato and the others had already heard the details from Mitsuki on their way back, it was only after seeing the aftermath with their own eyes that they truly understood how dire things had been.
First, there was the colossal crater — large enough that it could practically redraw the map.
If Suna could afford to waste that many explosive tags, they were richer than anyone thought.
More importantly, despite the devastation, Tsunade had managed to save almost every single Konoha shinobi. Truly worthy of being the First Hokage's granddaughter.
Then there was the battlefield itself, riddled with countless craters left behind by unknown jutsu.
It was hard to imagine how intense the fighting had been.
In fact, if the main force had returned sooner, they would have seen the shimmering sands of gold still scattered across the ground. After Mitsuki had left, Tsunade, at Shizune's suggestion, had ordered them all collected.
By now, the sun had long set, leaving only the faintest afterglow on the horizon.
Mitsuki stood alone just outside the camp.
"Shukaku, come out."