Inside the Daimyo Mansion's palace council hall, the scent of incense could not suppress the chill emanating from the corpses.
The Land of Fire Daimyo's usually dignified face was now ashen and gloomy.
Thump.
Asuma knelt on one knee, his forehead touching the cold floor.
His voice was unusually heavy. "Your Excellency, this subordinate is incompetent. I only killed Fūka, Fudō, and Fuen. Kazuma escaped with the experimental subject."
Hiruzen stood in the corner, his graying eyebrows knitted together. He looked at Asuma's exhausted profile, complex emotions swirling in his eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, the Land of Fire Daimyo let out a long sigh.
He walked to Nauma's stretcher, looked at the gruesome wounds on the young man's body, and said in a deep voice, "Issue my command. The entire Imperial Medical Academy is to be on standby. Nauma must be saved. Tōu, Seito, and Kitane are to be given a state funeral and buried with the honors of a national hero. Their families will be supported by the national treasury for life. There must be no mistakes."
"Yes!" The messenger bowed and withdrew.
The Daimyo rubbed his brow, his voice carrying an lingering weariness. "Furthermore, the Four-Nation Summit will proceed as planned. Tell them that the Land of Fire is willing to return the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū, and is also willing to compensate for all losses from this conflict. The war cannot continue."
Hiruzen suddenly looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "Your Excellency, have you truly decided? That is a huge amount of compensation."
The Daimyo's expression was unusually firm, and he waved his hand. "The national treasury can be refilled if it's empty, but if people are gone, everything is gone. As for Kazuma, this matter cannot be let go. Send people to investigate in secret. Once his whereabouts are discovered, kill him without mercy."
Hiruzen nodded. "Understood, Your Excellency."
Subsequently, Shirakumo City, a neutral city on the Land of Fire's border, suddenly became the focus of the Ninja World.
...
In the Land of Water's royal palace, Shun held a little girl.
"Karin, come, give papa a kiss, and papa will give you candy."
Three-year-old Karin blinked her moist red eyes, hugged her father's head, and kissed him on the cheek.
Shun also kissed Karin, then handed her a gold-foil-wrapped candy. "Karin-chan, you're so good. Go play."
Karin took the candy, carefully peeled back the wrapper, her face full of pride and happiness.
Sasuke walked over, looking on longingly. "Father, I want candy too."
Shun patted Sasuke's head and said, "There's no more candy. Go play with your brother Seishin."
Sasuke looked at the candy on the table and said, "Father, you're playing favorites. There's clearly still candy on the table."
Just then, the Anbu leader bowed and entered, his voice extremely low. "Sir, news from the Land of Fire states that the Land of Fire Daimyo will hold a Five-Nation Summit tomorrow in the border neutral city, to return the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū, and has promised to compensate for losses."
Shun's brows slowly furrowed, a cold light flashing in his eyes. He waved his hand, and the Anbu leader bowed and retreated.
Shun looked into the distance, pondering. The Land of Fire has suffered heavy losses in the war these past years, and its national treasury is already empty.
Compensation...
Voluntarily returning the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki...
This is not something that can be easily ended just because you want it to be.
...
The next day, the Land of Fire Daimyo personally attended the Five-Nation Summit. He publicly announced that the Land of Fire would compensate Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Takigakure with a total of fifty billion ryo to cover war losses.
The representatives of the four nations were initially somewhat hesitant, but seeing that the Land of Fire was willing to return the Jinchuriki and that the compensation amount far exceeded expectations, they eventually relented.
After the agreement was signed, the four nations each dispatched elite squads to the designated location to receive the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū.
The task of escorting this three-year-old child naturally fell on Hiruzen's shoulders.
The team advanced through a desolate valley, with steep cliffs on both sides and only a narrow path winding forward in the middle.
Hiruzen's brows were tightly furrowed, he felt an unsettling premonition.
"Maintain vigilance. This path is too quiet. Something's not right."
No sooner had he spoken than a dark figure swooped down from the cliff above. The figure, clad in a black robe with red clouds, moved so fast that it left only a blur.
Upon landing, a mysterious person wearing a spiral mask looked down at everyone from above.
"Who are you?"
Hiruzen instantly formed hand seals, and the Anbu around him immediately formed a circle, shielding Fū in the center.
The mysterious person did not answer, his figure flashed, and he quickly formed hand seals with both hands. In an instant, the air temperature plummeted, and a bone-chilling cold swept over them, as countless tiny ice crystals condensed and swirled in mid-air.
Hiruzen's heart jolted, and he immediately shouted, "Be careful, this is an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai! Attack with Fire Release..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the mysterious person had already placed one hand on the ground.
Ice Release: Ice Prison Dome!
A cold aura spread rapidly outwards from him, instantly. The ground quickly froze into a layer of smooth, solid ice, and the guards' defensive formation was instantly thrown into disarray.
Hiruzen quickly leaped up, spewing raging flames from his mouth.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
Wind Release: Vortex!
The fire dragon roared, expanding and spreading, and crashed into the ice wall that had risen before the mysterious person.
Steam billowed, and the entire valley was instantly enveloped in white mist.
Just then, the mysterious person, like a shadow merged with the mist, weaved between ice cones and ice mirrors. Wherever he passed, Anbu members were frozen into ice sculptures.
Hiruzen roared, "Protect the Jinchuriki!"
Then, he created several Shadow Clones and lunged at the mysterious person again.
In the chaos, an ice mirror suddenly appeared in front of Fū.
In the mirror, the mysterious person's figure flashed by, and the next second, he had already scooped up the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Fū, with one hand.
"See you later, everyone."
Before his words faded, countless ice crystals danced and spun around him, forming an ice tornado.
When the tornado dissipated, the figures of the mysterious person and Fū had already vanished without a trace.
Hiruzen knelt on one knee on the ice, breathing heavily.
Such a large-scale Ice Release...
When did such a person appear in the Ninja World?
Who exactly is he?
Soon after, the teams from the four Hidden Villages arrived, only to find a chaotic battlefield and bodies frozen into ice sculptures.
When the news spread, the Ninja World was once again in an uproar.
The four major Hidden Villages all accused the Land of Fire of staging a bitter stratagem, pretending to return the Jinchuriki while secretly sending someone to abduct her, demanding even more compensation from the Land of Fire.
The Land of Fire Daimyo was so enraged that he spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot, but he could only accept it. Ultimately, he promised to give an additional 5 billion ryo each to Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure, and an additional 2 billion ryo to Takigakure.
Seeing the Land of Fire's "sincere intentions," the four nations reluctantly agreed to another ceasefire.
The seventeen-month-long war of attrition finally concluded with an agreement that resembled a farce.