A Clash at the Negotiating Table

Upon entering the council chamber, the lights were bright. The large chamber seemed somewhat empty with only a long table and a few chairs, but the serious and tense atmosphere filled the space.

At one end of the long table sat four elderly men with white hair, dressed in gray-blue robes embroidered with the spiral emblem of the Uzumaki Clan. It was no surprise that they were the four elders of the Uzumaki Clan, the true rulers of the clan.

Upon seeing Minato and his group enter, the four clan elders rose to welcome them. The second elder from the left smiled and said, "A warm welcome to our friends from Konoha! Uzumaki Clan have been waiting for you for a long time."

The one who spoke was the eldest of the four clan elders. To his right was the second clan elder, to his left was the third clan elder, and the last one was the fourth clan elder.

"This junior greets the four elders of the Uzumaki Clan!" Minato said respectfully, keeping his attitude humble and not displaying any arrogance despite his status as an envoy of Konoha. In principle, Minato's status as a special envoy did not require such behavior, but Minato did so to give these four elders ample face.

Although he didn't show it, the four elders were clearly pleased. The older people are, the more they care about face. Minato's status as a special envoy was on the same level as theirs, and Minato was backed by Konoha, so in theory, his status should be higher than theirs. However, Minato acted as a junior and made a very good impression on the four elders from the beginning. This was Minato's way of treating people.

The elder of the clan gestured, "Friends from Konoha, please have a seat!"

Upon hearing this Yemo and the other three took their seats, and the four elders who had risen to welcome them also sat down.

The elder clan leader spoke first, asking, "We received a message from Konoha ninja pigeons three days ago, saying that their dispatch team would arrive in the coming days. Why are you only arriving now? Has something happened?"

"Something did happen," Minato nodded and recounted, "We were supposed to arrive two days ago, but on our first day in the Land of Whirlpools, we encountered three ninjas from the Kaguya Clan not far from Uzushiogakure. We fought a fierce battle with them, and although we eventually defeated them, two of our team members were seriously injured, which is why we arrived two days late."

Upon hearing that Minato and his group had killed three Kaguya Clan ninjas before arriving, the clan elder was slightly surprised, then asked with concern, "How are your two teammates recovering from their injuries? Our Uzumaki Clan's medical-nin are quite capable."

Minato smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but our teammates have fully recovered, so there's no need to trouble the Uzumaki Clan ninjas."

At this moment, the four clan elders, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up, "The Third Hokage said that the team dispatched to our Uzumaki Clan this time is an elite team, containing many of Konoha's young talents."

After a pause, under the gazes of everyone around, the fourth clan elder continued, "To become Jonin at such a young age and to lead a team is indeed remarkable; one can only admire a prodigy. But I wonder what these two brats are? Are they also prodigies? Forgive me for not recognizing them."

Upon hearing this, even the good-natured Minato frowned slightly, not to mention Kosuke and Kakashi, whose faces flashed with anger. The tone was blatant mockery. "We are the guests, you are the hosts. It's one thing for the hosts not to welcome the guests, but to mock them like that? Do you think we don't have tempers?"

Just then, the four elders turned their gazes, their sharp eyes sweeping over Yemo, and said coldly, "If I remember correctly, you are Yemo Uzumaki, aren't you? I didn't expect you to come back with me after going to Konoha. Hmph, that's truly laughable. Yemo is just an ordinary member of my Uzumaki Clan. How did you become the prodigy the Third Hokage spoke of when you arrived in Konoha?"

Upon hearing this, Minato and the others immediately showed anger. They had already let it go by mocking the old man, but now he was pointing at Yemo and cursing him, and even indirectly humiliating and angering Konoha and the Third Hokage.

Since the other party had directly attacked his own interests, Yemo naturally wouldn't hold back. Just as he was about to retort, Kakashi suddenly spoke up.

"It's really ridiculous," Kakashi interjected amidst the puzzled gazes of those around him. "I also find it strange. Why was Yemo just an ordinary member of the Uzumaki Clan, but his talent was discovered in Konoha? Not only was he valued and taken in as a disciple by Konoha Sannin, one of the Orochimaru, but he also killed a Cloud Jonin Kumogakure still Genin, shocking the Five Great Hidden Villages. Before coming here, he even killed a Kaguya Clan Jonin with Kekkei Genkai."

At this point, Kakashi paused, looking at the shocked expressions on the faces of the four old men in front of him. A slight smirk appeared on his lips, and his disdain was undisguised.

"Ah, it seems no one knows this. But that makes sense, since this kind of thing is only known within the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It's normal for smaller ninja villages not to know. As for why there's such a difference, I think it has a lot to do with the environment. It's like a myna bird that stays in a pigpen Tenten will learn to squeal like a pig, but if it stays in a crowd of people, it will learn to speak like a human." Kakashi made no attempt to hide his sarcasm, practically saying that Uzushiogakure was just a small ninja village, and even geniuses would be buried in a small village like theirs.

Hearing this, Yemo felt extremely relieved. Kakashi truly lived up to his nickname "Poison Tongue," his series of sarcastic remarks were impeccable. Kosuke even chuckled lightly without any attempt to hide it. Although Minato didn't say anything, the fact that he didn't stop Kakashi meant that he also agreed with Kakashi.

Yemo and the others felt relieved, while the four clan elders who had been mocked were furious. All four old men were shrewd, and Kakashi's tone of sarcasm was clearly visible, especially since Kakashi's analogy of a myna bird was directed at the fourth clan elder.

Being mocked and humiliated by a mere brat, the four elders felt utterly disgraced. They slammed their fists on the table in anger and stood up, ready to do something.

Upon seeing this, Minato and the others' expressions changed drastically. With a slight flick of their hands under the table, a Kunai slid into their palms. Kakashi placed his right hand on his ninja tool pouch, his gaze fixed on the elder of the four clans who had stood up. He hadn't expected this old man to be so easily angered by mere sarcasm.

Suddenly, tensions rose in the council chamber, the atmosphere became extremely tense, and the air seemed to freeze.

Just as the discussion was about to turn into a full-blown fight, a soft sound broke the silence.

Cough...

Clearing his throat, the clan elder finally spoke up to smooth things over, saying, "My apologies, friends of Konoha. The Fourth Elder is so engrossed in Ninjutsu that he's not entirely clear on some things, hence this misunderstanding. Haha, it seems the Third Hokage's message was correct. Truly a young prodigy, not only is his talent impressive, but his tongue is also quite something."

Upon hearing this, Kakashi was somewhat displeased and wanted to retort, but Kosuke stopped him, giving him a slight glance to indicate that he should stop talking.

Since they had apologized, Minato couldn't refuse. He took the opportunity to back down, saying, "It's alright. Elder Si is just being straightforward. We should be the ones apologizing. Children often speak without thinking, so please forgive us for any offense we may have caused."

Minato's implication was that as a clan elder, he shouldn't be arguing with a child. The fourth clan elder understood this perfectly, snorted coldly, and sat down without saying another word. If he continued, he would be the one to lose face.

The elder clan leader smiled slightly and said, "Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. According to the information from the Third Hokage, you've come here on a mission to investigate the situation here."

The elder clan leader glossed over the topic, and everyone tacitly refrained from discussing it further, finally bringing the conversation back to the main subject.

Minato nodded and said, "Our entire Konoha takes the distress call from Uzushiogakure very seriously. That's why the Third Hokage specifically dispatched us here to quickly ascertain the situation and report back. The village is already gathering ninjas, and as soon as we send our intelligence, the village will immediately dispatch a team."

"Thank you all for your help, Konoha," the elder clan leader began with gratitude, but then quickly changed the subject, saying, "However, time is running out for Uzushiogakure. As you all have seen since you arrived, we have been frequently attacked by various clans these past few days, and no one knows when they will launch a full-scale attack."

"We have seen the dire situation facing Uzushiogakure, and we want to understand the situation here as soon as possible and then inform the village. So we hope that everyone in Uzushiogakure can cooperate with us," Minato said sincerely. Along the way, they had also seen the situation facing the Uzumaki Clan.

But rescue is not such a simple matter. They need to know which forces attacked Uzushiogakure and why they attacked Uzushiogakure. Only by knowing this can the village send out rescue forces based on the intelligence.

"Rest assured, everyone, we will cooperate fully," the elder clan leader solemnly assured them.

"Oh right, here's a letter the Senju Clan patriarch asked me to deliver to you," Minato suddenly remembered he had another letter and quickly took it out.

The four elders exchanged puzzled glances. Why would the Senju Clan Chief send someone with a separate letter? Although they were very confused, the eldest elder still took the letter from Minato's hand.