The Daimyo's Mediation

The daimyos of the various Shinobi World nations, especially those of the Five Great Nations, were mostly related by blood or marriage and maintained close ties for two main reasons.

First, the legal basis of every daimyo's rule was said to originate from the distant Land of Ancestors. Trace their lineages back far enough, and they were all one family—perhaps even descended from the same person.

Second, the great nations intermarried with other great nations, while the smaller nations did the same among themselves. As far as Dada knew, among the wives of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, those with higher standing were all relatives of other daimyos.

Setting everything else aside, if you put the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages in one room, you would think they were all enemies. But if you put the daimyos of the Five Great Nations in one room, you would think they were all in the same camp.

Dada did not know what the appearance of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire meant. Especially with the Third Hokage here as well, just thinking about it gave him a headache.

From afar, the Third Raikage had already furrowed his brow.

Dada found it strange as well. Kumogakure was a Great Ninja Village and had solid control over its borders, yet such an important figure as the Hokage had appeared here without any news getting out...

Then there was only one possibility. They had received the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning's assistance and deliberately concealed their movements.

Interestingly enough, the Third Hokage did not look particularly pleased either.

The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire took their seats one after another. The Third Hokage sat at the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's right, directly across from the Third Raikage.

Dada was worried that if the two started fighting here, this Asuka City would probably be sent flying into the sky.

"Lord Raikage, we decided on short notice a few days ago to invite the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to celebrate the New Year with us. Please do not take offense."

The Third Raikage could only nod expressionlessly.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire covered half his face with a fan and said, "There have been far more bandits on the roads lately. Fortunately, Lord Hokage protected me all the way here. You have worked hard."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyelid twitched.

With one sentence each, the two daimyos brushed past the matter of why the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Hokage were here. Yet the atmosphere at the banquet was no longer what it had been. Once the Guardian Shinobi Twelve entered, they automatically positioned themselves behind the Hokage, facing the Raikage. The Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors, who had been hiding somewhere until then, also appeared one after another in Body Flickers, subtly confronting them from across the hall.

"What are you doing? Your duty is to protect the Daimyo. Why have you abandoned your posts?" Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded harshly without turning around.

The Third Raikage was even more straightforward. With a wave of his hand, the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors vanished into every corner of the banquet hall.

The Guardian Shinobi Twelve could not openly conceal themselves throughout the banquet hall as the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors had. After all, this was the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning's territory, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was merely a guest. So they spread out in the more visible areas of the hall.

Presumably, the Thunder Cloud Nine Warriors would treat them as people to guard against as well.

The nobles in the banquet hall were drenched in cold sweat from the tense, drawn-sword atmosphere just moments ago. Even after the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning called for dancers to perform, the music that should have been pleasant to hear now seemed dull and tedious.

Even Lady Ooki, who had just been eagerly trying to sell her daughter to Yotsuki Ki, said nothing as she dejectedly returned to her seat.

Yotsuki Ki, meanwhile, stared at a corner some distance away. A member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve stood there, seemingly an Aburame clansman.

While Yotsuki Ki stared at the Konohagakure ninja, the other man was also openly watching Yotsuki Ki and Dada.

He had been dispatched to protect the Daimyo when the Guardian Shinobi Twelve had first been established, so he had only heard about the previous conflict between the two villages. It seemed to have been caused by that younger child, and his own cousin had been captured by Kumogakure as well.

To him, among the Third Raikage's two sons, the muscular one was fairly strong. He looked to be in his twenties and about equal to himself, making him feel the urge to test his strength. The other was completely a child. He had no idea how that little brat had managed to cause such a huge mess back then.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. He controlled the insects within his body and had them creep over in secret. These insects had no Chakra and could only be detected by sight, making them useful for covertly marking enemies.

He guided a vicious-looking insect to crawl beside the younger child, preparing to let it climb into the boy's food and scare him.

He could already picture the brat across from him shrieking and bursting into tears.

Unexpectedly, Dada precisely crushed the still-hidden insect with a single finger. Fixing the Aburame ninja with dead fish eyes that looked as though they had killed someone, he said, "Playing with bugs while people are eating is really disgusting. Keep fooling around, and see if I don't have someone pull every insect out of your clan's bodies and feed them back to you as a meal!"

The Aburame ninja's breathing caught. After a moment, he awkwardly turned his head away.

What child was this? Even the village bullies were not this vicious...

The banquet continued in such a lukewarm fashion. Dada did not care and kept sampling the various delicacies. Looking at the nobles eating without appetite like a flock of quail, he silently lamented the waste of such good food.

Just as Dada expected, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning finally spoke again, revealing the purpose of this awkward banquet. "Lord Raikage, I heard that you and Lord Hokage had some misunderstandings before. However, peace between the two nations and two villages has endured for many years and was not easily won. Since both of you are here, why not take this opportunity to leave your grievances in the old year?"

The Third Raikage remained impassive. After leisurely drinking a cup of wine, he said, "So Lord Hokage specifically used the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's influence to come beg for mercy? I thought Konohagakure knew how to accept defeat. You wasted quite a lot of this old man's breath at the negotiating table."

The Third Hokage folded his arms and lightly shook his head. "Konohagakure has no intention of denying any compensation. This old man truly came here only out of concern for the Daimyo's safety."

"Has Konohagakure fallen so far that it needs a village leader in hiding to serve as a guard..."

"I find it strange as well. Lord Raikage, at the moment, you do not look like a ninja at all. You look more like a wealthy landlord."

Interestingly, Hiruzen Sarutobi was still wearing the Hokage Robe, while the Third Raikage wore lavish noble attire.

Their verbal sparring never stopped, but it lacked the viciousness of their previous table-pounding, glaring confrontation in the Land of Iron.

It looked more as though the two were putting on a show, making their positions clear.

They were, in a sense, tacitly accepting the two daimyos' mediation.

Dada came to an understanding. Hiruzen Sarutobi probably had not expected to run into the Third Raikage today either. No matter why he had originally accompanied the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to the Land of Lightning, this current situation was surely not one he wanted to see.

"The matter of compensation has already been settled between the two Kage, so I will not say more about it. However, I still hope the two sides can get along peacefully in the future..." said the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Clearly, the daimyos of the two nations were trying to make peace, and the purpose of that peace...

The daimyos of the two nations do not want the current situation—or rather, the balance of power—to be disrupted... Dada guessed.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire did not want Konohagakure to weaken, while the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning did not want Kumogakure to grow stronger either... at least not through this kind of one side declining while the other rose.

It seemed his earlier thoughts had been correct. The daimyos of the five nations truly were one family.

Was this the invisible hand through which the daimyos influenced the ninja?

One could guess that if Kumogakure continued pressing Konohagakure too hard, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning would likely reduce his support for Kumogakure, while the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would increase his support for Konohagakure.

What a fine piece of macroeconomic control.

It seemed the chaos of the Shinobi World also had the daimyos' share in it.

As Dada pondered this, he heard the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning at the far end of the banquet hall say, "Lord Raikage, I heard long ago that you had another son a few years back. Is he here today?"