What... what did this mean?
Struggling to steady his emotions and force his expression into calmness, Iwama could not help glancing at the Fourth Hokage across from him, his eyes still flickering with stunned, lingering suspicion.
Such generous terms? What was Konoha plotting? After that glance, his gaze returned to the scroll in his hands, and he scanned it again as if he found it incredibly difficult to believe.
Then, he became certain. He had not misread it.
The reparations stated in this treaty scroll were even lower than the lowest figure among the treaty terms he had prepared.
Konoha had indeed offered the most generous ceasefire terms.
Compared to the previous version, the amount of reparations had not changed much, only decreasing somewhat. However, the demands for Forbidden Jutsu, Secret Techniques, and unique elemental ninjutsu had been greatly reduced, falling within reasonable—even generous—standards.
This was a ceasefire treaty that was difficult to refuse.
From the perspective of the war itself, ending it at such a cost would certainly be painful. But in terms of postwar recovery, those reparations were acceptable, and their recovery afterward would remain above the passing line.
Yet Iwama could not sign, or agree to, this preliminary treaty.
Not because of its reparations, nor because of Konoha's negotiating attitude, but because he simply could not sign or agree to any treaty at all.
When he came here, aside from preparing himself for the possibility that he would never return, he had never intended to agree to a treaty, end the war, or acknowledge defeat!
He had come to Konoha with a purpose: to create an opportunity for his village to turn defeat into victory.
No matter how generous Konoha's terms were, they could never agree to them.
Is that so?
Is that what this is?
*Was