Konoha Envoys

After Jingū Kiraku's speech ended, his Reputation Value naturally surged.

Countless people shouted, "Offer our hearts to the Land of Rain!" Eager to follow Jingū Kiraku and realize those lofty ambitions.

Jingū Kiraku's Reputation Value directly broke through the ten-thousand mark and raced toward twenty thousand...

Furthermore, due to the unprecedentedly high morale of the people, Production Value also shot up by five points!

Combined with the bonuses from previously choosing the 'Dictatorial System' and the 'Cult of Personality' skill, Hidden Rain Village's Production Value had now reached 20 points.

This meant Jingū Kiraku could build more facilities to improve the people's quality of life and strengthen Hidden Rain Village's forces.

Just as he was about to order the start of large-scale construction, Erika knocked on the door once more.

"What is it?"

Seeing her hurried steps and serious expression, Jingū Kiraku asked.

"Konoha's envoys have arrived."

Erika was concise, but her solemn tone immediately made Jingū Kiraku realize there was a problem.

"Under what pretext?"

Rather than acting as though he faced a formidable enemy, as Erika had expected, he crossed his hands and lazily leaned back in his chair.

It was as though he had anticipated this all along.

After all, Konoha could not possibly allow the Land of Rain, which they had fought so hard to conquer, to slip from their control.

Especially when it still owed Konoha a massive amount in war reparations.

Erika was somewhat surprised by Jingū Kiraku's calmness, but she quickly answered nonetheless.

"Konoha claims they have come to meet Hidden Rain Village's new leader and promote cooperation between the two countries."

"But their true purpose is most likely to..."

"Demand reparations."

Erika paused. Clearly, the matter had put her in a foul mood.

The Land of Rain had suffered such immense hardship, yet it still had to compromise with its enemy and pay enormous reparations.

It was truly suffocating.

Of course, Jingū Kiraku noticed Erika's foul mood, but he merely smiled faintly.

"The strong devour the weak. That's perfectly normal."

Then his tone turned icy, filled with killing intent.

"The only thing that can make those greedy bastards settle down is pain."

"Pain...?"

Feeling the cold killing intent filling the room, Erika could not help muttering to herself.

Only after quite a while did she come back to her senses and ask,

"Will you receive them personally?"

As she spoke, Erika unconsciously began using honorifics.

Jingū Kiraku did not immediately answer her question. Instead, he raised a hand to tell her to wait.

Then, the system panel opened before him and swiftly switched to his personal data.

Behind the Reputation Value entry, a golden treasure chest marked 10,000 awaited opening.

Without any hesitation, Jingū Kiraku opened the treasure chest directly.

With a brilliant flash of golden light, a notification appeared before his eyes.

Opening treasure chest...

Congratulations! You have obtained Super Strength (S)!

Note: There is nothing one punch cannot solve. If there is, then use two punches.

As he read the system's description, a warm current arose within Jingū Kiraku's body before rapidly flowing through his meridians and blood vessels to every part of his body.

In just a few seconds, he felt as though his body had been reborn. Every muscle fiber seemed capable of unleashing astonishing strength.

Even Erika at his side seemed to sense something, casting him a curious look.

However, Jingū Kiraku did not explain much. He merely stood up and said calmly,

"Let's go. Let's meet those Konoha shinobi."

After staring blankly for several seconds, Erika finally understood what Jingū Kiraku meant.

She hurriedly pressed a hand to the Ninja Blade at her waist and followed close behind.

"Tch, this Hidden Rain Village really is shabby and backward."

On the main road of Amegakure, a burly man stood with both hands in his pockets, his eyes full of disdain.

He wore a green vest and a Konoha Forehead Protector, looking utterly arrogant.

A man and a woman accompanied him, both dressed in Konoha's green uniforms.

"Muddy roads, dilapidated buildings, and rusty drainage pipes leaking filthy water..."

"Heh, a small country is still a small country."

"I really don't know why the higher-ups sent us here. Does a mere Hidden Rain Village require this much trouble?"

The man's incessant arrogant remarks immediately made the gloomy man standing in the middle frown.

"That's enough, Yunosuke."

The gloomy man glanced at him, his expression somewhat helpless.

This man was a jōnin from the Sarutobi Clan and a relative of the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi—the sort of relative who was genuinely connected by blood.

That was precisely why Sarutobi Yunosuke had developed such an arrogant, conceited personality.

He made no effort whatsoever to hide his contempt for Hidden Rain Village, drawing countless hostile gazes from the surrounding area.

The villagers glared at him one by one, silently clenching their fists.

If not for their fear of the Konoha Forehead Protectors on the group's foreheads, they would have already rushed them.

Sarutobi Yunosuke seemed not to take the gloomy man's warning to heart at all.

Looking at the surrounding villagers, he let out a disdainful sneer.

"So what if I say it? What can they do to me?"

"They're nothing but a bunch of defeated losers!"

At that, the gloomy man's expression immediately turned serious as he emphasized,

"Even so, conflicts that can be avoided must be avoided."

"This is Lord Hokage's order!"

Seeing him invoke the words "Lord Hokage," Sarutobi Yunosuke had no choice but to settle down. He curled his lips and said,

"Got it, got it, Captain Natsume!"

Only after receiving his assurance did the shinobi named Natsume nod slightly.

He did not want to cause any conflict with that newly appointed leader over some trivial matter.

Against a powerful expert capable of defeating Hanzō the Salamander, Natsume felt it was better to maintain a basic level of respect.

Besides, Konoha's situation was not particularly good right now.

Although they had achieved victory on the Land of Rain battlefield, the immense pressure from other fronts kept them in an extremely tense state.

The Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Lightning had all stationed troops along their borders, and a major conflict could erupt at any time.

The rich lands of the Land of Fire had long been coveted by the surrounding great nations.

That was why the higher-ups had ordered them to avoid conflicts with Hidden Rain Village whenever possible.

The goal was to prevent a new war as much as they could.

As for this big man, he had been brought along purely to apply pressure at the negotiating table.

After all, negotiations were not just about talking. Appropriate pressure could help them achieve better results.

With that in mind, the three-person team finally arrived before the Amegakure Leader's building.

However, to their surprise, there was not a single person in front of it...