Negotiations, About to Begin

On the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, natural mountains and ravines served as formidable defenses, separating the two countries with natural boundaries.

The border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass, however, was flat and wide open. The natural buffer zone was a Gobi Desert, dotted with rocks of various sizes interspersed with weeds, offering no strategic advantage.

A fortress, over thirty meters high, with layered ramparts resembling terraced fields on the outer layer, along with numerous hidden pits and connecting caves stretching for a mile, stood proudly there. This was the Rock Ninja's border fortress.

When the Konoha forces arrived, they occupied it. The Rock Ninja, completely unfazed, had already fled to the rear.

The ninja army led by Uchiha Kin was too formidable. These Rock Ninja had lost all their courage and didn't even dare to defend the fortress. Thus, Uchiha Kin and his group benefited from it for free.

However, the Rock Ninja had also retreated cleanly, leaving absolutely nothing behind. The entire fortress was left with only walls and spaces created by Earth Style Ninjutsu. As the team settled in, Uchiha Kin, unusually idle, took a careful look at the fortress.

The fortress perfectly embodied the characteristics of Rock Ninja ninjutsu, possessing extremely strong defensive capabilities. The various caves, passages, and key locations within were designed to be highly suitable for Earth Style.

Uchiha Kin thought, "How can such a fortress be breached?" A moment later, he realized he was overthinking it.

He could simply use the principle of chakra adhesion to run up the walls as if on level ground. The Phoenix Sage Fire, a Fire Style tactic, would still be effective. If he reached the cave entrances, the even more powerful Fire Dragon Jutsu would be ideal. A blast of fire would engulf the entire interior.

He had observed the layout of the caves inside. The passageways did not have right-angle turns, nor did they feature the U-shaped bends designed to prevent poison gas or Water Style attacks.

Compared to the tunnels he had visited in his past life, this Rock Ninja fortress, while more three-dimensional, was essentially just flashy. In terms of technical substance, it was utterly insignificant.

From one of the fortress's cave entrances, Minato emerged and saw Uchiha Kin. He then used the Body Flicker Technique three times in rapid succession, appearing beside Uchiha Kin. Minato asked, "What do we do next?" His tone was filled with anticipation.

"Wait a moment... We'll wait here for the Rock Ninja envoy to conduct the first round of negotiations. After the first round concludes, we'll march to Qingshi Town and begin the second round."

"Huh?" Minato was somewhat confused.

Meanwhile, the Tsuchikage was at the peak of his fury. He hovered above everyone, his red, bulbous nose growing rounder, larger, and redder. "Bastards! That was our border fortress, and you abandoned it and fled!" He angrily wanted to throw something, but there was nothing around.

The Kannagi Bridge, painstakingly built, had been blown up, and the supply line to the Land of Fire was destroyed. The vanguard had suffered heavy casualties and was routed by just over three hundred Konoha ninja, fleeing in disarray all the way here.

Ōnoki was going insane!

"How did they win?" Ōnoki asked. "How did you lose?" Ōnoki asked again. Finally, Ōnoki posed the soul-crushing question: "Even if you threw ten thousand pigs there, they couldn't possibly kill them all, yet you..."

A very tall, stout, and plump man silently handed a palm-sized stone to Ōnoki.

Ōnoki was about to throw it when he looked down and saw what he was holding. He turned back to the plump man, "Where did you get this?"

The plump man, with a look of simple honesty, scratched the back of his head with his hand. "I, I just picked it up from behind. I saw you wanted to throw something, and there was nothing here."

"You picked it up?" Ōnoki, in his rage, threw the stone at the plump man, then turned back to question him, "Tell me, how did you lose?"

How did they lose? The Rock Ninja commander was also bewildered. The Konoha tactics seemed ordinary, merely employing large-scale troop maneuvers. But how exactly they lost...

He couldn't say! He could only lower his head: "Your subordinate has failed to live up to Lord Tsuchikage's expectations! Please, punish me!"

Ōnoki's nostrils flared and contracted, repeatedly, dozens of times. He said irritably, "Why should I deal with you?" The most pressing issue now was the trouble in the north, not... "Alright, go and rest." Ōnoki dismissed the man. He hovered back and forth in his tent. After a long while, he summoned a ninja.

It was a woman with spiky gray hair, resembling a tomboy. She wore a red, sleeveless long vest and had a pair of emerald green eyes.

"Mei, take my guard detail with you. Make Konoha stop, and tell them we want to negotiate..." Ōnoki suddenly looked ten years older.

"Yes!"

A group of Rock Ninja, dusty from travel, arrived at the border fortress that originally belonged to them. Now, it was occupied by Konoha ninja.

"Why did our elites fail? There were only over three hundred of them!" someone in the Tsuchikage's guard detail asked, bewildered and feeling indignant. Mei said coldly, "Be quiet... The process is unimportant now. The result is that we lost."

She gestured for the guard detail to follow. As they approached, they stopped and she announced loudly, "Rock Ninja envoy Ghost Blossom, under the Tsuchikage's orders, requests an audience."

Uchiha Kin was writing a small booklet on battlefield medical first aid. Nonō, Dai, Qingshan Yi, and Minato were also working there and heard Mei's voice. Uchiha Kin smiled at everyone, "They're here." He then had someone invite Mei in.

Mei led the guard detail into the central area of the fortress and saw the busy individuals, especially Uchiha Kin, who was seated in the main seat.

The young man's posture was casual, exuding a mountain-like oppressive, abyss-like unfathomable aura, like a fierce tiger.

"Rock Ninja envoy, state your purpose!" Uchiha Kin appeared somewhat indifferent. Nonō and the others also stopped their work and looked towards the Rock Ninja group.

Mei said loudly, "The Rock Ninja come in peace. We hope to reach an agreement with Konoha regarding a ceasefire..."

Uchiha Kin smiled and asked, "The Tsuchikage must be having a terrible time right now. A group of Cloud Ninja, led by the Third Raikage, are fighting on the Land of Earth's soil... I'm guessing their tactics have become more intense."

Mei said, "Lord Kin, such words and tactics are of no use in negotiations."

"Do you know why the Cloud Ninja's attack suddenly intensified? Because I provided intelligence to the Cloud Ninja..."

Mei said, "Lord Kin, why would you do that? The Cloud Ninja are also enemies of your Konoha."

Uchiha Kin said, "I'm sorry, I don't have the habit of educating enemies or helping them improve their understanding. You can take this question back with you. As for negotiations, they can be discussed—have the Tsuchikage come tomorrow. We won't wait beyond that!"