"All right. I'll relay your words to the Tsuchikage. Farewell!" Ghost Blossom lowered her eyes to hide her humiliation, doing her utmost to suppress her temper.
Uchiha Kin said, "Fine. I'll await you here. I also hope you'll be able to offer me terms I find satisfactory when the time comes!"
Ghost Blossom made no comment and led the Tsuchikage's guard squad straight away. She remained silent and gloomy the whole way, radiating an oppressive air that warned others to keep their distance. When they reached the rear encampment, she headed straight for the central tent to see Ōnoki.
Ōnoki was buzzing back and forth over the heads of a group of Rock Ninja like a bee.
The Rock Ninja in the tent were already dizzy from watching Ōnoki circle overhead. Now, not one of them dared raise their head. They all pretended to be busy, tending to the documents in their hands.
The moment he saw Ghost Blossom return, Ōnoki stopped. "Blossom, you're back?"
Ghost Blossom told Ōnoki what she and Uchiha Kin had discussed. Ōnoki fell silent in thought. After a long while, he suddenly asked, "Blossom, what do you think of this Uchiha Kin?"
Ghost Blossom said, "He has the bearing of a man in power, like a mountain or a tiger. Every word and gesture of his carries an authority that commands respect. When speaking with him, it's easy to forget his age—he's only thirteen."
Ōnoki returned to his seat and mechanically tapped his fingers against the table. The "tap, tap" went on for a while before finally stopping. "Thirteen... A boy..." He continued mulling it over. "Is there any way to kill him?" Ōnoki seemed to be asking everyone in the tent, but in truth, he was asking himself.
A thirteen-year-old commander... A boy like that was terrifying. And after hearing Ghost Blossom's description, Ōnoki was even more wary of him!
From her brief account, he had already pieced together all that Uchiha Kin's few words had contained—
Diplomatic pressure, judgment, depth of thought, and... a shrewdness utterly at odds with his age and a ninja's worldly experience.
"If we make major concessions during the diplomatic negotiations and let him grow even more pleased with himself, then, after the treaty is drawn up, we could invite him to send troops into the Land of Earth to fight alongside us against the Raikage... No, no. We'll have to discuss that with the Hidden Leaf!
"Uchiha Kin might not take the bait, but that old fool Hiruzen Sarutobi is shortsighted and politically and diplomatically inept. Appeal to his sense of duty, and he'll surely agree. Once the Hokage gives the order, Uchiha Kin will have no choice.
"On the other hand, during the negotiations, we must find out what Uchiha Kin wants. Then we can tailor our offer to suit him!"
Ōnoki muttered to himself, laying out his plans for the upcoming negotiations in full.
After another half hour or so of silence, Ōnoki ordered the strategists in the tent to assess the plan and refine it accordingly.
It took half a day before they finally reached a conclusion. The head of the strategy team reported, "Tsuchikage, based on our assessment,
"the chance of Uchiha Kin's side falling for the trap is about twenty percent. The chance of success with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is about seventy percent.
"Pursuing both approaches at once would bring the odds of success to ninety percent. Our assessment is that the plan is viable!"
Ōnoki slapped the table. "Good. Arrange for a team to accompany me to the negotiations tomorrow." Having made his decision, Ōnoki flew out of the tent. He glanced around, then headed straight for the Rock Ninja commander whom Uchiha Kin had routed.
The commander was sitting on a boulder, his whole body radiating dejection. Then, without warning, he heard Ōnoki's voice.
Ōnoki stood behind him and asked, "You're the Rock Ninja's finest commander. Are you really going to let one battle defeat you?
"Before this defeat, you'd won thirteen battles. Winning and losing are both normal in this world. Losing isn't shameful—the shame lies in being unable to get back up after one defeat. The Rock Ninja have no need for a useless coward like that!"
"Tsuchikage!" The commander stood and turned around.
Ōnoki softened his tone. "Dong Siren, it was only one defeat. Pull yourself together. The Rock Ninja still have an even more important battle for you to fight!"
The commander's name was Dong Siren. If not for Uchiha Kin, the transmigrator, he would have made history: his vanguard would have wiped out the Hidden Leaf's entire western army, leaving only a handful of survivors. He would also have given Minato Namikaze the chance to turn the tide and become the hero who saved the Hidden Leaf.
But with Uchiha Kin in the picture, that battle had instead become a rout for him, destroying both the army's strength and its morale.
Dong Siren opened his mouth. "I..."
"Jonin Dong Siren, hear my command! I hereby appoint you commander of the internal operations force. You will completely eliminate the Third Raikage, A, and the elite troops under his command within the Land of Earth!" Ōnoki couldn't bear to watch him falter, so he issued the appointment directly.
He didn't think Dong Siren was to blame for this defeat. And there was no better way to restore Dong Siren's confidence than to give him a victory!
As it happened, the campaign against the Cloud Ninja to the north was short of a capable commander. Dong Siren was just the right man for the job.
That would both tilt the odds of victory in the Rock Ninja's favor and help Dong Siren regain his confidence.
"Yes!"
Dong Siren accepted the order. After receiving his appointment letter, he went to take up his post alone.
Uzumaki Mikayo was sitting with several people she knew. They had taken part in the battle against Uchiha Kin's force of more than three hundred ninja, and were telling her how terrifying it had been...
"We don't even know how we lost."
"He was a devil."
"It was horrifying."
Having been right in the thick of it, they couldn't offer any useful information. All they spread was fear.
Uzumaki Mikayo couldn't help picturing Uchiha Kin in her mind. So he's really that strong? Even Commander Dong Siren couldn't beat him.
"Yan Liu, Yan Liu, what are you thinking about?" She only came back to herself when a woman beside her nudged her arm.
Uzumaki Mikayo shook her head. "N-nothing." She went along with the others and said, "This Uchiha Kin really is terrifying."
Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, Ōnoki put on his Tsuchikage cloak and donned his square hat, its large "Earth" character facing forward. He sat atop a tall, burly man.
The negotiators accompanying him were also dressed in neat, matching uniforms. Together, they headed for the border fortress that had once belonged to them.
Their procession cast long shadows in the dawn light, moving in silence and solemnity. When they were still more than twenty kilometers from the fortress, the Ninja Dog of a ninja from the Inuzuka Clan began barking—the scent of the Rock Ninja had traveled on the wind and reached its nose.
"Are they Rock Ninja?" The Inuzuka ninja, fluent in dog language, understood what the Ninja Dog meant from its simple "woof, woof." He immediately went to report, "Report, Lord Kin! The Rock Ninja are here!"
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