Negotiating the Sand Ninja Prisoner Issue: Returning Prisoners Unconditionally Would Be the Real Joke!!

The afterglow of dusk spilled across the corridors of the Uchiha Compound.

Chiyo stood in the courtyard, holding a scroll marked with a flame pattern, his brow slightly furrowed.

"A meeting invitation?"

he murmured, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes.

The village had been calm lately. There were no external enemies and no internal strife, so why had the Third Hokage suddenly summoned representatives from all the major clans?

Just as he was pondering this, hurried footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

"Clan Leader."

Fugaku Uchiha strode over, his long black hair tied behind his head, his expression calm and steady.

Ever since becoming a Hokage Advisor, his bearing had grown increasingly reserved, though the sharpness in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

"Fugaku, you came at the right time."

Chiyo raised the scroll in his hand.

"Do you know what this meeting is about?"

Fugaku nodded slightly.

"That's what I came to talk about."

"Sunagakure sent an envoy. They want back the ninja they captured during the war."

"They want them back?"

Chiyo raised an eyebrow.

"How do they intend to ask for them?"

Fugaku shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but the Third Hokage seems to mean... we should release them directly."

Chiyo's gaze instantly turned cold.

"Heh. We won the war, yet we're supposed to grovel like the defeated side?"

Fugaku said nothing, but the chill in his eyes already made his stance clear.

Chiyo put away the scroll and said blandly,

"Looks like tonight's meeting won't be peaceful."

Night fell, and the conference room in the Hokage Building was brightly lit.

When Chiyo entered with Mikoto, the clan heads of the major families had already arrived one after another.

Hyuga Sakon wore a stern expression, with an elite ninja standing beside him.

Representatives