Negotiations

"Is this Amegakure? It feels even more advanced than Sunagakure."

Yi tilted his head back, his mouth falling open despite himself.

Standing at Amegakure's gates, Hoshino Maki shaded his eyes with one hand and looked up at the sprawling cluster of steel-built, high-tech buildings. With skyscrapers rising everywhere, who would have guessed this was the Ninja World, if they saw only this one village?

"Kid, Sunagakure's greatness is not yours to criticize."

The sharp-eyed ninja Chōjūrō had sent shot Yi an unhappy look, then seemed to casually glance at Hoshino Maki.

"Yi, come here."

Hoshino Maki beckoned the uneasy-looking Yi over and put a hand on his shoulder. "The fact that you can see Amegakure's strengths shows you're a thoughtful ninja. A great thinker once said, 'Among three people walking together, there is always one who can teach me something.' If Sunagakure wants to grow stronger, it must keep learning from the villages of other nations: steelmaking from Amegakure, transport equipment from Kumogakure, and business from the merchant shinobi of Hongzhou. If we cling to old ways, we'll only become useless relics left behind by the times."

"Yeah!"

Yi's eyes lit up again. The sharp-eyed ninja gritted his teeth and stepped forward, about to say something, but then he met Hoshino Maki's placid gaze and instinctively took a step back. Most of his bravado drained away.

I'm only thinking of the bigger picture. Just wait until we get back to Sunagakure—I'll report this to Lord Chōjūrō!

He reassured himself with that thought.

"What do you think, Shinda?"

In a room lined with monitors, the screens showed scenes from across Amegakure.

A man wearing a specially made mask asked in a hoarse voice.

The ninja named Shinda had a large birthmark covering the right side of his face and extending around his right eye, giving him a rather menacing appearance.

On an ordinary person, it might have been a flaw. For a ninja, however, it was an advantage. When he suddenly appeared during an ambush, his face could catch his opponent off guard, helping him take down many enemies.

And as Hanzo's right-hand man, he was also highly capable at managing internal affairs.

Shinda rubbed his chin. "The one in the middle should be Hoshino Maki from Sunagakure, the man A invited. He looks thoughtful, but there seem to be some problems within their group."

On the large monitor in the middle, the faces of the Sunagakure party had been enlarged for closer examination.

"What about A?"

"He's stayed at the residence we arranged and hasn't gone out."

Hanzo nodded. "Keep an eye on them. If they go out, have someone follow them. Don't let them cause trouble in Amegakure."

The Sand Shinobi didn't have the best reputation, but they were still better than the Cloud Ninja. If not for the battlefield being in the Land of Rain—and his concern for his own standing—he would never have wanted to deal with people from either of those countries, especially when those two were together.

Although ninja generally didn't live long, Hanzo was now in his prime, yet he had grown overly cautious.

Rain poured down over the Land of Rain, but little of it ever touched Lord Hanzo's clothes.

Amegakure used less and less of its steel for buildings, and more and more for railings and barbed wire. Wrapped in layer upon layer of steel, the village seemed to have little contact with the outside world except through war.

Hanzo watched the Sunagakure group enter their assigned residence. Only then did he leave, surrounded by more than a dozen guards.

"Pakura, sorry to trouble you, but please keep Yi safe."

Pakura turned her head away, unwilling. "You shouldn't have brought him here."

Hoshino Maki didn't bother explaining things to this political idiot. Fixing his gaze on her, he walked toward her step by step, with an aggressively deliberate air.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Pakura stepped back, her tall frame pressed against the wall as she called out in alarm.

"Woman, you'd better—"

"Ugh—"

Hoshino Maki's toes turned inward. Clutching his stomach, he doubled over in pain.

Pakura coolly withdrew her fist and lightly shook her hand.

"Try that again, and you'll be able to devote the rest of your life to serving the village."

With that, she used the Body Flicker Technique and disappeared.

"That woman..."

Hoshino Maki sucked in a breath through his teeth, clutching his stomach as he limped over to sit down.

Though she hadn't said so, he knew she had agreed. Now he could focus on dealing with Kumogakure.

Of course, before that, he still had to take care of a few minor nuisances. Hoshino Maki stared at a certain room, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

In Amegakure's Meeting Room, the Sand and Cloud delegations sat facing each other. Hanzo hadn't shown up; instead, he had sent Shinda to mediate.

The Cloud Ninja had lost the battle, but they looked like the victors.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shinda handed the floor over to the two sides.

"Hoshino Maki, I hear things haven't been going too well in Sunagakure lately."

Dodai, the only Cloud Ninja who had dealt with Hoshino Maki before, spoke first.

"That's right. The village is short on funds, but we still uphold the spirit of humanitarianism. We've given our dearest friends, the Cloud Ninja, the best food and lodgings our village has to offer."

Hoshino Maki admitted it frankly, then clapped his hands. Yi carried a thick stack of documents over and slammed it down on the table in front of A.

"Kid, are you looking for trouble?!"

Disrespecting A was tantamount to insulting Kumogakure. Faced with such an overt provocation, the guards beside him reached for the pouches on their thighs and moved forward into fighting stances, ready to make the other side pay in blood.

As tension mounted, A looked at the unruffled Hoshino Maki across from him and raised a hand to stop his men.

"Calm down!"

The Raikages of every generation might have looked burly and brawny, like men with brawn but no brains, but in truth, they were no less farsighted than the most astute ninja.

He picked up the thick stack of documents from the table. After just one glance, the towering man shuddered all over. He took a deep breath and flipped straight to the last page. When he saw the final figure, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

The small-looking sheets of paper crumpled in his tight grip. Unable to hold back his anger any longer, he slammed the documents onto the table. The marble tabletop shook slightly.

"Medical expenses: 240 million! Are you trying to rob us?!"

Lightning Armor instantly covered his massive body, and fury blazed openly in his bell-like eyes. The Cloud Ninja immediately drew their weapons and took up positions behind A.

It wasn't just A; everyone else there was dumbfounded, too.

Shinda's mouth hung open as cold sweat ran down his temple.

If these two groups started fighting here, even Lord Hanzo might not be able to stop them. No—if Lord Hanzo intervened, his poison would do even more damage to Amegakure.

The Sunagakure delegation stared at Hoshino Maki in astonishment, too.

Hoshino Maki hadn't told them a thing about the medical expenses!

But now, they couldn't ask him about it without undermining Sunagakure's dignity. And the one person who might have caused trouble was absent today because he wasn't feeling well.

So they drew their weapons as well, keeping a wary eye on the other side.

As tension thickened in the room, only Hoshino Maki sat there as calmly as if nothing were happening.

"What? Does the future Fourth Raikage think they aren't worth that much?"

Leaning back in his chair, Hoshino Maki casually propped his feet on the conference table. He lowered his head and, from somewhere, produced a nail file to groom his nails, speaking with a careless air.

In the quiet conference room, his voice sounded especially clear.

A gritted his teeth and said nothing, forced to listen as the annoying man continued, "I suppose so. These people couldn't even beat a mere Sand Shinobi. What's the point of keeping them alive?"

Huff—

Hoshino Maki blew away the nail clippings before finally lifting his head. "I should have listened to the Elders sooner and forcibly read their memories. Maybe that would have been best for Sunagakure. Oh, and I'm quite good at breaking seals. The seals they left in their minds really aren't much to speak of."

The Cloud Ninja's expressions changed drastically.

As Jonin, they knew at least some of their village's secrets. If the memories of so many people were successfully read, Kumogakure would have countless secrets stolen from it. That was a blow the village couldn't bear.

A's eyes flashed with murderous intent. If that's the case, why not just kill him?

"Sir, calm down!"

Dodai pressed a hand on A's shoulder and shook his head.

Their opponent wouldn't have said that without something to back him up.

A took a deep breath and sat back down.

Seeing that the tension between the two sides had eased somewhat, Shinda quickly smiled and said, "Since everyone's here at the same table, surely we can talk things out."

"That amount is too high. The village can't agree to it."

"I've already knocked three million off the total. One million for a Chunin and five million for a Jonin. Those prices already reflect the friendly relationship between our villages. After all, five million isn't enough to train a Jonin."

Hoshino Maki didn't give an inch, and the negotiations stalled. All morning, the two sides argued over the price, until they finally got stuck at 200 million.

Before lunch, as Hoshino Maki was leaving, he smiled at A. "If you think it's too expensive, you can pay only the medical expenses for the Jonin."

A's expression turned livid. Back at his residence, he punched straight through a wall!

The next chapter will be updated during the day.