"No, Lord Hokage, what kind of look is that?" Uchiha Kō glared at Sarutobi Hiruzen with annoyance. Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed, "No, no, I just didn't sleep well yesterday, my eye is twitching a little."
"Ah, right, right, last night, Hiruzen and I discussed important matters, so I stayed up a bit late. Don't worry, Lord Hokage definitely didn't mean anything by it!" Shimura Danzō quickly said.
Never mess with Uchiha Kō. Although they're colleagues, Uchiha Kō's eyes are too sharp, and his questions are too sophisticated. Didn't you see the two young masters opposite him didn't look too happy?
Besides, Uchiha Kō spoke up for the benefit of the village. How could you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, possibly have any objections? No, absolutely not!
"Fine, you're the higher-ranking officials, so you get to decide." Upon hearing this, Uchiha Kō Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō chuckled. They wondered if making this kid an elder of Konoha was the right or wrong decision!
Uchiha Kō looked at A and Kitsuchi Tu and asked, "Do you two have anything to say?" After saying that, he put the teacup on the table, then rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. Well, this is asking for money!
"I don't know, how much Konoha is short..." As soon as he said this, Ai sensed something was wrong. I came here to sign an agreement, not to pay for it! This isn't a surrender agreement, is it?
"Not many, just a few tens of thousands of yaks to start. I've heard that the yak meat from Kumogakure is delicious, and the hides are thick—it's a top-quality breed!" Uchiha Kō said with a half-smile. "Konoha is poor! We can't compare to the wealth of Kumogakure. So..."
Ai's face darkened. A single yak in Kumogakure costs tens of thousands of taels of silver; ten thousand yaks would be a hundred million taels! And you want tens of thousands more? Are you out of your mind? (The hundred million taels here isn't real gold or silver, but the currency of the Ninja World. Please be rational, everyone.)
"Well, I still need to consult with Lord Raikage. The quantity is too large for me to decide. However, if it's only five thousand, and we can gain the friendship of Konoha, I can make the decision!" Ai was a wealthy and decisive person.
There is only one peace agreement, which means that Konoha might get involved if no peace agreement is signed. In that case, the village that doesn't get the agreement might face an attack from both Konoha and the enemy village.
Upon hearing this, Kitsuchi became anxious. "Our Iwagakure may not have much else, but we have plenty of stones, many of which contain jade and agate. The yield is quite substantial. If Konoha is willing to sign an agreement, we are willing to pay 80 million taels worth of unearthed agate and jade!"
Good heavens, this is the excavated price, meaning it's the original price. If we process and sell it ourselves, it could be worth far more than 80 million taels. Those Daimyo and magnates love these agates and jades the most.
"Iwagakure is really going all out!" Ai frowned. "Besides the yaks we already provided, Kumogakure is also willing to offer fifty kilograms of Chakra Metal as a gift from our ally. Kumogakure has always been generous!"
Fifty catties of Chakra Metal is worth a whopping five hundred million! The Kumogakure is willing to offer such a huge price???? Even Sarutobi Hiruzen is bewildered. The yaks and jade were just ordinary resources, but this Chakra Metal is priceless and unavailable!
Seeing Uchiha Kō give him a meaningful look, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained unmoved and instead looked at Iwagakure's representative, Kitsuchi. He knew Kitsuchi would raise the price because if an agreement was signed with Kumogakure, it would mean that Konoha and Kumogakure would launch a simultaneous attack on Iwagakure, the largest village in the Konoha Ninja World.
Will the Kumogakure, which has just suffered heavy losses, let this go? Definitely not! What they lost to Konoha, they will get back from the Iwagakure tenfold. Not only will there be huge reparations, but their territory may even be divided up by these barbarians.
"Chakra Metal, Kumogakure has really gone all out. In that case, we can't let Konoha laugh at Iwagakure. A Rank A Earth Release Secret Ninjutsu!" As soon as Kitsuchi said this, not only were Konoha F4 stunned, but even A and Uchiha Kō.
Holy crap, a secret Ninjutsu! This is damn good stuff! A-rank Ninjutsu is powerful, but secret Ninjutsu can only be learned by ninjas within a village. Without outstanding contributions or a powerful clan, you can forget about ever getting this Ninjutsu.
Of course, as for the Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique, it's an S-rank Ninjutsu and definitely can't be passed on to outsiders. It's the Iwagakure's trump card. However, Ninjutsu like Light-Weight Rock Technique and Earth Mountain Technique are still possible.
These techniques have different effects and can be considered treasures of the village, never to be easily passed on to outsiders. Now, Kitsuchi is actually willing to take them out! Now it's Ai's turn to panic.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was also stunned. How did the conversation suddenly turn into the village's inherited Ninjutsu? Uchiha Kō was also taken aback. Then he looked at Kitsuchi with a solemn expression in his eyes. Kitsuchi truly lived up to his reputation as the son of Tsuchikage Ōnoki. His courage alone was enough to earn respect.
This also shows how ambitious Iwagakure is. Now Sarutobi Hiruzen doesn't know what to do. Judging from this situation, signing a contract with any party will offend the other side, because at this price, you can no longer simply cooperate; you have to help one side defeat the other.
Of course, this was not something Ai and Kitsuchi should worry about. In any case, the final decision was in the hands of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Sarutobi Hiruzen was thinking that although they could obtain a lot of resources by fighting this battle, in the end, the ones who would really benefit were Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
He was in a dilemma because one of the two villages might become very powerful as a result of this war, while his own village would lose a large number of ninjas.
Uchiha Kō chuckled, "Actually, Konoha doesn't have such grand ambitions. Let's stick to what we agreed on before: five thousand yaks from Kumogakure and eighty million taels of jade and agate from Iwagakure." He then clapped his hands, "Someone! Bring tea! How rude!"
After Uchiha Kō finished speaking, two Anbu quickly served tea, bringing over two pure gold teacups and handing them to Ai and Kitsuchi. The two were taken aback, not understanding why Uchiha Kō would say such a thing.
Uchiha Kō only wanted to test the resolve of the two villages; he wasn't actually planning to ally with one to attack the other. He only gained temporary benefits—no actual territory, no war reparations—and it wasn't worth it at all.
Uchiha Kō laughed and said, "I never said I would only sign an agreement with one person. It's just that there are fewer cups. These Anbu have no sense at all!" He then gave a cold snort.
Yeah, Uchiha Kō didn't say anything either; it was just their imagination. But this... damn it?! They're like a mute eating bitter melon—they can't express their suffering!
Seeing the peace agreement handed to them, the two took a deep breath. Wasn't their mission to sign a peace agreement? Now that they had already paid the price, wouldn't they be at a huge loss if they didn't sign it?
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded. "Hmm, not bad. He's quite satisfied with receiving such a huge sum of friendship money without having to send troops."
Whether Iwagakure and Kumogakure are satisfied is not something Sarutobi Hiruzen needs to worry about!