"Here's a letter from your mother. She can't write, so I wrote it for her. Can you read? If you can't, I can read it to you." Yuya moved among the various ninja squads with a warm expression. In less than a day, he had handed out nearly half the letters, and many more were addressed to shinobi still at the front who hadn't come back to rest.
Seeing their tear-streaked faces as they received their letters, Yuya could only sigh.
Although he was doing this to win people's hearts, it was impossible not to be moved while carrying it out.
Of course, since these were letters collected from the people in the village, there were naturally some who would never receive theirs.
Yuya could only remain silent. He packed their letters away carefully, intending to burn them for their intended recipients in front of their gravestones after the war.
And so, over the next week, the morale of Konoha's Shinobi Allied Forces soared. Some shinobi who couldn't read also asked others to read aloud the letters their families had sent.
At the same time, the name Yuya began appearing in their conversations.
The fact that Senju Hashirama had taken Yuya as his student hadn't been widely publicized. Aside from people from major clans, such as Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, ordinary Chunin and Genin didn't know.
Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō didn't go around spreading Yuya's identity, either. That would be tantamount to getting him killed.
At least for now, they were still comrades.
Just as morale was high on Konoha's front line, Iwagakure in the Land of Earth sent troops across Kannabi Bridge to attack Konoha's right flank, joining the war.
Yuya knew that the balance of this war would now depend on the Land of Water.
However...
It would be worth trying to win over the Land of Wind, too.
Although, in the original history, the Land of Wind hadn't taken part in the First Shinobi World War at all, spending the entire time fighting Shukaku, the One-Tail, and trying to strengthen the Tailed Beasts to make a big move, this was reality. No one could guarantee that the Land of Wind wouldn't send troops.
The Land of Water had already made a move, but Yuya had delayed them for a while with a show of financial force. They were probably still discussing whether to come negotiate.
Whether they came to negotiate wasn't the key. All that mattered was that the Land of Water had no plans to attack yet.
Senju Tobirama kept saying he was confident he could handle attacks from other countries, but when it came down to it, there was no such thing as absolute certainty in a war.
So the Land of Water was the key from here on.
Against this backdrop, another week passed. Konoha had not only held off the Land of Lightning's offensive, but with the Raikage appearing on the battlefield alongside the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, Senju Tobirama could no longer sit out the fighting in the rear.
The rear's military affairs were left entirely to Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other five.
Besides that, Yuya was given a less conspicuous appointment: quartermaster of the Konoha Ninja Army, responsible for overseeing the requisition and distribution of all supplies and provisions.
Under these circumstances, a delegation from the Land of Water arrived at the rear headquarters.
The members wore haughty expressions and paid no heed to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzō, and the others at headquarters.
After all, at this point in time, these people had no real reputation to speak of.
As expected, the negotiations fell apart.
The Land of Water's terms were a hundred million ryō for them to withdraw from the war, and another hundred million ryō to turn around and help Konoha smash the fools of Kumogakure.
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't possibly agree.
Even though Senju Tobirama had advised him to think it over before deciding, the offer was simply too outrageous.
It was the very definition of getting something for nothing.
The Land of Water's envoy didn't seem bothered. He had known from the start that Konoha wouldn't accept those terms.
So they prepared to head back.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others looked grim. They knew that if the envoys returned, the Land of Water would attack Konoha next.
Shimura Danzō's eyes were practically blazing with murderous intent.
The Kirigakure delegation was getting frightened. One of them hurriedly said, "Even if you kill us, the Land of Water will still join the war! And when it does, it will fight Konoha with all its strength!"
At that, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others had no choice but to back down.
The Land of Water's delegation breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to make a run for it when Kagami Uchiha stopped them.
"What—what do you want?"
Kagami Uchiha smiled faintly. "The negotiations may have failed, but we can still discuss other forms of cooperation. The head of Konoha's supplies department would like to see you."
Kagami escorted the Land of Water's delegation to Yuya's tent.
Yuya had transformed into a man about six feet tall, with curly black hair falling over his shoulders and attractive stubble on his chin that gave him the charm of a mature man.
Yuya sat cross-legged behind the desk in the tent and gestured for the Land of Water's delegation to sit.
One of the envoys stepped forward and looked at Yuya with a frown. "Who are you?"
Yuya smiled faintly. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kamigane Yuya. I'm a student of the First, and the current Hokage, Senju Tobirama, is my uncle."
The envoy from the Land of Water frowned at the man in front of him, who looked to be in his thirties.
A student of Senju Hashirama? Was there really such a person?
Never mind. That wasn't important.
"You called us here. What do you want?" the envoy asked in a low voice, looking at Yuya, who had transformed into a middle-aged man.
Yuya smiled and poured the head of the delegation a cup of tea. "Don't be nervous. I sincerely want to discuss cooperation with your side."
The envoy was about to speak, but Yuya raised a hand to stop him. "Of course, we can't accept the terms you proposed earlier. Everyone would like to get something for nothing, but we all know that no one's a fool. So it's fine to joke about such things, but they're not suitable as a serious proposal."
Yuya had made his position clear. By dismissing the Land of Water's earlier offer as a joke, he shut down any chance of them bringing it up again.
As expected, the envoy from the Land of Water fell silent.
Yuya then took out a scroll and unrolled it. Looking at the envoy, he said, "This is Konoha's sincere offer. I've discussed every term written here with Lord Hokage, and he's agreed to all of them. If your side agrees and the Mizukage signs and stamps it, our countries can become allies and trade with each other from then on."
The envoy from the Land of Water frowned slightly. This was unexpected.
In truth, he had known as soon as he received this mission that it wouldn't be an easy one. But the Mizukage hadn't given him a chance to refuse, so he'd had no choice but to come and face it.
At first, things had gone exactly as he expected: Konoha would surely reject the Mizukage's terms, which even he considered shameless.
But the scroll in the handsome middle-aged man's hands...
That was beyond his expectations.
It seemed that Konoha's offer of an alliance with the Land of Water wasn't, as he had assumed, just a stalling tactic to keep the Land of Water from immediately joining the war between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
The envoy's forehead began to glisten with sweat as he looked at the densely packed terms.
There was no way this had been drawn up in just the past few days, was there?
So Konoha genuinely wanted an alliance with Kirigakure?
Uh...
How was a low-ranking envoy like him supposed to make that decision?
Why don't I reply to comments? Bro, I have to work. If I don't work, I don't get paid, and I can't afford to eat. I'm not a full-time writer. I do have a backlog, but it's for emergencies, in case something comes up and I can't write. There's no way I'd post all of it. I only have eight chapters saved up right now, enough for four days. That's nowhere near enough, okay?
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