We Have a Duty to Fulfill!

Danzo let out a heavy cold snort.

"For guests who have come from afar, we must show enough patience." Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and spoke, signaling for the two beside him to be quiet.

The two stopped talking upon hearing this, though their eyes still flickered as each made their own calculations.

Suddenly.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

A muscular giant standing over six feet tall, with a thick beard, entered the conference room.

Many members of the Cloud Village Delegation followed behind him.

Including Samui and Darui.

Odley, the leader of the Cloud Village Delegation, directly took the seat of honor.

Strictly speaking.

As Konoha's Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen had no need to attend this sort of meeting since the Fourth Raikage had not come.

The advisers around him had tried to dissuade Sarutobi Hiruzen, but in order to display Konoha's bearing and sincerity, he not only attended personally but also brought along Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru to show the importance he attached to it.

"Something came up and delayed me. My apologies, everyone." Odley laughed heartily, immediately giving the Konoha group a show of dominance.

He got straight to the point.

"Lord Hokage, we of Cloud Village have always loved peace. This time, we have come to Konoha with the utmost sincerity to form a peace treaty with Konoha. We hope to engage in deep discussions over certain details and resolve issues left over from history."

Odley's words made the Konoha higher-ups roll their eyes.

Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kumogakure worshipped force the most, and many wars had been provoked from behind the scenes by them.

Especially during the Third Shinobi World War. If Namikaze Minato had not deterred the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, the war might have dragged on for several more years, perhaps even remaining unresolved to this day.

Kumogakure loved peace?

Heh...

An awkward yet polite smile appeared on Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged face as he replied, "Konoha feels the same."

"Hahaha." After laughing brightly, Odley said with a smile, "Then let us not waste time. Let the negotiations begin."

Odley directly presided over the meeting as though he were the host.

This behavior also left the Konoha higher-ups inwardly displeased.

However, before the negotiations, Sarutobi Hiruzen had warned the major clans not to offend the Cloud Village Delegation for the sake of peace, so none of them said anything further.

Fugaku in particular was happy to take it easy. He leisurely sipped the prized tea that Sarutobi Hiruzen normally could not bear to bring out, cup after cup, occasionally refilling it himself, looking thoroughly at ease.

"The main conditions for Cloud Village to form a peace treaty with your village are as follows."

"First: Konoha's sentry-line defenses stationed in the Land of Hot Water must withdraw fifty li."

"Second: All cloud ninja prisoners from the Third Shinobi World War must be returned to Kumogakure."

"Third: Konoha has flat, fertile land and abundant grain production. We hope that, for the next five years, you will provide Kumogakure with four hundred thousand jin of grain each year."

Once Odley's voice fell silent.

The Konoha higher-ups stared at them in disbelief.

They found it both ridiculous and infuriating.

What kind of peace treaty was this?

Had Cloud Village already defeated Konoha in their minds and come to make Konoha sign a surrender treaty?

Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had always "loved peace," furrowed his brow deeply.

Had Kumogakure not come with the utmost sincerity to form a peace treaty?

This was it?

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke calmly.

"Leader Odley, today is a fine day to form a peace treaty. In order to promote friendly communication and exchange between our villages, some issues can be discussed and resolved through negotiation. However, the conditions you have proposed are too harsh, and we cannot accept them in full."

"First: Konoha's sentry-line defenses in the Land of Hot Water can only withdraw ten li."

The Land of Hot Water lay wedged between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.

To monitor Kumogakure, Konoha had established a large number of sentry-line defenses in the Land of Hot Water.

If those defenses withdrew fifty li, Konoha would completely lose its ability to monitor Kumogakure, allowing Cloud Village to attack Konoha at will.

A withdrawal of ten li was the limit.

It was also the bottom line.

As for the second condition.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stated.

Kumogakure shinobi who posed little danger.

Could be considered for return.

At the same time, captured Konoha shinobi had to be returned to Konoha at a one-to-one ratio.

As for the third condition.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stated that, as humanitarian aid, Konoha could provide Kumogakure with one hundred thousand jin of grain as a one-time gift.

Unexpectedly, Odley was particularly concerned about the final matter. He frowned as he spoke.

"One hundred thousand jin as a one-time payment? That is only enough food for at most two hundred and fifty people for a year. Is that not too little?"

Odley looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and complained, "Lord Hokage, Konoha produces abundant grain. One hundred thousand jin is truly too little."

"Our Kumogakure is located among high mountains, and the geography is not favorable. Could you give us more!?"

He looked as though being poor gave him the right to demand more.

After hesitating for a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally said, "Then two hundred thousand jin."

"Lord Hokage, you..." Danzo could not help speaking, but Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand and interrupted him before he could finish.

Danzo sneered.

He thought Sarutobi Hiruzen was truly foolish, actually using his own village's grain to aid the enemy.

A peace treaty was nothing more than a scrap of paper.

Cloud Village could tear it up whenever they wished.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was actually placing peace upon such a thing. How naive!

Konoha's geographical conditions were indeed favorable, but it also had a large population, and grain was limited.

Giving Kumogakure two hundred thousand jin of grain all at once.

Some villagers would not have enough to eat this winter...

But Sarutobi Hiruzen saw things differently.

As long as peace and stability could be maintained.

The villagers would live better lives.

Those two hundred thousand jin of grain had value.

Next.

Konoha also put forward its own conditions.

To everyone's surprise.

Cloud Village readily accepted many of the conditions.

There was none of the expected table-slamming and shouting.

This peace treaty negotiation went extremely smoothly.

After all, Cloud Village's goal was to obtain the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai.

As the meeting was about to end, Odley complained to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Lord Hokage, some time ago, a member of the Cloud Village Delegation was bullied by one of Konoha's shinobi. I hope Lord Hokage can seek justice for Cloud Village!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen raised a brow. "Do you know who it was?"

Odley gave a sinister smile.

"It was one of your Uchiha youths, seemingly named Uchiha Genya."

At once.

All eyes in the room turned toward Fugaku.

Some even began to take pleasure in his misfortune.

I Cannot Refuse This Duty! (Please Follow, Favorite, and Vote)

Noticing quite a few people around him casting ill-intentioned looks his way, Fugaku slowly spoke after taking his seventh cup of tea.

"I heard about this matter from Genya, a youth of my clan. The cause of the incident was that a member of the Cloud Village Delegation had provoked one of our clansmen without reason. Since Leader Odley has failed to discipline his subordinates properly, we Uchiha will educate them on your behalf, lest they go to other villages in the future and accidentally lose their lives."

"By that logic, your Cloud Village should be thanking the Uchiha!"

When Fugaku heard about this from Genya, he had not known whether to laugh or cry, marveling at how truly bold the latter was.

But the Cloud Village Delegation was the side at fault.

They could not possibly expect the Uchiha to swallow their anger, could they?

Besides, after more than two years of development.

The Uchiha's strength had changed greatly. There was no need for them to endure humiliation and compromise.

"Bullshit!" Odley roared at Fugaku, slamming his palm onto the table. "Every member of our Cloud Village Delegation is polite and well-mannered. Even when we speak, we keep our voices soft. How could we possibly provoke the Uchiha for no reason?"

Odley denied Fugaku's earlier remarks.

After speaking, he did not forget to pound the tabletop heavily, as though doing so would make his words more credible.

The expressions of many Konoha higher-ups turned strange when they saw his actions.

Polite, well-mannered, soft-spoken?

Were you here to tell jokes?

Even the members of the Cloud Village Delegation lowered their heads slightly.

Their leader seemed to have exaggerated a little too much...

Despite the other side flying into a rage, Fugaku remained unconcerned.

He drank his eighth cup of tea...

At the same time.

Shisui stepped out from the crowd and spoke to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Lord Hokage, I observed the entire incident. The Cloud Village Delegation was indeed the first to provoke and attack."

Next.

Shisui recounted everything he had seen and heard that day.

Shisui might have been blindly loyal.

But he still knew how to distinguish right from wrong.

Cloud Village was clearly the side at fault in this matter!

After hearing the report, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow furrowed tightly.

He might not believe Fugaku.

But he could not refuse to believe Shisui of the Anbu.

If he punished the Uchiha, every clan present would be left disheartened.

If the Hokage could sell out the Uchiha for the sake of a mere Cloud Village Delegation, would he sell me out next time too?