Negotiations

Time rewound to just after the Battle of the Canyon...

Location: the Land of Fire's capital, inside the Guardian Pavilion in the Inner Citadel, at the very heart of Pingjing City.

"The Senju Clan broke through and escaped?"

"Master Yamashita and the Fire Temple's warrior monks were captured by the Uchiha Clan?"

"The entire Ninja Guard, including Captain Masai Shoichi and Vice-Captain Okune Daisan, was killed?"

"Useless! Every last one of you is useless!"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire stared at Grand Minister Nishida Toshio, his eyes bloodshot, like a furious lion.

"Now what?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire descended the steps from his throne one at a time and walked toward Grand Minister Nishida Toshio, forcing him to give an answer.

Truth be told, the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire was quite ambitious and enterprising. As soon as he took the throne, he set about improving the bureaucracy and vigorously developing the people's livelihoods.

The Land of Fire lay at the very center of the continent.

Merchants from any country who wanted to cross the continent had to travel through the Land of Fire.

The Land of Fire could even be called the continent's most important transportation hub.

Because it was the continent's most important transportation hub, merchants from all over gathered and traded in the Land of Fire, then set out from there to do business in other countries...

This unique geographical setting had also given rise to the Land of Fire's highly developed commercial system.

On top of that, the Land of Fire had flat terrain, few mountains, and an eastern coastline. Influenced by the monsoon climate, its temperatures were mild and it received abundant sunshine, making it ideal for growing crops.

The Land of Fire was also the only one of the Five Great Nations with a peninsula.

Although the peninsula lay in the southeastern part of the Land of Fire, and the Land of Fire occupied only about half its area,

the Land of Fire effectively controlled the entire peninsula.

The peninsula was also closely connected to the mainland, making it difficult to isolate. In the event of war, it offered an overwhelming military advantage and a steady supply line, and was easy to attack and defend.

So, thanks to this uniquely secure environment, the Land of Fire's agriculture was also highly developed.

There was a reason the Land of Fire could become the superpower at the head of the other four great nations.

Since taking the throne, the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire had also issued many decrees to promote the country's development.

Compared to life under the previous daimyo, the standard of living for commoners under the Land of Fire's rule had improved considerably.

But just as the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire was working even harder to govern the country, the various ninja clans within its borders kept waging war against one another.

This infuriated the current daimyo.

But the conservative samurai faction, led by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, lacked the strength to stop them.

For a country to develop, it needed a relatively peaceful internal environment. Yet these ninja clans kept fighting, day after day, until they were at each other's throats.

When the powerful broke the law, it was the greatest headache for any ruler.

So, at the suggestion of Grand Minister Nishida Toshio, the current Daimyo of the Land of Fire decided to use one ninja clan to defeat another.

There were simply too many ninja clans within the Land of Fire.

So the daimyo decided to make an example of one to warn the rest, and chose the Uchiha Clan, one of the Land of Fire's top ninja clans, as his first target.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire believed that if he could crush the Uchiha Clan completely, the other ninja clans in the country would understand what they needed to do.

After all, logically speaking, no single ninja clan could possibly stand against a nation.

The reasoning was simple: war was fought with money. No matter how wealthy a ninja clan was, could it be wealthier than the Daimyo of the Land of Fire?

So the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had been full of confidence, while Grand Minister Nishida Toshio worked tirelessly to...

He had not only contacted the Senju Clan, which was nearly as powerful as the Uchiha Clan but more compliant,

but also reached out to the Fire Temple, which had always been on friendly terms with the daimyo, and brought in the Ninja Guard under the daimyo's command.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire had believed that with these three forces surrounding them, the Uchiha Clan would never escape its fate of being crushed.

And to ensure the Uchiha Clan was crushed completely, the daimyo had opened his armory, supplied a large stockpile of standard weapons and equipment, and sent people to contact the general of the Land of Iron's samurai forces.

He had thought everything would go according to plan. Who could have guessed that he would now receive news that the Senju Clan had broken through and fled, the Fire Temple's warrior monks had been captured, and his entire Ninja Guard had been killed?

Most importantly, the Uchiha Clan had seized that large stockpile of standard weapons and equipment.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire had also learned from his intelligence that, because of the Battle of the Canyon, the Hagoromo Clan and the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans were now preparing to ally with the Uchiha Clan!

The Uchiha Clan alone had already been hard to deal with. Now the third-strongest clan in the Land of Fire, the Hagoromo Clan, was joining them...

At the thought, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's head began to ache even more.

"...What are we supposed to do now?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire glared furiously at Grand Minister Nishida Toshio.

Grand Minister Nishida Toshio's forehead instantly beaded with sweat...

He hunched over with his head bowed, his mind in turmoil and his expression grim.

As the Daimyo of the Land of Fire spat in his face, Grand Minister Nishida Toshio began desperately considering how to handle the Uchiha Clan's retaliation.

In his previous life, Uchiha Shin had heard the saying that when an ordinary man was enraged, blood would spill within five paces; within ten paces, he could make the whole world his enemy.

That was even more true in this world of ninjas, where combat abilities had been raised to unimaginable heights.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire ruled the country, had plenty of money, and had many subordinates.

But he had no particularly powerful ninja working for him. No, he really didn't.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire and Grand Minister Nishida Toshio's entire circle were ordinary people!

A single Genin could kill ordinary people as easily as play. And the Uchiha Clan, one of the Land of Fire's top ninja clans, was even more dangerous.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was certain that if the Uchiha Clan's leader truly set his mind to assassinating him, sparing no cost, the guards in Pingjing City might not be able to stop him.

Wasn't the Senju Clan still around?

Please. The Uchiha Clan had chased them off like dogs. What use could they possibly be now?

"Your Highness, I believe the Uchiha Clan..."

"They certainly wouldn't dare openly break with you. After all, Your Highness is the esteemed Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

"There's no way a mere ninja clan could stand against a nation."

"So as long as Your Highness swallows your anger for now, we can still negotiate."

"The Uchiha Clan will only ask for certain terms."

"If they aren't too unreasonable, what harm is there in agreeing for the time being?"

"It doesn't matter that we lost this time..."

"We can secretly build up our ninja forces and wait for another opportunity."

"But the Uchiha Clan can't afford to lose. If they fail even once, the surrounding clans will pounce on them like hounds and devour them down to the bone."

"So Your Highness needn't worry or lose your temper."

"I believe we'll be able to wipe out all the ninja clans in the country sooner or later."

"And this time, I can represent Your Highness in negotiating with the Uchiha Clan and sound out their intentions."

Grand Minister Nishida Toshio wiped the sweat from his forehead, bowed, clasped his hands, and spoke to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

After hearing Grand Minister Nishida Toshio's proposal, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire considered it carefully.

That was true. The Land of Fire could afford to lose countless times...

But if the Uchiha Clan lost even once, it would fall into an abyss with no way back.

So the Uchiha Clan wouldn't dare break with the Land of Fire right now. There was no need for me to provoke them and drive them into a corner until they turned against me.

That would be bad for everyone.

I only needed to secretly build up our ninja forces. Sooner or later, I'd achieve my goal of eliminating every ninja clan within the Land of Fire.

"Very well. Since that's your recommendation,"

"I'll leave this matter to you..."

"Don't disappoint me again, Grand Minister!"

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire patted the Grand Minister on the shoulder, then spoke with pointed emphasis.

"Yes."

"Please rest assured, Your Highness."