Surrender Agreement! A Humiliating Treaty!

The smoke of war had cleared.

"Senior Shikaku."

Tobirama stood beside the enormous footprint left by Susanoo, casually wiping away nonexistent dust as he spoke.

Shikaku Nara was covered in blood, yet his spirits were incredibly high. Hearing the summons, he immediately used Body Flicker to appear behind Tobirama and dropped to one knee.

"Lord Tobirama, please give your orders."

His posture was reverent, as though he were serving not the Hokage... but a god.

"Pass on my orders."

"The Hokage has already granted authorization. From this moment onward, I have full authority over all frontline affairs."

"Clean up the battlefield and seize all spoils of war."

"Then..." Tobirama glanced at the trembling remnants of the allied army in the distance. "Bring those two leaders along. Everyone returns to Amegakure."

"Yes!"

Without a single question, Shikaku Nara accepted the order and departed.

"Flying Thunder God Technique—change it to Flying Thunder Transmission!"

Relying on the Flying Thunder God and his endless chakra, Tobirama began directly teleporting through space, bringing the massive army of several thousand back to Amegakure.

That move once again stunned everyone present.

Amegakure, the central tower's conference room.

This had once been the place where Hanzo issued commands. Now, it had become Konoha's celebration hall and negotiation chamber.

At one end of the long table, Tobirama sat imposingly. Beside him were Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the heads of Konoha's major clans.

Their momentum was overwhelming, their oppressive presence immense.

At the other end of the table sat Kumogakure's strategist Dodai and Iwagakure's Kitsuchi.

As for the Land of Wind?

Chiyo was dead, and the upper ranks had been wiped out. It was now a scattered mess without anyone capable of speaking for them, so they were simply absent from the negotiations.

"Now that everyone is here, sign it."

Tobirama did not waste words. He directly tossed over two scrolls that had long been prepared.

"These are the postwar peace and reparations agreements."

Dodai opened the scroll with trembling hands.

After just one glance, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. He almost passed out from failing to catch his breath.

Kitsuchi was so furious that his wounds split open, blood spurting out.

[Article One: Kumogakure and Iwagakure shall each pay Konoha war reparations of one trillion ryo.]

[Article Two: Both nations shall unconditionally surrender all Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts to Konoha for safekeeping and shall no longer possess Tailed Beasts from this day forth.]

[Article Three: Both nations shall reduce their ninja forces. Their standing ninja armies may not exceed one thousand personnel.]

[Article Four: Both nations shall acknowledge themselves as Konoha's vassal states and annually offer thirty percent of their total resources and mineral production, as well as ten percent of national fiscal revenue.]

[Article Five: Konoha has the right to station troops and develop resources within both nations. The two nations may not interfere and must ensure the safety of Konoha's interests and personnel. Areas where Konoha stations troops or develops resources shall be regarded as Konoha territory, and the two nations may not enter them at will.]

[Article Six: If Konoha wages war, both nations are obligated to assist Konoha in battle.]

[Article Seven: Konoha has the right to intervene in the internal affairs of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning at any time and correct them promptly.]

What kind of peace agreement was this?

This was clearly a deed of sale! A Slave Treaty that would destroy their nations and wipe out their peoples!

Bang!

Kitsuchi slammed his fist onto the table and roared heartbreakingly.

"This is going too far!"

"Tobirama Uchiha! You must be dreaming!"

"Hand over the Tailed Beasts? Become vassal states? Reduce our armies?"

"You might as well just kill us all!"

Dodai wore an equally resolute expression, gritting his teeth.

"Kumogakure will never sign such a humiliating treaty!"

"Even if Lord Raikage were still here, he would never agree!"

Faced with their roars,

even Konoha's ninja in the conference room were somewhat speechless.

Ruthless.

Too ruthless.

This was practically driving people to their deaths.

But Tobirama smiled.

He leaned forward. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan slowly turned, and the terrifying power of his eyes instantly dropped the room's temperature to freezing.

Click.

He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke into their faces.

"Gentlemen, I think you have misunderstood something."

"This is a notice, not a request."

"What you could not obtain on the battlefield, do not even think of getting at the negotiating table."

Tobirama pointed outside the window, his voice as cold as shards of ice.

"I currently have thirty thousand Konoha troops, including the Rain Ninja we have just absorbed, and their morale is high."

"I have Susanoo, Wood Release, and Flying Thunder God."

"If you refuse to sign..."

"Then I will kill you both on the spot and lead my army to the Valley of Clouds and Lightning and the Land of Earth."

"When that happens, it will not be as simple as paying reparations."

"I will wipe Iwagakure and Kumogakure off the map!"

"You should understand that since I can defeat your allied army by myself once, I can defeat it twice, three times, or countless times."

"How many people do your two nations have? Even if every last one of you came at me, I could kill you all with ease! Once your nations are destroyed, what face will you have left to stand here and talk to me about dignity?"

"You..."

Kitsuchi and Dodai stiffened all over, as though they had fallen into an ice pit.

They looked into the young man's eyes.

There was no hint that he was joking.

He was serious!

This madman really would do it!

"This... this is too important for us to decide..."

Dodai's mental defenses collapsed, and his voice took on a sobbing tone.

"We need to consult Lord Raikage... and Lord Tsuchikage..."

"Consult them?"

Tobirama sneered.

"Ōnoki is now my loyal servant. As for the Third Raikage... he is still lying in the Medical Corps."

"You want to see them? Fine."

"But that will cost extra."

"Signing this agreement protects your nations' lives. If you want to ransom back your Kage, you will have to pay more."

Overbearing!

Shameless!

This was naked extortion!

"I will give you five minutes."

Tobirama slapped a pocket watch onto the table.

"If you do not sign within five minutes..."

"I will hang the Third Raikage's head from the flagpole as an offering to the banner, then immediately send out the troops."

"The countdown begins."

"Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock..."

The sound of the pocket watch rang through the deathly silent conference room like a funeral bell calling for their lives.

Every second tortured the two men's nerves.

Dodai was drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through.

Kitsuchi's hand shook violently as he gripped the pen, his knuckles white.

Sign? Then they would become sinners for all eternity, condemned for generations.

Refuse? Then their nations would be annihilated, and they would not even have the chance to bear the infamy.

What should they do?

What were they supposed to do?!

"One minute left."

Tobirama played with the kunai in his hand, amusement in his eyes.

"Thirty seconds."

"Ten seconds."

"Looks like you two have some backbone..."

Tobirama rose to his feet, killing intent erupting from him.

"Then die..."

"I'll sign!"

Dodai broke down and let out a desperate cry.

He snatched up the pen and heavily signed his name upon the humiliating treaty. Then, as if his bones had been pulled out, he collapsed into his chair and covered his face as he wept.

Once there was a first, there would be a second.

Seeing Dodai sign, Kitsuchi also signed his name with trembling hands and tears of blood streaming down his face.

Iwagakure and Kumogakure had completely become Konoha's vassals.

"That's more like it."

Tobirama put away the scrolls and flicked them in satisfaction.

"A wise man submits to the times."

"Go back and gather the money. I will give you one month."

"Get out."

The two men felt as though they had received a pardon. They scrambled and crawled out of the conference room, their backs as desolate as homeless dogs.

"We won!!"

"Long live Lord Tobirama!"

The Konoha ninja in the conference room could no longer restrain themselves and erupted into deafening cheers.

This was an unparalleled achievement of expanding their territory!

From this day onward, Konoha would be the Ninja World's sole hegemon!

And all of it had been brought about by the young man before them!

"Enough. Stop howling."

Tobirama waved a hand and tossed the scrolls to Tsunade.

"Tsunade, arrange tonight's victory banquet. Let everyone eat and drink their fill; put it on my tab."

"Shikaku, take charge of the garrison arrangements. Do not let those bastards try anything."

"Yes!"

Everyone accepted their orders and left, each of them beaming with joy.

Before long, the enormous conference room was empty.

Except for...

the Uchiha Clan members.

There were roughly forty or fifty of them, all elites who had fought bloodily on the front lines.

Leading them was the former clan head, Fushan Uchiha.

Fushan had his head lowered, his expression complicated and even somewhat uneasy.

The atmosphere instantly shifted from the earlier revelry to grim tension.

"Senior Fushan."

Tobirama remained seated at the head of the table, idly playing with that Flying Thunder God Kunai.

His voice was soft, yet it made Fugaku's entire body tremble.

"Everyone else has gone to celebrate."

"Do you know why I kept you here?"

Tobirama raised his head. His eyes were calm as a stagnant pool, yet unfathomably deep.

"The Uchiha Clan is too noisy now."

"I prefer peace and quiet."

"What do you think?"