The Negotiations About to Begin

"You people really are something... One of you is being manipulated by a purple old hag, and another is picking on kids... Don't drag down the reputation of us Li Kes."

Dark Li Ke, who had been watching all this unfold, stretched and spoke into the Black Mist Space.

"Come to think of it, haven't you noticed? This Black Mist Space is getting more and more stable. Also, do you think there might be a female Li Ke?"

He voiced his concern. After all, each Li Ke had developed different personalities and preferences because of their bodies, backgrounds, and circumstances.

So he was pretty worried one of them might be a lovesick female Li Ke.

"A female version of me... Her fighting style would probably be more agile. The combat techniques of my teacher Scathach, whom I remember, would suit her perfectly and help her challenge powerful opponents."

Type-Moon Li Ke was the first to think of that.

"Could you act normal for once? Or just go completely nuts..."

Dark Li Ke couldn't help commenting again. Though Type-Moon Li Ke had confirmed that he truly had the potential to be a Nephalem, the fact that he was a lunatic who wasn't actually crazy still annoyed him.

In his eyes, if Type-Moon Li Ke wanted to kill the Counter Force, why care about Earth or humanity? Just kill it first. Even if Earth and humanity really were destroyed, they could figure out a way to turn back time afterward.

Though turning back time might not even work, seeing him worry so much about humanity's destruction was truly exasperating.

Still, he understood Type-Moon Li Ke. He had his own social circle, after all, and if he acted without restraint, his family would be the first to suffer. Unlike him, his family had already been slaughtered by demons and cultists. He had no attachments, and before getting this cheat, he'd even had something of an antisocial personality.

"Why do I feel like I'm actually the most normal one here?"

Warhammer Li Ke glanced at Dark Li Ke. He knew what the other was thinking, so he couldn't help grumbling.

He was the one who should have gone crazy, yet he hadn't. Meanwhile, Dark Li Ke was already talking about going nuts, and the end-of-the-world Li Ke's mental state was visibly not quite right, either.

Who was the one facing the Four Chaos Gods, anyway?!

"But a female Li Ke... I remember that's considered a bad trope in the 99-flow stories, right? And all I can picture when I think of a female me is some womanizer. What am I supposed to do...?"

Type-Moon Li Ke imagined a female Li Ke who took advantage of being a woman to flirt with people all day.

"Don't slander us! At least I'm not that lecherous. Kurenai was the one who chased after me! I believe in love! I'm nothing like Type-Moon me!"

Naruto Li Ke immediately raised his hand in protest.

"I'm not that lecherous, either. How could I be, with Slaanesh around?!"

Warhammer Li Ke also voiced his objection.

"Wow... You actually believe in love. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

French Li Ke couldn't help clicking his tongue. He'd seen plenty of outrageous things, so he...

Had forgotten how to love.

"What's going on?"

The newly arrived Li Ke froze. He'd just seen the different versions of himself and hadn't had a chance to say anything when Naruto Li Ke instantly appeared beside him and slapped him on the shoulder.

Then Naruto Li Ke couldn't help shouting.

"Holy shit! It's real!"

The other Li Kes came over and slapped him, too, then shouted as well.

"Holy shit! It's real!"

But before they could say anything else, the Black Mist Space, which had just been indestructible, collapsed without warning.

Naruto Li Ke's vision blurred, and he returned to the outpost where he'd been stationed. In front of him were the busy members of the Konoha Tech Team, along with the Three-Tails, who was being examined in every possible way by the team.

The situation was that Kirigakure had already pulled back across the board, focusing on defending against invasions from Kumogakure and Iwagakure. They weren't doing much to guard against Konoha; they'd only left a few sentries behind and had even stopped sending out patrols.

The reason was simple.

Kumogakure and Iwagakure were both at the end of their strength. Kirigakure could defend against them if they gritted their teeth, but if Konoha invaded, they wouldn't be able to hold out at all. So if Konoha attacked, it would be better to surrender outright.

That was why he thought the best move now was for the Hokage to take action, making a show of launching a fierce attack against Iwagakure while letting Kumogakure invade Kirigakure. Then, after Kirigakure sued for peace, they could pressure Iwagakure, get more concessions from them, and take Kirigakure in as a vassal all at once.

Just like Sunagakure.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want to do that, and Hashirama Senju in his head didn't agree with it either.

The ones who most agreed with Li Ke's idea were Madara Uchiha and Senju Tobirama. Then Tobirama would point out that Madara Uchiha agreed with Li Ke, and accuse him of betraying Konoha and weakening its strength, saying that this was why things had turned out the way they had.

Then Izuna Uchiha would see his brother getting berated and go after Senju Tobirama, only to be thoroughly crushed by him...

So the four of them were constantly arguing and having fights in his head that never killed anyone. They were driving him crazy.

If he hadn't been keeping them around just in case, and because he might need Hashirama Senju to synchronize chakra with him and boost his strength, while also observing how Li Ke did things, he would have already let Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha go just to get some peace and quiet.

"But negotiations between Kirigakure and Konoha should be coming up soon."

Li Ke knew that for certain. Kirigakure knew it couldn't hold out much longer, so it was bound to come and negotiate. The only question was what terms the Third Hokage would propose.

But since his current assignment was to keep watch over the Three-Tails, and he was getting bored, he soon thought of the world the newcomer had come from.

"Also, the newcomer's from Dynasty Warriors, but he doesn't have any of the warriors' abilities. And he's in the territory of the Kingdom of Wu, trying to stage a coup... He's got guts."

The new Li Ke had ended up in the late Han dynasty, in a world full of warriors from Dynasty Warriors—who even looked just like their game counterparts. He himself was a complete commoner, but after conducting a series of on-the-ground investigations into the Han dynasty—

He'd decided to stage a coup without any special powers at all.

He certainly had guts.

And the most ridiculous part was, he'd actually managed to gather a group of people. They were currently doing business under the name of a trading company, and had even established a working relationship with some of Zhidongwu's smaller families. He sure knew how to make trouble.

"You can tell at a glance he's a rising star in nation-building."

After making that comment, Li Ke sensed a surge of chakra. The next moment, Minato Namikaze appeared beside him.

Li Ke saw that he still wore his usual sunny smile, but it looked a little forced.

"Li Ke, this is the village's latest order... Also... You'd better read this yourself."

With that, he took out two scrolls. The first instructed Li Ke to keep a close eye on the Three-Tails, since the negotiations would take place beside it.

The next scroll contained Minato Namikaze's own copy of the meeting notes about the negotiations with Kirigakure.

But after reading them, Li Ke could think of only one thing.

"Damn it, this is a humiliating sellout!"

Then Senju Tobirama in his mind let out an exceptionally shrill howl.

"Monkey!!!"

After he howled, Hashirama Senju spoke up.

"Huh? What's wrong? Returning the Tailed Beasts unconditionally seems pretty good, doesn't it? And not demanding reparations is to keep them from starting another war over mission shares, right? Giving them a portion of the mission allotment would make sure they didn't run short on money and start a war, while also ensuring they could resist the threats from Iwagakure and Kirigakure. Seems fine to me."

Hashirama Senju's voice was filled with the bewilderment of someone who knew nothing.

Li Ke's inner world fell silent for a while, then Madara Uchiha spoke.

"Kid... Do you understand the greatness of the Eye of the Moon Plan now?"

His voice was full of helplessness, but his younger brother, Izuna, asked in confusion,

"Isn't this pretty good? Isn't this the peace you wanted, big brother? Everyone has enough to eat, and no one has to worry about missions and all that."

And so, Li Ke's inner world fell silent once more.

The biggest problem with splitting it into two-thousand-word chunks is...

Coming up with chapter titles...

I spent three minutes trying to think of one title...