A Disheveled Konoha

"This is the attitude for a negotiation. We had a foundation for cooperation that would have benefited both sides, but your previous actions reminded me of the Sarutobi Clan, and it disgusted me.

Now that your attitude is sincere, we can proceed with the cooperation, provided you meet two requirements.

First, all grain must be paid for in gold.

Second, whenever you are at war with Konoha, all corpses of Konoha ninjas must be transported to the City of Wood; they can be exchanged for other daily necessities.

Likewise, the corpses of other ninjas can also be exchanged for supplies here.

It's as simple as that."

Senju Nawaki spread his hands, stating his demands without making things difficult for Ebizo.

The things hidden behind these requests were what Senju Nawaki truly desired; he could afford to make some useless concessions to the other four great ninja villages.

"It's a deal."

Ebizo was filled with doubt, yet he agreed readily. These weren't really conditions; they were practically handing over benefits.

He even felt that Senju Nawaki was the one making concessions.

These two conditions, these two requests, were strange one after another, but they were equally beneficial to Sunagakure.

In the current Ninja World, the five great ninja nations were pushing for a unified monetary policy to consolidate the interests of the nobility and their regimes.

The currency they promoted could buy anything in the Ninja World, and within the Bounty Exchange, one could even purchase unique ninjutsu.

Their Sunagakure had the most abundant gold reserves—after all, their Kazekage possessed the Magnet Release bloodline limit, allowing him to mine vast amounts of gold.

Sunagakure had suffered the greatest impact from the monetary policy reforms.

There was even a joke in the Ninja World that the Kazekage was using his bloodline limit to mine gold just to keep Sunagakure fed.

As for the second requirement, while ninja corpses contained various pieces of intelligence, the value of such information was limited. Being able to exchange them for other supplies was perfectly acceptable.

"Sixth Grandfather, sign the contract."

Senju Nawaki ignored the peculiar look in Ebizo's eyes and spoke to Senju Tojian.

He had his own motives for doing this.

The credit-based currency of the five great ninja nations was more like a massive scam designed to expand their influence and control every aspect of the Ninja World.

The most formidable tool among them was the Bounty Exchange.

Merely by using paper printed with numbers, they could manipulate all the rogue ninjas in the Ninja World to hunt down famous ninjas; such military power was no weaker than any ninja village.

At certain times, it could even sway the course of the Ninja World.

He intended to get a piece of that pie.

He wanted the currency of the Bounty Exchange to be not paper printed with numbers, but precious gold.

Going further, through the Bloodline Completion System, he could refine pure chakra-attribute energy—bloodline essence that could alter a ninja's cultivation aptitude.

This would be an even more attractive currency. Through these means, he would be able to control the Bounty Exchange, master the dark side of the Ninja World, and obtain everything he desired.

A place like the Bounty Exchange was practically tailor-made for him.

As for the corpses of Konoha ninjas, they were nutrients for his own bloodline advancement and the supplies needed to realize his plans.

After dealing with Kumogakure and Sunagakure, Iwagakure and Kirigakure followed. While no major cooperation was fostered, a basic consensus was reached.

Due to geographical and power-related factors, as long as the Senju Clan did not aid Konoha, they would not take any hostile actions against the Senju.

Other smaller factions, having witnessed the power of Wood Release, showed sufficient respect and reached some minor agreements.

The Senju Clan was gradually regaining its vitality.

After a day of negotiations and exchanges, the Senju Clan had firmly established a foothold in the Ninja World, at least on the surface.

In stark contrast was Konoha Village.

With the departure of the Senju Clan, Konoha's defensive strength had dropped to its lowest point in history.

Having received Senju Nawaki's stance, the pace of the invasion against Konoha accelerated.

The reputation of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, plummeted in Konoha and across the Ninja World, becoming synonymous with conspiracy.

At the Hokage Building, Konoha was holding a Jonin meeting to address the looming crisis.

Sitting in the main seat was Sarutobi Hiruzen, flanked by the Konoha Council of Elders: Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo.

Next were the representatives of the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, the Ino-Shika-Cho families, and other ninja clans.

The atmosphere in the room hit freezing point. Everyone's faces were extremely grim, and their gazes, whether intentional or not, were filled with suspicion as they looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.

After Shimura Danzo returned, the defensive lines of the Land of Fire had come under attack.

Only then did they suddenly realize what kind of pressure they were facing now that the Senju Clan, who had been on the front lines, had vanished.

An even graver issue was that these conflicts had officially begun, and the possibility of a full-scale war had erupted.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was also incredibly agitated. Obsessed with managing his reputation, he could not understand how Senju Nawaki, whom he had gaslit into becoming a loyal dog, had suddenly awakened and caused him such massive negative repercussions.

His most valued son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, had also vanished without a trace.

All of this left him utterly overwhelmed.

He had to find a way to salvage the situation; the most important thing now was to solidify his own position in Konoha.

"Ahem... Shimura Danzo failed to persuade Senju Nawaki to return, so he must bear a portion of the responsibility. Regardless, the Senju Clan has betrayed Konoha and caused immense losses to our homeland. I propose that we confiscate all of the Senju Clan's assets within Konoha to compensate for the village's losses."

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his small pipe, intending to light it, but ultimately gave up and spoke with feigned authority.

Only by shifting all the blame onto the Senju Clan could he maintain his current prestige.

Lately, dissenting voices had begun to emerge within Konoha, leaving him feeling incredibly exhausted.

"Lord Hokage, the Senju Clan no longer possesses any assets. I fear that..."

Mitokado Homura, standing at his side, spoke up hurriedly, disregarding the gazes of those around him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen froze in place.

How could they have no assets?

His Sarutobi Clan had used various means to encroach upon the Senju Clan's resources, yet they hadn't wiped them out entirely—they had only taken the lion's share.

They had even used various legitimate excuses, such as marriage alliances, to justify it.

Now, Mitokado Homura was telling him that the Senju Clan had no assets left in Konoha. How was that possible?

He had always kept a card up his sleeve, choosing not to finish them off completely, just waiting for this war to make the Senju Clan the scapegoats and allow them to fade away with some semblance of dignity.

Some of the jonin sitting at the conference table lowered their heads in shame.

They all bore responsibility for the Senju Clan ending up in this state.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a sense of relief in his heart; this meant the blame wouldn't fall entirely on him, and the Sarutobi Clan's situation wasn't as dire as he had imagined.

The only remaining trouble was finding cannon fodder for the war.