Demands from All Sides, All Manner of Indignities

Inside the conference room of the Daimyo Mansion.

Several factions were locked in a bizarre stalemate, as if performing in a stage play.

Mitokado Homura of Konoha Village and A of Kumogakure Village refused to yield an inch, both insisting on equal rights to control the resources produced by the Land of Fields.

Neither man showed the slightest regard for the Daimyo of the Land of Fields, nor did they pay any heed to Ebizo of Sunagakure.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fields stood to the side, looking slightly awkward; he did not even have the standing to sit, so he waited with a forced smile for the two parties to reach a conclusion.

From time to time, he would pour water for Ebizo, hoping that Ebizo, representing one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, would join the fray.

Even if they were the last of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, they could still sway both sides and act as a mediator; only the Five Great Shinobi Villages had the qualifications to interfere with one another.

Only then could this farce come to an end.

Ebizo sat to the side with his eyes closed, resting his mind and listening to everything unfolding before him with calm detachment, ignoring the Daimyo of the Land of Fields entirely.

Before he had arrived, the Second Kazekage had already provided a clear objective: their true target was the Land of Rivers.

The Land of Fields was merely a smokescreen.

The past experience in the Land of Waterfalls had taught them a lesson; even if a region was rich in resources, the complex political situation and geographical location were things Sunagakure simply could not grasp with its current strength.

Ebizo admired Shamon more and more for being able to carve out a path for Sunagakure.

His gaze flicked toward Tsunade. He had not expected her to leave the battlefield in the Land of Rain and come to the Land of Fields for these negotiations, which were already destined to have a specific outcome.

With Tsunade removed from the Land of Rain, the poison techniques of his sister, Chiyo, would be able to play their greatest role, carving out a territory for Sunagakure.

Was this a concession from Sarutobi Hiruzen of Konoha?

A sealing technique, and Tsunade to counter the poison?

Could they really be so devoid of a bottom line?

Sacrificing the ninjas of their own country?

Ebizo found it difficult to understand, but recalling Shamon's instructions, he continued to let the farce play out.

If things went well, there might even be unexpected benefits. With the weakness of the Daimyo of the Land of Fields, the concessions of Sarutobi Hiruzen of Konoha, and the aggressiveness of Kumogakure, someone would eventually be needed to mediate from the center.

He could not help but begin to indulge in his own pleasant fantasies.

Finally.

Tsunade could no longer hold back.

Even as a member of Konoha, she felt that the two men before her were acting with shameful greed.

Konoha wanted half the resource output, and Kumogakure wanted half the resource output, even though Sunagakure did not ask for anything at all.

What about the rights of her Senju Clan in the Land of Fields? Was that not a jointly signed alliance treaty?

She began to stand up for the Land of Fields.

Did they think the Land of Fields was a cow that could produce milk without eating grass?

Did they not need to survive?

Tsunade did not understand the art of negotiation in the slightest.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Crack. Tsunade slammed her fist onto the conference table.

The solid wooden table, ten meters long, three meters wide, and two meters thick, snapped down the middle.

Splinters flew everywhere, cutting off the negotiations between Mitokado Homura and A.

Mitokado Homura's face darkened, and he looked at Tsunade with dissatisfaction, growling in a low voice.

"Tsunade, you need to remember your position."

A looked full of regret, as if a trivial game had been interrupted; he had been toying with Mitokado Homura the entire time.

The style of Kumogakure was that if you held the upper hand, you had to extract the maximum benefit.

This negotiation felt more like a concession from Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had leaked the expected benefits and his own bottom line to Kumogakure far too early.

It was impossible for Kumogakure to settle for the same results as Konoha.

He had to fight for the greatest interests of Kumogakure and weaken the strength of Konoha.

What would happen if Konoha, once the most prosperous land with the most abundant food, were to enter a state of food shortages?

He very much wanted to see that result.

"The Secret Technique of Monstrous Strength of the Senju Clan? You have some power; we should spar sometime."

A wore a smile as he clenched his fist.

He also practiced ninjutsu-taijutsu and had developed an interest in the outburst Tsunade had just displayed; such strength was qualified to fight him.

"Have you all forgotten that the Senju Clan should have a share of these things in the Land of Fields?" Tsunade asked with a dark expression.

Regardless, she was a member of the Senju Clan, and from the very moment the Land of Fields was founded, a covenant had been established stating that a portion of the land's grain output belonged to the Senju Clan.

It was clearly understood that the grain trade was the primary source of the Senju Clan's economic foundation.

Losing this portion of the grain trade would have a detrimental impact on the Senju Clan.

Ebizo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, a flicker of disdain flashing through his pupils.

The rumors in the Ninja World were truly not to be trusted at all.

According to the information circulating out of Konoha, Tsunade was a once-in-a-century genius, while Senju Nawaki was a piece of useless trash who couldn't be helped.

Yet, looking at it now, it was Tsunade who was the one truly beyond help.

Not only was she standing with the Konoha negotiation team, but she was also unable to secure any benefits for her own clan.

This was nothing short of an act of betrayal.

She was also so naive, foolishly attempting to ease the conflict between the Senju Clan and Konoha.

Konoha had long since sold out the Senju Clan, and to forces like them, who were potential enemies, no less.

There was another important reason why Ebizo did not contest this: he did not believe that Senju Nawaki would give up the interests of the Land of Fields so easily.

When he was in the City of Wood, he had witnessed Senju Nawaki's methods firsthand.

He was nothing like the rumors in the Ninja World suggested—kind-hearted, positive, and a hot-blooded idiot; he was more like a meticulous and exceptionally ruthless hunter, always ready to strike a fatal blow.

During his brief conversation with Senju Nawaki in the City of Wood, Senju Nawaki had not seemed to value the grain of the Land of Fields all that much.

Just as the Senju Clan burning their grain had not resulted in a loss, but instead caused grain prices to skyrocket—Sunagakure had already received news of the price hikes.

Even so, he hoped the Senju Clan would win; after all, more than half of their strategic food reserves came from the Senju Clan.

The Senju Clan would not sell grain to Konoha.

Retaliation against the Land of Fields would weaken the strength of Konoha and Kumogakure Village.

"Tsunade, the Land of Fields has the right to choose its own partners.

The Senju Clan no longer has the strength to continue protecting the Land of Fields; you will only destroy it and bring misfortune upon it.

We are helping the Land of Fields to survive in a more stable and harmonious manner.

It is the Land of Fields that has chosen Konoha! Chosen Kumogakure Village! Chosen Sunagakure!"

Mitokado Homura turned his head and lectured her with the tone of an elder.

He was pulling Kumogakure Village and Sunagakure into his own camp.

A and Ebizo looked at Mitokado Homura with simultaneous disdain, as if asking, have you abandoned even the last shred of your dignity?