Humiliating Treaty and Kushina's Chakra Nourishment

The night wind carried a faint, almost imperceptible chill as it blew in through the shattered window of the Hokage's Office.

The teacup at Baishi's fingertips still retained some warmth, and the mist rising from it blurred his calm, almost coldly detached profile.

He did not look again at Kyoto, which had become a living hell in the Water Mirror. To him, the screams and wails there were merely the most fitting background noise before the curtain fell on the play.

The chessboard had been set, and every piece had returned to its place. Now, all he needed to do was wait for that Messenger to bring back the result he wanted.

After an almost imperceptible ripple in space, the ANBU wearing a Crow mask and kneeling on one knee silently appeared in the shadows of the office once more.

This time, what he held up with both hands was no longer a Firebird calling for aid, but a Scroll.

It was a Scroll stained with dust, with even a faint water stain visible at one corner.

"Hokage-sama, the reply from the Daimyo Residence." The ANBU's voice still carried that flat, metallic quality.

Baishi's gaze fell upon the Scroll.

He could practically imagine how humiliated and despairing the Land of Fire's daimyo must have been when he stamped that jade seal representing supreme authority. Was that water stain tears, or cold sweat? Perhaps both.

None of that mattered anymore.

What mattered was that from the instant that seal fell, the old order that had endured in the Land of Fire for a thousand years existed in name only.

"Mm."

Baishi gave a faint acknowledgment through his nose and did not reach out to take it.

Like a king seated high above, reviewing a letter of surrender whose outcome he had