The Sunagakure Emissary Group's Arrival, Clash of Interests, and Welcome Banquet with an Old Hand

Three days later, the Sunagakure Emissary Group arrived in Konoha.

The scent of wind and sand seemed to have been brought in with them. At the head was the advisor Chiyo, dressed in plain robes. The wrinkles on her face resembled the dried riverbeds of the Land of Wind, while her seemingly murky eyes held all the weathering of two Shinobi World Wars.

She did not look at Morita, the Foreign Affairs Minister who had come to welcome them. Her gaze passed over everyone and landed directly on the top of the Hokage Building.

That evening's welcome banquet was held in Konoha's highest-standard reception hall.

The atmosphere could hardly be called warm, but neither was it cold. It maintained a kind of perfunctory courtesy.

Chiyo was seated at the principal guest's table. Her gaze swept across the head table before finally stopping on Baishi and Namikaze Minato.

Fifth Hokage Baishi.

The former hero, Namikaze Minato.

The two sat side by side, with almost no distinction between their positions.

In the power structure of any shinobi village, this was an extremely abnormal signal.

Chiyo raised her wine cup and slowly rose to her feet.

The conversations filling the hall gradually quieted, and everyone's eyes converged on her.

"This old woman hasn't been to Konoha in many years." Chiyo's voice was hoarse yet steady. "The last time I came was to sign the armistice agreement for the Third Shinobi World War."

Her words caused the expressions of many Jonin present who had experienced that war to darken slightly.

"That battle was too bitter. Sunagakure lost many outstanding shinobi. I imagine Konoha did as well."

Chiyo turned her gaze toward Namikaze Minato. A carefully measured trace of remembrance and sorrow surfaced in her murky eyes.

"This old woman still remembers that golden flash