The precisely issued environmental work-stoppage order and leverage through multilateral diplomacy

The curtains in the Hokage's Office were drawn, leaving only a narrow gap that sliced the rather glaring afternoon sunlight into a thin strip across the documents on the desk.

Baishi's fingers lingered at the edge of that document for a long time.

The document was thin, just a single page. The paper was specially supplied by the Capital and carried a faint scent of ink. The writing was neat, the wording meticulous, and every word radiated unquestionable authority.

It was an "Emergency Notice on the Suspension of All Large-Scale Construction Operations on the Eastern Border of the Land of Fire," issued by the Daimyo Residence Environmental Protection Department.

The notice's central demand was that Konoha immediately halt preparations for the "Fire-Rain Border Joint Flood-Control Exercise." Its grounds were that the region's ecology was fragile, and any construction activity not rigorously assessed by the Environmental Protection Department could cause irreversible damage to the region's hydrology and geology.

At the bottom was the bright red seal of the Daimyo Residence Environmental Protection Department.

Shikaku Nara sat on the sofa opposite him, holding a cup of tea that had already gone cold. He had not said a word since Baishi came in.

Everything that needed saying had already been said when the document arrived.

This move left them no way out.

Or rather, it was an overt stratagem Lady Jiye had devised by exploiting the rules.

The other side had neither accused Konoha of having ulterior motives for the exercise nor questioned the legality of its approval. Instead, she had approached from an angle no one could refute-environmental protection.

It was an unassailable moral cause.

In the Land of Fire, the Daimyo Residence held supreme jurisdiction over domestic affairs. Although Konoha enjoyed military autonomy, it was still legally required to accept guidance