One's Own Life Reincarnation

"You can forget about One's Own Life Reincarnation! I'll never hand that jutsu over to you, Konoha!" Elder Chiyo refused without hesitation!

"Elder Chiyo... Could you reconsider? We, Sunagakure..." Rasa tried to persuade her, but Chiyo stopped him with a wave of her hand!

"One's Own Life Reincarnation is the work of my entire life. There's no way I'll hand it over to you. However, I just heard you say you want to use this jutsu to save Uzumaki Kushina, right? In other words, all that matters is saving her!" Chiyo schemed silently.

"Elder Chiyo, Kushina has lost too much life force. Ordinary methods won't work!" Minato explained anxiously.

"No, I never said I'd use an ordinary method. I'll still use One's Own Life Reincarnation, but I won't hand the jutsu over to you. Our Sunagakure will perform it. Just bring Uzumaki Kushina here for treatment. And bring Uchiha Gen along, too. I want to ask him something in person," Chiyo said, laying out her plan.

"Th-this... all right!" It was a shame they wouldn't get One's Own Life Reincarnation, but saving Kushina was what mattered!

"All right, since you've reached an agreement, let's discuss the terms. There's no such thing as a free lunch!" Rasa approved of Elder Chiyo's proposal, but they still needed to negotiate the terms!

"I want White Fang's son!" Chiyo cut in without hesitation when she heard them mention terms!

"Uh..." Rasa was at a loss for words!

"Huh?" The Sand shinobi were stunned!

"Impossible! Elder Chiyo, how can you go back on your word?" Minato snapped angrily. If it were some other condition, they could discuss it, but sacrificing a fellow Konoha shinobi to save his own wife? What kind of Hokage would that make him?

"Elder Chiyo, choose something else," Rasa urged. Seeing Minato's resolute expression, he gave Chiyo a knowing look. What was White Fang's son worth, anyway? Personal grudges had to take a back seat to the village's interests!

"Elder Chiyo, all we need is for you to use One's Own Life Reincarnation to save someone. We never asked you to give us the jutsu, so Sunagakure loses nothing. Please make a more reasonable request," Minato said tactfully.

Seeing how things stood, Chiyo knew she wouldn't get Hatake Kakashi. After pondering for a moment, she said to Namikaze Minato, "Fourth Hokage, please go rest for now. We need to discuss this among ourselves."

"Ah? Then... all right. Please give us your terms as soon as possible, Elder Chiyo and Fourth Kazekage. Time is running out!" Minato had no choice but to leave for the time being!

"Rasa, what do you think?" After Minato left, Chiyo turned to the Fourth Kazekage.

"According to our intelligence, Uzumaki Kushina is the wife of Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. She also has another identity: she's the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. The fact that she lost so much life force means something must have gone terribly wrong with Konoha's Jinchuriki. We can't rule out the possibility that the Nine-Tails went berserk—or even escaped!" Rasa analyzed quietly.

"It's possible the Nine-Tails went berserk, but from the looks of it, Konoha has already brought things under control. Otherwise, how would the Fourth Hokage have time to come all the way here?" Ebizo reasoned.

"I think there's more to it. Namikaze Minato told us about this without worrying that the information might get out. That suggests Konoha didn't just subdue the Nine-Tails; its losses may not have been that great. Otherwise, they'd definitely be keeping things under wraps," Chiyo offered.

"I think we should use this opportunity to propose an alliance with Konoha. The war just ended, and Sunagakure is in ruins. We haven't even reached an agreement with Kirigakure yet. If we had Konoha as an ally, Kirigakure probably wouldn't make any more unreasonable demands," Rasa suggested.

"An alliance? We only just finished fighting Konoha!" Ebizo said, troubled.

"So what? Konoha just finished a war too, and the Fourth Hokage still came here to ask for our help!" Rasa argued, displeased.

"Rasa, we have to consider how the people will feel," Chiyo explained.

"That's easy. We can announce that the Fourth Hokage took the initiative and asked for an alliance, then make public the resources we received from Konoha. The people will have no reason to object. As for those resources, Elder Chiyo can negotiate the details. Sunagakure isn't short on money, so we should focus on other kinds of aid," Rasa suggested.

"All right. But Konoha probably won't give up much just to save one person. Let's make sure we secure the alliance first. With Konoha as our ally, we'll have a much easier time pressuring Kirigakure into peace talks," Ebizo said, his expression easing.

"Fine... Let's do it," Chiyo said no more.

The negotiations between Sunagakure and Konoha went smoothly after that. Neither side wanted to fight anymore. Sunagakure had first been defeated by Konoha, then stabbed in the back by Kirigakure. Konoha had fought nearly every major shinobi village and was now eager to make peace. The Great Ninja War had ended only recently, and having more allies meant feeling safer. Konoha didn't expect Sunagakure to provide much military support, but having another ally was better than having another enemy!

On October 10, Year 48 of Konoha, the Nine-Tails Rebellion took place, and Naruto was born!

On October 11, Year 48 of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage personally visited Sunagakure and began alliance negotiations with the village!

On October 12, Year 48 of Konoha, Konoha and Sunagakure successfully reached an alliance agreement!

To show their goodwill, Konoha agreed to donate a batch of supplies to Sunagakure and said it could provide the village with strategic support as needed!

The Raikage and Tsuchikage were unfazed by Konoha's alliance with Sunagakure. Sunagakure was in no position to offer Konoha any support if trouble arose. For now, the alliance was only good on paper and offered Konoha no real help!

Unlike the unruffled Raikage A and Tsuchikage Ōnoki, Kirigakure wasn't nearly so pleased!

But Obito, who controlled the Fourth Mizukage from behind the scenes, didn't care. If Konoha dared to interfere, he'd attack Konoha too. It didn't matter if he wrecked them!

If Sunagakure's leaders knew that someone like Obito thought that way, they'd probably have cried themselves senseless! They weren't afraid of strong enemies; they were afraid of brainless enemies who played by no rules!

In a shadowy cave somewhere along the border of the Land of Rain...

"Have you found out who that Uchiha is?" Obito asked the White Zetsu beside him in a low voice.

"Yeah. We got word from Konoha. The boy's name is Uchiha Gen, and he's sixteen. His parents died in the Third Great Ninja War. He's a Special Jōnin on paper, and he currently serves in the Konoha Military Police Force," the talkative White Zetsu explained in detail!

"Special Jōnin? Hah. A Special Jōnin who can use the Mangekyo to control Perfect Susanoo? Is he hiding his strength? Konoha? The Uchiha? Hahaha, things just got a lot more interesting!" The Masked Man, Obito, cackled in the Uchiha style!

Meanwhile, in Konoha...

"What? You sold me out?"