The next day, in the meeting room at the Hokage Building where the armistice agreement was being negotiated.
Because of the events of the previous day, the air was so heavy it could practically drip with water. The atmosphere on either side of the long table could not have been more different.
On Konoha's side, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sat upright at the head of the table. Blue smoke curled from his pipe, lending him an air of unruffled authority. On either side of him sat several of Konoha's senior officials, along with Uzumaki Qi Luna and Namikaze Minato, deliberately seated where they would be clearly visible.
Neither of them wore their usual combat gear. Instead, they wore Anbu vests and white masks patterned with animal designs. Their faces were hidden, but their builds and hair colors made their identities unmistakable.
The two newly promoted Anbu bowed their heads slightly, as if resting with their eyes closed.
Yet the chakra surging through the meeting room was like a silent red mountain, its invisible pressure spreading through the air.
Especially whenever Dodai, the Kumogakure representative, happened to glance their way, he couldn't help remembering the previous day's Chunin Ninja Exams final: the golden figure's lightning-fast Body Flicker Technique and the red-haired ninja's overwhelming strength—not to mention that Super Strength Fist called "Vortex Style: Eight Forms - Hegemonic Smash," which had crushed everything like a landslide and a tsunami!
And when he thought about how young they still were, fear wound around his heart like cold vines.
The Kumogakure delegation was led by Dodai, known as the "Brains of Kumogakure" and one of the Third Raikage's most trusted aides. His expression was dark as a storm cloud.
The several Cloud ninja standing behind him were even more ill at ease, their eyes still betraying undisguised shock.
Unlike Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Amegakure were not nearly so uncomfortable. They calmly read the draft armistice agreement laid out before them, drawn up after the Second Shinobi World War and hardly unreasonable toward the great nations' ninja villages.
Only Kumogakure's armistice agreement had been replaced with a second draft. Its clauses might not have been outright impossible to accept, but they pressed Kumogakure at every turn. If they agreed, the days ahead would be difficult indeed...
"Lord Third Hokage, regarding the... additional clauses your village has proposed, we believe they seriously violate the spirit of the armistice agreement and the principle of fairness. Kumogakure was not the defeated party! We have no reason to pay fifty million ryō in war reparations!"
Dodai's voice was dry and hoarse. Swallowing his humiliation, he pointed to several lines written prominently in red ink on the document by Konoha's side. The most glaring one read:
In view of Kumogakure's blatant violation of the agreement during the armistice, when it dispatched an elite ninja squad to infiltrate Konoha and abduct a Konoha resident and ninja, thereby posing a serious threat to Konoha's security and peaceful environment and causing significant losses in reputation and property!
Kumogakure must now pay an additional fifty million ryō in compensation in exchange for Konoha releasing the two Kumogakure Special Jōnin, Omoi and Karui, who were captured during the illegal operation, and guaranteeing their safety.
This amount must be paid in full within thirty days of the agreement taking effect, in the form of negotiable bank drafts. Until payment is complete, Omoi and Karui will remain in Konoha's custody!
Fifty million ryō! That was almost the same as a small nation's entire military budget for a year!
Besides, during the Second Shinobi World War, Kumogakure had never directly taken military action against Konoha. These so-called war reparations were completely baseless!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly exhaled a smoke ring. Through the swirling smoke, he glared at Dodai, his words sharp as blades:
"Violating the spirit of the agreement? The principle of fairness?"
"While Konoha had laid down its weapons and opened its arms to celebrate peace together, your village sent an elite ninja squad carrying a secret treasure that concealed their presence. They infiltrated the heart of my village and the residence of the First, then abducted one of our important members... Lord Dodai, is that what Kumogakure understands by the 'spirit' of an agreement and 'fairness'?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was not loud, but it carried immense weight. He paused and gently placed his pipe on the table, where it made a crisp sound that seemed to strike Dodai's heart.
"If our village's new generation of ninja hadn't reacted in time and dismantled your village's conspiracy with overwhelming force, we might not be the ones sitting here now. Instead, your village would have abducted one of our prodigies and left!"
"Fifty million ryō to secure the lives of two well-trained, mediocre Special Jōnin is indeed a little steep. But this compensation isn't just for their release. It's also to quell the anger this incident has stirred throughout Konoha—and to prevent the conflict from escalating further!"
"I believe this is the greatest measure of 'fairness' we can offer your village, given how hard-won peace is!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze passed over Dodai's deathly pale face and finally settled on Minato and Qi Luna, who remained completely unmoved, as if the matter had nothing to do with them. His tone took on a pointed significance.
"Besides, Lord Dodai should understand that if our village's 'Konoha Red Peak' hadn't shown mercy and held back while helping Jiraiya suppress those petty villains, your two precious Special Jōnin would already have become one with the soil in the forest behind our village!"
"Even though they abducted her older sister, he still 'spared their lives.' Surely that kindness is worth the price?"
As Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, he deliberately emphasized the words "Konoha Red Peak."
The other Cloud ninja, apart from Dodai, shuddered almost imperceptibly. Their eyes involuntarily darted toward the red-haired Anbu behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The red-haired Anbu seemed to sense it and slowly raised his head. Through the eyeholes in his mask, his jade-green eyes met the gazes of the Kumogakure delegation, utterly calm.
There was no anger, no threat—only a bottomless, imposing presence, like a giant looking down at ants.
Yet that one calm glance instantly brought back the terror of the previous night to everyone from Kumogakure:
A towering red figure, as impossible to overcome as a mountain peak; nine golden chains, writhing like fearsome dragons and radiating a suffocating pressure; a chakra "domain" several times more terrifying than the chakra curtain rippling through the meeting room now; and the two captured Special Jōnin, dragged out with vacant eyes, bearing only an indelible fear of the red-haired boy!
Not worth it? Who would dare say it wasn't? The red-haired Anbu in the harmless-looking white mask patterned with a falcon was a living red peak, one no ordinary person could ever scale!
His enormous chakra, on par with a Tailed Beast, along with his various bloodline abilities and Nintaijutsu, were the greatest bargaining chips and deterrent Konoha had at the negotiating table.
Fifty million ryō was less a ransom than the exorbitant price Kumogakure had to pay for foolishly provoking a Konoha full of powerful ninja.
Cold sweat soaked Dodai's back. He opened his mouth to argue, only to realize that in the face of overwhelming force and indisputable facts, any words would sound utterly feeble.
He saw the unyielding resolve in Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes. After a long, suffocating silence, Dodai seemed to age decades in an instant. He bowed his head in defeat and forced a single word from his lips with all his strength:
"...Sign."
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