The Negotiations Were Taking a Turn for the Worse

When the time was right, and the fight reached that point, Guy excitedly opened the Eight Gates, and immediately opened the Five Gates.

Seeing Kai's intense state, Yun Yan also began to get serious, opening his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and using Genjutsu and Ninjutsu in combination.

This raised the level of combat power for both sides, and the two fought even more fiercely, making for a very large-scale duel.

The two sides fought more and more fiercely, becoming increasingly excited as the game progressed, finding it nearly impossible to gauge each other's limits. This feeling of meeting a worthy opponent was simply fantastic!

Overjoyed, Kai immediately opened the sixth gate, his combat power increasing rapidly and his aura surging.

Yun Yan was no exception, and he used even more methods. His Wind Release technique became so skillful that Kai couldn't defend against it.

The duel between the two sides reached a crucial juncture, with Isshiki causing immense destruction. Large swathes of the training ground appeared as if it had been plowed, becoming riddled with potholes.

With time running out, the training ground might not be able to withstand the fighting if they continued, and such a commotion could easily attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Kakashi felt it was time to stop, so at a suitable moment he stood between the two and signaled them to stop.

Although Yun Yan and Kai felt that the fight hadn't been thorough enough, the duel had indeed reached a point where it couldn't continue.

So the two of them stopped at the same time, just like they were doing, and the sparring and duel came to an end.

After the duel, the two felt a mutual respect and truly considered each other friends.

It really is true what they said at the beginning: that men only need to have a fight to improve their relationship. I really don't know where that idea came from.

And so, Yun Yan gained Kai as a friend. Although he still had very few friends and was still not very popular, it was already a significant improvement for him.

When Izumi told him about it later, he applauded and said it was worth celebrating. Yun Yan having another powerful friend meant he had another path in Konoha.

But when Yun Yan thought about Kai's hot-blooded, idiotic, and eccentric personality, was it really true that having more friends meant having more options?

Uh... let's just say that.

With Kai as a friend, Yun Yan's life didn't seem to change much. He continued to live a quiet life as always, staying at home and living his own little life. At most, he would be called out by Kakashi or Kai occasionally to get together and catch up with everyone.

While Yun Yan was staying at home, negotiations and exchanges between the Konoha High Command and the Kumogakure delegation were also in full swing.

The negotiation went much as Yun Yan had predicted.

Dodai truly lives up to his reputation as the Fourth Raikage's right-hand man; his personal abilities are indeed formidable. During negotiations with the Konoha High Command, he remained calm and composed, never making a single mistake.

Even though the shrewd and calculating Hiruzen Sarutobi personally went to the negotiating table and argued with the other side, he couldn't gain any advantage. On the contrary, he became somewhat disadvantaged due to the delay.

As for the two Konoha elders Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, they also participated in the negotiations.

As for their contributions during the negotiations... let's not even mention them.

As Yun Yan described them as "stirring up trouble while occupying a position," these two old guys made numerous mistakes and errors during the negotiations with the Kumogakure delegation, allowing Dodai to seize opportunities and press his advantage on them.

After this happened many times, the two old men still didn't realize their incompetence, completely shifting the blame onto Dodai. They thought this guy with thick eyebrows and one eye looked like a good person, but was actually cunning and treacherous.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, I'm utterly speechless.

He really wanted to describe Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura as more trouble than they're worth, but since they were Konoha elders and childhood friends, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want to make things too ugly.

Having no other choice, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only use a few reasons to exclude Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura from the negotiations.

To put it bluntly, it just means let those two old guys go somewhere cool and stay there, and don't come over and cause trouble.

Therefore, the negotiations with the Kumogakure delegation were essentially handled by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, all by himself.

As he struggled to hold on, resisting the fierce attacks from the Dodai at the negotiating table, he sensed that the negotiation situation was not looking good for him. After a long time and many times, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly felt a sense of confusion and exhaustion.

He seems to have aged.

Not only am I getting old, but I'm also very tired.

Looking around, in the vast Konoha, there wasn't a single person who could share his burdens or help him at the negotiating table.

Needless to say, people of his own generation are incompetent, such as Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. Danzo may be capable, but his abilities are not suited for the negotiating table.

What about those a generation younger than themselves?

People like Minato Namikaze or Hatake Sakumo are no longer here; they left us even before I did.

My three most trusted apprentices—one defected, one ran away, and one suffered psychological trauma. They're practically the perfect examples of death, escape, fleeing, and injury. What can I do?

What about the younger generation of Konoha people?

The only one they could barely muster was Kakashi, and the only one with sufficient strength was Yun Yan, but that guy was Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't trust him and wouldn't let him get involved in Konoha's core political affairs, especially negotiations.

So after each negotiation ended, Hiruzen Sarutobi around and felt only deep exhaustion and coldness.

Where are all the people who were supposed to help me? Not a single one of them can help me. This old man has to keep this whole Konoha going. What am I going to do...?

Hiruzen Sarutobi then began to worry...

When this old guy encounters problems, he likes to complain and blame others, and he subconsciously shifts the blame onto others, never looking for the cause within himself!

Konoha is currently facing a talent shortage, and apart from the aging Hokage, there isn't a single capable person to help him. Who is responsible for this dire situation?

Who else could it be? It's none other than Hiruzen Sarutobi himself!

Even if he wasn't the culprit, Hiruzen Sarutobi still bears a large part of the responsibility.

First and foremost are those of the same generation as Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Danzo was originally Hiruzen Sarutobi's henchman, and this guy and Root were the cancer of Konoha. The fact that he could continue to poison Konoha was a direct result of Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence.

As for Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's incompetence, it was partly due to their own incompetence, and partly because Hiruzen Sarutobi was always on guard against them, subtly suppressing them.

The two old guys never received any proper training growing up, so it's only natural that they've become two useless old men.

As for the Konoha Ninja who are a generation younger than Hiruzen Sarutobi, they should be in their prime and should be shouldering the responsibilities, but their fate is even more tragic.

Hatake Sakumo goes without saying; logically speaking, this White Fang of Konoha should now be a pillar of Konoha, even a stabilizing force.

But back then, wasn't it because of your fear and your coercion that Hatake Sakumo was forced to commit suicide? The White Fang was broken, Konoha lost a pillar of strength.

Minato Namikaze wasn't in much better shape. As the Fourth Hokage, he didn't have many capable subordinates. During the Nine-Tails Rebellion, he bravely faced the Nine-Tails and sacrificed his life, using the Reaper Death Seal seal the Nine-Tails.

Damn it! Why did they have to make the young and promising Fourth Hokage use the Reaper Death Seal? Why didn't the Third Hokage, who should have been buried, use it back then!?

He talks about the consciousness Will of Fire all the time, and it's all about sacrifice, inside and out.

Fine, you stand by and watch when others are sacrificed, but when it's your turn to sacrifice, you walk far away. You're so shameless! It's a real shame about Minato Namikaze!

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi's three disciples, the Sannin, there's not much to say about them.

Orochimaru's mind was twisted; he was obsessed with researching Ninjutsu to achieve immortality. From the very beginning, he went astray and was destined to be on a different path from Konoha, which is why he defected.

Jiraiya couldn't accept this, couldn't bear the darkness of Konoha, and ran away to travel, rarely returning home.

After the successive deaths of her lover and family, Tsunade's mental state could not withstand such a huge shock, and she developed hemophobia. Coupled with the internal ostracism within Konoha, she also left.

So many ninjas who should have been the backbone of Konoha were killed, fled, or injured. Doesn't Hiruzen Sarutobi some responsibility for this?

No, we bear a great responsibility!