For the Land of Wind, where most of its food had to be bought, war would only drive up the prices of supplies and plunge most civilians into hardship.
"Let them pass."
Orochimaru did not care what those people were planning.
Whether the war ended through peace talks or not, his contributions were right there for all to see. No one could take them from him.
Therefore, whether Sunagakure was defeated outright or the two villages ended the war through negotiations made little difference to Orochimaru.
He had already gotten what he wanted.
Even if they did not negotiate and kept fighting, Orochimaru believed Sunagakure would not be able to hold out much longer.
So Orochimaru did not make things difficult for the delegation and simply let them through.
Of course, after letting them pass, he would send people to accompany the delegation to the Daimyo's Court, lest they shed their identities as envoys after entering the Land of Fire and start causing trouble everywhere.
Should he notify the old man?
If he did not, then when Sunagakure came right up to him with peace talks, the old man would probably be furious.
Though he really wanted to see the old man fly into a rage...
After giving it some thought, Orochimaru still sent word to Konoha, informing the Third Hokage that Sunagakure intended to seek peace. But there was bad news: Sunagakure did not plan to negotiate with Konoha directly. Instead, they intended to take the route through the Daimyo's Court.
Better prepare yourself.
If they took the Daimyo's Court route and succeeded, it would mean Konoha faced considerable losses.
It would be difficult to squeeze a large amount of war reparations out of Sunagakure.
After all, peace talks and negotiations after defeat were not the same thing.
Having