Fang Xu raised a hand and tapped the frontline intelligence on the desk.
"Make them remember the price of losing a war."
"Only then will they truly consider the consequences before attacking Konoha again."
Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his gaze to the casualty figures.
Behind every name on those lists was a shinobi who would never return to Konoha.
The victory they had bought with their lives should not be lightly surrendered.
"Lasting peace isn't as simple as you think."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"Hatred between the shinobi villages has been building for years."
"Which makes compromise even less likely to solve anything."
Fang Xu interrupted him again.
"There are only two paths to lasting peace."
"First, unify the shinobi world and completely eliminate the conflicts of interest between villages and nations."
"Second, possess overwhelming military might, suppress every shinobi village, and make everyone too afraid to wage war."
"Beyond those, there is no third path."
Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his head lowered, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening.
He thought of the First Shinobi World War.
Then the Second Shinobi World War.
Then the Third Shinobi World War, which had only just ended.
Konoha had made concessions time and again.
Yet its enemies had never stopped coveting what it had.
Just as Fang Xu had said, the Land of Fire's richly blessed land and resources were themselves reason enough for other nations to wage war.
Waiving reparations would only cost Konoha what it stood to gain.
It would do nothing to change the other villages' greed.
Nor would concessions from Konoha make its enemies forget the shinobi who had died on the battlefield.
The hatred already existed.
Demanding less money could never erase it completely.
After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a deep sigh.
His once-straight back