Jiraiya's Request

After entering, Jiraiya glanced at the mountain of documents on the desk, then at Tsunade's tightly furrowed brow. He got straight to the point:

"Are we really going to let Sunagakure off like that? They invaded us. The damage and casualties they caused..."

"Ugh!" Before he could finish, Tsunade let out a weary sigh. She tossed her pen onto the desk and leaned back in her chair, her face etched with frustration.

"What else can we do? Jiraiya, look at the situation. Konoha just came through a brutal battle. We've been badly weakened, and there's so much to rebuild."

"And the entire shinobi world is simmering with unrest. Danger is everywhere. What we need most is time to recover, not another war that gives the other villages watching us a chance to strike."

She sat up, picked up a scroll that had just arrived, and handed it to Jiraiya. "Besides, Sunagakure's elder Chiyo sent us an official message through a secret channel just now."

"Sunagakure admits its mistake and is willing to renew its alliance with Konoha. To make up for the losses caused by the attack, they'll also provide a quantity of precious gold dust as compensation. They've made a considerable concession."

Tsunade rubbed her brow. "I discussed it with those two old fossils, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu."

"They think Sunagakure really was deceived and used by Orochimaru this time. The death of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa was a devastating loss for them, too. Since they're willing to admit fault and pay compensation, we might as well put this behind us and keep them as an ally."

"Deceived by Orochimaru?" Jiraiya snorted, his voice thick with contempt. "Rasa was the Kazekage. If he hadn't wanted to expand his power, could Orochimaru have played him so easily?"

"They're only