Was this some kind of joke?
They were saying Konoha had come riding a Tailed Beast to attack them?
The elders of Kusagakure, all wearing animal masks, stared in disbelief at the enormous beast outside the window, then at the envelope lodged in the chest of their fellow elder in the snake mask.
Hadn't the intelligence just reported that the Third Hokage had stepped down and the Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, had succeeded him?
And now there was already a Sixth Hokage?
Had this Sixth Hokage seized power through a military coup?
The elder in the monkey mask was the first to break the suffocating silence. His voice was dry with nerves, but he struggled to maintain his composure.
"At this point... resisting head-on would only get us killed."
The Monkey Mask Elder swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping over his colleagues.
"Although they came here ready for a fight and issued an ultimatum, they... they also gave us five hours to evacuate the civilians.
That means perhaps... perhaps they simply want to make an example of us to establish their authority. There might still be room to negotiate?"
He paused, proposing what now seemed to be the only "sensible" option:
"Let's negotiate first. Whatever happens, we must first determine this Sixth Hokage's true intentions.
Does he want compensation? Or is he forcing us to choose a side?
Or... is he just asserting his authority after taking office?
We won't know until we talk to him!"
"That makes sense!"
The elder in the pig mask agreed almost immediately, as though a second's delay might cost him this chance.
Even his mask could not hide the fear in his voice or his desperate urgency to find a way out.
"We certainly can't win a fight. Negotiation is our only chance of survival!
We