Talks (Part II)

The others said nothing, waiting for Uchiha Mu to continue. They wanted to know what sort of business he had in mind.

Uchiha Mu did not keep them guessing. He took out a Summoning Scroll and retrieved its contents: filmmaking equipment, along with a finished film.

It was not as though this industry had appeared particularly late; relevant characters had existed in the original story, after all. Uchiha Mu had merely brought the process forward and shared the technology. The price was permission to screen their films in each village, using them to spread their message and change people's views.

"What is this?"

"Let's watch first. Hashirama will probably need a little longer." Uchiha Mu quickly set everything up and began screening the film for the representatives of each village.

Everyone present wore a peculiar expression. They had considered all sorts of possibilities, but never this one. Tobirama Senju also felt he could no longer remain silent. He had to speak up for his older brother and stop Uchiha Mu from fooling around at such a serious meeting.

"I'll give Konoha an extra ten-percent share." Uchiha Mu used a secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan. At his level, Yin-Yang Release was fundamental, and mastering those secret techniques was not difficult. People who reached such heights generally would not bother stealing them, so their owners believed they had guarded their techniques well. Little did they know that a single glance from Uchiha Mu could leave them without so much as the shirts on their backs.

"Only ten percent?"

"That's already an enormous profit." Uchiha Mu gestured for Tobirama Senju to watch the film first.

The film soon began. It was a war film based on the Uchiha and Senju clans, with Uchiha Mu playing almost every role himself. With the Clone Technique and Transformation Technique at his disposal, there was no need to hire too many ninja.

"Are you making the Senju Clan look bad?"

"Just watch. I promise I'm not, all right?" Uchiha Mu rolled his eyes.

The ninja from the other Shinobi Villages watched with curiosity. The film unfolded from both Madara's and Hashirama's perspectives. Despite belonging to enemy clans, the sons of the two clan leaders had somehow become friends. Uchiha Mu felt this premise was rather like a gay version of Romeo and Juliet.

He did not mind, though. Given who Hashirama and Madara were, people throughout the Shinobi World were very curious about their past, as well as the reasons behind their growing strength.

Before long, the viewers were engrossed. Uchiha Mu had not lied: he had neither vilified the two nor glorified them excessively. The story began with the hatred between their clans and continued until each one's younger brother died at the hands of the other's clan.

The other Kage began considering the possibilities offered by films like this. Perhaps they could use them to promote their own stories within their villages. That would be far better than simply giving speeches.

"Agreed, but we won't accept films made by other villages." Sunagakure spoke first. Anyone who became a Kage was no fool. They simply lacked Uchiha Mu's way of thinking; a little prompting was enough for them to catch on.

"The same goes for us," the Kage of the other villages said in unison.

What if Uchiha Mu used this opportunity to promote himself in their villages? He was already poaching people with kekkei genkai throughout the Shinobi World. Letting him in would be like throwing meat buns to a dog-there would be no getting them back.

"You really are difficult. How about this? You can review the films before they enter your villages, and I'll give you an extra ten-percent share of the profits." Uchiha Mu was going all out to raise the Shinobi World's Happiness Level.

If only his system had required nothing more than population growth. Unfortunately, there was also a happiness index, so he could only do his best to help the Shinobi World advance as quickly as possible. The feature phones served the same purpose.

At those words, everyone fell silent. They wanted the profits. As the Kage of their respective villages, they knew perfectly well that this would make money.

"Sunagakure agrees." The Kazekage swore he was not acting as Uchiha Mu's shill. He simply wanted his village to have a little more money. Had building Sunagakure been easy? The Daimyo offered no support, leaving them with no choice but to dig up sand and sell it.

Seeing this, the other villages agreed as well, on the condition that profits within each major nation had to be shared with its village. They would not accept the Land of Fire's capital earning money while Konoha received nothing. All the major nations took the same position.

Uchiha Mu readily agreed. Sure enough, once the benefits were laid out clearly, the Kage of the various Shinobi Villages were quite easy to deal with. The rest would be simple. His own objective was accomplished; only Hashirama's requests remained.

Everyone looked toward Hashirama, who was lost in memories. The Tsuchikage spoke first:

"Hokage, what did you invite us here to discuss? Do you have some sort of partnership to propose, like Uchiha Mu?"

Since Uchiha Mu had opened with business negotiations, they mistakenly assumed Konoha intended to do the same. The ninja from the other villages also turned toward Hashirama.

"Brother." Tobirama Senju gently elbowed Hashirama, bringing him back to reality.

"Haha, Mu, I never imagined you knew about all this." Hashirama laughed heartily, having completely missed what the Tsuchikage had just said.

Everyone present was exasperated, but Hashirama was so powerful that they could hardly say anything. The Tsuchikage could only repeat himself.

"Well, I invited you here today to discuss peace in the Shinobi World. Although we've all established our own Shinobi Villages, minor clashes keep happening. I hope we can speak openly here and have a proper discussion for the sake of peace." As Hashirama spoke, he bowed until his head touched the table.

The others, who had been about to object, were instantly struck speechless. They had never expected Hashirama to go this far. But they were attending as the Kage of their respective villages today. They could not simply back down and leave endless dangers for the future.

The Kazekage spoke first. "Hokage, I want peace too, but Konoha possesses seven tailed beasts. Perhaps Konoha won't do anything while you're around, but we have to consider what happens after we die."

"The Kazekage is right. If our descendants come into conflict, Konoha, with its tailed beasts, will become the aggressor. It's very difficult for us to feel at ease." The Tsuchikage's eyes lit up. He had not expected the Kazekage to start angling for the tailed beasts, and immediately followed his lead.

He would not even consider the tailed beasts in Uchiha Mu's possession. Konoha would certainly want the strongest, the Nine-Tails, so their best option was to secure the Eight-Tails. With the Eight-Tails, peace would not be out of the question. Later problems could be left to the younger generation; they at least had to ensure their village's safety.

Tobirama Senju pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a long sigh, repeatedly reminding himself, He's my older brother.

Uchiha Mu, meanwhile, acknowledged just how foolish and naive Hashirama was. He clearly possessed the absolute strength to subdue everyone present, yet he placed himself in such a lowly position.

Uchiha Mu was also amiable and generally preferred to reason with people, but he would never behave like Hashirama. If anyone dared threaten him like this, they would have to find out whether his little blade was still sharp.

For a moment, the other Kage were taken aback and dared not speak. No matter how humbly Hashirama behaved, having lived through the Warring States Period, they would not readily agree merely because of his words.

What a joke. If they agreed now out of momentary sympathy, what would happen if Konoha's future leaders were warmongers? They knew their own minds well enough-they themselves wanted to invade Konoha.

Meanwhile, Hashirama still had his forehead pressed against the table, looking as though he would not rise until they agreed.

The Tsuchikage knew this could not continue, so he spoke first. "Hokage, it's not that we don't want peace. It's that Konoha gives us no hope of seeing it. You may be able to achieve it today, but who can say what will happen in the future? We lack the strength to stop Konoha from destroying the peace."

"The Tsuchikage is right."

After that, the place became like a marketplace, everyone chiming in over one another, revealing that the Shinobi World was nothing more than one enormous amateur operation.