The ranks of Royal Guards waiting outside the hall were naturally overwhelmed by the two powerful presences inside and could not help retreating.
But out of concern for the Prime Minister's safety, squad after squad of guards gritted their teeth and held their ground.
Inside the hall, the two auras clashed.
Neither gained the upper hand in that brief span, but neither could do anything to the other, either.
The standoff lasted a full three minutes.
Then Obito spread his hands first and withdrew his aura. "You're strong."
"You're not bad yourself. I never expected a mere envoy from the Land of Rain to be this powerful. Your country certainly isn't to be underestimated," Naruto replied without hesitation.
Obito's expression darkened at those words.
He had come as an envoy from the Land of Rain to probe Naruto's strength. Yet he had failed to uncover anything and instead revealed some information about the Land of Rain by unleashing his own aura.
"So? Are you ransoming your members or not?" Naruto wasted no time. "Without the ransom, you aren't taking a single one of them."
Obito felt frustrated again. Despite his unusual abilities, he had searched the Land of Waves for ages without finding so much as a hair from Deidara or Sasori, let alone the two living men.
The Akatsuki was at a crucial stage of its operation. How could Obito fall out with the Land of Waves over this? Doing so could easily delay their efforts to capture the tailed beasts.
"Here's a hundred million in ransom. For Deidara."
With that, Obito tossed over the case of money.
Naruto reached out and caught it. It certainly had some heft.
"Hahaha... now we're talking! As long as the money's here, everything's negotiable."
Naruto opened the case, gave it a quick