The meeting room fell silent in an instant.
Xuandou ignored their shocked gazes and cleared his throat.
"I came to Iwagakure to do just three things."
He held up three fingers.
"Annexation, annexation, and more fucking annexation."
Everyone's expression changed sharply.
Some sprang to their feet, some pressed their hands to their sword hilts, and some clenched their teeth.
"If Iwagakure agrees to be annexed by the Uchiha, everything can be settled amicably."
Xuandou's gaze swept over everyone present.
"Your lives will stay the same, your ninja organization will stay the same, and the village will stay where it is."
"The only change will be replacing the flag above your heads with Hidden Xuan Village's Gunbai Flag."
His fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop.
"If anyone doesn't know what's good for them..."
He paused, a cold smile rising at the corner of his mouth.
"Then I don't mind giving Iwagakure a taste of despair."
"You're welcome to find out which is harder: your bones or Tengai Shinsei."
A deathly silence filled the meeting room.
Anger, resentment, fear, and despair mingled on the faces of the Jōnin and elders.
Some clenched their fists but dared not throw a punch.
Some trembled at the lips but dared not speak.
They remembered what the intelligence reports had described.
Madara Uchiha had brought down two meteorites, wiping out thousands of samurai in the Land of Iron.
They remembered the Third Raikage's defeat and the terror of the White Zetsu army massing at their borders.
"That's all I have to say."
Xuandou leaned back in his chair and folded his arms.
"Who's in favor, and who's opposed?"
Silence.
A long silence.
No one raised a hand in favor, but no one dared stand up in opposition either.
Their gazes turned to Kurotsuchi in unison.
Kurotsuchi