Burūi-or rather, Kumogakure-had shown tremendous sincerity.
After Gaara reached an agreement with him, whatever terms the last elder from Iwagakure offered no longer mattered.
But with Mei Terumi and Burūi both coming in person while Iwagakure sent an elder, it was hard to say whether Kurotsuchi truly took this seriously.
At the very least, she did not take it as seriously as Mei Terumi and Burūi did.
So after Burūi came out of the room, the Head Elder of Iwagakure went in to see Gaara and came back out in less than a minute.
Gaara appeared behind him.
Seeing this, Mei Terumi had a bad feeling.
Before she could say anything, Gaara looked at her.
"Lord Mizukage, I'm sorry."
Mei Terumi said nothing more. She simply nodded slightly, turned, and left the sitting room.
Her attendant hurried after her, their footsteps gradually fading down the corridor.
The elder from Iwagakure also stood up, his expression somewhat stiff.
"Lord Kazekage, since you've already made your decision, I won't stay any longer."
Gaara nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you for making the trip, Elder."
The elder waved a hand and left without looking back.
Only Burūi and Gaara remained in the sitting room.
Burūi held out his hand.
"Here's to our partnership."
Gaara shook his hand.
"Here's to our partnership."
At six thirty that evening, in the Hokage's Office in Konoha.
Jiraiya, Shikaku Nara, Kakashi Hatake, and Tsunade sat facing one another.
"Burūi won."
"Impressive."
"I wonder what terms Burūi offered Gaara to get him to agree outright."
"As things stand, Burūi has secured Sunagakure's vote."
"Although Mei Terumi lost Sunagakure, she still has a chance to win Konoha over."
"If she can get Konoha's vote, together with Kirigakure's own vote, she'll have two."
"Burūi has Kumogakure and Sunagakure, so he has