The courtyard of the mansion.
Kakuzu is explaining the next reception arrangements with several Akatsuki members.
"The dining times of the diplomatic missions from various countries are staggered, so don't let them run into each other." Kakuzu said, "Especially Konoha and Iwagakure. The relationship between these two families is not good now, so don't start a fight here."
"Understood." A ninja nodded.
"And..." Kakuzu was about to continue, when he caught a glimpse of a figure walking towards this side menacingly from the corner of his eye.
"Are you the person in charge of Akatsuki?" Tsuchiishi walked up to Kakuzu with a bad tone.
Kakuzu raised his head, his expression under the mask could not be seen clearly, only his unwavering eyes were exposed.
"I am one of the people in charge of the reception mission." Kakuzu's voice was very calm, "Do you have any questions?"
"Yes." Tsuchiishi sneered, "I would like to ask, Akatsuki what does this mean? Konoha The delegation lives in a separate building in the east courtyard, and the four of us Iwagakure squeeze into a shabby house. Is this how you treat guests?"
"Oh." Kakuzu nodded, "There is indeed a difference."
"The difference?" Tsuchiishi's voice raised an octave, "Do you Akatsuki look down on us Iwagakure?"
"No. We are divided normally." Kakuzu shook his head.
"Of course." Kakuzu suddenly changed the topic, "If you Iwagakure feel that the treatment is not enough, you can also choose to upgrade."
"Upgrade?" Tsuchiishi frowned.
"Yes." Kakuzu took out a small book from his pocket and opened it for Tsuchiishi to read, "There is a south courtyard next to the east courtyard. The environment is second only to the east courtyard. It has a single suite and an independent bathroom. It is cleaned every day by a dedicated person."
"How to upgrade?" Tsuchiishi asked subconsciously.
"Five hundred thousand taels a day." Kakuzu said calmly.
"Half a million?!" Tsuchiishi stared.
"If it's too expensive, you can choose the small courtyard in the southwest corner. The environment is a little worse, but it's still better than the current room." Kakuzu continued to flip through the book, "Two hundred thousand taels a day."
"..." Tsuchiishi's temples jumped.
"It doesn't matter if you don't upgrade." Kakuzu closed the book, "Anyway, the room you are staying in now is free, but the conditions are a bit rough."
"Free?" Tsuchiishi was stunned for a moment.
"That's right." Kakuzu said matter-of-factly, "We Akatsuki are not running a charity hall. We are very sincere in providing basic accommodation and food when diplomatic missions from various countries come to visit. If you want better treatment, you must naturally follow the rules."
"Then why does Konoha live in the East Hospital for free?!" Tsuchiishi finally couldn't help shouting.
Kakuzu glanced at him.
"This is an order from the leader himself." He said word by word, "If your distinguished guests have any questions, you can ask our leader in person. As for whether our leader has time to see you, it's hard to say."
Tsuchiishi opened his mouth, but not a word came out.
Kakuzu ignored him, turned around and said to the ninja behind him, "Go and prepare for the dinner. Remember to arrange the seats for the envoys from various countries. Konoha will take the main seat."
After saying that, he didn't look back Earth Flow.
Tsuchiishi stood there, his face turning blue and white.
After a while, he gritted his teeth and uttered a sentence.
"Akatsuki... is already Konoha's dog!"
Sunagakure Mission Residence.
A young sand ninja walked into the room quickly and said to the middle-aged man sitting on the chair, "Captain, please find out."
"Say." The middle-aged man closed his eyes and spoke in a calm voice.
"Konoha is the four-member delegation, headed by Jiraiya, one of Konoha Sannin." The young Suna ninja said, "Akatsuki arranged for them to stay in the east courtyard, which was the original residence of Hanzō, with the highest standards."
"What about other countries?"
"Iwagakure four people squeeze into one room. Kumogakure was also an ordinary guest room when we arrived. We..." the young Suna ninja looked around, "It is also an ordinary guest room."
The middle-aged man opened his eyes with deep eyes.
"Konoha Sannin Jiraiya." He whispered to himself, "That's no wonder."
"Captain, should we also go find Akatsuki's people..."
"No need." The middle-aged man waved his hand, "It will only be embarrassing if something like this happens."
"But..."
"Iwagakure must have started making trouble over there." The middle-aged man said calmly, "We just wait and see the results."
The young sand ninja nodded.
"However." The middle-aged man stood up and walked to the window, "Send a message to the village and tell Lord Kazekage that Konoha's influence on Land of Rain is much deeper than we expected."
"Yes."
The Kumogakure mission arrived half a day later than Konoha.
As a result, I heard all kinds of exaggerated news as soon as I arrived.
Ten miles of red carpet?
Queue to salute and welcome?
Are you sure this is really the treatment given to Konoha and not their own leader ascending the throne?
After confirming the information again and again, a burly Yun nin quickly wrote the information and sent the matter back to Kumogakure in "details".
"...Konoha mission was affected by Land of Rain Akatsuki's ultra-high-standard reception - a red carpet greeting ten miles away, thousands of people lining up to salute, it is suspected that Akatsuki has already joined Konoha, or has in-depth cooperation with Konoha Relationship. It is recommended that Lord Raikage re-evaluate the strategic deployment of Land of Rain. The subordinates suspect that "Demigod's death" has a close relationship with Konoha..."
After he wrote the last word, he rolled up the scroll and injected Chakra.
The scroll turned into a bolt of lightning and disappeared into the air.
"Captain." A young cloud ninja asked next to him, "What should we do next?"
"Just wait and see what happens." The burly Yun Nin said solemnly, "Since Konoha's words here have weight, let's see what they want to do first."
Kirigakure Mission Residence.
Mei Terumi is sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, a cup of tea in his hand, and a playful smile on his face.
"Lin, what do you think other countries' expressions are like now?"
Rin Nohara sat opposite, took off his hat, and revealed his disguised face.
"Maybe... it's wonderful." She couldn't help but laugh.
"It's more than wonderful." Mei Terumi put down the tea cup, "Iwagakure that Tsuchiishi, I just saw him angrily going to find Akatsuki's people, he is probably being attacked now."
"Chen-kun's move is really..." Rin Nohara shook his head, "Even though he did nothing, everyone thought Land of Rain was already a vassal state of Konoha."
"This is a master." Terumi Oka Mei sighed, "Without a single soldier, Land of Rain was covered with Konoha's tiger skin. Whoever wants to touch Land of Rain in the future must first think about whether it will offend Konoha."
"As for Konoha..." Rin Nohara said thoughtfully, "After receiving the information, you will probably think that Land of Rain is taking the initiative, right?"
"Yes." Mei Terumi nodded, "So Konoha will not refuse this 'goodwill'. After all, who can have too many political chips for nothing?"
The two looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
"Lord Chen This time, everyone was included in the calculation."
East courtyard.
Senju Chen sneezed.
"Who is saying bad things about me behind my back?" He rubbed his nose and muttered.
At this time, there was a knock on the door.
"Chen, it's me." Anko's voice.
"Come in."
Anko opened the door and came in, followed by Yamato.
"Minister, the waiter just came over to inform that the dinner is about to begin." Yamato said
"I know." Senju Chen stood up, "Where is Lord Jiraiya?"
"In the next room." Anko said, "But since entering the door, Lord Jiraiya seems to be in a bad mood and has been sitting there in a daze."
Jiraiya... must be thinking about Yahiko.
Rinnegan appeared on Yahiko's face, which was definitely a huge shock to Jiraiya.
"Let's go." Senju Chen said, "Go and call Lord Jiraiya to have dinner together. We'll talk about other things later."
As a result, as soon as the three of them came out of Senju Chen's room, they saw Jiraiya standing at the end of the corridor.
"Lord Jiraiya." Senju Chen smiled, "That's right, let's go have dinner together."
"Okay." Jiraiya couldn't see any change in his expression at this time.
But all three of them actually noticed that Jiraiya's smile that had been on his lips all year round was gone.