The negotiations were finally settled.
One copy of the treaty after another was drawn up, each bearing three names and three handprints: Hatake Sakumo's, the Third Kazekage's, and Rasa's.
The negotiations had officially come to an end.
All that remained was the matter of the prisoners.
The Third Kazekage and half the surviving Sand ninja would stay behind as prisoners. Rasa would lead the other half back to the Land of Wind to gather the supplies needed to ransom them.
Hatake Sakumo first sent a ninja back to Konoha to deliver the tremendous news.
As for the rest of the "main force," they had a long line of prisoners to escort, so naturally, their journey would take time.
The following evening, the group finally returned to Konoha.
While they were still some distance from the village entrance, they could see quite a few people waiting there.
As they drew closer, the figure at the very front came into view. It was Tsunade.
Standing beside her were Hyūga Hajime, Hizashi Hyuga, Uchiha Fugaku's father, Uchiha Arashi, and the heads of various clans, large and small.
Even Kakashi, Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko were among them.
Clearly, Tsunade had brought people here especially to "welcome" the heroes returning in triumph.
Hatake Sakumo led the way at the front. When he reached the village entrance, he stopped before Tsunade.
"Tsunade, you look like you're in a great mood."
Tsunade lifted her chin slightly and raised an eyebrow at him. "You brought back so many prisoners and won the war. Of course I'm happy."
Hatake Sakumo nodded to his beloved son Kakashi, then swept his gaze over the others, including Nagato and his two companions.
Then everyone followed Hatake Sakumo into the village.
The villagers had long been waiting on both sides of the streets. As soon as they saw the Fourth Hokage return, thunderous cheers erupted.
This time, the cheers were even louder than when he had returned with prisoners before, loud enough to blow the roofs off the buildings.
Listening to the waves of cheers, Hatake Sakumo wore a smile, making sure to show his appreciation, and occasionally raised a hand to wave at the crowd.
The group continued until they reached the Hokage building, where they finally stopped.
"Hyūga Hajime." He turned to the Hyūga clan head beside him. "I'll leave these prisoners from the Land of Wind in your care too. Oh, and find someone to treat the Third Kazekage's injuries. Don't let him die on our hands."
He turned to the others. "Thank you all for your hard work. Go home and get some rest. We'll have a meeting tomorrow morning."
"Shikata, stay behind."
Hatake Sakumo also ruffled Kakashi's hair, signaling for him to go home first. Then he headed to the Hokage's office with Tsunade and Nara Shikata.
Back in the Hokage's office, Hatake Sakumo plopped down in the Hokage's chair and said to Tsunade:
"The negotiations with the Land of Wind are pretty much settled. I'll have Shikata fill you in."
Nara Shikata went through the negotiations with the Third Kazekage and Rasa and laid out the terms of the treaty for Tsunade, one by one.
Tsunade took a moment to digest it all, then seemed to remember something.
"Oh, right. Good news came from Orochimaru and Jiraiya too. They've both gained the upper hand, and the enemy is showing signs of withdrawing."
Only then did Hatake Sakumo understand.
No wonder Tsunade couldn't keep the smile off her face. They were about to win the Third Shinobi World War!
They had come into conflict with all four of the other great nations at once, and they could still win. How could Tsunade not be happy?
Hatake Sakumo tapped his fingers idly against the armrest, lost in his own thoughts.
Since Orochimaru and Jiraiya had both gained the upper hand, there was no need for him to go and support them.
As the saying went, a full belly leads to thoughts of... He hadn't quite reached the full-belly stage yet, but he had won the war and had nothing to do in his spare time, which was much the same as...
As Hatake Sakumo listened to Tsunade and Nara Shikata talk, he stole glances at Tsunade.
To be honest, was Hatake Sakumo interested in Tsunade?
Of course he was.
He thought it was a bit of a shame:
He had transmigrated a little too late. If he had arrived earlier, during the Second Shinobi World War, he might have been able to take Dan Katō's place as Tsunade's boyfriend.
Now, pursuing Tsunade would be difficult...
Whatever. I'll leave it to fate.
That evening, Hatake Sakumo returned home and shared a warm, simple dinner with his beloved son Kakashi.
"What have you been busy with lately?" Hatake Sakumo picked up a piece of fish and asked casually. "How's your study of the forbidden techniques in the Scroll of Seals going?"
Kakashi shoveled rice into his mouth and mumbled, "I'm still studying... I haven't made much progress yet."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is still too difficult," he added.
Hatake Sakumo nodded. He had studied it himself, after all, and it really was difficult.
Early the next morning, another emergency meeting was held in the large conference room of the Hokage building.
This time, the meeting concerned how to use the Third Raikage's son A, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki Killer B, and Dodai to obtain resources from the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure.
They also informed everyone of the treaty they had already negotiated with the Third of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind and his disciple Rasa.
Hatake Sakumo sat at the head of the table, already having made up his mind: everyone except Killer B could be exchanged for resources.
The Eight-Tails inside Killer B was very important to him, so there was no way Hatake Sakumo would let him go back.
He sat at the head of the table, listening to everyone talk, and the meeting passed just like that.
Another four days flew by.
During those days, he occasionally found an excuse to call Tsunade over to discuss something.
In truth, he wanted to spend more time with Tsunade and get a good look at her:
Holy...!
While he was chatting with Tsunade, someone knocked on the office door. An ANBU member entered, bringing letters from the other two battlefields.
Hatake Sakumo opened them and found reports from Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
The enemy was already preparing to withdraw, which was basically a victory.
When he finished reading, he casually handed the letters to Tsunade. She took them and lowered her head to read.
As Hatake Sakumo "looked" at Tsunade, he pondered who he should seek out to trigger another case of mistaken identity from the system and get another shot at drawing a powerful ability.
But no matter how he thought about it, he was left disappointed.
The Third Kazekage was known as the strongest in Sunagakure's history, yet that half-baked system hadn't even given him a "proper look." A, Killer B, and Dodai from Kumogakure had been classified as "small fry" by the system.
As for Kitsuchi on Orochimaru's side and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist on Jiraiya's side... Forget it. They were small fry among small fry.
The more Hatake Sakumo thought about it, the more discouraged he felt, and he sighed.
Was I just going to leave it at that? I depend on the system to make a living.
As he was worrying, a candidate suddenly sprang to mind.
Madara Uchiha.
He sat up straight, his eyes lighting up.
He recalled the anime he had watched before transmigrating... Madara Uchiha was the legendary figure who had fought an "earth-shattering" battle against the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, at the Valley of the End.
If the system mistook him for someone from the "world of One Piece," it would surely be someone like the Pirate King Roger or the King of the World Rocks.
Even if the system didn't mistake him for anyone, Hatake Sakumo would still earn himself an honor by "fairly and squarely" defeating the legendary Madara Uchiha.
Better yet, the current Madara Uchiha was no longer the "Asura of the Ninja World" at the height of his powers.
Based on his memories of the anime from before he transmigrated, he judged:
The old bastard was in his twilight years, barely clinging to life thanks to a constant supply of chakra from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
If I don't go bully him now, when will I?
The more Hatake Sakumo thought about it, the better the idea seemed. He set his teacup on the desk, stood up, and took a couple of steps.
Oh, right, there's also the Uchiha Clan's "Uchiha Gunbai." I need to get my hands on that too.
It was a weapon made from a branch of the "God Tree"!