The moment Hiruzen Sarutobi heard that Iwagakure intended to join forces with Kirigakure and Kumogakure, his expression changed.
His face, which had been dark enough to drip water a moment ago, instantly blossomed like a chrysanthemum.
"But I can only give you five A-rank Sealing Jutsu at most. I can add another five of each of the other ranks!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said.
"That works."
The Iwagakure Anbu nodded.
Ōnoki's bottom line had been three A-rank Sealing Jutsu.
Getting five was already pretty good.
Besides, there were extra gains now: a full five additional Sealing Jutsu of every other rank!
"Then we shall respectfully await your arrival in the center of the Land of Grass in three days, Lord Hokage."
The Iwagakure Anbu bowed his head, then left Konoha under the guidance of a Konoha Ninja.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly. He knew he had offered too much.
But he had no choice. To prevent Iwagakure from actually cooperating with Kirigakure and Kumogakure, he could only obediently hand over the Sealing Jutsu.
Although it was humiliating, Hiruzen Sarutobi still intended to pay to settle the matter.
But he had a little scheme of his own.
He would make most of what he handed over exclusive Sealing Jutsu that only the Uzumaki Clan could use.
Were they Sealing Jutsu?
Yes.
But could ordinary ninja use them?
No.
Hiruzen Sarutobi ultimately offered five A-rank Sealing Jutsu, two of which were exclusive to the Uzumaki Clan.
The ordinary A-rank Sealing Jutsu were the Contract Seal, the Reverse Four Symbols Seal, and the Four Symbols Seal.
The Uzumaki Clan's exclusive Sealing Jutsu were the Adamantine Sealing Chains and the Tailed Beast Locking Seal.
Of these Ninjutsu, the Four Symbols Seal was comparatively the most practical, and Hiruzen Sarutobi had arranged that deliberately.
He had included only one genuinely useful Sealing Jutsu; the others were all run-of-the-mill.
There were even two Sealing Jutsu that no one outside the Uzumaki Clan could use.
The Four Symbols Seal served as a consolation for Iwagakure. After all, at least one was usable.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi could never have imagined that the Uzumaki Clan, which he believed had only one orphan left, had a member in Iwagakure too!
Had he known, he would have handed over the Eight Trigrams Seal rather than the Adamantine Sealing Chains!
Ordinary members of the Uzumaki Clan could indeed spontaneously awaken the Adamantine Sealing Chains, but their power was nowhere near that of chains developed through training.
The difference was not merely several times, but dozens of times.
One could say that this move by Hiruzen Sarutobi had, through a twist of fate, greatly raised Nanako Uzumaki's potential!
"Sigh... I'll use the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu."
After thinking for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi still decided to hand over the Uzumaki Clan's ordinary Sealing Jutsu.
Kushina, the village has treated you so well. Surely you won't blame the village?
Hiruzen Sarutobi silently comforted himself, then packed up all the Sealing Jutsu and waited to head to the Land of Grass for the exchange.
Iwagakure.
"Lord Tsuchikage, that is the situation. In the center of the Land of Grass, three days from now."
The Iwagakure Anbu knelt on one knee and reported to Ōnoki.
"Mm, understood."
Ōnoki nodded slightly.
But in truth, he was extremely excited.
He was finally going to obtain A-rank Sealing Jutsu.
With A-rank Sealing Jutsu, there would be no more rampages when they changed Jinchūriki in the future!
Iwagakure's current seals were all formed by layering multiple B-rank Sealing Jutsu. Although they had quite a few, the seals were not sturdy and fell far short of A-rank Sealing Jutsu.
"Call Didaze and Kitsuchi here. I want those two as my Kage guards!"
Ōnoki told the Anbu who had come to report.
"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage!"
The Anbu nodded, then headed first toward the place where Didaze was training in seclusion.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Didaze was unleashing Wind Release at a rock.
His Wind Release was not powerful, only making a small dent in the rock.
"A little improvement..."
Looking at the dent he had made in the rock, Didaze nodded in satisfaction.
After all, he had been unable to dent the rock a few days ago, but could do so today. That meant he had improved.
If he kept improving at his current pace, he might succeed in just a few years.
Then he could truly begin training in Dust Release.
"Lord Didaze!"
Just as Didaze was about to continue using Wind Release on the rock, an Anbu appeared before him.
"Hm? What is it?"
Didaze looked at the Anbu in puzzlement.
He remembered Ōnoki saying he would not come looking for him unless something urgent happened.
So the Anbu's arrival meant there had to be something urgent. He just did not know how urgent.
"Lord Tsuchikage has agreed on compensation with the Hokage. They will hold talks in the center of the Land of Grass in three days. Lord Tsuchikage would like you to serve as his guard and hopes you can make time then."
The Anbu delivered the message in one breath without beating around the bush, then looked at Didaze and waited for his reply.
"In three days... understood!"
Didaze nodded, then waved a hand to indicate that the Anbu could leave.
The Anbu left with the Body Flicker Technique, while Didaze remained where he was and continued practicing Wind Release.
As for Kitsuchi, there was naturally no chance of him objecting. After all, if he did, Ōnoki could plant a fist on his forehead.
Han, meanwhile, was watching Roshi. Han was a relatively perfect Jinchūriki, and his relationship with Kokuō was fairly decent.
But Son Gokū and Roshi had a terrible relationship. One was stubborn, and the other was just as stubborn.
Two such stubborn people-or beasts-presumably would not get along all that well.
Thus, Roshi generally stayed in the village. Ōnoki would not let him leave until he could control his Tailed Beast.
But precisely because Ōnoki restricted Roshi's personal freedom, Roshi had developed an intense dislike for him.
He refused to listen to anything Ōnoki said and would even mock him in return.
One could put it this way: apart from accepting the order forbidding him from leaving the village, Roshi would reject every single order Ōnoki gave.
Meanwhile, a large number of Anbu were assigned to protect Nanako Uzumaki, with Kōdo among them, all to ensure her absolute safety.
Didaze, for his part, planned to bring Deido over as his assistant once the compensation talks were finished.
After all, having no assistant and needing to do everything himself was rather troublesome. Finding an assistant would save him a lot of work.
After Ōnoki had arranged everything, three days passed.
The Land of Grass.
With Didaze's clay Giant Bird flying at full speed, it took less than two hours to fly from Iwagakure to the center of the Land of Grass.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already been waiting there for quite some time.
From Didaze's perspective, however, Hiruzen Sarutobi had most likely arrived on the second day. After all, it was only the morning of the third day, and he did not believe that the esteemed Third Hokage would travel through the night.
"Ōnoki, you're finally here..."
The Third Hokage put down his pipe and looked at Ōnoki with deep wariness in his eyes.