Sunagakure.
"Konoha and Iwagakure have agreed to a ceasefire?"
The Third Kazekage's expression instantly darkened.
The reason he had dared to remain at a standoff with Konoha for so long was that Iwagakure was still in the fight.
Now that Iwagakure had "surrendered," Sunagakure was left alone. One hand could not clap!
Although the announcement said that Iwagakure had surrendered, the Third Kazekage could tell that this was just meant to mislead outsiders. Otherwise, why would Iwagakure suddenly agree to a ceasefire when its battle with Konoha was still deadlocked?
"Damn it..."
The Third Kazekage's brow furrowed. He did not know what to do.
If he withdrew now, there would definitely be voices of opposition within the village.
But if he did not, Konoha would soon turn its full strength against them.
Hatake Sakumo would also return soon, and that man would probably slaughter his way through Sunagakure single-handedly once again.
The Third Kazekage had a headache.
"Let's convene a leadership meeting and let the elders decide by a vote."
The Third Kazekage did not intend to make the decision himself. He wanted to convene a leadership meeting to decide whether to end this war.
Soon, at the Third Kazekage's summons, Sunagakure's leaders all arrived in the meeting room.
"Everyone, the main reason I invited you here today is to discuss whether we should withdraw our troops."
The Third Kazekage addressed everyone in a low voice.
"What happened? We've finally started showing signs of turning defeat into victory lately. Why should we withdraw?"
One of Sunagakure's leaders spoke with some agitation.
"Iwagakure has withdrawn..."
The Third Kazekage gave the reason, leaving everyone present dumbfounded.
"Why would Iwagakure withdraw? Haven't they been winning all along?"
Another leader could not help asking.
The other leaders nodded as well. They also wanted to know why.
Word of Didaze had long since spread to every village. All the villages knew that Iwagakure had produced an Explosion Release prodigy.
And Konoha had been losing ground steadily against Didaze, so why was Iwagakure the one surrendering and withdrawing now?
They could not understand it.
It never occurred to them that Konoha had compensated Iwagakure with money and Ninjutsu, because according to their most basic understanding, no one would ever pay compensation unless they had lost!
Besides, Konoha had not lost. After Hatake Sakumo went there, the two sides had been evenly matched. They simply could not imagine that Konoha would be willing to spend money to end the war.
"I'm not sure about that, but the most important question for us now is whether to continue the war."
The Third Kazekage sighed as he spoke.
Sunagakure's leaders exchanged glances, none of them knowing what to do.
"I support a ceasefire."
To the Third Kazekage's surprise, the first to speak was Granny Chiyo, whose son and daughter had both died at Konoha's hands.
"Every decision I make puts the village first. You don't need to take me into account."
Granny Chiyo spoke expressionlessly.
As one of Sunagakure's old guard, Granny Chiyo undoubtedly carried considerable weight.
After Granny Chiyo spoke, the others also began calling for a ceasefire.
Aside from a few extremists, not a single one of the remaining leaders opposed a ceasefire.
"Then we'll agree to a ceasefire. As for compensation, I'll discuss it with Hiruzen Sarutobi."
The Third Kazekage sighed.
Sunagakure was already so poor, and now it had to pay compensation. This undoubtedly only made matters worse.
But refusing to pay was not an option either. After all, Sunagakure had been the one to invade Konoha. Even Iwagakure had paid compensation, so how could Sunagakure refuse?
But if the Third Kazekage knew that Iwagakure had not paid anything and had instead made a fortune, he would probably rather continue the war than pay.
Unfortunately, the Third Kazekage did not know, so his only thought now was to pay as little as possible, preferably no more than Iwagakure had paid.
Kusagakure.
"Finally, someone with chakra..."
Orochimaru had lain hidden in a cave for a long time before finally spotting someone with chakra.
He was a very cautious man. Having turned into a little white snake, he was far too weak, and he did not dare entrust his life to Hatake Sakumo and the others.
If it were Jiraiya and Tsunade, Orochimaru could just about trust them, but he did not dare trust anyone else at all.
He would absolutely not seek out Konoha's main force before he recovered.
Yet Orochimaru had spent ages lying in wait in the forest without finding a single ninja, which struck him as very strange.
The Land of Grass had a ninja village. Even if he could not find a Chunin or Jonin, surely there should be Genin?
But the fact remained that Orochimaru had not seen a single Genin in all these days.
Today, Orochimaru had finally spotted a Genin. Although he did not know why only one Genin had passed by in so many days, he was extremely excited.
Orochimaru sank his fangs into the ninja.
"Ah!"
The ninja cried out in pain.
This was a female ninja.
But Orochimaru did not mind. To him, men and women were all the same, as long as he was not a snake.
He was not a lecher like Jiraiya anyway, so he felt it did not matter whether he was male or female.
Orochimaru soon took possession of the body, which rapidly grew stronger with his power.
But even by the end, it had only reached about thirty percent of Orochimaru's former strength.
"What a garbage body."
Orochimaru looked at the body in disdain. Its capacity was very low, so he could only restore his strength slowly.
If Orochimaru had taken a Jonin's body, he could have recovered eighty percent of his strength or even more right from the start.
Unfortunately, this was only a Genin, and a female Genin on the weaker end of the ranks at that.
"I'll keep recovering..."
Orochimaru was in no hurry to return to Konoha. He planned to recover more of his strength before going back.
Although it might take a little longer, a month or two, Orochimaru could afford to wait.
Using this female ninja's body, Orochimaru picked a house at random, killed everyone inside, and took it over.
Orochimaru was not someone like Jiraiya or Tsunade, who would not kill civilians. When he refrained from killing, it was only because there was not enough benefit in it.
He urgently needed a house now, but there was no telling what the occupants might do if he drove them out. To leave nothing to chance, Orochimaru chose to deal with the problem at its source.
And so, Orochimaru secretly recuperated in the Land of Grass, with no one knowing that he was still alive.
Meanwhile, after three days of intense discussion, Sunagakure and Konoha finally settled on compensation of one hundred million, the same as Iwagakure's.
This outcome left both Konoha and Sunagakure secretly delighted.
Konoha felt that it had recovered all the money it had paid out in one go from Sunagakure.
Sunagakure, meanwhile, felt that despite losing so badly, it was paying only as much compensation as Iwagakure. By comparison, it did not feel that it had lost out too badly.
Jiraiya and Tsunade also led the ninja back to the village.