"Let's negotiate."
When Dodai said this, the entire conference room suddenly became extremely quiet.
Everyone present, including Ei the 4th Raikage, stared at Dodai in disbelief.
Who was Dodai?
Third-generations and fourth generations of Raikage's most trusted ministers are only under one person in terms of power.
In particular, Raikage and the others focused on their own cultivation and needed more patience to deal with political matters. It could be said that Dodai handled all the matters in Hidden Cloud Village. However, he had a high reputation in Hidden Cloud Village.
However, this second in command of Hidden Cloud Village spoke of a topic that no one was willing to mention or even ashamed of.
Peace talk?
To put it nicely, wasn't that surrender?
This made the stubborn Cloud Ninjas accept it.
This wasn't the peace treaty they had signed in the past, where they didn't pay anything and even obtained some good benefits.
With Konoha's army approaching, as long as the other side wasn't stupid, they would have to face the other side's lion-opening mouth if they wanted to calm this war.
It must be known that since the establishment of Hidden Cloud Village, when had he ever bowed his head to the enemy in such a humiliating manner?
Even in the first war of the Ninja World, the 2nd Raikage advocated signing an equality treaty with the second generation. Wasn't it also sent by the Cloud Ninjas, who were very dissatisfied?
If they really wanted to negotiate, it meant that they had to pay more than the 2nd Raikage period to Konoha. If the Cloud Ninjas below learned of this situation, it could be imagined how strong the uproar would be.
Therefore, no matter if the Cloud Ninjas were unwilling or not, no one took the initiative to propose the negotiation.
But now, it just so happened that Dodai opened his mouth.
Thus, without any thought, after a brief silence, without waiting for Ei the 4th Raikage to say anything, the other Cloud Ninjas fiercely reprimanded him and quickly attacked him.
"To negotiate at this critical juncture? Doesn't that mean surrender? Dodai, are you trying to mess with our Cloud Ninjas?"
"The Cloud Ninjas have never bent their knees to beg for surrender! They are even more impossible in our hands!"
"Dodai, are you afraid of Konoha? You actually said something completely different from before."
"Hmph! If I didn't know, I would think that you were transformed by someone else!"
"I heard that you were captured by Konoha before. Now it seems Konoha released you as a lobbyist to save your life?"
"The Cloud Ninjas can only stand and die! If we continue to persevere, we will be the ones to win!"
"Dodai, you have really disappointed us!"
"."
In an instant, an overwhelming sense of blame drowned Dodai.
Disappointment, confusion, surprise, anger, and other gazes all focused on him.
Dodai bore all of this with an expressionless face, without any words or actions.
After a long time, the fourth-generation Lei Yingai raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.
Then, in silence, he looked at the important arm of the teacher and friend in front of him with a complicated gaze. For the first time, he asked,
"Dodai, why did you say this?"
At this time, Dodai finally made his move.
He slowly raised his head. Even in the face of everyone's curses, he was still as stubborn as a stone and said without wavering, "Lord Ei, everything I said was for the sake of the Cloud Ninjas!"
"What a joke! The so-called peace talks are for the sake of the Cloud Ninjas? You are going to break the backbone of our Cloud Ninjas!"
"I think you are a spy sent by Konoha!"
"If you really want to be good for the Cloud Ninjas, you..."
"Enough!"
Hearing this, the officials of the Cloud Ninjas couldn't help but sneer, but before they could say anything, they were interrupted by Ei's roar.
The huge amount of chakra comparable to tailed beasts exploded in the conference room.
The eyes of Ei coldly swept everyone,
Seeing that the room was quiet again, he looked at Dodai again, just like the calm before the eruption of the volcano, and said without any trace of hesitation, "Continue, as Raikage officials minister, you have the qualifications to express your opinion."
The 4th Raikage's statement, as Dodai, who watched the other side grow up, naturally knew that if he could not say anything, then he would definitely not have a good end, even if his friendship with the former was very deep.
But he did not regret what he had just said because the current Cloud Ninjas really could not afford it.
Earth looked deeply at the 4th Raikage and the surrounding Cloud Ninjas and said: "Lord Raikage and everyone, do you know how many Cloud Ninjas are in Konoha's hands now? Four thousand! There was also the Two-Tailed Man Pillar and the Eight-Tailed Man Pillar. These two most important Biju weapons of the Cloud Ninjas were now in the hands of Konoha! If they continued to fight against Konoha, what would happen to those who were extremely important to the village? When would they come back? Can you come back? Have you ever thought about it?"
Silence.
Incomparably silent.
This was a topic that the 4th Raikage and the officials of the Cloud Ninjas wanted to avoid discussing.
With such a large number of hostages in the hands of Konoha, it was impossible to say that they were not worried.
"Does Konoha dare to risk universal death? As long as we defeat Konoha in the next battle, these people can return." Finally, one of the officials of the Cloud Ninjas unwillingly whispered.
"Defeat? How?" I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I am indeed afraid of Konoha. The current 4th Hokage is Hashirama Senju. He alone killed two or three thousand Cloud Ninjas. How could the current Cloud Ninjas defeat such a terrifying existence? Moreover, there were Tsunade, Minato, and Shisui, who were as powerful as Raikage. Konoha is much more powerful than it was in the past decades. So, tell me, how can we defeat such a Konoha?"
"Even if we can't defeat them head-on, it's as we've decided before. We can change into zero and continue to fight against Konoha on a small scale. In the home field, we can always make them lose." A high-ranking member of the Cloud Ninjas retorted, but he did not notice that there was a hint of guilt in his words.
"Can we? Do you really think so?" "Konoha has the support of the Land of Fire, which is ranked first in terms of national strength. If they really want to waste time, how long can we waste when we lose the Hidden Cloud Village?"
"Even if Konoha is really exhausted, we will only be left with a big mess. The Land of Thunder's economy was seriously damaged, the Hidden Cloud Village was destroyed, and the Cloud Ninjas suffered heavy losses. At that time, whether the Land of Thunder could still retain the title of the five great countries and whether the Hidden Cloud Village could still be called the Five Great Villages or not was a problem. Even if Konoha left, there would be new enemies who would take advantage of the situation. For example, the Rock, their Onoki loved to do this kind of thing!"
Speaking of this, no one else came forward to refute it.
Even the faces of the people, including Ei, turned extremely ugly after listening to the speech of Ei.
They did not expect that the plan they had been racking their brains for would be so unbearable in Dodai's mouth.
But if this plan was carried out, the consequences of what the Earth generation had said might become a reality.
Then what should they do next?
Was it really like what Dodai said?
This was an unacceptable reality for most of the Cloud Ninjas.
The atmosphere was very depressing at this moment.
Dodai sighed deeply. If it were possible, he would not want the Cloud Ninjas to lower his proud head.
But now that the situation was pressing, for the sake of the future of Hidden Cloud Village, he had to stand up and wake everyone up.
This was also the reason why Yuki let him go back and bring a message. He did not refuse.
The difference was too great!
All he could do now was to stop the damage to the Cloud Ninjas in time.
Even if he were called a traitor by the Cloud Ninjas, he would still grit his teeth and do it.
As long as all of this was done, he could resign and even commit suicide to express his gratitude.
Everything was for the Cloud Ninjas!
A look of determination flashed in Dodai's eyes as he continued to say to everyone, "I have to admit that in this fight with Konoha, our Cloud Ninjas have been defeated. What we have to do now is not to waste the pride of the Cloud Ninjas but to stop the damage in time! The earlier we return the captured 4,000 Ninjas and two Jinchuriki, the faster the Cloud Ninjas will recover. If we continue to fight against Konoha, we will be the ones to suffer the greatest losses. So, no matter how much we must pay, let's negotiate with Konoha!"
"To tell you the truth, I was captured by Konoha before. The reason I came back was because of Konoha's intention. The 4th Hokage, Yuki Senju, also wanted to negotiate. Although the negotiation conditions were very harsh, it was worth it compared to the future of the Cloud Ninjas."
"Since I proposed the negotiation, I will bear all the infamy in the village."
"Everyone, don't hesitate anymore. For the Cloud Ninjas, this is the best choice."
After saying that, Dodai bowed deeply to everyone present.
Then, under the silent and complicated gazes of the group of people, he got up again and took out a document from his pocket. It contained all the conditions for negotiation proposed by Yuki to the Cloud Ninjas.
Dodai handed it to Ei with both hands.
The latter had not moved, and Dodai had always maintained this position.
After a long time.
A trace of exhaustion appeared on the usually strong face of Ei.
He looked deeply at the earth and slowly raised his arm.
As if he was carrying a thousand jin, little by little, struggling to reach for the document.