"It's impossible! We cannot accept such demands!"
In the conference room of the Hokage Building in Konoha, the representatives of Konoha, led by the Third Hokage, were engaged in intense discussions with the delegation sent by Kumogakure.
Unlike the Land of Wind, which had suffered heavy losses and was unable to continue fighting, and had already negotiated defeat compensation terms with Danzo, Kumogakure, with the Raikage still alive but captured, maintained a tough stance.
Kumogakure, which advocated strength and was highly united, deliberately adopted a tough stance after learning that Kizaru was not in Konoha, in order to minimize their losses from this defeat, even going as far as demanding compensation.
Led by the elders of Kumogakure, the delegation was well aware of the character of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, knowing that he disliked war and wished to maintain the current balance of power in the shinobi world.
Furthermore, there was the reason that the First Hokage had allocated the Two-Tails to the village, only for it to be captured by Konoha's Kizaru.
Kumogakure delegation seized upon these two points and behaved extremely rogue during the negotiations, displaying an attitude of not fearing any consequences, and even went so far as to suggest not offering any compensation at all.
"Konoha has already taken away our Two-Tails and now they want compensation and ransom, which is utterly unreasonable!"
"If Konoha wants compensation and ransom, they must hand over the Two-Tails."
With a rogue-like attitude and logic, Kumogakure presented two options to Konoha.
One was for Kumogakure to offer compensation, but Konoha would need to return the Tailed Beast.
The other was for Kumogakure to relinquish the Tailed Beast, but they would not offer any compensation, and at the same time, Konoha would need to release the captive Raikage.
The top brass of Konoha, led by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, naturally could not accept the compensation conditions that were almost like a freebie.
The Two-Tails had formed an excellent bond with Kizaru and, as a fully communicative and free Tailed Beast, would have immense strategic value in future wars.
Moreover, knowing Kizaru's temperament, if the village forcibly demanded the Two-Tails and handed it over to Kumogakure, then it was estimated that, at most, there would only be one village left between Konoha and Kumogakure.
Although they disliked war and wished to maintain the current order and situation, Hiruzen, who was in the peak of his physical and strength, was not as afraid of war as he would be in the future.
"You people, do you still want to continue fighting?" With years of cooperation and a deep understanding, Danzo, who had been silent, showed a tough attitude without waiting for Hiruzen to speak.
"If you still want to fight, I am willing to accompany you!" With a cold look resembling that of a venomous snake, Danzo spoke coldly.
Knowing that Hiruzen's stance as Hokage represented Konoha's final attitude, Danzo, as Konoha's tough side, spoke out first.
"Third Hokage, is this the attitude of Konoha?" Sitting opposite Hiruzen, the elder of Kumogakure asked, looking at him.
"Is Konoha trying to dominate the entire shinobi world with such domineering behavior?" Labeling Konoha with a big hat, Kumogakure elder continued, "If so, I think not only my Kumogakure, but even other ninja villages will never submit to Konoha!"
With such confidence from the elders of Kumogakure, apart from wanting to reduce compensation through a tough stance, more importantly, he had privately contacted the delegations from the Land of Wind and the Land of Rock to obtain certain support.
Apart from Sunagakure, which had blood feuds with Konoha, even the Iwagakure, which had actively expressed goodwill towards Konoha and formed an alliance, was unwilling to see Konoha, which was already becoming stronger, receive too much compensation and become even more powerful in the future.
Temporary alliances and concessions were just to avoid confrontation, and both the Iwagakure and other ninja villages understood this.
They were willing to endure for now, just waiting for Konoha to make a mistake, or even waiting for Kizaru to grow old.
As long as they were alive, there was hope, even if this generation couldn't see it, they could still fight for time and hope for future generations.
As veteran ninjas, the top brass of these villages understood deeply the way of survival through patience and weakness.
But the premise of all this was not to allow Konoha to continue growing. They could accept Konoha's current strength, but they could not accept Konoha's perpetual dominance!
Based on this philosophy, after receiving support from the Sand and Iwagakures, Kumogakure showed a tough stance during negotiations with Konoha.
Faced with the big hat that Kumogakure had put on them, Third Hokage Hiruzen naturally could not admit it.
"Since the founding of Konoha by the First Hokage, we have always upheld the principle of maintaining peace. We will not dominate the shinobi world, let alone plunder and bully other ninja villages." When it came to plundering and bullying, Hiruzen looked meaningfully at the elder of Kumogakure.
After all, among the Five Great Ninja Villages, it was Kumogakure that most enjoyed stealing and plundering jutsu and bloodlines from weaker ninja villages and shinobi.
"In that case, please return the Two-Tails to Kumogakure. This is something that was allocated to us by the First Hokage, Hashirama." Bringing up the First Hokage, the elder of Kumogakure once again demanded the Two-Tails.
"You want the Two-Tails? Fine! I'll call my nephew back and let him talk to you!" Kumogakure presented the First Hokage, while Konoha countered with Kizaru.
Since the First Hokage had passed away, he was merely a symbol of Konoha, but his nephew was the true future of the new generation of shinobi.
Hearing Danzo's words, the elder of Kumogakure once again recalled the scene of the Golden Flash attacking the village and his terrifying performance in this Great Shinobi War.
His expression changed slightly, but he still maintained a calm demeanor as the elder of Kumogakure responded, "So, is Konoha now being ruled by a ten-year-old child, Third Hokage?"
"Kizaru is my successor, the future Fourth Hokage. In some matters, I allow him to make decisions." Knowing that Kumogakure wanted to sow discord, Hiruzen smiled.
"This ten-year-old child, not long ago, captured the Raikage! It seems that your village's shinobi are not even comparable to a ten-year-old!" Faced with the sinister intentions of Kumogakure emissaries, Danzo didn't hold back, speaking with sarcasm.
Honestly, I've been reading books and catching up on updates with the Wild Fruit Reading app lately, switching sources and enjoying multiple narrators, available on both Android and Apple.
"You bastard! Are you insulting the Raikage?" Without waiting for the elder to speak, one of the middle-aged jonin who was close to the Raikage and participated in the negotiations stood up excitedly.
"Hehehe! So speaking the truth is insulting the Raikage, huh?" At this moment, Danzo went all out.
"You must have used despicable means, Konoha, to assassinate the Raikage!" The middle-aged jonin angrily questioned.
"The mere Raikage isn't worth my schemes." With Kizaru as his trump card, Danzo spoke firmly.
"You..."
"Tetsutaro, sit down!"
"Danzo!"
As the main figures of both sides, seeing the atmosphere becoming increasingly heated, the elder of Kumogakure and the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, spoke at the same time.
"Hmph!" With a snort, Tetsutaro, the jonin, sat back down unwillingly.
With a smile in his eyes, Danzo looked at the uncomfortable expression of Kumogakure delegation, feeling increasingly pleased.
"Let's end today's meeting here for now!" Glancing at the time on the wall, Hiruzen spoke up.
Agreeing with a nod, knowing that continuing today's talks would not yield any progress, the elder of Kumogakure spoke up, "Agreed!"
After reaching a consensus, Kumogakure delegation, under the leadership of Konoha's ANBU ninja, got up and left the conference room.
Sitting silently in his seat for a moment, smoking a cigarette, once Kumogakure delegation had left the Hokage Building, Hiruzen put down his pipe.
"Danzo, bring Kizaru back!" The tough and rogue attitude of Kumogakure had left Hiruzen feeling a little weary; he was ready to play his trump card.
Hearing Hiruzen's words, a smile appeared on Danzo's face.
"Hiruzen, I also have the same intention!"
With their thoughts in sync, the two men smiled at each other.