A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Pasang Sherpa, Acedia, kurtis newman, Nhoxious, sediaz, Targaryen, King Scales.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
————————————————————
"Ha ha ha..." Recalling the experience, Kazuki couldn't help but laugh. Back then in the Cloud Village, Mei Terumi had indeed been quite startled, the look in her eyes when she glanced at him tinged with a touch of fear.
"Although hosting the peace talks in our Leaf Village imposes certain limitations, it seems the Kazekage actually benefits more from this arrangement. In any other location, if the Mizukage were pushed too far, she could simply walk away and refuse to negotiate. The Kazekage would be utterly helpless."
"Correct," Kazuki said with a smile. "By the same token, holding the talks in our Leaf Village also holds certain advantages for the Mist Village. Namely, the Kazekage wouldn't dare to make the compensation demands too outrageous. Forcing the Mizukage to walk away would equate to the Kazekage lacking sincerity in negotiations. Lacking sincerity while having invited us to mediate – that would offend us directly."
"So the peace talks should proceed relatively smoothly this time?" Shikaku felt the likelihood wasn't very high. Ever since the establishment of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, every single post-war negotiation had devolved into shouting matches, faces red and necks bulging. With good luck, a deal might be struck in ten days to half a month. With bad luck, dragging on for several months was the norm.
"It should be fairly smooth. After all, the spark that ignited this war was hardly honorable. Coupled with the fact that the Mist Village's Mizukage, Yagura, was controlled by the Akatsuki, dragging things out further would severely damage the Mist Village's reputation," Kazuki asserted with a confirming nod. "The Mist Village definitely wants to reach an agreement with the Sand Village as quickly as possible. The situation on the Sand Village's side is much the same. They're too impoverished. The village is saddled with considerable foreign debt. To recover as quickly as possible, the only path is to draw the war to a close as soon as possible."
"If that's the case, the negotiations would be disadvantageous for the Sand Village," Shikaku mused, adopting the Sand Village's perspective. He felt they should deliberately stall for a while and not negotiate too quickly. Within the limits of what the Mist Village could tolerate, they should try to extract as much compensation as possible for the village.
"During the Third Great Ninja War, could the Leaf Village have demanded greater compensation from the Stone Village?" Kazuki, too lazy to debate hypotheticals, simply hauled out a concrete historical example.
"..." At these words, Shikaku immediately went numb. Because he himself had been one of the participants in those very negotiations. The negotiation process could only be described as agonizing. What had been most infuriatingly feeling was the village leadership's stance: just get it over with, wrap up the war neatly and draw a perfect conclusion.
To be precise, that was the will of the F4. As a result, the peace talks between the Leaf and the Stone had been a torturous slog. Back and forth they went, until the Stone Village simply stopped taking the Leaf Village seriously. Sign the documents if you want, or don't – either way, there would be no compensation. If the Leaf Village wasn't satisfied, they could just keep fighting.
'You just had to use an example, but did you have to drag out the village's black history?' The look Shikaku directed at Kazuki was filled with speechless exasperation. Kazuki couldn't care less about Shikaku's slightly bruised state of mind. He tapped his fingers lightly on the desk.
"Back then, we were exactly like the Sand Village is now. Unwilling to accept it, but ultimately helpless. Because the war reparations you want are something the other party simply cannot provide. The Mist Village isn't as overbearing as the Stone Village was back then, but their war potential still far surpasses the Sand Village's. It's just that the Mist Village doesn't want to continue fighting. Otherwise, these peace talks wouldn't have been so easy to initiate."
The corner of Shikaku's mouth twitched uncontrollably. "So the Kazekage knows he can't make exorbitant demands during the negotiations. Otherwise, things will fall apart. He can only try to get whatever compensation he can?"
"What else? Just having compensation is already good enough. What more do you want – a bicycle?"
This really is exactly like the Leaf Village's situation back then! The only difference was that the Mist Village was willing to offer the Sand Village a baseline minimum. As for the bicycle – don't even dream of it. The Stone Village, on the other hand, hadn't even offered the Leaf Village a baseline minimum. Their attitude was simple: if you want to end the war, let's talk. If you want war reparations, forget it.
That was the Stone Village's stance. If you're unhappy, you can resume the war anytime. Forget it. I can't continue this topic, or I'll infuriate myself to death. Back during those negotiations, he, Nara Shikaku, had been nothing but a minor nobody, with no right to even open his mouth. Even now, recalling it still stung. Shikaku decisively chose to change the subject. "Ah, by the way, here is an application from Lord Jiraiya."
"Just sign it and let him come back." After holing up at the border camp for so long, Jiraiya had long since reached his limit. Coupled with his worry for Naruto and Tsunade, if not for the fear of Kazuki holding him accountable, Jiraiya would probably have bolted long ago. He'd pulled such stunts in the past; it was just that the Third Hokage never pursued it. But what the Third Hokage wouldn't pursue didn't mean Kazuki wouldn't. Abandon your post and run off without even submitting a formal request? I'll cave your skull in, believe it or not.
'You're dumping the troublesome stuff on me again.' Shikaku gritted his teeth, clutching the scroll, sorely tempted to hurl it at Kazuki's face. Unfortunately, he didn't dare.
The delegations from the Mist Village and the Sand Village had already arrived in the Leaf Village. The peace talks were about to commence. And at this very moment, Tsunade had already left the island, taking Naruto and Shizune with her.
"Lady Hokage, when can we finally go back?!" Naruto looked like a frostbitten eggplant, trailing listlessly behind Tsunade. He seemed utterly drained, as if he hadn't eaten in days. Being cooped up on that island for so long, Naruto felt he was going insane. Every day was nothing but fish. Every day, the only view was the endless, boundless ocean. He desperately wanted to return to the village, to just go and slam down a bowl of ramen, to be by Sakura's side. But as long as Tsunade didn't give the word, Naruto couldn't go anywhere.
"Not for a while yet," Tsunade replied. Her own demeanor was considerably improved compared to when she'd left the village. Flicking a strand of hair clinging to her cheek, she raised her hand and patted Naruto's shoulder. "I'm dragging you all over the place, sightseeing. You should be thanking me!"
'But I want to go back to the village! I don't want to sightsee at all!' Shizune opened her mouth as if to speak, then thought better of it. She didn't dare voice the thought. She knew perfectly well why Tsunade was so keen on sightseeing, deliberately wandering and dragging things out.
Sigh...
The war between the Stone Village and the Cloud Village continued unabated. Even the Leaf Village was still playing hide-and-seek with the Stone Village on the battlefield. With the Mist and Sand Villages initiating peace talks, the Cloud Village's offensive pace only accelerated. Onoki was forced to abandon his post at the camp and personally head to the Land of Waterfalls battlefield. At this point, he no longer had the luxury of matching wits with the Third Hokage.
The stubborn little old man needed to stabilize the situation in the Land of Waterfalls and buy time. Once the peace talks between the Mist and Sand concluded, he would seize the opportunity to convene a Five Kage Summit. Using the summit's influence, he would forcibly bring an end to the war in the Land of Waterfalls.
The Hokage building, within the conference room – this was the venue for the peace talks. The atmosphere inside was thick with the smell of gunpowder. Kazekage Rasa and Mizukage Mei Terumi, each leading their respective delegations, sat on opposite sides of the conference table.