The Rental Agreement
"Wait—" Yagura stared. "—you can rent tailed beasts?"
Jinghang shrugged. "Why not? Hashirama and Tobirama sold them back in the day."
The room went quiet.
Then—slowly—people started nodding.
(That's... actually not a terrible idea.)
The tension from moments ago evaporated.
Jinghang leaned forward. "Rin's a girl. She'll get married eventually. Have kids. That's when jinchūriki seals get dangerous—childbirth loosens them. You need a replacement anyway."
"So let her stay in Konoha for now. When she gives birth, Kirigakure sends a new jinchūriki. The Three-Tails goes back to you. But—" His smile sharpened. "—Konoha pays rent for every year they keep her."
Yagura's eyes lit up. "How much?"
"That's between you two." Jinghang sat back. "Negotiate."
Kakashi's Concern
"Lord Kazekage—" Kakashi's voice was tight. "—jinchūriki childbirth is incredibly dangerous. Lady Mito nearly died giving birth to—"
"Sunagakure solved that problem."
Everyone turned.
Jinghang's smile was calm. Confident.
"Elder Chiyo developed a technique called One's Own Life Reincarnation. It transfers life force to others. Strengthens them. Childbirth isn't a death sentence anymore."
He waved a hand.
"When the time comes, we'll send someone to help. Smooth transition. No one dies."
What he didn't mention: the original technique killed the caster.
But Jinghang had modified it.
The caster was now a White Zetsu.
Sunagakure's underground labs still had plenty of those—captured during the Abyss battle. Controlling one with genjutsu to perform the technique was trivial.
(And if we refine this further... immortality research could actually go somewhere.)
He filed that thought away for later.
Terms and Conditions
Yagura still looked worried. "What if Konoha just... never lets her have children? Do we wait until she dies?"
Jinghang thought for a moment.
"Rin's fourteen now. Let's set the rental period at fifteen years. If she hasn't given birth by then, she automatically returns to Kirigakure."
"And if she refuses?"
"Force the seal open. Transfer the beast." Jinghang's tone was matter-of-fact. "She'll survive. We've done it before."
"Of course, if anything happens to her during those fifteen years—accident, assassination, whatever—the Three-Tails still belongs to Kirigakure."
Yagura nodded slowly.
Hiruzen looked like he'd swallowed glass.
But he nodded too.
After another hour of haggling—
"100 million ryō per year," Hiruzen said through gritted teeth. "Fifteen years. 1.5 billion total."
"Lord Kazekage!"
Amamiya's voice cracked.
"You have to stand up for me!"
Jinghang suppressed a groan.
Amamiya launched into a tirade. Whining. Complaining.
Takigakure had helped Konoha fight the Wind-Cloud Alliance. Konoha promised 2.5 billion ryō in military funding.
They'd only paid 500 million upfront.
Now they were refusing to pay the rest.
"It's not fair!" Amamiya's voice rose. "We lost six of our Eight Great Pillars! Two thousand ninja! We came to help and got our arm torn off!"
Jinghang listened.
And wanted to laugh.
Because he'd already received Kakuzu's report.
Kakuzu had stripped Amamiya's entire building down to bare concrete. Stolen everything valuable.
Conservative estimate: 1.5 billion ryō.
(You're already robbed, you idiot. And you don't even know it.)
"I can't help you," Jinghang said flatly. "I didn't demand reparations from you after the Service Area battle. You should be grateful. You're asking me—the victim—to stand up for you?"
He shook his head.
"Talk to the Hokage yourself."
Hiruzen's Response
Hiruzen's patience had run out.
"You want money?" His voice was ice. "Fine. Let's talk about the joint debt Konoha's carrying because we both lost."
Amamiya's mouth opened.
"Konoha's paying reparations to three villages. We'll be in debt for years." Hiruzen's eyes were cold. "If you want your share of the funding, you can take your share of the debt too."
Amamiya deflated.
But said nothing more.
Yagura's Apology
"Lord Kazekage." Yagura's voice was quiet. "I need to apologize."
Jinghang raised an eyebrow.
"I was foolish. I listened to bad advice. Attacked Yuexi Peninsula. Betrayed our friendship—"
"Apology accepted." Jinghang waved it off. "The war's over. Let's move forward."
He leaned back.
"Learn from this, Lord Mizukage. Cherish peace. Don't start wars you can't win."
"I understand." Yagura bowed his head. "But... the lesson was harsh. Kirigakure's people are suffering. Our finances are in ruins. I was hoping—"
(Here it comes.)
"—you might consider lending us money."
Jinghang's smile widened.
"Four billion?"
"Four billion?" Jinghang laughed. "That's nowhere near enough. I'll lend you ten billion."
Yagura's eyes went wide.
Tears actually formed.
(I was so blind. Why did I ever ally with Konoha? Sunagakure is where the real benefits are!)
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