Chapter 337: Threat
Haruno Sakura withdrew her aggressive posture, leaning back onto the chair.
It was as if the old man's threat had worked.
The old man watched with satisfaction as the girl lowered her eyes and sat quietly in the chair. The tense atmosphere eased for a moment.
A hidden smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the girl in front of him: "Your so-called number one clan in the Mist, is it the family of the First Elder from this morning? Very powerful? What do you want with me?"
She said this casually, still looking down and playing with her fingers, as if she had developed a strong interest in her own hands.
Her absent-minded attitude and the feeling of being interrupted made a faint anger rise in the old man's heart again. He suppressed the turmoil and answered steadily, "That's right, our Suikazan clan is the strongest clan in the Mist..."
When talking about his clan, the two young men behind the old man showed proud and arrogant smiles on their faces. The old man was about to continue, bragging about his clan, but was interrupted by Haruno Sakura again: "What is your intention?"
While speaking, she still didn't raise her head, focusing on fiddling with her hands. From the perspective of Tomoaki Sōno, who was standing behind the old man, the faint yellow lamplight shone on the girl's hands. A faint glow appeared on the fair skin. Her slender and straight fingers had a finely carved beauty: they were a pair of hands especially suitable for forming seals and performing ninjutsu.
Beautiful like a work of art.
He could very much understand Sakura's disrespectful attitude; if it were him, he would also use his gaze to appreciate the beautiful scenery in front of him, instead of looking at that dry old face and that condescending gaze.
The old man, however, was not in the mood for such understanding. His brow instantly wrinkled slightly, and he suppressed the rising annoyance. His tone became flat: "You should already know our clan's position. In this morning's meeting, the First Elder has expressed it very clearly... When Hagura took you out, was he trying to win you over on behalf of the Mizukage?"
Haruno Sakura's hand movements paused. It seemed that everyone had laid their cards on the table, and there were no hidden secrets behind the scenes. That made sense. Ninja were not in the habit of acting in a secretive manner, whether it was Hagura or the elder of the Suikazan clan in front of her, especially since the two sides had reached a point of irreconcilable conflict.
The old man raised his voice slightly and continued, "I think you can also listen to our conditions."
Looking at the old man's tone, there was a certain arrogance of, "How much did the Mizukage give you? Our Suikazan clan will give three times that!" However, if he really thought that Mei Terumī won her over with petty favors, he was greatly mistaken. Hagura's attempt to win her over was based on the interests of the entire village, and the benefits for Haruno Sakura herself were zero.
She was helping purely out of obligation, just to preserve some of the Mist's vitality, hoping it would be helpful in the fight against the Akatsuki.
Sakura stopped her hand movements and put on a listening posture; but she had already made her decision in her heart. No matter what conditions the other party offered, it couldn't be more attractive than the Mist Village standing with Konoha to fully fight against the Akatsuki.
"Cultivation notes, ninjutsu scrolls, secret techniques, special ninja tools, gold and silver treasures, and even a portion of the profits from a certain passage between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water." The old man looked at the girl in front of him with burning eyes and said loudly, "You can choose whatever you want."
"We can guarantee that our conditions are definitely more generous than any promises the Mizukage can offer. We are never stingy with the Hokage's disciple, a ninja with high strength." He smiled slightly. "We can even engage in deeper cooperation..."
Sure enough...
Haruno Sakura shook her head secretly.
The other party did not even hide the fact that their clan was engaged in smuggling trade in front of her, and even hinted that she could cooperate with them in smuggling. They probably had absolute confidence that they could win over Haruno Sakura, just as they had won over other ninja in the past.
However, doing so was underestimating her too much.
Even taking a step back, Sakura didn't care for the conditions they offered, including the so-called secret techniques and ninjutsu scrolls—if they really had good stuff, why didn't they make one of their own people the Mizukage?
Haruno Sakura put down her hand, raised her head, and asked, "What about the Mizukage and the Mist Village?"
"The Mizukage..." The old man sneered. "If she is willing to be content with being a lonely person, then everyone will be happy; otherwise, what happened to the previous Mizukage might unfortunately have to happen again..."
"As for the Mist Village, of course, the border will remain closed. Otherwise, wouldn't our passage lose its meaning overnight?"
"No diplomatic relations with Konoha? What about the Akatsuki?" Sakura picked up her cup, took a careful sip of tea, and asked again.
The old man gave a disdainful smile. "Of course, no diplomatic relations, otherwise our route with the Land of Fire will be useless! As for the Akatsuki... what does what happens on the mainland have to do with the Mist?"
The matter of the Akatsuki has nothing to do with the Mist?
Haruno Sakura raised an eyebrow. They seemed to have completely forgotten that the previous Mizukage was controlled by a member of the Akatsuki.
No... perhaps they were now nostalgic for the Village of the Bloody Mist era and hoped that the Akatsuki would control the Mizukage again. After all, the Mist's policy at that time was to close the country, but the current Mizukage wanted to implement a policy of peace and openness.
Comparing the two, the current Mizukage must be even more hateful in their eyes!
At this point, Haruno Sakura had completely understood the other party's intentions.
They were just a bunch of bastards who enriched themselves at the expense of the public. It was undoubtedly a fool's dream to expect them to have a broader vision to look at the world, discover the undercurrents beneath the seemingly calm surface of the ninja world, and realize the danger brewing within.
In two or three years, the entire ninja world might face the threat of the Akatsuki, and the Mist would not be spared, but they turned a blind eye; these people only cared about their own interests.
When words fail, silence follows. Haruno Sakura had absolutely no common language with these people.
Her initial judgment was very accurate. She really should have thrown them out from the beginning instead of patiently listening to their nonsense!
Haruno Sakura took a deep breath and said coldly, "You say you are the strongest clan, so why didn't anyone from the Suikazan clan become the Mizukage?"
A pair of clear eyes directly confronted the old man. A cold smile appeared at the corner of her mouth: "Do you really think the Mizukage is a soft persimmon that you can manipulate at will? Mei Terumī could take down the previous Mizukage, so you think you can too?"
The old man frowned.
"Why not?" A young man behind him couldn't help but shout, "Our Suikazan clan is the strongest ninja clan in the Mist! Mei Terumī is just a woman. What's so great about her! We can send a few masters to take her down easily!"
The old man sat still and did not stop the arrogant young man. His expression, however, showed a faint anger.
Haruno Sakura only found it laughable. If a clan did not have a "Kage"-level ninja, it was difficult to understand the gap between an elite Jonin and a "Kage." After all, she had walked this path herself.
And they seemed to have some prejudice against female ninja; the Mizukage and Sakura herself were looked down upon by these people also because of their female identity, right?
"Please leave. I am not interested in cooperating with you," Sakura said faintly, not interested in arguing with them.
They would be finished after tomorrow, and she couldn't be bothered with the barking of a defeated dog.
The old man, however, suddenly slammed the table. "What do you mean? Do you think the conditions we offered are not enough? Don't think you can demand an exorbitant price just because you are the Hokage's disciple. You are just an envoy. We can still succeed without you!"
"Was what I said not clear enough?" Haruno Sakura snorted, slammed the cup she was holding onto the table, and said word by word, "Get. Out!"
Her face hardened, and the sharp aura in her eyes overflowed fiercely. The elder finally realized that her meekness just now was merely an attempt to cover up her overbearing dominance with a pretty face!
"Young lady, I advise you to think clearly before you speak..." After dropping the pretense, the old man's voice was extremely cold and sinister. "I don't want to say the same thing again. This is the Mist Village, not Konoha where you can run wild!"
"Can you cover the sky with one hand in the Mist Village?" Sakura sneered. "Do you few twisted melons and cracked dates dare to threaten me?"
"Twisted melons and cracked dates?" Tomoaki Sōno, behind the old man, was furious when he heard this and suddenly drew the long sword from his waist.
His actions this time were more decisive than yesterday, probably because a person who is tied to a leash dares to bark louder. A slight provocation made his blood rush to his head. It was unclear if he was truly enraged or just pretending to be fierce.
But Haruno Sakura had already seen through his pretense.
She would not indulge this person's bad habits. Her right index finger moved slightly, and a cluster of azure water seeped out from her fingertip, turning into a few water snakes that instantly shot out.
The three Mist ninja only saw a dark flash on the table. In a flash, the water snakes had shot out, coiled around Tomoaki's body, and bound him tightly, making him unable to move.
Before the three could react, Tomoaki, who had drawn his long sword, was restrained by Sakura.
The expressions on the faces of the three Mist ninja were shocked!
"Tomoaki!" The other young man drew his long sword and fiercely chopped at the water snakes, trying to cut them and free Tomoaki Sōno. However, how could the azure Water Style used by Sakura be something he could deal with?
The elder's heart was startled. Although Tomoaki Sōno's strength was not the best in the clan, he was also a standout among the younger generation, yet he was restrained in one move by a Konoha ninja much younger than him! He could clearly see the gap in strength between the two sides. Restraining in one move was actually synonymous with instant kill. That is to say, Tomoaki couldn't last a single move in the girl's hands!
What powerful Water Style!
He suddenly recalled that in the afternoon, there was a temporary report in the clan mentioning this girl's strength, saying that it could be inferred from the way she passed the waterfall that her Water Style was extremely strong; he had thought it was just an exaggerated and alarmist report, but he didn't expect it to be true...
Haruno Sakura merely administered a slight punishment, warned Tomoaki Sōno, and then withdrew the ninjutsu. Tomoaki Sōno fell to the ground, with a few clear blue and purple marks left by the constricting on his body. He coughed a few times, looking at the girl with surprise and uncertainty. This was the second time he had been defeated by her. He immediately became even more wary of her, his expression unpredictable, both angry and daring not to be angry.
The old man stood up, already looking sideways at Haruno Sakura, his face so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. Their biggest mistake on this trip was underestimating Haruno Sakura's strength, mistakenly thinking she was just a pretty face!
"A fine disciple of the Hokage, indeed worthy of the name!" His tone was dry and cold, completely devoid of emotion. "No wonder you are so confident. No wonder those things didn't attract you. We underestimated you..."
Indeed, wealth could not attract her, low-level secret techniques were no longer of much use to her, and cooperating in smuggling was even more absurd... Haruno Sakura, with her status, strength, and bright future, would of course not choose to associate with them!
Her show of weakness just now seemed to be a deliberate attempt to get information out of them...
"It's not safe to travel long distances with children. Please be careful, noble envoy!"
His gaze coldly swept over Konohamaru and the others sitting not far behind Sakura, and then he spoke to Haruno Sakura.
Failing to threaten her, he resorted to threatening her subordinates...
After tonight's conversation, she felt she understood why the Uchiha clan was exterminated.
Haruno Sakura slightly lowered her eyes, concealing the sharp killing intent hidden within her pupils, burying it in her heart, but she said aloud.
"I won't see you out."
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