Not long after Uchiha Makoto entered the venue.
The entire place gradually quieted down. The original clamor quickly turned into whispers.
The numerous ninja forces cautiously sized up Uchiha Makoto.
Their feelings were very complex, filled with reverence, fear, and sycophancy.
The prosperity of Akatsuki Village had exceeded their imagination, something they had witnessed with their own eyes.
It wasn't just a description on paper from intelligence personnel.
Even the Kage of the great ninja villages were astonished by the prosperous scene of Akatsuki Village, let alone these ninjas from smaller forces!
I want to be Lord Light Shadow's dog!
Being Lord Light Shadow's dog is the greatest honor. Unlike some stray dogs who run around the ninja world not even knowing who their master is—pledge loyalty to Lord Light Shadow!
It was just a pity that there were too many people on site, and too many competitors who wanted to be Lord Light Shadow's dog.
So, the various ninja forces did not rashly approach Uchiha Makoto to strike up a conversation. They just looked at him eagerly, their minds racing on how to establish a private connection with Akatsuki Village.
Uchiha Makoto was also looking around.
Generally speaking, great ninja villages had only three ways of dealing with the ninja forces of the world—invite them to dinner, execute them, or take them in as dogs.
Akatsuki Village currently needed to recruit a batch of dogs from across the ninja world to run errands for them.
"Is that... Takigakure?"
In the venue.
A group of Takigakure ninjas had become the center of attention.
They quickly caught Uchiha Makoto's eye.
It wasn't that the Takigakure ninjas were doing anything outrageous in the venue, but... they were holding up advertisements for the cannery, constantly promoting canned goods to the surrounding ninja forces.
Ah... Takigakure was in a miserable state.
The village's high-ranking officials were all but slaughtered by Kakuzu. Later, they were severely dealt with by Konoha and incurred a large foreign debt.
In the end, it was Uchiha Makoto who pleaded with Senju Tobirama and gave them a chance.
So, ever since the Takigakure higher-ups signed several large orders for the cannery with Akatsuki Village and obtained partial distribution rights, they began to desperately call on the ninjas in the village to buy canned goods to prevent the village from collapsing.
In the initial period.
To promote the canned goods in the village, the Takigakure higher-ups led by example.
They had canned fish for all three meals a day.
If the higher-ups were eating canned fish every day, would the ninjas in the village not buy it?
Admittedly... the canned fish did taste good, but you couldn't eat it every day. They were getting sick of the sight of fish.
But this method did have a very good effect.
The ninja community of Takigakure could be said to be able to afford canned fish, and the taste itself was good.
Although eating canned fish every day would certainly get a bit tiresome, it was a high-quality source of protein.
And no matter how bad it tasted, it was still better than eating the dark cuisine of soldier pills every day!
So the stock from the first batch of orders was quickly sold out in Takigakure.
After selling the first batch of cans, the Takigakure higher-ups did the math.
The price of canned fish in the village was arguably the lowest.
To promote it and appease the people of Akatsuki Village, the higher-ups even gave out some canned fish in the village as a welfare benefit for the Takigakure ninjas.
But in the end, they still made a profit and managed to get through the New Year.
During the New Year, the life of the Takigakure ninjas was not too bad. It was decent, and they barely managed to survive.
So... selling canned fish could actually make money!
This truly gave the Takigakure higher-ups hope for the future of their village.
So naturally, the Takigakure higher-ups began to think about expanding their market and selling the delicious canned fish to the people of the Land of Waterfalls.
Because the cost of the canned fish was not high to begin with, the price itself was very affordable.
And they had already opened up the ninja channels.
The Takigakure ninjas used their own ninja beasts to transport the goods. Ordinary bandits wouldn't dare to mess with the ninja masters, and as for the ninja beasts... they even saved on feed money, just letting them out to forage for themselves during rest stops along the way.
Although it was a bit shameful for a proper ninja to be demoted to a delivery boy.
But making money... is not shameful!
With this series of operations, various transportation costs were reduced a lot.
Low price, delicious taste, and accurate market positioning... all these factors combined, and the canned fish soon dominated the aquatic product market in the Land of Waterfalls.
The several leading figures in the aquatic product industry of the Land of Waterfalls were beaten black and blue by this sudden competitor.
Helplessly.
Some of them wanted to pool money to post a mission in Takigakure to physically eliminate their competitor, but... the mastermind behind the push for canned fish in the aquatic product market was Takigakure itself.
Admittedly.
The money Takigakure made every day was just a small fortune for Akatsuki Village.
But... what was the scale of Akatsuki Village?
And what was the scale of Takigakure?
Faced with this sudden situation, the Takigakure higher-ups just held a meeting.
They all looked at the recent ledgers together.
After looking at the recent sales figures, profits... and other data from the canned food business, they immediately made up their minds to kill all those who stood in the way of them making money!
"Takigakure will be able to completely pay off its debts in two or three years at most!"
"We'll tighten our belts and work hard for these two or three years, and the rest will be sweet!"
The Takigakure higher-ups said to the ninjas of Takigakure.
Ninjas were indeed taught to learn to endure, to learn to suffer. A ninja is one who can endure hardship—ninjas are not afraid, ninjas can endure hardship!
But enduring hardship is for the eventual sweetness... surely no one would dare to make a ninja suffer forever, right?
If you do that... believe it or not, in the middle of the night, a ninja will come and kill your whole family!
And now... the hope for the good life the Takigakure ninjas had been looking forward to was right before their eyes!
Having tasted the sweetness, how could the Takigakure ninjas let these people go!
And then...
Those who hindered the continued expansion of canned fish in the Land of Waterfalls were dealt with by the Takigakure ninjas, who were in a frenzy to make money!
After getting rid of a large number of competitors.
Takigakure's business of selling canned fish in the Land of Waterfalls flourished even more, and it was already showing signs of becoming the dominant player in the aquatic product industry of the Land of Waterfalls.
..........
Uchiha Makoto blinked.
Watching the Takigakure ninjas' vigorous sales pitch—they really knew how to hitch a ride!
However, Uchiha Makoto admired Takigakure's constant effort to get rich.
After all, Takigakure was only making a small profit, while the one making the big bucks was Akatsuki Village!
And the more they promoted, the more ninja forces would learn the truth of the matter. In a sense, this was also a living example—following Akatsuki Village really gets you meat... even if you're a dog, the ultimate goal of a dog is not to eat bones, but to eat meat!
So Uchiha Makoto turned a blind eye before the negotiations officially began.
"Please, Mizukage, those are your seats over there."
Uchiha Makoto pointed to the central seats in the venue, and directly opposite the Mizukage's party were... the people from Iwagakure.
This was truly a case of enemies meeting with bloodshot eyes.
It was only because Uchiha Makoto was personally present to suppress the situation that the scene did not spiral out of control.
If the two sides had met in the wild, there would have been a major fight.
With the Mizukage officially seated.
The atmosphere in the venue quickly became tense. Even the whispers began to gradually disappear.
Uchiha Makoto sat down in the seat between Kirigakure and Iwagakure.
And Senju Tobirama, representing Konoha, also found a seat, choosing to sit directly opposite Uchiha Makoto.
"Why are there always endless disasters in the world, causing ninjas to wander between ruins and tears?"
"When we, who have never met before, are forced to face each other with blades, what is the meaning of the faces reflected in the pools of blood?"
"War spreads hatred, and hatred creates a chain. A chain of hatred will turn the world into a living hell."
"Everyone, I am very happy that you are participating in this negotiation. I hope that in the upcoming negotiations, everyone can remain rational and jointly negotiate a plan that is acceptable to both sides to resolve this crisis."
"Akatsuki Village will unswervingly become the cornerstone of peace in the ninja world. Heinous elements who deliberately sabotage the peace of the ninja world will not have a good end!"
Uchiha Makoto began his speech, making an opening statement for the negotiations.
He clearly expressed his attitude—the ninja world wants peace, not war!
His words eased the tense atmosphere in the venue.
The ninja forces present also felt reassured—heinous elements who deliberately sabotage the peace of the ninja world will not have a good end!
This was a naked threat.
But it sounded very reassuring.
But Senju Tobirama felt a strange awkwardness hearing these words, and he looked at Uchiha Makoto with a strange expression—Uchiha Makoto, you were the instigator of the first large-scale war in the era of ninja villages!
Back then, you were that heinous element who deliberately sabotaged the peace of the ninja world!
If Konoha hadn't backed you up, who knows how the Kumogakure war would have ended. It might not have even ended by now!
Uchiha Makoto quickly noticed Senju Tobirama's gaze and began to counterattack with his eyes.
Senju Tobirama was not to be outdone.
Uchiha Makoto: "What are you looking at me for?"
Senju Tobirama: "What's it to you?"
Uchiha Makoto: "Are you trying to pick a fight?"
Senju Tobirama: "Bring it on!"
Uchiha Makoto: "You just wait!"
..............
Soon, the negotiations officially began.
The First Tsuchikage spoke first.
"Not long ago, a team of our ninjas was on an escort mission in the Land of Iron when they were attacked by ninjas from Kirigakure, resulting in heavy casualties for my Iwagakure. Kirigakure must give me an explanation for this, otherwise, my Iwagakure will absolutely not let this matter rest!"
"Evidence? Do you have evidence?"
"On what grounds do you say it was our Kirigakure who did it!"
"Your Iwagakure is purely slandering my Kirigakure, deliberately trying to cause trouble. Our Kirigakure is not to be trifled with!"
The First Mizukage used a very useful move—flat denial.
This was also the attitude that Kirigakure had clearly expressed from the beginning—your Iwagakure is purely slandering my Kirigakure, deliberately trying to frame us.
Anyway, they were just trading insults in the newspapers.
Even if it was indeed Kirigakure that started the trouble, they had to muddy the waters first.
Admit it right away?
How could that be possible.
"Hmph, I see you have no intention of solving the problem at all!"
"Do you really think we have no evidence?"
The First Tsuchikage snorted coldly. He had long anticipated this move and had made ample preparations beforehand.
Iwagakure had collected traces of the battle at the scene.
The damage caused by those ninjutsu was clearly the work of Kirigakure ninjas.
And the ninjas present were all experts and could easily recognize it.
There were also relics of the Kirigakure ninjas' battle left at the scene: kunai and shuriken inscribed with the Kirigakure symbol, and Kirigakure headbands... All this evidence could prove that it was Kirigakure ninjas who attacked the Iwagakure ninjas.
"What does that prove?"
"Perhaps someone wanted to frame Kirigakure."
"These can only be considered clues, not evidence."
The First Mizukage's wise eyes quickly scanned the evidence submitted by Iwagakure.
There were no witnesses!
To make Kirigakure admit to this matter based on just this—impossible!
And his personality itself was extremely strong, and his tone of voice was more like a provocation.
The First Tsuchikage's temper began to flare up.
Although, if the tables were turned on Iwagakure, and there was no absolute evidence pointing to them, he would certainly deny it to the death as well.
Once you admit it, you will immediately be at a disadvantage in the negotiations.
But... your position determines your perspective.
Everyone has double standards.
At this moment, the First Tsuchikage believed that the Mizukage had no intention of solving the problem at all.
So he looked at Uchiha Makoto, hoping he would uphold justice. They had already made a deal in private.
"Mizukage, let me say something fair."
"No one here is a fool. It was your Kirigakure ninjas who attacked the Iwagakure ninjas... If you want to solve the problem properly, you should have the right attitude, instead of adopting such an irresponsible approach."
Uchiha Makoto received the First Tsuchikage's hint, temporarily abandoning his "battle" with Senju Tobirama, and spoke up.
—When a person opens their mouth with "Let me say something fair," it means their attitude is very clear.
Without a doubt.
Uchiha Makoto had already tacitly acknowledged that it was Kirigakure ninjas who had attacked the Iwagakure ninjas.
Of course, this was only because the First Tsuchikage and Uchiha Makoto had reached a deal in private.
Most importantly, as a mediator, one must abide by three principles—fairness, fairness, and damn fairness.
Although Kirigakure was denying it to the death, and there was no direct evidence to prove that the ones who attacked the Iwagakure ninjas were Kirigakure ninjas.
But... the ninja forces present were not idiots!
And Uchiha Makoto's words obviously carried a lot of weight.
The prosperous scene that Akatsuki Village had just displayed was not for the First Mizukage to see for nothing.
Akatsuki Village had already supported Iwagakure on this issue, and Konoha was also an ally of Akatsuki Village—it was meaningless for Kirigakure to continue to deny it.
And when the First Tsuchikage heard Uchiha Makoto's words of support, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
His decision back then was absolutely right.
It would definitely be impossible for Iwagakure to resolve this matter satisfactorily on its own. It would just end up in endless bickering, fighting, and bickering.
"Perhaps it was done privately by Kirigakure ninjas, who deceived the Mizukage."
"I hope the Mizukage will thoroughly investigate this matter when he returns."
Uchiha Makoto also gave the First Mizukage a way out, so that he wouldn't be stuck.
The First Mizukage snorted coldly, tacitly agreeing with Uchiha Makoto's statement.
And once this matter was admitted.
The rest of the matter would be much easier. They could directly enter the stage of discussing compensation.
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