Chapter 232: Light Weight Rock, Heavy Weight Rock
Despite having been kept waiting the better part of a day, Ōnoki showed not a shred of resentment on the surface, maintaining his easy smile throughout.
Because he understood full well: right now, Iwagakure could not afford to offend Konoha.
Konoha's current power was simply too overwhelming. Take Deidara alone — no one in Iwagakure could rival him except Ōnoki himself, the Third Tsuchikage.
Not even Han, the Five-Tails jinchūriki. Not Rōshi, the Four-Tails host currently wandering unaffiliated. Not even Akatsuchi, Iwagakure's current jōnin squad leader.
In raw power, Deidara surpassed all three of them combined. His C4 Garuda technique alone, capable of manufacturing nanoscale explosives, was enough to give ninety percent of the shinobi world's finest genuine pause.
So no matter what, Ōnoki needed to bring Deidara home this time.
But given the delicate current standing between Iwagakure and Konoha, this negotiation was destined to be rocky from the start.
Still, Ōnoki carried genuine confidence into it.
Who was Deidara, after all? A member of the Akatsuki.
And what was the Akatsuki, in Konoha's eyes? An organization that had inflicted devastating losses on the village three years prior.
An organization Konoha despised to its core — and yet, having captured one of its members, Konoha hadn't immediately used him as leverage for revenge against the Akatsuki. Instead, they'd notified Iwagakure to come collect him.
What did that indicate?
It meant Iwagakure possessed something Konoha needed.
But it also meant that whatever Konoha needed from Iwagakure had to be significant enough to set aside their burning hatred for the Akatsuki entirely.
Even so, Ōnoki maintained a distinctly humble posture throughout.
Not simply because of Deidara's importance to Iwagakure — but because Konoha also held the Land of Earth's food supply lifeline firmly in its grip.
If this negotiation left Konoha with any lingering resentment, there was no telling what measures they might take against the Land of Earth as a result.
Currently, Suna, Kumo, and Kiri were all still recovering, working desperately to rebuild from the devastation of the war three years ago as quickly as possible. At this stage, Iwagakure could count on no meaningful support from any of them.
But if Konoha ever seriously moved against Iwagakure, those same three villages would absolutely not stand by and watch.
Because right now, Iwagakure was the only village left in the shinobi world with any hope of resisting Konoha at all.
As for the Akatsuki?
A Great Village was a Great Village. In their eyes, the Akatsuki amounted to little more than a loose gang of rogue ninja who'd banded together.
Sure, they had some tricks up their sleeves — but could those tricks possibly withstand a manhunt by tens of thousands of coordinated shinobi troops?
At this thought, Ōnoki's expression grew even more deferential.
The person before him wasn't merely a sixteen-year-old girl.
She was the powerhouse who, three years ago, had deliberately exploited resource disputes to ignite an entire war ahead of schedule, subjugated the shinobi world, and personally felled three Kage in a single conflict — solidifying Konoha's position as the undisputed foremost of the Five Great Villages, while simultaneously grinding Wind, Lightning, and Water down to their current diminished states.
Someone who'd played the entire shinobi world like pieces on a board. A battlefield witch with a mind sharper than any blade. Konoha's Fifth Hokage.
Someone like that — even his father, the Third Tsuchikage himself, would have to approach with the utmost caution.
Watching Akatsuchi's — no, Ōnoki's — respectful and humble bearing, the Hokage felt a flicker of genuine boredom.
That once-steadfast man was now bowing and scraping before her like this. It rather took the fun out of things.
"Lady Hokage, might I ask where Deidara currently is, and when we might be able to collect him?"
Ōnoki spoke with careful, deferential courtesy.
The Hokage said nothing at first, simply sitting there in a thoroughly relaxed posture, leaning back in her chair, cheek propped against one hand, as though she might drift off to sleep at any moment.
"Lady Hokage?"
Ōnoki eyed the Hokage cautiously — a girl younger than his own daughter.
At that moment, the conference room door slowly opened, and three more figures entered.
"Allow this old woman to continue from here."
Leading the group was Koharu Utatane — Tobirama Senju's sole female student, one of Konoha's legendary F4, now a village elder who'd served through five Hokage. Practically a living history book of Konoha, and an iron-willed veteran of the negotiating table.
Though she wasn't exactly on the best of terms with the current Fifth.
"Ah — Elder Koharu. My apologies, I didn't recognize you at first."
Ōnoki rose and bowed, sighing quietly to himself.
"No need for such formality."
Koharu strolled over at an unhurried pace and settled beside the Hokage, glancing at her with an unreadable expression before speaking.
"The Hokage has been buried in work all day and is feeling somewhat drowsy. Please forgive her, Lord Ōnoki."
Ōnoki responded immediately with a courteous smile: "Not at all, not at all. Lady Hokage bears an enormous burden of responsibility, and being occupied with matters of state is only natural."
Koharu nodded slightly. Behind her, Kurama Asuka stepped forward and placed a document in front of Ōnoki.
"This details the losses our village incurred in capturing Deidara. Please take a look, Lord Ōnoki."
Ōnoki's eyes fell on the document, and he felt as though he were staring at a mountain — simply opening it required no small effort.
Scanning the itemized entries, beads of sweat formed at his temples, and he spoke, uncertain:
"This was all... Deidara's doing?"
The document detailed one hundred thousand explosive tags expended, one Thunder God Sword deployed, six elite jōnin dispatched — and six originally scheduled S-rank missions abandoned during the manhunt, resulting in clients switching to other villages entirely.
Direct and indirect losses to Konoha, totaling seven hundred million ryō.
Capturing one Deidara cost seven hundred million ryō?
Did Deidara even realize he was worth that much?
"W-wait — one hundred thousand explosive tags?"
Ōnoki's voice trembled slightly.
Kurotsuchi, already irritated at her father's excessively deferential bearing, went wide-eyed at the mention of a hundred thousand explosive tags.
A HUNDRED THOUSAND explosive tags?!
Wouldn't that have blown Big Brother Deidara to atoms without so much as a hair left behind?!
"Mutual-Detonation Explosive Tags."
Koharu's single sentence cut off Ōnoki's confusion instantly.
The Second Hokage's original technique was legendary throughout the shinobi world — carving summoning seals onto explosive tags for infinite detonation cascades, effectively bludgeoning an opponent to death with sheer expenditure. Describing it as "throwing money at the problem" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"Th-then — are we also responsible for compensating those six abandoned S-rank mission fees?"
Ōnoki gritted his teeth, though he forced himself to hold back.
Missions could succeed or fail — leaving aside whether those six S-rank missions had even been legitimate to begin with, the missions hadn't even been executed yet. Even assuming they'd have succeeded, having that cost pinned squarely on Iwagakure's shoulders regardless felt deeply unjust.
How was he supposed to accept this?
"Those who went to capture Deidara were Jiraiya, Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi, Might Guy, our Nine-Tails jinchūriki, and a Mangekyō Sharingan user."
"Furthermore, our entire Intelligence Division was mobilized for a full month solely to track down Deidara's whereabouts, setting aside all other work during that period."
"However, in consideration of our alliance, we've chosen not to include that particular expense in this tally."
Koharu continued in the same measured tone, neatly cutting off whatever complaint Ōnoki had been building toward.
So I'm supposed to thank you for that, then?
Thank you for saving me a bit of money?
It took SIX of your most elite fighters and a hundred thousand explosive tags just to capture Deidara — doesn't that make them look somewhat incompetent?!
"Deidara truly is formidable. Even with Konoha's finest deployed en masse, we still had no choice but to resort to such drastic measures. Iwagakure's warriors are, as always, exceptional."
As though sensing Ōnoki's mounting frustration, Koharu sighed and praised Deidara's strength with apparent sincerity.
Ōnoki: ...
"But, Elder Koharu — wouldn't this be..."
Ōnoki looked at the document in his hands, hesitant to finish the thought.
Seven hundred million ryō for one Deidara. This was genuinely—
"Ah, well, there's simply no helping it. The Fifth has held her position for less than half a year now. If we absorbed a loss like this over a single Deidara without recompense, it wouldn't sit well with the village's confidence in her leadership."
"After all, the Fifth is still quite young."
Koharu sighed dramatically at this, which made the Hokage's eyes flicker open slightly, giving her a brief glance.
That crafty old bag, dragging me into this too...
"Might there be... some room for accommodation here..."
Ōnoki's expression showed genuine strain. Paying this much for a single Deidara would surely make even the Tsuchikage's heart ache.
Sure, they'd profited handsomely off Sunagakure three years ago, but every ryō of that windfall had already gone toward food supplies.
Iwagakure might look like a victor on paper, but in practice, virtually all of the war's spoils had quietly flowed straight back to Konoha.
"This is..."
Koharu's expression turned deliberately hesitant, and Ōnoki's heart skipped a beat.
This elder's reputation at the negotiating table was legendarily fearsome. Even knowing full well he was being maneuvered into a trap, Ōnoki had no choice but to grit his teeth and step into it anyway.
Such was the price of power imbalance.
If Iwagakure held equal standing with Konoha, they wouldn't have to wait around like this — Konoha would likely have notified them to collect Deidara the very next day after his capture.
"In that case — I understand your village possesses a certain secret technique..."
Koharu 'hesitated' at length before continuing, and the moment she did, Ōnoki's eyes narrowed sharply.
Could Konoha's actual target be...
"The technique granting the caster the ability to fly, while simultaneously amplifying their own physical strength — the Light Weight Rock and Heavy Weight Rock techniques..."
"If we were to convert this technique's value into currency, it could offset three hundred million ryō of the total."
"In other words, Konoha would be willing to pay three hundred million ryō to purchase this technique from your village."
Koharu regarded Ōnoki with an expression of genuine difficulty.
"This..."
Ōnoki's face showed visible hesitation, though he'd already grasped the full picture. His gaze drifted, discreet, toward the Hokage, who appeared to be dozing lightly beside them.
Was this technique specifically intended for her?
According to Iwagakure's intelligence, this Hokage possessed mastery across four chakra natures: Yin, Yang, Water, and Earth.
Though she rarely used Earth Release, during her battle against the Eight-Tails, a single Earth-Style Wall technique — combined with a teammate's assistance — had somehow forcibly redirected an entire Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even among Iwagakure's own ranks, very few could accomplish something like that.
Achieving that kind of effect with a mere Earth-Style Wall required more than just Earth Release chakra and massive reserves — it demanded genuine mastery over Earth Release's nature transformation and shape manipulation both.
If Light and Heavy Weight Rock were handed over to Konoha, it wouldn't be long before this Hokage possessed flight capability on top of everything else — and gained yet another edge in the very power she already excelled at.
From the beginning, Ōnoki had no intention of handing Konoha a fake or partially falsified technique.
Because shinobi who'd reached a certain level could spot a flawed jutsu almost at a glance.
Handing over a compromised secret technique in exchange for Deidara would mean facing Konoha's full-blown fury the very next day.
Ōnoki fell silent for a long while, his weathered brow furrowed and unyielding.
"This..."
"Five hundred million."
"Light and Heavy Weight Rock are Iwagakure's own secret techniques, passed down since the First Tsuchikage himself. Their value goes far beyond a mere jutsu."
"Five hundred million to make the exchange."
At this point, Ōnoki could only console himself with the fact that Konoha hadn't demanded Particle Style instead.
Otherwise, Deidara might as well have been left to die in Konoha.
"Deal."
Koharu accepted without a moment's hesitation, catching Ōnoki completely off guard.
Had he undersold this?
"Light and Heavy Weight Rock techniques, plus an additional two hundred million ryō, in exchange for Deidara — any objections, Lord Ōnoki?"
Koharu smiled, her earlier hesitation vanished entirely, addressing Ōnoki directly.
"...None."
Ōnoki felt genuinely put out inside, but the words were already spoken, with no room left to retreat. He had no choice but to swallow his frustration and accept.
"In that case, the deal is concluded."
"We've arranged accommodations for your delegation. Please, make yourselves at home for your stay, however modest."
Koharu rose, smiling as she extended a hand toward Ōnoki.
"We'll leave the arrangements entirely to Elder Koharu, then."
Ōnoki stood and shook her hand.
Kurotsuchi, who'd remained silent throughout, glared at Sakura with visible displeasure.
Before setting out, her father had repeatedly warned her not to interrupt the negotiations, and she'd obediently held her tongue thus far.
But the thought of their village's secret technique changing hands like this left her thoroughly unhappy.
This pinky's already strong enough. And now she wants OUR secret techniques too?
As the meeting concluded, Sakura rose as well, offered a polite farewell to the Iwagakure delegation, and turned to leave.
"Lady Hokage!"
Just as everything seemed to be resolving smoothly, Kurotsuchi spoke up out of nowhere.
The words instantly froze the atmosphere in the room. Ōnoki desperately tried to signal his daughter with his eyes, begging her to stay quiet.
But Kurotsuchi ignored him entirely, doing exactly as she pleased.
"I've heard Lady Hokage is unmatched on the battlefield, but I've never witnessed it firsthand. Would you be willing to spar with me?"
"Let me see for myself what makes Lady Hokage so formidable."
!!
We're DONE for!
Ōnoki's heart wailed internally. He rushed to intervene: "That's not what Kurotsuchi means—"
"No, that's EXACTLY what I mean!"
Kurotsuchi, spoiled since childhood, shot back without a second's hesitation.
"Lord Ōnoki, what is the meaning of this?"
Koharu's expression darkened as she regarded Ōnoki.
Sakura was the Hokage. Kurotsuchi, granddaughter of the Tsuchikage or not, was still just an Iwagakure shinobi.
An Iwagakure shinobi, challenging a Hokage in a setting like this?
Absolutely absurd.
Whatever reputation Kurotsuchi carried — how did that even compare to the Fifth Hokage?
To put it bluntly: Kurotsuchi simply wasn't qualified.
She didn't even have the standing to issue such a challenge in the first place.
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