Chapter 65: One Against Four, And Still No Chance
"We cannot possibly pay such reparations, Third Hokage-sama. Please, we implore you, allow your nation to relax the terms."
The acting Kages of the defeated nations pleaded, their gazes fixed on the one person who had yet to speak.
Though Stelle had not yet officially inherited the title, after the display she had put on today, Konoha's entire shinobi population would have to be collectively insane not to make her the Third Hokage.
"Mere defeated nations have no right to refuse." Stelle raised an eyebrow, her expression a mask of thinly veiled impatience. A flicker of flame danced to life in her palm as she adopted a stance that promised violence. Beside her, Uchiha Kagami played his part perfectly, his Mangekyō Sharingan flaring into view in a silent, cooperative threat.
Just as the tension reached its breaking point, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward. He first approached the seemingly enraged Stelle, murmuring words of reason and placation. Then, he turned to the assembled shinobi from the other villages, his face breaking into a sincere and disarming smile that promised he was on their side.
Even as a younger man, Hiruzen possessed a natural charisma. His features held a hint of simple honesty, casting him in the role of a savior in the eyes of the desperate delegates.
He spoke to Stelle of the other nations' hardships, suggesting that as the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konoha should display the magnanimity of a great power. He proposed they demand reparations based on each nation's actual economic situation, rather than a single, crushing, uniform price.
Stelle, for her part, put on a convincing show of being persuaded and reluctantly agreed.
With that, Hiruzen began the delicate process of negotiating an acceptable range of compensation with the acting Kages. After a grueling battle of words, once he was certain not another ryo could be squeezed from them, the agreements were finalized.
As the poorest of the villages, Sunagakure's reparations were the lowest—but 'low' was only a relative term. When Shamon, the acting Kazekage, considered the village he was about to inherit—saddled with a mountain of debt before he could even begin to address the poverty that left them unable to fill their own rice bowls—a chilling dread settled deep in his heart.
In recent years, the Land of Water had observed Konoha's development of merchant caravans and had successfully followed suit with their own maritime trade routes. They had, in all honesty, done quite well for themselves. Naturally, they were made to pay a handsome price. Seeing the final figure, Hōzuki Gengetsu, the acting Mizukage, went rigid. He had a sinking suspicion he would be beaten to death the moment he returned to Kirigakure.
The Land of Lightning fared no better. Stelle's attitude toward them was exceptionally firm, her demands the highest of all. She made her stance perfectly clear: she was deliberately making things difficult for them. If they were unsatisfied, they were welcome to continue the fight. Had Tobirama not personally intercepted the pursuit squad sent after Kinkaku and Ginkaku, Stelle might have paid a personal visit to Kumogakure herself.
Of all the nations, only the Land of Earth left the summit in high spirits. No large-scale battles had occurred between Iwagakure and Konoha, and casualties from their minor skirmishes had been minimal. Strictly speaking, they had no major grievances with the Leaf. Their only real conflict had been the First Tsuchikage's firm demand for reparations from Konoha, which had resulted in his swift demise at the hands of their future Third Hokage.
Therefore, when Stelle asked for only a small portion of compensation—an amount on par with the remote and impoverished Land of Wind—the acting Tsuchikage was so pleasantly surprised that he agreed on the spot.
This lenient sum, however, caused extreme dissatisfaction among the other three great nations. The way they looked at Mū, the Second Tsuchikage, had already begun to change. They didn't dare voice their displeasure with Konoha, but finding fault with Iwagakure was another matter entirely.
This, of course, was the exact result Stelle and Hiruzen had orchestrated.
After the day's meeting, with Stelle serving as a powerful deterrent for the Land of Fire, the other nations would likely not provoke Konoha again for a very long time. But these countries still needed to develop. What would happen when resources were insufficient? What if they grew dissatisfied with their own lands?
The people in their villages were poor but fierce. Should they become disgruntled with their leaders, those same leaders would naturally seek to stir up trouble abroad. If they won, they gained land and resources. If they lost, they simply remained poor. Sooner or later, they would ignite another war.
High-end combat power determined the course of any battle. They didn't dare provoke Konoha, but would they dare provoke Iwagakure, a village now perceived to be on their level?
'Everyone else has been bled dry by reparations, yet your village is still developing just fine,'they would think.'On what grounds?'
It was foreseeable that the Land of Earth would become the designated punching bag for the other three great nations.
Unfortunately, the Second Tsuchikage, Mū, was new to his position and lacked experience. He had yet to see through Konoha's blatant scheme—and even if he had, it would have made no difference. Could he have knelt on the ground and begged Konoha to take more? Even if he dared to offer, the clans of Iwagakure would never have allowed it.
And so, the Five Kage Summit concluded successfully.
The shinobi of the Four Nations, stiff smiles plastered on their faces, shook hands with Stelle one by one.
Before they came: one against four, they couldn't win, and the reparations would be immense.
After they came: one against four, they still couldn't win, and the reparations were still immense.
Of course, a verbal agreement was not enough. They needed to have the goods in hand. It would be far too troublesome if the villages returned home only to renege on their debts, forcing another fight just to collect.
To that end, Stelle and the others allowed one guard from each nation to return to their village. Their mission: to negotiate with their councils and quickly bring back the ransom for their people—namely, the captured elites and the former Kages of each village.
If they chose not to pay, that was fine too. Konoha would simply take the former Kages and elite shinobi of the Four Nations back to the Leaf as prisoners. Should they want them back later, the price would be different.
For the founding Shodai Kage of a village to have sacrificed himself only for his body to be held for ransom was an absolute humiliation. No village could accept such a stain on its honor. Even if the various ninja clans balked at the cost, they had no choice but to pay. They simply could not afford to lose that much face, nor could they risk shattering the morale of their people.
In the end, Konoha returned home laden with a mountain of resources, money, and all manner of concessions.
Normally, for an event where several great nations gathered, Black Zetsu would have loved to join the fun. As a schemer who had lived for a thousand years, he constantly monitored major events that could alter the course of the ninja world, all to complete his grand ambition.
Unfortunately, he was rather busy at the moment. He had, at long last, obtained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan he had coveted for so long.
Right now, he was holding his Eternal Mangekyō—no, he was holding a child whose eye sockets were fitted with two such legendary dōjutsu—as he moved happily through the forest.
The wind rustled past his pitch-black form, and the sunlight dappled through the canopy above. Black Zetsu felt that everything in this world was wonderful, a playground for him to roam freely.
Next, he just needed to retrieve the Hashirama cells he had previously harvested from Senju Hashirama's body, find a suitable vessel, and nurture the eyes for a time. At the right moment, these Eternal Mangekyō could evolve into the Rinnegan.
Once he had the Rinnegan and had captured the Tailed Beasts, he could finally see Mother again.
The child in his arms let out a stream of giggles, the sensation of rushing through the air clearly delighting him.
Black Zetsu glanced down at him. Since this child had come from that laboratory, there had to be something extraordinary about him. He didn't know what it was yet, but the fact that he possessed a pair of Eternal Mangekyō and could close his eyes at will was already quite incredible.
It was decided: he would experiment on this one first. If the experiment failed, he would simply find another vessel and continue.
Just as Black Zetsu was pondering the precise method for awakening the Rinnegan, the child in his arms started acting up again.
"Pitch-black, I'm hungry. I want to eat."
"I told you not to call me 'Pitch-black.'You will address me as'Black Zetsu-sama.'" Black Zetsu corrected the brat's insolence once more.
Unfortunately, it had no effect. The little boy's large eyes crinkled into a smile. "Okay, Pitch-black. Got it, Pitch-black."
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