But when Onoki looked at the document before him, his mood instantly became extremely terrible.
His entire being felt unwell.
This document was the compensation list proposed by Sunagakure.
They had fallen into an ambush, lost the battle, lost over a thousand Iwagakure shinobi, and even the Tsuchikage's son had died.
Yet in the end, they still had to face Sunagakure's demand for compensation.
Was there still justice?
Was there still law?
And yet Onoki had no choice but to consider it.
Because the compensation Sunagakure proposed was tied to captives and other matters.
There were over three hundred captives in total. Every captive had a clearly marked price. Compared to bounty prices on the black market, they were not inferior in the slightest. The prices were absurdly high.
Aside from that, retrieving the corpses of the dead Iwagakure shinobi also required ransom.
Moreover, Sunagakure had deliberately arranged the order.
First, ransom the corpses.
Once the corpses were ransomed, they could ransom middle-aged and elderly genin.
Then middle-aged and elderly chunin.
Then young genin.
Young chunin.
Middle-aged and elderly jonin.
Young jonin.
They had arranged them according to a combination of strength and potential.
The goal was to make Iwagakure pay the greatest possible price.
"Too high!"
"This price is far too excessive!"
If he had a choice, Onoki would rather those captured Iwagakure shinobi had all died at the hands of Sunagakure's shinobi.
But they had not.
Sunagakure had no intention of killing those people. They had even allowed them to write letters to their families.
This placed Iwagakure in an extremely passive position.
If they did not ransom those people back, how would they face the village? How would they face those people's relatives and friends?
But if they provided compensation, Iwagakure would have to pay far too much.
"More importantly, after obtaining this compensation, Sunagakure will be able to build a new Sun Disk."
"Sunagakure's strength will become even greater!"
"Once the number of Sun Disks becomes sufficient, people from other shinobi villages won't even be able to approach Sunagakure, let alone attack it."
"Could this be the reason Sunagakure keeps provoking Konoha?"
"But the one being provoked is Konoha, while the one injured is my Iwagakure!"
Onoki's expression turned difficult.
"Sunagakure actually doesn't kill captives?"
"Are they not afraid that those Iwagakure shinobi they release will kill Sunagakure's people in the future?"
But Rasa truly was not worried.
The strength of these captives was not particularly high.
Using them to exchange for enough resources to build one Sun Disk was immensely worthwhile for Sunagakure.
"The price is too high. My Iwagakure cannot possibly pay this much. We need to bargain."
The two villages began negotiations.
On one side, they faced off and fought on the frontline.
On the other side, envoys from both sides were fiercely haggling.
It remained intense until both sides barely accepted a price.
Onoki's feelings toward the ransomed captives were extremely complicated.
As captives, they could still return to Iwagakure. Onoki was glad for that.
But when he thought of the price paid, Onoki's heart bled.
"Rasa is too greedy!"
"Insatiably greedy!"
Moreover, welcoming back these captives created another problem. Among these captives, were there any who had been turned?
At the very least, they would need to be observed and guarded against for some time.
…
…
The Land of Lightning.
Kumogakure.
"Raikage-sama!"
The Fourth Raikage met with the Sunagakure reporter.
"What is the process of your interview?"
The Sunagakure reporter said,
"Reporting to Raikage-sama, generally, we provide questions, and the interview subject answers according to those questions. After returning to the village, our editors will select certain portions of the content."
"The selected content will then be published in Ninja World Weekly."
"However, Raikage-sama may rest assured. We absolutely will not modify the interviewee's answers."
"Striving for truth is one of our basic principles!"
The Fourth Raikage nodded.
"I understand. Then begin now."
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
Just as Rasa had expected, the Fourth Raikage had taken the initiative to accept this interview precisely because he was aiming at Konoha.
He wanted to drive a wedge into Konoha and make Konoha fall into chaos.
That way, Kumogakure would have an opportunity to attack Konoha.
Defeat Konoha.
Gain enormous benefits.
Aside from the Byakugan, Konoha possessed many other things that the Fourth Raikage deeply desired.
For example, the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Fourth Raikage remembered very clearly that back then, when he and Killer B had come to the frontline battlefield and led Kumogakure's army against Konoha's army, they had occupied an overwhelming advantage.
It was at that moment that that man appeared.
Minato Namikaze.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique in hand, he suppressed both him and Killer B.
He forcibly halted the Kumogakure army's offensive.
That matter had remained stuck in the Fourth Raikage's mind even now.
On one hand, Kumogakure had failed to achieve the offensive results they expected.
On the other hand, because of that incident, the Fourth Raikage's reputation in the shinobi world had suffered a tremendous impact.
He would forever be one head lower than Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze had become the Yellow Flash.
The Fourth Raikage and Killer B had become his stepping stones.
Just like when people discussed who was the strongest in the shinobi world, the Fourth Raikage had never been included among the candidates.
The Fourth Raikage had once very much wanted to fight Minato Namikaze again and defeat him.
But Minato Namikaze was already dead.
That was no longer possible.
"Our Kumogakure envoy team did indeed go to Konoha because we were invited by Konoha."
"The matter of infiltrating the Hyuga clan compound was also arranged by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Otherwise, our shinobi would not have had such boldness. That was Konoha's core area."
"The possibility of being discovered was extremely high."
"And once discovered, the consequences would be extremely serious."
"Not only for himself, but Kumogakure would be implicated as well."
The Fourth Raikage pushed every matter onto Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It was as though in this matter, Kumogakure had not even been an accomplice. Everything had been arranged by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"To be honest, I never expected our Kumogakure shinobi to die."
"I was furious."
"It was Hiruzen Sarutobi who promised to compensate Kumogakure with a pair of Byakugan."
"Only now do I know that Hiruzen Sarutobi did this to suppress the Hyuga clan, while also eliminating Hyuga Hizashi, that tool."
"Our Kumogakure was also used by Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"If the Hyuga clan wants to blame someone, then they should blame Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
When Rasa received the contents of the Fourth Raikage's interview, he could not help shaking his head.
"The Fourth Raikage's shamelessness is actually above mine. He tells lies with his eyes wide open."
"However, once this interview is released, will the Hyuga clan still be able to endure?"
"If they can, they will simply be laughed at by everyone under Heaven."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi will definitely be furious. Konoha and Kumogakure will become irreconcilable."
"Sunagakure no longer needs to worry about being attacked from three sides."
Rasa revealed a smile.
"And my points will also increase greatly."
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