Chapter 391: The Raikage Who Missed the Entire Meal
Those who participated in the signing of the treaty knew the reason. They clearly remembered that at the negotiation table, the Iwagakure representative had said this:
"Our Lord Tsuchikage says that the Fourth Raikage thinks we're actually going to war, so he's still just watching the show. When he realizes we're just playing house, there's probably going to be an unreasonable big oaf added to this negotiation table."
After the Iwagakure envoy said this, the face of Konoha's lead negotiator, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was extremely grim. He felt that the experience he had accumulated in countless negotiations over his decades-long career as Hokage had suddenly become useless.
Of course, the effect of these words was obvious. The subsequent negotiations went very smoothly. The Land of Fire paid a huge sum for reconstruction to the Land of Rain.
It also paid a "mediation fee" to each of the three countries of Earth, Wind, and Water. After all, the three countries had all dispatched a certain number of troops to mediate the conflict between Konoha and the Akatsuki, so they had to be given something for their military expenses.
In addition, the Land of Earth, as the leader of this negotiation, also made Hiruzen and the others agree to designate a small area within the Land of Fire, bordering the Land of Earth, as a jointly managed free trade zone between the two countries.
In the Land of Rain incident, although the Akatsuki received compensation, it could not be said that they had profited. After all, the "Dark Akatsuki" had lost too many outer members, and even an official member like Jūzō Biwa had died in battle. The Dark Akatsuki was completely crippled. Yahiko and Nagato discussed it and decided to sort through the ninja within the Akatsuki, sending all members who were suspected of being intelligence ninja from other countries to the Dark Akatsuki, to at least set up its organizational structure first.
Thanks to Ishiro's timely assistance, and Rasa's final decision not to go to war, the Land of Rivers was not affected by the conflict. Although the Land of Rain was affected, the battle mainly took place at the Dark Akatsuki's base, so the blow to the country as a whole was not great. So, although Yahiko's trio had suffered a considerable blow, they had not given up on the task of building their two nations.
Kirigakure had reaped a handsome benefit without doing anything, which greatly alleviated the various negative impacts brought about by Yagura Karatachi's rule. At the very least, many ninja in Kirigakure who had not been very supportive of Hoshigaki Kisame began to truly accept this Mizukage. Although discerning people could already see that Kisame might have connections with Iwagakure and likely had their support, since he had brought victory and tangible benefits to Kirigakure, everyone decided to pinch their noses and accept being Iwagakure's little brother for a while during this period of weakness. It was a pitiful thing to say, but this was Kirigakure's first diplomatic victory in many years. In the past, whether in war or diplomacy, the Mist had always failed. Kisame's decisive dispatch of troops to threaten Konoha was, of course, done on Ishiro's advice. Although he didn't know how long this "little brother" would be obedient, it didn't stop Ishiro from giving him a little sweetener, to let him know that there was soup to drink when you follow big brother. In the future, when faced with a real choice of betrayal, he might hesitate for a few more days.
Sunagakure seemingly did not gain much benefit, but in fact, they had benefited the most. Suna's situation was much better than before. With the Dark Akatsuki crippled, the threat from their neighboring country was much smaller. At least until the Dark Akatsuki fully recovered, Suna could develop in peace. And at this negotiation table, the matter of the land exchange between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers was recognized by all parties. This was Suna's biggest gain. They had broken through the path of outward expansion that had been blocked by the Akatsuki. Suna could truly feel the fertile land of the Land of Fire right before their eyes, within reach.
Iwagakure's gains were mainly practical benefits. They received the largest share of the mediation fees paid by Konoha. At the negotiation table, after the Land of Earth's representative spoke, the representatives of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Water followed suit without hesitation, which made the Daimyo's envoy very satisfied. Therefore, the Daimyo also allocated an additional sum of military funds to Iwagakure, the reason being to protect their two little brothers, the Land of Rivers and the Land of Water.
Konoha was naturally the biggest loser. This time, they had truly ceded territory and paid reparations. After this incident, Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige in Konoha fell to an all-time low. Of course, Hiruzen had anticipated this, and he took the opportunity to hand over all the power in his hands to Tsunade, even giving up his position as an advisor. Tsunade, in turn, promoted one of her own trusted subordinates.
With this, in the Konoha high council meetings, Tsunade would have three people on her side: herself, Shikaku Nara, and this newly promoted confidant. Danzō, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado also added up to three. As the Hokage, Tsunade originally had more power than an ordinary advisor, so she finally gained the dominant position in Konoha's major decision-making. So, although Konoha had suffered a great loss this time, Tsunade, on the contrary, appeared to be in high spirits. She felt that her opportunity to finally make her mark had arrived.
Besides Konoha, there was one other person who also felt he had lost out.
That was the Fourth Raikage, who hadn't even made it in time for a single dish.
The Raikage had wanted to learn from Iwagakure and act as the fisherman. He had already secretly gathered his forces, just waiting for the several parties to go to war. At that time, regardless of whether it was Iwagakure, Konoha, or Kirigakure, as long as anyone showed a weakness, he would not hesitate to pounce and bite off a piece of meat.
But who would have thought that this group of people, who had been shouting so loudly as if they were about to go to war in the next moment, would, in the very next moment, throw out their own backs?
If I had known you all weren't planning to fight, I would have also gone to Konoha to get a piece of the action.
The Raikage felt he had lost a huge amount in military expenses. Especially when he heard that even Kirigakure, who had just been a bystander, had received a large sum of so-called mediation fees, the Raikage felt even worse. Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and the Land of Rivers had at least participated in the previous chaos in the Land of Rain. What was the deal with Kirigakure? They could get a bowl of soup just for showing up?
This ninja world was becoming more and more incomprehensible. He remembered when his old man had taught him, he had never mentioned that a ninja war could have this kind of will-they-won't-they operation.
...
While the Fourth Raikage was smashing his desk in anger, Ishiro was in a meeting, taking stock of the spoils of war.
This time, Iwagakure's income was divided into three parts. The first was the equipment left by the nearly two thousand dead Konoha ninja. Of course, Ishiro had only taken the best part of it. It had to be said that Konoha's ninja foundation was still quite good. The equipment Ishiro had obtained, when concentrated, could raise the strength of at least twenty of Iwagakure's Anbu squads by a whole level. Apart from the equipment, there were not many ninjutsu scrolls recovered from the Konoha ninja. Konoha's objective this time was clear: they had come to fight. So, apart from a few who might have had special circumstances, the other ninja had not brought any ninjutsu scrolls.
The second part was the supplies of this two-thousand-strong Konoha ninja army. Although these materials were not all high-quality like the first part, their advantage was in quantity. In wartime, it would be enough for several thousand Iwa-nin to use for a month or so. In peacetime, it was almost enough for the entire village of Iwagakure to use for a month. Seeing this batch of materials, Bella was very satisfied. This was real money. Saving such a large expense, how much research could be done?
The third source of income was Konoha's mediation payment. However, Konoha's finances were tight, so this payment, apart from a small half in cash, was paid in the form of ninjutsu and materials. Konoha had agreed to give Iwagakure ten B-rank ninjutsu and one A-rank ninjutsu. Ishiro had proposed exchanging for a few Yin-Yang Release ninjutsu, but Konoha did not agree. In the end, they exchanged for genjutsu. Of course, the genjutsu this time were B-rank genjutsu that could truly be used in combat. Ishiro immediately gave these to Katsumata and Natsuki, hoping that their Yin Release research would go a little smoother.
Although Iwagakure had made great progress in recent years, behind the glamorous facade, the village's expenses were actually very large, far exceeding the past.
The Iwagakure of the past did not need to spend a large amount of resources on a certain person every day to have them practice Sage Art. Each session of Sage Art training cost a large amount of money and materials, and this had now become a fixed expenditure for Iwagakure. From the time Ishiro had obtained the method of absorbing natural energy from the giant panda, Iwagakure had been setting up natural energy seals almost every day. During the initial research and the intensive training at critical periods, they might have had to set it up a dozen or even dozens of times a day.
The cost was terrifyingly large. Even Ishiro, the Tsuchikage, did not dare to calculate the cumulative expenditure. It was a number no less than the cost of fighting a Great Ninja War.
And now, in Iwagakure, two sessions of Sage Art training had to be conducted every day: one for Ikura, and one for Shinya Matsutani. There was no other way. The original order for Sage Art training in the village was Ishiro, Ōnoki, Dango, and Ikura. Now that Ishiro, Ōnoki, and Dango had completed their training, it was Ikura's turn, but then Shinya Matsutani had been added.
The financial pressure on the village was hard for outsiders to imagine. And this was just one of Iwagakure's many research projects. Of course, the costs of the other research projects were much smaller than that of Sage Art, such as Lightning Release, genjutsu (recently upgraded to Yin Release), medical ninjutsu, sealing jutsu, hand seals, Sharingan, Byakugan, space-time ninjutsu, and so on.
That was why Ishiro kept trying to stir up trouble, and why he shamelessly went around getting money.
It really was as the saying goes: the economic base determines the superstructure.
The fact that Iwagakure could support such a large expenditure was thanks to the Daimyo. The Land of Earth had developed rapidly in these years, both militarily and economically, so the Daimyo was very satisfied with Iwagakure and was never stingy with various allocations.
Ishiro's leadership of Iwagakure had only one principle: seize the resources of other countries to develop his own strength. Seize more, develop faster; seize less, develop slower. A proper imperialist ideology.
So, for the Land of Rain incident that Konoha had proactively provoked this time, although Iwagakure's participation was not particularly high, the high-level meetings held were particularly long.
Bella and Megumi carefully calculated the various incomes, including the two payments allocated by the Daimyo. One was the fund Bella had asked for when she went to the Daimyo to explain the dispatch of troops. The other was the reward given by the Daimyo after his envoy, feeling the rise of the Land of Earth's international status at the negotiation table, had reported back to him.
(End of Chapter)
♧♧♧
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER
♧♧♧
-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you