The meeting had barely begun when Mifune, serving as the mediator, already felt a migraine forming. He quickly stepped forward to mediate. "Everyone, please calm down! This is a peace negotiation, not a declaration of war!"
Yet Mifune's intervention only seemed to pour oil on the fire. A scowled furiously, his eyes wide with rage, and bellowed, "Of course we came for peace talks—as long as Iwagakure compensates us twenty billion ryo! Then I'll let them off easy this time!"
"Stupid son of a stupid father!" Onoki spat out mercilessly. "Do you think you're the one holding the upper hand now? If anyone should be paying compensation, it should be you lot paying Iwagakure!"
"You midget, who are you calling stupid?"
"Brat, do you want to taste my Dust Release technique, huh?"
Sandwiched between the two, Rasa wore an expression of helpless discomfort. Let those two argue all they wanted—but why did all the fallout end up on him?
Meanwhile, Yuanshi from Mist displayed a heavy expression. "Mist has always stood for peace. The Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist stolen by your Konoha, the escort team slaughtered by you—we have endured it all."
"But never did we expect our repeated concessions would be met with even more audacity! This time, you've gone so far as to murder the Mizukage! On behalf of Kirigakure, I strongly condemn Konoha!"
Seeing Yuanshi positioning himself as the victim, everyone couldn't help but secretly call him shameless. Even a fool could see that Mist had been behind all this trouble from the start.
Before the Third could speak, Danzo coldly interjected, "The blades were taken because it was Mist who attacked our people first; the escort team was slaughtered because it was Mist planning to unleash the Bijuu within Konoha; as for the Mizukage's death, it's simply because we'd grown tired of your foolishness! One last thing—if you're ambushed, fail, and then get counterattacked, you still have the audacity to bring it up!"
Several Konoha guards watched Danzo in shock. Today, Elder Danzo definitely looked like he was on a killing spree!
Hiruzen just kept quiet, choosing to watch Danzo's performance instead.
Yuanshi remained solemn and replied, "That's just a rumor! How dare the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist attack him? Haven't you heard how Raiga Kurosuki fled after merely locking eyes with him?"
Even some of Mist's own guards appeared awkward. Was Yuanshi Elder really treating everyone here as complete idiots with such twisted logic?
"As for the escort team—"
Before he could finish, Danzo slammed the table. "It seems you truly have no sincerity for peace talks. Hiruzen, let Seiki go pay another visit to Mist!"
As soon as those words fell, several figures from the Mist side shouted in panic:
"Wait! Please don't act rashly!"
"We have plenty of sincerity for peace talks!"
"We're all civilized people; fighting and violence solve nothing!"
Representatives from the other villages looked on with envy. Having someone like Seiki to send out whenever uncertain must be quite strategically advantageous indeed!
Internally seething, Yuanshi muttered. Negotiations weren't supposed to start with intimidation—this was sheer bullying!
Still, he had no choice but to reluctantly concede, "Ahem... perhaps my intelligence report was incorrect after all."
"Haha, everyone has moments of forgetfulness!" The Third didn't want Konoha to become the world's enemy and seized the moment to settle things. "Then let's restart the negotiations!"
From there, matters became much simpler. Even Cloud Village and Iwagakure seemed affected, worried about receiving the "Seiki Warning," and quickly chose treaties that weren't too disadvantageous for either side.
This unexpectedly harmonious scene left Sunagakure's delegation, who had been playing a passive role all along, amazed. "No wonder Seiki's reputation alone can bring about such an effect!"
After the meeting ended, delegations from other villages gradually left, but Homura and Hiruzen stayed behind instinctively.
Danō lowered his eyelids and asked, "Hiruzen, you should still remember what you said earlier, right?"
Hiruzen joked, "Could it be you're worried you won't get to see Elder Chiyo after the war ends, and want me to propose on your behalf?"
Danō replied coldly, "Stop pretending not to understand. You know exactly what I'm referring to—the matter of you stepping down!"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes slightly. "So you're already in such a hurry for me to step aside?"
"I'm just afraid you might forget," Danō snorted. "And besides… my actions are definitely not for my own benefit."
Hiruzen gave a knowing look. "I understand. It's all for Konoha, right?"
"Of course it's for Konoha. However…" Danō chuckled coldly. "You think I actually want to become Hokage myself?"
This time, Hiruzen truly felt slightly surprised. "Isn't that so?"
Without opening his eyes, Danō answered calmly, "I will nominate Orochimaru as Hokage!"
"Orochimaru?" Hiruzen frowned. "You're serious?"
"Of course," Danō laughed sinisterly. "Orochimaru is young, full of energy, and possesses formidable strength. He's one of the legendary 'Sannin' and also hails from commoner origins. Most importantly, he is your disciple, Hiruzen. Can someone like him not be trustworthy?"
Hiruzen remained silent for a moment before noncommittally replying, "Danō, you've changed a lot!"
"People change," Danō murmured. "At least during this war, I've seen many truths clearly."
After a brief silence, Hiruzen rose and departed. "I'll seriously consider your proposal. You can also rethink it yourself."
Once Hiruzen was gone, Tatsuma finally stepped out from the shadows, approaching Danō and whispering into his ear, "Lord Danō, Yugito has arrived."
Danō nodded slightly and lowered his voice. "Tatsuma, do you think Hiruzen noticed my hidden intentions?"
"Absolutely not! Your acting could be called flawless!" Tatsuma praised. "Changing too drastically would cause suspicions. Choosing Orochimaru as your starting point was perfect—it shows you don't personally aspire to be Hokage, while using Orochimaru to pressure the Hokage into realizing your true nature as the defiant Danō!"
Danō first nodded approvingly, then frowned. "Since when did I become fond of opposing him? I only believe that his weakness will lead Konoha into ruin!"
Tatsuma immediately corrected himself humbly: "Yes, my lord, I spoke wrongly!"
Danzo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his gaze heavy with scheming calculation. "This aged man did not hesitate to show favor to them, even feigning being corrupted by those pleasures that lead to moral decay, just so they would believe I was completely harmless. All my patience was for one chance—one I wasn't even certain would ever arrive..."
At this moment, Tatsuma murmured a reminder, "Lord Danzo, everyone is already assembled. If you don't go at once, they might start considering someone else!"
"What?" Danzo's face turned grim as he shot up from his seat and strode outside. "I must go at once to grasp the overall situation and the dynamics of strategic maneuvering!"
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