Three days later, Konoha received news—a Two-Tails recovery squad from Kumo had clashed with samurai within the Land of Iron.
It wasn't unusual for Kumo ninja to get into conflicts with other factions. That the opposing party were samurai wasn't the main issue. The real problem lay in where this clash occurred—the territory of the Land of Iron.
According to agreements within the ninja world, the Land of Iron was supposed to be a territory strictly off-limits to all ninja activity. Yet, this rule had only existed for about ten or twenty years before it started losing its binding power.
Were the great ninja villages now free to do whatever they wanted? Had justice vanished entirely?
The samurai intercepted what they perceived as an "invasion" by Kumo ninja. At that point, if those Kumo ninja had simply heeded warnings and withdrawn immediately, the matter could've quietly faded away without serious consequences. Instead, they engaged in direct combat with the samurai, completely changing the nature of the incident.
This was now a serious political event. Clearly, at the time, the Kumo ninja acted recklessly without fully grasping the consequences—an enormous mistake. If the Land of Iron insisted on thoroughly investigating the matter, even a Five Kage Summit might be convened.
Moreover, whether regarding the other four great nations or surrounding smaller states, since Kumo's intrusion into the Land of Iron violated the rules of the ninja world, the Third Raikage, Kumo itself, and even the reputation of the Land of Lightning had all become highly questionable.
No matter how much scheming and trickery existed between nations, the agreements and credibility between states still needed to be maintained.
Of course, the Kumo ninja felt somewhat wronged too. After all, it was Konoha ninja who first entered the Land of Iron—Kumo had merely "followed" them. If blame was to be assigned, shouldn't the primary responsibility lie with Konoha instead?
However, there was a notable distinction—Konoha's intrusion was different because Haseo and his companions weren't caught in the act.
If you weren't caught in the act, even if the Haseo Squad left some traces behind, as long as Konoha firmly denied everything and refused to acknowledge these events, who could actually do anything to them? This perfectly illustrated the old adage, "If you don't get caught, it's not a crime."
So then, would Konoha voluntarily admit their mistake humbly, like an honest gentleman?
Answer: The Third Hokage wasn't about to fall for that.
Now the leader of the samurai from the Land of Iron had already notified every ninja village of this conflict, which constituted formal diplomatic notification. Once other ninja villages learned of this, all of them—including Konoha—were now heavily condemning Kumo's reckless actions from both moral and legal perspectives.
You'd all previously agreed to leave the samurai untouched—so why provoke conflict on their soil?
Even though the cowering samurai in the Land of Iron were already cold, impoverished, and pitiful enough, did Kumo have to assert their presence at their expense? Was the Third Raikage still human? Could Kumo still be considered a normal village inhabited by civilized people?
Absolute scoundrels!
Anyway, since it's peacetime and war can't be sparked, all the villages are at loose ends anyway—might as well stir up a little verbal battle. With such a golden chance to roast Kumo? Who wouldn't take it? After all, we're enemies, not friends. What's your misery is exactly our joy.
Besides, one thing at a time—the Leaf has already submitted for discussion with Kumo the issue of where the Two-Tails should belong… Since both sides are allies, there's an official communication channel, so passing along this kind of information definitely isn't difficult… As for the invasion of the Land of Iron, Konoha will certainly be watching Kumo squirm from the "righteous" side… Well, more like condemning them from a high moral ground.
The samurai themselves may not matter much, but rules do. Plus, the Land of Iron serves as the final communication channel among all ninja villages when the world faces its most critical moments. Just because of that alone, ninjas must grant the Land of Iron at least basic respect.
For a moment, Raikage and Kumo experienced what it felt like to be universally cursed by the entire world. Kumo might live by the fist, but even a berserker gets shaky when the whole world turns its back and starts pointing fingers.
In this matter, clearly, Kumo was in the wrong; there's nothing to argue about. So no matter how stubborn the Raikage gets, he'll have to issue the most formal apology and compensation to the Land of Iron sooner or later.
...
Back in Konoha, Haseo once again visited Third Hokage's office—they needed to discuss how to negotiate terms with Kumo.
During these past three days, Haseo had been glued to Kagenami's underground base "cat-watching"—which really meant obsessively monitoring the beast around the clock—and he was clearly showing signs of exhaustion. Even a sealed tailed beast needs constant close surveillance; otherwise, what if it escaped?
"As for the price Kumo should pay in exchange for returning the Two-Tails, I think we should just make our simplest and clearest demands directly... We should demand Kumo redeem the tailed beast using money.
After careful consideration, it's difficult for us to obtain anything else from Kumo. Even if we reassign task-acceptance rights over smaller nations—setting rules forbidding Kumo from taking missions from certain countries during a set period while transferring those missions to Konoha instead—we wouldn't achieve much success.
If the treaty were enforceable, our sphere of influence would certainly expand substantially, but I believe even if Kumo really signed such a treaty, given their longstanding conduct style, they probably wouldn't genuinely abide by such agreements.
Because we lack the capability to force Kumo to comply with such a treaty."
Third Hokage explained, immediately setting the tone for negotiations with Kumo.
The Raikage and Kumo really need to take a long hard look at themselves. If even someone like Third Hokage considers them untrustworthy, imagine how bad Kumo's established reputation must be… Eventually, they'll run completely dry on credit.
It was only natural that Haseo understood the Third Hokage's point. Kumo had once betrayed the Second Hokage during an alliance ceremony. Later, while sending envoys to Konoha, they attempted to abduct Kushina Uzumaki. Then during the Third Great Ninja War, while traveling to Konoha for an alliance visit, they tried to kidnap Hinata Hyuga again…
Kumo's despicable actions were too numerous to list. Only someone with severe mental problems would still trust them.
However, the Third Hokage's previous words seemed evasive, as if trying to look virtuous while doing shady things. Therefore, Haseo bluntly continued, "Hokage-sama, you could've just said how much money we're asking from Kumo."
[Vulgar].
The Third Hokage looked at Haseo discontentedly. Was this really about money? This was a discussion on resolving international disputes appropriately.
"I think if we compare the value of a Tailed Beast and its strategic importance to a village… what about 800 million ryo? Let Kumo pay us a one-time payment of 800 million ryo for Two-Tails. How does that number sound?"
"…"
Several high-ranking officials present instinctively gasped in shock... The Third Hokage wasn't vulgar, but he truly asked for an outrageous amount.
Only Haseo kept nodding enthusiastically, "That's a very reasonable number. Two-Tails deserves this price... Eight hundred million—doesn't that just equal ten times eighty million?"
His meaning was clear: previously, the Third himself was worth only eighty million, so a Two-Tails being worth ten times that of the Third seemed perfectly reasonable.
Unfortunately, limited by certain objective conditions, Haseo could only express this idea indirectly like this... Yet, the Third Hokage indeed made a perfect unit of measurement.
Isn't that a bit too much?
Even Danzo Shimura, known for his ruthlessness and cunning, couldn't help but remind cautiously.
No matter how large the Land of Lightning's annual budget allocated to Kumo was, if they squeezed out 800 million ryo from it to pay Konoha, then for the following year, Kumo would have to tighten their belts and live frugally. The larger your village's operations are, the stricter you have to be with spending. Kumo has a huge group of ninjas to support, after all. Besides, 800 million was no small sum.
Alternatively, could Kumo expect the Lightning Daimyo to specially allocate a special fund for this matter? But even that wouldn't be easy. Do you think the daimyos don't have mouths to feed?
Tailed Beasts are the concern of ninja villages. It was Kumo's responsibility to have let a Tailed Beast slip away. Why should the daimyo bear that cost? Responsibilities couldn't be shifted in such a manner.
"The minimum acceptable amount is five hundred million ryo, but it must be paid in full," the Third Hokage stepped back slightly.
Undeniably, five hundred million sounded like a feasible figure.
"Hokage-sama, I believe I can handle negotiations with Kumo personally. I guarantee we'll get this done right," upon hearing the Hokage lowered the difficulty, Haseo immediately recommended himself.
At this moment, he was thinking that if the negotiation succeeded, he could officially and lawfully siphon off some of the funds. After all, he was the one who captured the Tailed Beast and set the price himself. He had every reason to request recognition from the village for his contributions.
Kumo definitely wants to get the Two-Tails back. If there's an option to retrieve it through ransom, would they really choose war instead... Even if Konoha demands eight billion, that exaggerated number is still far lower than the cost of a full-scale war.
Moreover, even if Konoha were to go to war with Kumo, could they truly reclaim the Two-Tails? Konoha simply wants to avoid conflict.
The Third Hokage merely glanced at Haseo and then completely ignored him, turning instead to Homura Mitokado. "Mitokado, once the people from Kumo arrive in Konoha, you'll handle the negotiations. You have the most experience dealing with Kumo."
Haseo thought to himself: It should be me who has the most experience. In the entire Konoha, I'm the one who understands Kumo best. Shouldn't this be a situation where 'leave it to me'? [This is my specialty]
"Haseo, you still have a mission regarding Kagenami, correct?" The Third Hokage finally said to Haseo.
Find someone else to bother. Before the Two-Tails is returned, you've got plenty to keep you occupied... Keep indulging yourself as much as you like... That was essentially what the Hokage meant.
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