Konoha's attitude toward Mist was actually quite straightforward—they genuinely wanted to end the war with Mist as soon as possible and put an end to their two-front war situation. Therefore, this decisiveness should be understood as a gesture of "sincerity."
Can't you get it? Konoha really doesn't want to keep dragging this fight with Mist any longer—Isn't that more than enough?
However, considering the dignity of a great nation, if they wanted Mist to formally surrender to Konoha, it simply wouldn't be enough as things stood now. The war would have to continue—at least another two or three years more… This was a scenario neither Haseo, the frontline commander, nor the Third Hokage, who remained in command at headquarters, were hoping to see.
It wasn't just about being stretched thin across two fronts; on top of that, Kumo—who had so far kept quiet—was now putting serious pressure on Konoha.
So in the end, the Third Hokage decided to treat defeated Mist as equals, allowing the war between both sides to end on honorable terms.
Konoha had already achieved real military success. So whether the war ended under the name of a "peace agreement" or a "surrender agreement," it didn't really matter to Konoha—but for Mist, the former option was significantly easier to accept.
So why not let them save a little face? After all, anyone with eyes could clearly see that they were the defeated side, while Konoha emerged victorious and fully deserved to appear magnanimous.
And ultimately, Mist had even done a selfless favor by becoming the perfect example of "killing one chicken to scare the rest of the flock." If Mist hadn't served as such a vivid warning, how else would other villages have realized that Konoha still had such deadly tricks hidden up its sleeve? Wiping out entire villages was even scarier than unleashing forbidden jutsu.
In a way, every ninja village across the Ninjutsu World needed to reassess Konoha from a completely new perspective—those who must remain vigilant will do so, and those who should know when to back down, well—they'd better do just that… All of which was made possible thanks to Mist's unintentional help.
Konoha's Anbu ninja "Juge" stayed continuously inside Mist for three whole days. After several rounds of negotiations, the mutual "intentions for peace" between Konoha and Mist were finally solidified. Following this, the messenger ninja secretly returned to Konoha and reported this good news to the Third Hokage.
Soon after, Haseo learned of this information as well.
All that remained now was to sign a formal peace agreement, officially ending the war both de facto and legally… As agreed, the upcoming peace agreement would last five years, ensuring peace between Konoha and Mist during that time.
Although in terms of duration, the peace offered by this agreement wasn't particularly long, and nobody could even guarantee that the current Great Ninja World War would be completely over in five years, there were still definite benefits—due to domestic recovery needs and issues regarding national credibility, this treaty was nearly 100% guaranteed to be honored.
In other words, even if conflicts between the Land of Fire's eastern front and Mist were destined to resume, it wouldn't happen until at least five years from now. And when that time comes, developments will inevitably trend toward caution and conservatism—the war-torn Mist will certainly rebuild its shattered structures in five years, but what about those who were lost or wounded in the conflict?
Although the war between Mist and Konoha lasted at most only a few months, the number of ninja casualties on Mist's side was no less than that of an entire Great Ninja World War. Moreover, because these losses were so concentrated, Mist suffered an extremely painful blow.
Otherwise, why would the Mizukage agree so readily to sign a peace agreement with Konoha? This was truly a painful realization.
Therefore, even five years later, it's still unlikely for another war to break out between Mist and Konoha. If Mist wants to avenge its defeat against Konoha, it won't be until ten or twenty years later at the earliest... To be safe, Mist must accumulate even more strength than it had before this war ever again.
Otherwise... Just remember, if a village can be blown up once, it can definitely happen a second time.
Thanks to these precious five years, Konoha should at least be able to wrap up its Western Front war efforts.
So why couldn't Sunagakure act as decisively as Mist? Failing to capture Amegakure immediately already means Sunagakure's strategic objectives in this war are highly improbable to achieve, practically guaranteeing failure. Then why not just pack it in and go back home to sulk?
Oh right, because Sunagakure has never been blown up before.
Prestige matters a lot. The dignity of a great nation absolutely must be preserved—it affects national stance, international image, and deterrence power... Otherwise, why doesn't the Land of Bears ask the Land of Greed for help building or repairing 60,000-ton ships, when they clearly can't do it themselves anymore?
Endure it. Bear with it no matter what. Even if massive numbers of ninja die every single day.
...
When Haseo received the good news transmitted from the Hokage, he finally felt relieved. He believed that Mist's attitude toward peace was genuine; after all, even a ninja village couldn't afford to play any tricks when it had reached such a situation.
Dancing on a minefield sounds fun, but it's just asking for disaster—you could be wiped out in an instant.
Once Mist expressed its desire for peace, Haseo would represent the Third Hokage in signing the official peace treaty with Mist. From a status perspective, Haseo wasn't equal to the Third Mizukage, yet since he had commanded the entire Eastern Front campaign and emerged victorious, this position alone was enough to place him temporarily on equal footing with the Mizukage.
This, of course, wouldn't be an issue for the Mizukage to oppose.
Afterwards, Haseo left the front line and returned inland to the Land of Fire... Not due to complacency or desertion of duty, but because there were necessary preparations still required before formally signing the peace agreement.
Since this was a formal state-to-state agreement, it naturally needed to be carried out with full ceremony.
Haseo arrived at the Daimyo's Castle in the Land of Fire and paid court to his old friend, the Fire Country Daimyo.
Although much of it was merely "courtesy," considering the gap between ninja and ordinary civilians and how rarely their worlds intersected, Haseo's relationship with the Daimyo could genuinely be called "close"—without Haseo's intervention, the current Daimyo would have remained only the uncle of the previous ruler instead of becoming the reigning Daimyo himself.
Such good deeds performed by Haseo remained quietly unnoticed by the Daimyo's side. However, at that time, when the "accident" occurred, it was ultimately Haseo who, representing Konoha, quickly helped stabilize the situation in the Daimyo's Castle. So it made sense that the current Daimyo had a good impression of him.
Therefore, the reception Haseo received from the Daimyo was very personal and warm.
Haseo reported to the Daimyo about Kirigakure's de facto "surrender" to Konoha.
"Never would I have imagined that while the war in the Land of Rain is still raging fiercely, such a decisive victory has already been achieved in the Eastern Front led personally by Master Haseo... Truly commendable leadership indeed! To resist an entire country with limited forces, this glorious triumph fully demonstrates Master Haseo's might."
The Daimyo didn't seem particularly elated over Konoha's victory because he had already received notification beforehand from the Third Hokage even before Haseo arrived. He had long since expressed all his initial excitement and emotions—such wars were inherently matters closely related to the Daimyo himself. Regardless of other news, there was no reason for the Third Hokage not to report a victory like this to the Daimyo and bring him some joy.
The relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire was like that of hired muscle and their boss—the boss would naturally be glad when the enforcers came out on top. At least now, the house wasn't getting smashed up.
After securing one more victory, the Daimyo could sleep just a bit more peacefully now.
"Lord Daimyo flatters me too much," replied Haseo. "What can we lowly ninja do besides fighting? If we couldn't even win a battle, that'd be outright disgraceful. We merely did our duty. In comparison, the full support from Lord Daimyo was the real foundation allowing us to attain victory on the Eastern Front.
As for saying we resisted the Land of Water with few troops, that's an exaggeration. To speak plainly, it was actually Lord Daimyo leading the Land of Fire against the Land of Water. With such a solid backing behind us, shouldn't our victory be inevitable?"
Haseo joined right in with the flattery—everyone needs a little hype now and then.
Sure enough, those words caused the Daimyo's face to glow with satisfaction.
After they spent a while trading compliments, the Daimyo finally got back on topic. "Well then, Lord Haseo, there aren't any issues with the content of the peace agreement, are there?"
"No problems whatsoever. Although we adopted a fair and equal stance toward Kirigakure—the defeated party—in order to urge them into signing the treaty swiftly, doing so poses no harm to the Land of Fire..."
The Daimyo nodded solemnly, "I understand completely; everything is done for the sake of the Western Front battles."
From the Daimyo's brief remarks alone, Haseo already sensed that the man was actually quite concerned about Konoha's current war situation, despite only possessing publicly available information… Presumably Konoha must have regularly delivered updates regarding the war to the Daimyo's Castle. Overall, such concern could probably be considered a positive thing.
A daimyo shouldn't overstep their bounds, but they also can't afford to ignore everything entirely. Only by finding the right balance could one truly fulfill the role of a national leader...
"Yes, thank you for your understanding, Lord Daimyo... If we're being honest, there's only one clause in the agreement that slightly favors the Mist Village. That is, once the Six-Tails revives, Konoha must not make any move against it. Even if the revival occurs within the Land of Fire, Konoha should assist the Mist Village in capturing it instead of claiming it for ourselves." Haseo explained after pausing to think.
Explaining such details to the Daimyo was necessary so he would feel adequately respected and valued. Otherwise, he'd be nothing more than a figurehead... At present, Konoha currently enjoyed good relations with the Daimyo, so naturally Haseo also showed him respect.
He wasn't the kind of person who killed for no reason—otherwise, he'd just be a psychopath.
As for the Mist Village wanting to reclaim the Six-Tails, the Third Hokage didn't really care. After all, Konoha no longer needed these tailed beasts... They could barely manage the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki, so who'd even care about the Six-Tails?
Therefore, the Third Hokage accepted this condition without hesitation. Let the Mist deal with the Six-Tails themselves while Konoha stayed out of it.
[Tailed Beasts] are calamities; there's no reason to keep one in the Land of Fire," the Daimyo, not being a ninja, wasn't particularly concerned about the Six-Tails. After a moment's thought, he finally asked, "So in the last battle... the Six-Tails really died?"
Haseo nodded in agreement.
Of course. Otherwise, do you think the Hidden Mist was destroyed simply by toads, snakes, and Katsuyu running rampant?
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