The Third Hokage may be strong, but dealing with the Third Raikage alone is already quite a challenge, and the Cloud Hidden Village has more than just the Third Raikage as its expert.
Every generation of Raikage teams up with the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and while this generation's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue B, may not be as perfect a host as his junior, Killer B, he can still harness the power of the Eight-Tails to exert strength at the Kage level.
The Third Hokage faces a dilemma: either risk his life to fend off the Third Raikage, who is on par with him, while also defending against the assault of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, or release the latter and accept the heavy casualties of many Leaf ninjas in order to restrain the Jinchuriki.
No matter which option he chooses, over time, Konoha is bound to lose.
However, the Third Hokage will not allow himself to be defeated, so he has no choice but to negotiate with the commanders on the other two fronts, sacrificing some of Konoha's external interests in exchange for a strategic breather, calling upon others like Orochimaru or Jiraiya to assist him.
At times like this, it's when Danzō, the designated scapegoat for the Third Hokage, comes into play.
As long as the blame can be placed on Danzō, the Third Hokage can still be seen as wise and capable, leading the Leaf ninjas to victory.
"Konoha is willing to forfeit all its interests in Rouran, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Valleys, and withdraw from the sphere of influence in the Land of Rain, in order to sign a peace agreement?"
When Chiyo summoned all the special Jonin and above to a meeting, Qingshui learned of this news.
"With Danzō's personality, would he agree to a ceasefire? Could this be a scheme by Konoha?" Fukami Senran asked calmly.
Three days ago, after learning that the Cloud ninjas were mobilizing, they anticipated such a development.
However, the Sand ninjas believed the likelihood was low, as both Danzō from the Land of Rain and Orochimaru from the southern Land of Rivers were staunch hawks in the war against Sand.
"Danzō would definitely be unwilling, but as long as the Third Hokage agrees, it's enough," Chiyo replied, shaking her head.
"I just received news that Danzō was removed from his command position due to poor performance in the war, and Jiraiya has taken over."
This was clearly shifting the blame onto Danzō.
Konoha's heavy casualties were due to Danzō's poor command, thus they had no choice but to negotiate with Sand.
Copies of letters personally penned by the Third Hokage were distributed to all the Jonin and special Jonin present.
The letters began with a flourish of eloquent words, but the latter part detailed the extensive damage the war had inflicted on both sides. The Old Man Sarutobi, being kind-hearted, could not bear to see the Sand ninjas suffer, and proposed a peaceful resolution to their disputes, along with the conditions Chiyo had just mentioned.
He even advocated for restoring pre-war relations and resuming trade, offering Sand food and other scarce resources from the desert, but requested that both Sand and Konoha conduct military exercises at sea to deter other nations from disrupting the peace talks.
"This old monkey is quite shrewd," Qingshui thought, quickly grasping the Third Hokage's intentions.
First, he shifts the blame onto Danzō, then turns the so-called peace negotiation from a unilateral request from Konoha into a mutual demand.
This way, the Third Hokage can assert that Konoha did not lose the war, but rather that both sides reached a stalemate, and continuing to hold out would only waste resources and lives without any significant changes.
Subsequent maneuvers would involve Hiruzen Sarutobi exchanging interests, relinquishing claims in the Land of Valleys and elsewhere, and providing Sand with resources that Konoha could currently spare.
As for the naval exercises, the purpose was clear— the Land of Lightning was akin to a peninsula nation like India or Spain.
The aim was to leverage Sand's strength.
Even if it was unlikely that Sand would attack the Land of Lightning, the Cloud Hidden Village would certainly remain cautious, as if Sand discovered they were unprepared, they might very well seize an opportunity in the Land of Lightning.
In this back-and-forth, Sand would merely need to align with Konoha's intentions, acknowledge that the negotiations were a mutual demand, and send a few people to the sea to walk around, thereby solidifying their current gains while also reaping additional benefits.
"What is Hanzo's stance? Even if Konoha agrees to peace talks, if Hanzo takes a hardline approach, it could still be a tricky situation," a Jonin inquired.
Speaking of their old rival, a smug smile appeared on Chiyo's face.
"Hanzo has no other options. When he let the Sannin go and chose to cooperate with Konoha, it was because Konoha was the strongest and most likely to help him end the chaos in the Land of Rain. But now, ha ha, this guy actually sent someone to reach out to me yesterday."
From the current situation, Sand had the strongest presence in the Land of Rain, and even at this moment, Sand's top combat power was second only to Konoha among the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Rock had only Onoki and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and aside from Onoki's classmate, Hakuto, they were waiting for the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Han, to mature, which would take a few more years.
Cloud was similar, with the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, plus a half-strength Dodai as a Raikage's vassal, while Mist was even weaker.
Meanwhile, Sand had the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, and Ebizo, and other ninja villages were unaware of how far Sand's sealing techniques had deteriorated. To them, the One-Tails Jinchuriki had not caused any incidents for many years, and although he was older, before his death, Sand had a mature Jinchuriki that could serve as a weapon of war.
Adding to this were the already matured Rasa and Karura, whose strength could nearly match Konoha's.
With Konoha having decided to withdraw from the battlefield in the Land of Rain, Hanzo's only option to quickly end the war and preserve the Land of Rain was to cooperate with Sand.
"Hanzo hopes to ally with us in Sand to swiftly end the war in the Land of Rain," Chiyo addressed the group.
"What's the cost? Hanzo is not the type to agree to cede land," another Jonin interjected.
"That's right. Hanzo's conditions include fully opening economic and material exchanges between the two countries, and he even agreed to dig a canal connecting the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain, to be jointly guarded by Rain and Sand ninjas, which is mutually beneficial. However, the greater share of benefits will undoubtedly go to us in Sand. I have already decided to accept Hanzo's terms," Chiyo responded.
"What about the negotiations with Konoha? Should we agree? And what about Rock? Since we are allies now, how should we interact if we cease hostilities with Konoha and Rain?" Fukami Senran continued to ask.
Today, I'm not feeling great, probably due to lack of sleep; my head is a bit foggy, so I'll just manage to complete two chapters for attendance, and I'll find time to catch up later.
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