"There's only self-interest between nations. The fragile alliance between us and Stone Hidden is probably about to end. The Third Kazekage has also agreed to a ceasefire with Konoha, because just a few days ago, Ebizo sent word that Mist Hidden's secret scout units were spotted along our western border."
Chiyo sat squarely in her seat, addressing a group of Jonin.
What were Mist Hidden's scouts doing? Naturally, they were scouting for wealthy areas ripe for plunder.
After all, the two countries were separated by a vast ocean. Mist Hidden would have to be insane to try and occupy the Land of Wind's territory.
The western coastline of the Land of Wind had a Mediterranean-like climate, making it a rare habitable zone. Although it only comprised a portion of the Land of Wind's vast territory, it was one of the most important and wealthiest regions.
"In that case, it is indeed necessary to conduct naval exercises with Konoha. Under external pressure, both sides need to end their conflict as soon as possible to deter the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water." Qingshui thought to himself.
In the past, Konoha was too strong, and Hanzo, that formidable individual, put immense pressure on Sand Hidden and Stone Hidden. The only way for them to win was to cooperate.
But now, Sand Hidden and Konoha, the two strongest military powers in the Land of Rain, wanted a ceasefire, and Hanzo, as a force in the Land of Rain that could not be ignored, also wanted a ceasefire. Even if Stone Hidden didn't want to stop, they would have to.
With Stone Village's main forces still fighting Mist Hidden, it would be difficult to defeat Hanzo with just the Five-Tails Jinchuriki and their remaining strength, let alone the other two nations.
Moreover, Sand Hidden and Stone Hidden had both gained an advantage and plundered a significant amount of wealth and resources from the Land of Rain. If Stone Hidden's high-ranking officials were discerning, they would naturally know when to quit while they were ahead.
Chiyo continued to assign tasks to the various Jonin, detailing their responsibilities should the situation change again.
This made Qingshui realize that the war between Sand Hidden, Konoha, and Rain Hidden, which had lasted for years, was finally coming to an end.
And as Konoha freed up its forces, even if this protracted Second Great Ninja War hadn't ended yet, it would slowly draw to a close.
Perhaps in just a few months, or maybe a year or so, but the intensity of the war would gradually decrease until it ended.
Konoha was eager to negotiate, and Sand Hidden also wanted to quickly reap the benefits. Both sides announced a ceasefire within two days, though their troops had not yet immediately withdrawn.
Negotiations were based on strength. Everyone wanted to gain more benefits from the negotiations, so appropriate firmness was necessary.
However, Konoha was indeed very eager. It seemed that after some probing, they decisively gave up certain dispensable benefits, only seeking to firmly hold their bottom line. Thus, it only took four or five days for Chiyo to complete negotiations with Konoha.
And so, both sides began to withdraw their troops.
Qingshui was among the first group to withdraw, but he wasn't heading directly back to Sand Village.
Chiyo assigned Qingshui and the others a seemingly easy task, and before their departure, she sent a promotion notice to Baki, elevating him to Special Jonin.
After Qingshui and Pakura, Baki finally mastered Wind Release Nature Transformation, and with enough accumulated battle merits, he successfully joined the ranks of Special Jonin.
However, Pakura had now also mastered Wind Release Nature Transformation and was beginning to seek the achievements and merits required for promotion to Jonin. She even researched information to prepare for merging her Kekkei Genkai in the future.
Currently, besides the One-Tails Jinchuriki, Sand Hidden only had two relatively stable ways to produce Kage-level experts: one was the White Secret Technique in Puppetry, and the other was Magnet Release, born from the combination of Wind Release and Earth Release.
Pakura was neither a Puppet Master nor did she have Earth Release Chakra, yet she indeed possessed the talent to become a Kage-level expert, so she needed to plan early.
If she were to develop Scorch Release in the future, and train new Scorch Release ninjas like the Third Kazekage, Sand Village would gain a third path to produce Kage-level experts.
As for Qingshui, with Chiyo's backing, the pressure to be promoted to Jonin wasn't significant. He also possessed the Puppetry knowledge, passed down from Monzaemon's era, that could consistently lead to Kage-level promotion, making him the one with the clearest future among the three.
Getting back to the main point, the mission Chiyo assigned them was to lead a delegation to Rouran and negotiate with the Rouran Queen on the future direction of Rouran.
This was merely the official pretext.
Rouran was located at the border of the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, a large oasis situated in the middle of a Gobi desert. Previously, Konoha's sphere of influence had expanded into the Land of Rivers. A small nation like Rouran, situated at the junction of two shinobi world superpowers, could only play both sides to ensure its survival.
In fact, due to Konoha's greater strength, Rouran even leaned more towards Konoha, and more frequently issued mission requests to Konoha.
However, now that Konoha had given up its interests in the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Rivers had become Sand Hidden's sphere of influence, Rouran was in an awkward position.
Qingshui and his team were going there to settle accounts with Rouran.
If the Rouran Queen was sensible, then as long as she was willing to pay a certain price and cooperate well with Sand Hidden in the future, it would be easier for both sides.
Subsequently, Sand Village's garrison ninja would naturally be stationed in Rouran to provide "protection," and officials from the daimyo would come to negotiate with the Rouran Queen and her ministers.
If she wasn't sensible, then Qingshui and his team would have to eliminate all of the Rouran Queen's influence in Rouran, rendering her powerless and making her a Puppet.
After that, they would install their own people as the new Rouran ministers, and then proceed with negotiations.
The outcome would be the same; the only difference would be whether Qingshui and his team had to exert more effort. There was no way this mission could fail.
In summary, Qingshui and his team's mission was to clear the way for Sand Hidden to smoothly take over Rouran and integrate it into their sphere of influence.
Because it was a mission involving relations between nations, this mission was rated as S-rank. It was essentially Chiyo providing Qingshui with an opportunity to relatively easily complete an S-rank mission.
Fukami Senran was still leading this mission; this was the rule, as the leader of an S-rank mission had to be at least a Jonin.
Leaving the Land of Rain, the four-person team marched steadily, taking five days to reach Rouran without rushing.
"Is this Rouran? It looks like there's a lot of construction going on here."
On Rouran's main street, Pakura looked at a large building under construction in the distance and asked curiously.
"The current Rouran Queen must not be an ordinary person," Fukami Senran said, looking at the surrounding scenery.
"Ten years ago, I came here on a mission. At that time, Rouran was just a small town that developed around an oasis. Now it looks like it has gradually started to evolve into a large town. To develop it to this scale at the border of two major powers means her abilities in both internal political governance and diplomatic maneuvering must be quite good."
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