At Kumogakure's Konoha reception area.
Shinji, with a speechless expression, interrupted Bee, who was covered in bandages and incessantly chattering beside him.
"You're so noisy, how can the Eight-Tails tolerate you?"
"Gah—"
Bee, whose mouth had not stopped moving, instantly looked as if someone had choked him, stuck between speaking and not.
Meanwhile, Gyūki, inside Bee, had tears in his eyes, thinking, 'A kindred spirit.'
"You idiot. Shinji, this is art." Bee, refusing to be defeated, ignored Gyūki within him and argued with Shinji.
"To hell with art. I need to rest now." Shinji rolled his eyes and said, clearly annoyed.
Then he looked at Samui, who was sitting upright nearby, and said, "Aren't you busy? Isn't Kumogakure supposed to be discussing an alliance with Konoha? Why do you have time to bring him here?"
Samui calmly sipped her tea and replied, "I'm not needed. Mabui and Dodai are sufficient."
Hearing this, Shinji sighed helplessly.
Apart from the Genin and their Jonin squad leaders, he was the only one on the second floor of the entire reception lodge.
After the confrontation with Bee that day, the Jonin and Genin who had followed them all started calling Shinji 'sama,' just like Shisui did.
As for Hiruzen and the others, they had already gone to the Raikage Building to discuss the alliance with Fourth Raikage A.
It was just strange.
The Fourth Raikage, who had originally scoffed at Konoha, completely changed his demeanor after Shinji's confrontation with Bee.
He pulled Hiruzen over as if they were long-lost friends, a transformation that made Rasa and Ōnoki's faces look as if they had eaten dirt.
"Yo, Shinji, eat up! Gotta say, your Konoha's specialties taste pretty good."
Bee picked up the tea snacks Shinji had placed on the table and devoured them without hesitation.
Shinji sat cross-legged, watching Bee, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his lips.
"Hey, are we close?"
Why hadn't he noticed how shameless Bee was before?
"Yo~ Shinji~ We met through a fight, didn't we~"
"Besides, Kumogakure is about to form an alliance with Konoha~ Check it out~"
Bee paid no attention to Shinji's attitude, gesticulating constantly with both hands.
Shinji said calmly, "It's not set in stone yet. Right now, they're only discussing trade routes or resource exchanges."
"If an alliance is truly formed, that will be months from now."
He wasn't joking. Currently, Hiruzen and A were only confirming the terms of cooperation. Even Shikaku had arrived, but things remained at that stage.
After all, too much was at stake, and the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire were both among the top resource-rich nations in the Ninja World.
Most importantly, Kumogakure had two special products: Cloud Beef and Cloud Sake.
These were highly coveted by high-ranking officials and nobles. Many in the Land of Fire had long desired these before.
However, Kumogakure prioritized supplying its domestic officials and nobles, and due to the adversarial relationship, the export volume from Kumogakure to Konoha was even less than to Iwagakure.
"No worries, Samui and I will also follow you back then." Bee sat nearby, dropping a bombshell.
Shinji: ???
Samui, noticing Shinji's gaze, rubbed her shoulder with a hint of helplessness. Her master truly couldn't keep a secret.
"It's part of the cooperation. After all, Kumogakure needs to show sincerity."
Although she said this, Samui recalled that when Dodai had made this suggestion at the Raikage Building not long ago, the Fourth Raikage had almost killed Dodai.
Bee, as the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, was Kumogakure's primary combat force.
Yet Dodai suggested sending Bee to Konoha?
Wasn't that clearly putting meat on Konoha's chopping block?
However, Dodai was not wrong about one thing.
If Bee went with such fanfare, Konoha couldn't do anything to him. After all, if they truly wanted to start a war, Konoha wouldn't have merely deployed troops to Moon Ring Gorge a few times.
Besides, if war broke out, Kumogakure wasn't afraid. Moreover, Bee wouldn't be going alone. The squad assigned to Bee this time was more than just elite.
And, in fact, Dodai's greater desire was to probe Konoha's Fuinjutsu for sealing Tailed Beasts.
Bee's perfect synchronization with Gyūki wasn't due to Kumogakure's Fuinjutsu being superior. It was purely because Bee himself could achieve cooperation with Gyūki and perfectly synchronize with him.
But what about the future?
When would they be so lucky again? After all, there was only one Bee.
Hearing Dodai's reasoning, even if A didn't want to admit it, he had no choice but to agree. He and Bee would eventually grow old or die.
Even though he deeply cared for his adopted brother, he couldn't ignore the future of Kumogakure. Furthermore, to make Konoha—no, rather, to make Hiruzen, consider their relationship, he was prepared to return some items.
These were things Kumogakure had obtained during previous 'exchanges' with Konoha, including a corpse.
Shinji held his teacup, his eyes downcast, contemplating Kumogakure's demands for this step.
Among great nations, there were no true allies, only interests.
For Kumogakure to send Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, to Konoha, they couldn't possibly be asking for nothing.
It could only mean that Konoha possessed something Kumogakure needed, or rather jutsu.
Thinking of this, Shinji recalled Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. Only this would make Kumogakure willing to take such a risk.
It was publicly acknowledged that the Uzumaki clan was the strongest in Fuinjutsu, and currently, most of the Uzumaki clan's Fuinjutsu were in Konoha.
It wasn't that Shinji would think this way, but rather that it was simply the truth.
The strength of Fuinjutsu directly impacted the village's security.
Shukaku of Sunagakure was an example. Such a crude seal resulted in Gaara being unable to sleep properly for over a decade.
Could the people of Sunagakure sleep soundly?
That was the Ninja World's recognized strongest power, and this power was like a ticking time bomb within their own village. It could explode at any moment.
Do you think you could sleep?
In the reception room, Shinji pondered. Bee babbled incessantly, and Samui watched both Shinji and Bee.
—
"Hokage, I believe this demonstrates sufficient sincerity, wouldn't you agree?"
Inside the Raikage Building, A sat on a newly purchased sofa, looking at Hiruzen, who sat directly opposite him as an equal, and said.
Hiruzen chuckled at the remark. "Raikage, some of those items were obtained through unequal demands in the past."
"Besides, what you are offering now and what you are asking for are completely disproportionate."
The meaning of Hiruzen's words was simple. It's not enough. What Kumogakure offered simply didn't meet the price.
Moreover, as the Kage of a village, Hiruzen wouldn't be so short-sighted as to hand over Fuinjutsu capable of restraining Tailed Beasts for such a small gain.
Rasa had humbled himself for so many years, yet hadn't Hiruzen still not relented?