"I'll relay your exact words to the Fire Daimyo."
Elder Kiyo smiled warmly.
"Don't worry."
Even the samurai standing behind him had a faint smile on their face.
The atmosphere around the envoy had become much lighter than before.
Not far away, Jiraiya's expression had turned darker.
Throughout the entire discussion, he had tried several times to stop Grand Elder Setsuna.
A glance.
A slight shake of his head.
Even a warning in his eyes.
But Setsuna had ignored every single one of them.
He hadn't even acknowledged Jiraiya's presence.
That only made Jiraiya's expression grow colder.
'You people...'
He looked at Setsuna's smiling face, unable to hide the frustration in his heart.
Elder Kiyo didn't notice Jiraiya's thoughts.
Or perhaps...
He simply didn't care.
"The Fire Daimyo will be pleased after hearing this."
A satisfied smile remained on his face.
'I never imagined the Uchiha would willingly share their jutsu with the Land of Fire.'
His eyes rested on Setsuna.
'These people...'
'They truly dare to make decisions others wouldn't even consider.'
Just then, the samurai captain, Geto, stepped forward.
He placed a hand over his chest before bowing respectfully toward the Uchiha elders.
"Grand Elder Setsuna."
"On behalf of the samurai of the Land of Fire..."
"I thank the Uchiha Clan."
His voice carried genuine respect.
"The samurai will never forget what the Uchiha have done today."
"You have my word."
Several Hawk shinobi exchanged surprised glances.
Even Kohaku was slightly caught off guard.
He hadn't expected the samurai to go this far.
Kohaku smiled politely before replying.
"Helping the Land of Fire become stronger..."
"And helping it stand on its own..."
"It is the duty of every citizen."
"We're simply fulfilling our responsibility."
Geto nodded with admiration.
Behind him, several samurai looked toward the Uchiha with much friendlier expressions than before.
Kohaku watched them quietly.
A thought crossed his mind.
'Sharing the sword arts experience with the samurai...'
'And offering those jutsu to the daimyo and noble houses...'
'Perhaps it really was the right decision.'
Jiraiya watched everything unfold before him.
He couldn't stop any of it.
Not the conversation.
Not the agreement.
Not even the growing trust between the Uchiha and the Land of Fire.
His expression gradually darkened.
'Just what are the Uchiha trying to achieve...?'
The question kept repeating in his mind.
His eyes slowly shifted toward the smiling faces of Elder Kiyo and the samurai.
'Doing something like this...'
'Will make them enemies of almost every shinobi clan.'
He quietly walked beside Elder Kiyo while organising his thoughts.
For ordinary nobles...
Or even the Fire Daimyo...
Ninjutsu itself wasn't rare.
As long as they had enough money, countless techniques could be bought through the black market.
The problem was that most of them were incomplete. Many had hidden flaws, and some even injured their users during training.
Because of that, many noble houses in the past had secretly formed alliances with shinobi clans whenever they wanted to raise private shinobi force.
But after the Ninja Villages were established...
Everything changed.
No shinobi clan was willing to be under nobles.
As for handing those techniques directly to the Daimyo or the noble houses...
That had always been impossible.
Jiraiya glanced back at the Uchiha compound one last time.
His expression became even heavier.
'These people...'
'They're changing rules that have existed for decades.'
Without another word, he continued walking behind Elder Kiyo.
Toyoma's POV
Toyoma quietly watched Elder Kiyo's group disappear into the distance.
The smile on the envoy's face never faded.
Only after they were completely gone did Kazuto finally speak.
"Well..."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"We've given Fugaku one more reason to question us."
Grand Elder Setsuna merely snorted.
"What can he do?"
His voice was filled with confidence.
"We only did what his own father once did."
No one argued.
Toyoma looked toward Setsuna before speaking.
"Elder."
"The sword styles and those jutsu were already copied by Konoha years ago."
He shrugged lightly.
"Giving them to the Fire Daimyo for his Guardian Shinobi doesn't really hurt us."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"If anything..."
A faint glint appeared in them.
"It puts the Fire Daimyo and the noble houses in our debt."
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Knowledge can be copied."
"But a favour owed by the Fire Daimyo..."
"...cannot be bought."
Silence followed.
Then...
Elders couldn't help but nod.
From the very beginning...
This had never been about the jutsu.
It had always been about buying more influence.
The Uchiha didn't seem worried in the slightest.
Their Sharingan could already copy countless techniques.
Whether those jutsu reached the Fire Daimyo or not made little difference to them.
If anyone suffered from today's decision...
It would be Konoha.
"Pfft..."
Suki suddenly covered her mouth.
But she couldn't hold it in.
"Hahaha!"
The others looked toward her.
"Elder..."
She tried to stop laughing.
"Did you see Jiraiya's face?"
"It looked like he'd swallowed a fly."
The moment she finished—
Raizen burst out laughing as well.
"Hahahaha!"
"And the best part..."
"He kept winking at Grand Elder the whole time."
Raizen even imitated Jiraiya by repeatedly blinking one eye.
"As if saying..."
"Please stop talking for Konoha's sake!"'
"But Grand Elder didn't even look at him."
"Hahaha!"
The two laughed so hard they almost had to hold onto each other.
Even a few nearby Uchiha couldn't help smiling.
Grand Elder Setsuna looked at the two of them before shaking his head helplessly.
"Enough."
His lips twitched slightly.
"Go help everyone finish packing."
"We'll be relocating near Konoha's border."
He still didn't fully understand Toyoma's decision.
The clan could have settled anywhere inside the village.
Yet Toyoma had specifically chosen the border.
"There has to be a reason..."
He muttered quietly.
"Understood, Elder!"
Raizen and Suki answered together.
As they turned to leave, Suki grabbed Raizen by the sleeve.
"Come on, Uncle."
The two quickly ran off, still trying to suppress their laughter.
The elders quietly watched them disappear.
Silence lingered for a few moments.
Then...
Setsuna suddenly couldn't hold it anymore.
"Hahahahaha!"
He laughed so loudly that even Kohaku looked over in surprise.
"That boy..."
Setsuna wiped the corner of his eye.
"What was that expression?"
"And he just kept winking at me."
He laughed again.
"I thought his eye was going to cramp."
This time...
Even Kohaku couldn't stop himself from smiling.
Uzuku let out a chuckle.
Toyoma shook his head with a faint smile.
For the first time in many days...
The atmosphere inside the Uchiha compound felt light.
The burden everyone had been carrying seemed just a little easier to bear.
The frustration in Jiraiya's heart was becoming harder and harder to suppress.
After escorting Elder Kiyo and his group to their temporary residence, he immediately headed toward the Hokage Building.
His footsteps were hurried.
He wanted to tell Hiruzen everything that had happened inside the Uchiha compound.
The Daimyo's growing trust in the Uchiha.
The samurai's promise.
And the Uchiha handing over their sword arts and jutsu.
Every one of those things would affect Konoha in the future.
But just as he reached the entrance...
He stopped.
His hand slowly lowered from the door.
"...No."
He looked quietly at the Hokage Building.
"Now isn't the right time."
He let out a tired sigh before turning around.
The Hokage and the elders were already facing one crisis after another.
If he brought this news now...
It would only make things worse.
'The old man isn't in the right state of mind.'
Jiraiya thought to himself.
There was no point adding another burden onto Hiruzen's shoulders today.
He could report it tomorrow.
After making up his mind, Jiraiya changed direction.
Instead of entering the Hokage Building...
He quietly headed toward Minato's residence.
Jiraiya's figure gradually disappeared into the distance.
From a nearby corridor...
Homura quietly watched him leave.
His brows slowly furrowed.
'Why didn't Jiraiya come inside?'
He knew Jiraiya had been with Elder Kiyo the entire time.
If anything important had happened during the visit...
Jiraiya should have reported it to the Hokage immediately.
But instead...
He had turned around and left.
Homura's expression gradually became grim.
'Did something happen?'
Without wasting another second, he hurried back into the Hokage's office.
Creak...
The door opened once again.
Inside, Hiruzen, Koharu, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were still there.
The heavy atmosphere hadn't changed.
Koharu looked up as soon as Homura entered.
"Did you find it?"
Homura gave a small nod.
Without saying anything, he took out an old scroll along with a carefully wrapped wooden box.
He walked over to Tsunade and handed both of them to her.
"This..."
He looked at the box for a brief moment.
"...is the memento the last Fire Daimyo gifted to the First Hokage."
Tsunade accepted it with a puzzled expression.
Homura then handed her another sealed letter.
"And this..."
"Must be delivered to the Fire Daimyo."
Tsunade blinked.
Then she looked at Homura with obvious irritation.
"Why me again, old man?"
She frowned.
"Am I the only person left in this village?"
Homura simply looked back at her.
His expression didn't change.
The silence itself became the answer.
"...Tch."
Tsunade clicked her tongue.
She took both the box and the letter without saying another word.
The office fell silent once more.
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Right now, P@treon chapters are available up to (Chapter 152: The Fire Times).
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P@treon - Hear_tteeth [18 +]
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