BOOM!
The conference room shook as the doors burst open, startling every ninja inside.
Hyuga Hiashi strode in, carrying a tightly sealed scroll in his hand. His expression was calm, but there was a sharpness in his eyes that had not been there earlier.
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.
He had expected Hiashi to be preparing counterarguments, but he had not expected him to come charging into the negotiation hall like this.
Hiashi bowed politely to Hiruzen—an apology for interrupting the meeting—before turning his cold gaze toward Shi, the Cloud ninja who had been shouting the loudest.
"Heh. Kidnapping my daughter—your people did it flawlessly."
Hiashi's voice was steady, but the anger beneath it was unmistakable.
"Raikage may look like a straightforward man of muscle, but I didn't expect him to be so scheming."
"You've played with the hearts of Konoha's people.
You've played with the trust between ninja clans.
You've played with us all."
Shi blinked in exaggerated confusion.
"Don't talk nonsense," he snapped. "The only thing I know is that you Konoha killed our envoy. And now you want to pretend innocence? Hah! The so-called 'strongest village' in the ninja world—how laughable."
But Hiashi did not explode or lose his calm.
Instead, he casually sat down, crossing one leg over the other as he tapped the scroll lightly against his palm.
"Kidnapping my daughter was a bold move," Hiashi said.
"Raikage truly struck at Konoha's weakest point.
It almost worked too.
If nothing unexpected happened… your plan might have succeeded."
Shi narrowed his eyes.
The mention of "unexpected" made him uneasy.
Hiashi continued playing with the scroll, turning it slowly so that Shi could see its importance yet not fully understand it.
Shi laughed coldly.
"I don't even know what you're talking about. If you have evidence, show it. If not, remember—one of our Chūnin was killed by your people."
Hiashi placed the scroll gently on the table.
"Accidents do happen one after another," he said.
"This morning, I visited the benefactor who saved my daughter."
Shi's eyelid twitched.
He immediately thought of Uchiha Souji.
"He asked me to give you a message," Hiashi continued.
"'The more scheming you are, the more blindsided you will be by unexpected trouble.'"
Then Hiashi pulled out a small wooden box from inside his robe.
With a slow, deliberate motion, he opened it and placed it on the table.
Inside was a single pill.
Shi's face instantly darkened.
He knew exactly what it was.
Hiashi lifted the box slightly.
"Here is the antidote pill you gave Souji."
Shi immediately tried to speak, but Hiashi cut him off.
"Don't deny it. Your fingerprints are still on it."
Hiashi then pushed the scroll toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Hiruzen opened it—and his eyebrows shot up so hard they nearly flew off his forehead.
The Third Hokage picked up his pipe, inhaled deeply, and then—grinning widely—tossed the scroll in front of Shi.
"I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation for this."
Shi didn't even need to read it.
He already knew.
They had fallen into their own trap.
Cloud's goal had been to confuse the truth, disgust Konoha, and extract compensation.
But if word spread that a Cloud Jōnin secretly left an antidote for the very boy who supposedly 'murdered' his companion, Cloud would lose face across the entire continent.
And reputation was currency.
The fewer missions a village received, the less money flowed in.
Cloud could not afford that.
Shi swallowed hard.
"Well… I…" He forced a tight smile.
"I had a stomachache on the road… and Souji asked for some medicine. Yes, that is all. I simply gave him an antidote to help his condition."
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
Then Uchiha Fugaku stood up, his expression unreadable.
Hiashi leaned forward, smiling politely but sharp as a blade.
"Is that so, Shi Jōnin?"
Everyone at the table understood the meaning.
If Shi refused to play along, Konoha would treat him as an enemy.
A very ugly international incident would unfold.
Shi took a long, trembling breath.
"Indeed."
Then he bowed respectfully.
"In addition, we from Cloud Shinobi Village deeply apologize for the misunderstanding involving your clan's secret grounds. We assure you—we had no intention of probing your secrets."
"Lord Hokage, please forgive our offense."
Then Shi took a deep breath and delivered the line that really mattered:
"To show our sincerity, Cloud Shinobi Village and the Land of Lightning will pay an additional 10% war compensation."
Even Hiruzen, who had trained himself to remain calm during disasters, almost laughed aloud.
Ten percent sounded small—but war reparations between nations were enormous.
Even a single percent could feed Konoha for months.
A ten percent increase?
That was a fortune.
Hiruzen smiled, extending his hand to Shi.
"Konoha and the Land of Fire accept your apology and appreciate your generosity."
Shi shook the Hokage's hand painfully.
It felt like ripping coins out of his own stomach.
When the plan began, Cloud thought they could escape paying anything by making Konoha panic.
Now they were paying even more than before.
Shi's smile twitched.
At the end of the meeting, he exhaled deeply.
"I would like to see Uchiha Souji before leaving," Shi said.
"I believe he and I have much to talk about."
Hiruzen gave him a kind smile.
"Well, Souji isn't a ninja yet. I can't order him around. Maybe next time?"
The words were polite.
The meaning was not.
Hokage did not want Shi anywhere near Souji.
---
One Week Later
The compensation terms were finalized and signed.
The Land of Lightning's daimyō publicly declared Konoha the "victor" in the negotiations.
Everything was over.
On the morning Cloud's delegation left, Nozomi saw Souji standing at Konoha's gate.
He grinned.
"You little brat… you're more scheming than I thought.
We talked so nicely, and you still tricked me in the end?"
His tone was mocking, but there was no true anger.
Just irritation—and a reluctant respect.
And Souji?
He simply smiled.
Because he had won.
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