After the defeat in the Battle of Kawano Kuni, Sunagakure completely withdrew from the Land of Rivers, abandoning all previously held cities.
They knew they couldn't hold them anyway, so it was better to consolidate their forces as much as possible.
Now, Konohagakure had set up camp on the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers, ready to enter at any time.
According to Fumori Masaki's orders, Uchiha Kagami advanced slowly, neither rushing nor giving the other side too much psychological pressure.
The main goal was still to negotiate a truce.
They had no intention of eliminating the Land of Wind; how to achieve their objectives was paramount.
This time, the envoy from Sunagakure arrived once again.
Uchiha Kagami ordered someone to greet them.
When he learned that the leader was an elderly monk-like figure, he was certain that the day of the truce was fast approaching, because that old man must be Bunpuku, Gaara's teacher.
Gaara would not casually reveal her teacher's identity as a jinchuriki, but Fumori Masaki's letter suggested that Bunpuku might be Sunagakure's jinchuriki.
Uchiha Kagami also found this reasonable, because Sunagakure had reached this point and still hadn't released their jinchuriki, which could only mean the jinchuriki was uncooperative.
And Bunpuku, coincidentally, was that uncooperative person imprisoned in the high tower.
Uchiha Kagami highly trusted Bunpuku's stance of only preventing aggressive wars and not actively engaging in aggression, and felt that such a person was suitable to become Kazekage.
Konohagakure's goal was to foster a pro-peace faction within Sunagakure that could influence decisions, and even if they couldn't become Kazekage, achieving this would be good.
Of course, the higher-ups believed that Bunpuku had a very high chance of becoming Kazekage.
Given Sunagakure's current internal situation and their eagerness for peace, once elders like Ebizo and Chiyo stepped down, what reason would there be for Bunpuku, as the greatest contributor to peace and a jinchuriki, not to become Kazekage?
After all, Bunpuku had the political achievement of successfully negotiating peace, a significant Merit.
Even as a jinchuriki, because he had been imprisoned in the high tower for many years, Shukaku within him had never caused trouble, and the public had no fear of jinchuriki.
Naturally, they would have no ill will towards Bunpuku—just as if Konohagakure had not experienced the terror brought by the Nine-Tails' rampage, the public would not have had an excessive reaction to the 'demon fox'.
Naruto's life would not have been so tragic, and his living environment would have been roughly similar to his mother Kushina's, or perhaps even better, because Kushina was initially from another village, while Naruto was a native of Konoha.
Upon arriving at Konoha's camp, Bunpuku and his entourage were invited in.
Konoha ninjas still showed a certain degree of respect to the peace envoys.
Although they stood as victors, Uchiha Kagami strictly demanded that there be no arrogant behavior, otherwise, punishment would be meted out.
Since they were already the victors, there was no need to display an indifferent and arrogant attitude to cause displeasure.
In the future, Konohagakure and Sunagakure were to cooperate amicably.
Political forces within Sunagakure that were close to Konohagakure must be treated with respect, otherwise, even if the two sides didn't fall out, they would be overthrown by the lower-ranking Sunagakure ninjas, which would be detrimental to the long-term maintenance of their relationship.
As long as Sunagakure's political forces could remain close to Konoha and maintain a peaceful stance, Konohagakure would gain sufficient benefits.
Once pushed too far, even if temporary benefits were gained, it would harm the future.
Fumori Masaki always told Konoha's higher-ups to make political choices with a long-term perspective.
Because of this, Bunpuku and his group received courteous treatment, and their living quarters conformed to national diplomatic norms.
Bunpuku had never seen Konoha ninjas before, only hearing about Konohagakure's actions through rumors, and had held a good impression from the start.
Now, seeing the attitude of the Konoha ninjas who greeted him, his good impression grew even stronger.
"This is the difference, indeed worthy of being the first ninja village established, and by Hashirama Senju at that," Bunpuku said with considerable emotion, even while the Konoha ninjas were still present.
The Sunagakure ninjas around him all looked a bit awkward.
Such words were fine to say in private, but saying them in front of ninjas from another village really made them lose face.
However, what could they criticize?
Bunpuku was originally an imprisoned person and didn't know how to conduct diplomacy.
The so-called chief envoy was only in name.
If they criticized him, wouldn't that just make Konoha ninjas laugh even more?
The Konoha ninjas responsible for the reception were all chosen by Uchiha Kagami, and their professional ethics were impeccable; they would never violate Uchiha Kagami's orders.
Upon hearing Bunpuku's words, they all looked at him with some surprise.
Although Bunpuku's actions made his own people lose face, for the Konoha ninjas, it was undoubtedly very gratifying.
After entering their accommodation, the vice-envoy from Sunagakure said to Bunpuku, "Mr. Bunpuku, please be careful with your words after this visit; you shouldn't say such things casually."
Bunpuku heard this and knew that he might have spoken incorrectly just now.
He was just an amateur and naturally didn't understand what to pay attention to during negotiations.
Since his goal was to win a respectable clause for the village, he nodded, "I will pay attention next time."
The vice-envoy's expression eased slightly, feeling that Bunpuku was quite understanding.
Since the two sides were not very familiar and the other party didn't understand negotiations, he had no intention of discussing it with him.
After a simple greeting, he went to his room with the others.
Bunpuku sat alone cross-legged on the bed in the room, slowly adjusting his breathing and beginning his daily meditation practice.
After a while, he heard footsteps outside the door.
At first, he thought it was someone from the delegation, but the footsteps were very familiar, making his heart stir slightly.
Even Bunpuku couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion at this moment.
He suddenly opened his eyes and stared at the door.
The footsteps stopped at the door, paused for a moment, then a knock sounded, followed by a female voice, "Teacher."
The voice carried a hint of caution and a slight tremor.
Bunpuku immediately got up, quickly went to the door, and pulled it open.
Seeing the brown-haired girl standing at the door, he was speechless for a moment.
Although Bunpuku had already cast a cursed seal on Gaara that could display her life signs, and the results indicated that Gaara was still alive, no jutsu, however powerful, could compare to seeing the other person's safety with one's own eyes.
"Teacher."
Gaara felt the same way.
After participating in this war, she had already prepared not to return, but thanks to the goodwill of the enemy ninja village, she actually survived and could even meet her teacher.
On this point, both Gaara and Bunpuku had to be grateful to Konohagakure.
Gaara threw herself into Bunpuku's arms, hugging him tightly.
She wasn't without other relatives, but her parents had died early, and she only had a younger brother at home.
Bunpuku was the only elder she could confide in.
Now that she had miraculously survived, she finally cried her heart out in the embrace of her elder.
Bunpuku gently patted Gaara's back and said to her with affection, "Child, you've truly suffered."
For a while, neither of them spoke, only Gaara's uncontrollable sobs, expressing her gratitude for surviving the ordeal.