Chapter 58 The Tripartite Talks Amidst Fire, Wind, and Rain
After finishing his explanation, kandachi gestured for them to proceed and then led the way.
Souji followed behind, and couldn't help but think that, as Jiraiya had said, life is truly unpredictable.
The original plan was to target Sunagakure first, as soon as Jiraiya recovered from his injuries, intending to eliminate the weakest village, Sunagakure, first.
Unexpectedly, they suddenly came to discuss cooperation with Sunagakure.
This matter aligns with the interests of Konoha, Sunagakure, and Amegakure, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will almost certainly be resolved; the only remaining issues will be negotiating some details.
but...
The Tsuchikage Onoki is not easy to deal with, and the number of Iwagakure ninja is also extremely large.
Even if the three parties join forces, they may indeed have a good chance of winning, but it is hard to say exactly how they will win and how many casualties they will have to pay.
The group arrived at the conference room in the building.
There was a rather large long table in the room, with Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, sitting at the head of the table.
On one side of the table sat, in order, the acting Kazekage Rasa, advisor Chiyo, advisor Ebizo, and a middle-aged man who was probably an advisor.
The moment the Konoha people arrived, everyone turned their gaze toward them.
Hanzo chuckled and said:
"Welcome to Amegakure, guests of Konoha."
After observing the Konoha members for a while, the Sunagakure members, led by Acting Kazekage Rasa, spoke first:
"Thank you to everyone from Konoha for accepting our invitation to participate in this meeting."
"Hmph, you should thank us. Our original plan was to kick Sunagakure out of the game first."
Jiraiya smiled arrogantly and walked to Hanzo's left, sitting opposite Rasa.
Minato, Nara Shikahiro, and Souji sat down in order.
"Um?"
Souji suddenly realized that Rasa and the others were mainly focused on Jiraiya and Minato, but Chiyo... was staring at him the whole time.
"Why is this old woman looking at me?" Souji wondered.
Could it be that she's like those female ninjas in Konoha, lusting after my good looks...? That's a bit far-fetched.
The connection between myself and this old woman... is it because of Sasori?
Although he ran very fast during the zero-ryo purchase, all his attacks were headshots with kunai.
It's not hard to guess that it was him.
Sasori also left behind a few puppets. So, through these, we can guess that he fought with Sasori and wanted to get clues about his grandson's whereabouts from him.
The Souji quickly analyzed the likely cause.
As the host, Hanzo is now consciously playing a role similar to that of a facilitator, addressing Rasa:
"Now that all three of us are here, Acting Kazekage, please begin."
"Hmm... Now that everyone from Konoha has arrived, I think you should understand why we want to facilitate a three-way cooperation?"
Rasa said in a deep voice.
"Of course! Isn't it because your Sunagakure has suffered a series of defeats that you want to win a final victory no matter what, otherwise your reputation will be completely ruined and you won't be able to make a living in the future?
I understand that at a glance!"
Jiraiya laughed heartily, but Minato glanced at him, looking extremely embarrassed.
We clearly couldn't figure it out at all; it was all thanks to Souji-san's analysis that we understood it all.
And now the teacher is using that to brag about himself... This is so embarrassing!
Before they arrived, Souji and Nara Shikahiro had already thoroughly analyzed everything that might happen during the talks and prepared a complete set of contingency plans for Jiraiya. Now, Jiraiya was just reciting his prepared script.
"Is that so? Konoha really has many talented people."
Rasa glanced at Nara Shikahiro, not too surprised.
In his view, it was not surprising that Konoha had the Nara clan, known for their wisdom, and that he could analyze their intentions.
"In that case, it makes things easier. Let's get straight to the point."
"As you said, our Sand Village has suffered consecutive defeats, and the losses have exceeded expectations.
However, we absolutely cannot allow ourselves to withdraw in such a complete defeat.
We hope to at least win one victory in the end, and it must be a great victory!"
"Therefore, we initiated this meeting to invite Konoha and Amegakure to join forces with us."
"We promise to withdraw completely after this battle and not set foot in the Land of Rain again for at least a year.
Lord Hanzo of Amegakure has reached a consensus with us."
Hanzo nodded slightly.
"That's right. According to Sunagakure's plan, all three of your great nations will withdraw from the Land of Rain after this battle.
This is something I'm happy to see. I hope you can end the war as soon as possible and stop causing trouble in my country."
"Wow, that's amazing... It's exactly the same as Souji's analysis..." Upon hearing this, Minato was both amazed and impressed.
"So now only Konoha is missing. Since you've come here, you must be willing to join forces, right?" Ebizo said.
"Hmm... indeed, only Konoha is missing."
Jiraiya rested his chin on his hand, looking at the Sunagakure members and Hanzo with an expression that seemed to find it quite amusing.
"However, if you were to go to war with Iwagakure, the outcome would likely be a mutually destructive battle.
Whether Konoha joins or not is crucial to the success or failure. Why are you acting as if you're on equal footing with us? Have you misunderstood something?"
"..."
Rasa frowned upon hearing this, and after a long pause, asked in a deep voice:
"So what do you want?"
"This time, it was your Sunagakure who started the conflict, so you have to pay compensation.
Let's say one hundred million ryo!"
"snort!"
Rasa snorted coldly, too lazy to even answer.
At this moment, Chiyo turned her gaze away from Souji and said to Jiraiya:
"Kid, don't give me that crap.
Let me tell you, we've also sent a letter to Sarutobi.
Knowing Sarutobi's personality, whether you agree or not, he'll definitely agree.
And if we're negotiating with him, the terms will be much easier to negotiate..."
"We invited you here simply because we respect you as a general on the front lines and it would be time-consuming to negotiate with Sarutobi, who is far away in Konoha.
But if you don't know how to negotiate properly, then we'll have to put in more effort and talk to Sarutobi directly."
"..."
Now it was Jiraiya's turn to have a slight change in expression, and he immediately shut his mouth and remained silent.
Souji and Nara Shikahiro exchanged a glance.
Skip them and negotiate directly with the Hokage?
This move by Sunagakure was truly unexpected.
Both of them knew the Hokage's thoughts: ending the war as quickly as possible was the top priority.
As for compensation or conditions, it was highly likely that the Hokage would just wave his hand arrogantly and say, "I have no interest in money!" and let Sunagakure give him a little something as a token gesture.
So there's no point in them continuing to argue here.
If the negotiations break down, Sunagakure will just be asking the Hokage to betray them, and they'll just be wasting everyone's time.
As expected, experience matters; neither of the two advisors from Sunagakure were easy to deal with.
"..." Souji pondered for a moment. He had a trump card for negotiating with Sunagakure, but... he would save it for a more crucial moment.
It's not worth spending a mere few coins on negotiations.
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End of this chapter...