Chapter 191 Peace Talks
After learning that the food route and supplies of Kannabi Bridge were destroyed by Namikaze Minato and burned with detonating tags, Tsuchikage Ōnoki finally couldn't help but invite Konoha to peace talks.
At this point in the war, the losses suffered by Iwagakure were already a huge loss in Ōnoki's view.
If they insisted, Iwagakure could indeed grit their teeth and squeeze out another batch of supplies, but after the latest battle with Orochimaru, Ōnoki had already given up this idea.
Although Konoha's military strength was close to exhaustion, Iwagakure was also under great pressure. In particular, the war with Konoha had been going on for more than two years, and the Land Kingdom had invested a lot of money and materials, but still failed to capture Konoha Village, which made the Land Kingdom Daimyo dissatisfied.
If Ōnoki insisted on his own opinion, the Daimyo of the Land of Earth might still prepare supplies for him, but there would certainly be strict conditions attached.
For example, conquering Konoha Village and winning the war with the Fire Nation.
But now, with the number of Iwagakure's jonin and top fighters being lost, and two ninjas comparable to the jinchūriki appearing on the opposite side, Ōnoki no longer has the confidence he had before to break through Orochimaru's defenses once again and push the battle line to the front of Konoha Village.
Since he couldn't win in the end, Ohnoki thought it was pointless to keep investing. It would be better to rest and recuperate.
Of course, this depends on whether Konoha agrees to his negotiation conditions!
……
Konoha Village.
After Sarutobi Hiruzen arranged the peace negotiation delegation sent by Ōnoki, he fell into deep thought when faced with the peace negotiation conditions proposed by Ōnoki.
"unacceptable!"
Utane Koharu looked at the peace terms proposed by the Land of Earth with a grim expression.
"You can't agree to their conditions, Hiruzen!"
Danzo Shimura, who had been put on ice for a while and then pulled out to manage the Root during the tense war, tapped the ground with his cane gloomily and said firmly.
"But if you don't agree, the war with Iwagakure will continue! Konoha needs to end the war as soon as possible and recuperate!"
Another advisor, Mitomon En, disagreed. The situation in the village was not good, and the number of middle- and lower-level ninjas had been reduced to a dangerous level.
"Don't Iwagakure need to recuperate?" Shimura Danzo snorted, "We can negotiate and end the war, but how dare Ohnoki make such demands as asking Konoha to compensate them for the war losses and return the two tailed beasts to them intact!"
"Are you going to refuse?" Mitomon Yan was also somewhat helpless: "No matter what, the tailed beasts will never give up. This means two top combat forces and war weapons.
Konoha already has one Nine-Tails. If we keep the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails in our hands, won't we become the target of public criticism?"
"The tailed beasts can be returned to them, but it can only be redeemed! And as the loser, Iwagakure should pay war compensation to Konoha!" Danzo Shimura looked at the Third Hokage who was puffing on his pipe at the table and listening to their quarrel in silence.
"What happened?"
Utatane Koharu looked at the silent Sarutobi Hiruzen. As the only female among the old friends, she keenly sensed something from his silence and took the initiative to ask. "Jiraiya sent a piece of information from the Land of Rain." Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke slowly with a gloomy face under the gaze of several people. "The Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning seems to have the idea of rejoining the war."
"Cloud Hidden Village?"
Hearing Hiruzen's words, Shimura Danzo and the others were stunned at first, and then they frowned.
As the cause of the Third Ninja World War, the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Sand Village have not been as prominent as some of the surrounding small countries in the past two years of the Ninja World War.
Not only were they the first to be eliminated in the war, but even their shadows were missing and dead. The Sand Village at least had a Scorch Release Master Ye Cang active outside, but the Cloud Village seemed to have disappeared in the war.
"Then can we get the Kumogakure to join us in fighting the Iwagakure?"
Mitomon En suggested. The Third Raikage died in the siege of Iwagakure. The barbarians in Iwagakure must have great hatred for Iwagakure. In this case, if we can win over the Cloud Village to fight against Iwagakure, wouldn't that mean Konoha will have one more reinforcement?
"Who will be in charge? Who will gain more benefits after taking down Iwagakure? Moreover, although Iwagakure's situation is bad, it is not as bad as Konoha's. What if those barbarians from Kumogakure turn around and join forces with Iwagakure to attack Konoha?"
Koharu Utane objected to Mitokado En's suggestion.
"According to the information provided by the Rain Country, there is a transaction between the Lightning Country and the Earth Country." Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his forehead, feeling a little tired: "The Lightning Country copied the healing talismans and sold them to the Hidden Rock Village. In addition to the smaller shipment volume than the Rain Country, the effect of healing injuries is better. It is even close to the healing talismans made by the Technical Development Department."
"If you, Hiruzen, had let me supervise the Technology Development Department and let the Root be responsible for its security, there would be no way those Kumogakure would have been able to steal our technology so easily!"
Shimura Danzo was dissatisfied when he heard this. He had always been a little upset about not being able to bring the technology of the Technology Development Department under the management of the Root.
"Now is not the time to talk about this! Is there any contact between Iwagakure and Kumogakure? This is not good news for us! Is there any other information about the Rain Country?"
Mitomon En glanced at Danzo. Over the past few years, the Technology Development Department has established a firm foothold in the village, just like the Medical Department, and has become an indispensable part of the village.
Although he and Utane Koharu often stand on Danzo's side, speak for him and support him, it does not mean that they are happy to see Danzo Shimura's power expand again.
One Root is already too big to be managed! When they replaced Danzo to manage the Root, they couldn't mobilize the Root ninjas at all! Even though they had the Hokage's handwritten order! In the end, it was Danzo who spoke up, and they were able to successfully take over the mobilization rights of some Root ninjas and give them tasks and orders.
"This is the information Konan and the others gathered when they were investigating the issue of the healing talisman. Kumogakure may join the war at any time, and we have no way of knowing for sure what side they are on. But no matter what, I have decided to negotiate with Iwagakure first!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the three old friends and exhaled in a deep voice, "Menyan, you will go to negotiate with the Iwagakure delegation from the Land of Earth on behalf of Konoha. If necessary, you can go to see Ōnoki."
"What are the conditions?" Minato Kadokume was startled, and he glanced at Utane Koharu and Danzo, and asked. He knew that Hiruzen chose him instead of Danzo and Koharu, and was obviously leaning towards his opinion and making some concessions to Iwagakure.
He needed to determine what Hiruzen's bottom line was for concessions.
"The two captured Jinchuriki can be returned to Iwagakure, but the prerequisite is that they need to pay a ransom. Or compensation! The amount can be negotiated." Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a moment and gave the bottom line.
Mitomon nodded in understanding. The amount could be negotiated, but no specific amount was given, so it was obvious that he was the one to decide.
(End of this chapter)