Chapter178:
Danzō's proposal was crystal clear to everyone.
You, the daimyō, want face on the surface, right?
Fine—then hand over enough money. We're shinobi. We take money and get things done. That's normal.
You want us to handle it without paying? That's just daydreaming.
And we already gave you a suggestion—don't be ungrateful and refuse the face we're offering…
Danzō's voice echoed through the hall. Apart from the daimyō, many Konoha shinobi looked at Danzō in astonishment.
Not long ago, news of Danzō's unexpected death had spread—and they all knew about it.
After all, this was no small matter. Everyone present—whether clan heads, elite jōnin, or those with access to Konoha's upper echelons—couldn't possibly be unaware.
Yet…
Danzō stood alive and well before them.
After the initial shock, everyone began seriously analyzing the situation.
The most crucial clue was Sarutobi Hiruzen's reaction.
Seeing the Third Hokage treat Danzō the same as always, and the ANBU Commander remaining calm, people already had a rough idea.
Danzō's proposal was actually a compromise.
First distort the facts, then have Konoha apologize publicly, and the daimyō mansion compensates Konoha.
That way, to the outside world, both the Land of Fire daimyō mansion and Konoha village would present a somewhat ambiguous stance.
At the same time, Konoha could use the 1 billion ryō compensation to shut the mouths of other ninja villages.
This was normal. Everyone here was a shinobi—they all understood how things worked in this industry.
1 billion ryō was already an enormous sum.
And once the facts were distorted—whether people believed it or not—the "truth" was whatever they wrote.
In that situation, anyone still having crooked thoughts would be openly opposing Konoha.
As the current number one ninja village, no village in the world wanted to face Konoha alone.
Joke… During the war, Konoha wasn't just fighting 1v3—it was 1v4.
Although Konoha suffered badly after the war, it still withstood assaults from four ninja villages.
Ask yourself—could any other village do the same?
No. Absolutely not!
So Konoha's position as the number one ninja village remained extremely solid.
…
In the silent hall, everyone held their breath—including the Third Hokage.
This was his last resort. If the deadlock truly couldn't be broken, Konoha might have to fall out with the daimyō mansion.
If they broke ties with the daimyō mansion over something as trivial as this, even in death Sarutobi Hiruzen would have no face to meet Senju Tobirama.
Now it was the ANBU Commander's time to perform.
Here—aside from the Third Hokage, the daimyō, and Danzō—his status was the highest.
Of course, excluding Jiraiya and Tsunade. Although they were Konoha shinobi, they hadn't returned to the village in a long time. In many important village matters, the ANBU Commander's voice already surpassed theirs.
"Ahem… I think this method is feasible."
The ANBU Commander voiced agreement first, then kicked the ball to the slacking Jiraiya: "What do you think, Jiraiya?"
He and Jiraiya were from the same era, so there was no issue.
He couldn't very well ask the Third Hokage, could he?
The Third was one of the final decision-makers—this kind of discussion below didn't involve him yet.
"Huh?"
Jiraiya had been half-asleep.
Because he had already seen through that the Danzō in front was a fake!
So Jiraiya judged this was arranged by the Third Hokage, believed the matter was basically settled, and relaxed.
Being suddenly called on by the ANBU Commander, Jiraiya hummed and hawed for a while before finally speaking: "Indeed a good method."
"Isn't that right, Shikaku?"
Shikaku: "?"
Now Shikaku was a little confused.
You big shots are putting on an acting show—why are you suddenly dragging me into it?
According to the normal script, next would be Tsunade nodding in agreement, then everyone chiming in, the daimyō accepting, and both sides reconciling…
"Ahem…" Shikaku thought for a moment, then said words that closed the distance between both sides while giving the daimyō a way out.
"I think this is a good move. The daimyō mansion and the village have maintained a good cooperative relationship for decades."
"We can't ruin the efforts of our predecessors over such a small matter."
"Besides, we're family. There are no outsiders here. We can solve it privately together—everyone brainstorming~"
"Anyone with opinions can raise them… as long as the matter is resolved, everyone wins."
"And if we start fighting, the happiest ones will be the neighboring countries and other ninja villages—they'd love to seize this resource-rich land of ours."
"At that time, the world would fall into chaos, and countless lives would be lost."
"For the peace of the world, for the prosperity of the Land of Fire, for the safety of the citizens—both sides taking a step back… what's wrong with that?"
"Don't you all agree?"
Shikaku truly lived up to his reputation as a strategist—his words carried weight.
In just a few sentences, both sides' expressions eased considerably.
These words gave everyone plenty of face, and there was even a step to step down onto…
For world peace, we endure a little—nothing much, world peace is the most important thing…
After that, everyone began chiming in with Shikaku.
"Excellent words—I agree with Lord Shikaku."
"Right, the daimyō mansion and Konoha are one family…"
"Since the matter has arisen, we should think about how to resolve it—not fight internally."
"For world peace, the daimyō's action shows great righteousness."
Next, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shikaku with satisfaction and nodded approvingly.
Then, with a smiling face, he looked toward the daimyō and said: "What do you think?"
With everyone saying this, what could the daimyō think?
His goal was naturally to preserve the daimyō mansion's status.
Now there was a solution, and a step down—naturally the daimyō couldn't disagree.
Otherwise, he would be the unreasonable one.
This was Konoha—Danzō was blocking the main gate.
The daimyō had no doubt—if he dared say even half a word of refusal, this group of superb actors would swarm and tear him to pieces.
Finally, amid everyone's cheerful laughter, the negotiation ended.
With it ended the trouble between the Land of Fire daimyō mansion and Konoha.
Naruto looked speechlessly at the surrounding shinobi and inwardly complained: Holy crap, they're all such good actors—why did they even summon me back?
The matter was settled. Tsunade also breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed her gambling luck could still be referenced.
But the target wasn't Jiraiya—it was Naruto.
If Naruto had made a different choice, he would have faced a lot of trouble later. Solving those troubles would probably cost him half his life.
Tsunade pulled Naruto directly away from the scene. This was a relatively remote part of Konoha. Shizune stood not far away, holding a large box, waiting.
Seeing Tsunade come out, Shizune walked over.
Tsunade took the box from Shizune's hands and threw it straight to Naruto: "This is payment for teaching me the technique—plus meal money."
Naruto opened the box and looked inside. Holy crap—wasn't this the money Tsunade won?
The box was stuffed full of the highest denomination crisp white bills—easily several million!
"But there's one thing I'm curious about."
"Why do you still remember the meal money?"
Naruto was inwardly delighted. A mere technique in exchange for his startup capital—sweet!
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