"…Are these conditions not somewhat too harsh, Miss Mei Terumi?"
Three days after Konoha was half-destroyed, Shikaku Nara, who served as the intellectual pillar and negotiation representative at Minato Namikaze's side, lowered the draft offer in his hand.
Still wrapped in bandages, he looked at Kirigakure's early-stage negotiation representative, Mei Terumi, and asked with a bitter expression, "Can you not… reconsider?"
"Compared to Lord Mizukage's contribution in preserving half of Konoha's population, preserving Konoha's chance to rise again, and even preserving Konoha's most valuable Kekkei Genkai clans, I believe it is only reasonable for Konoha to pay this level of compensation."
Mei Terumi pushed up the plain glasses she had worn purely for aesthetic reasons, then spoke with overflowing confidence.
"Whether it is Konoha transferring the ownership and usage rights of the Nine-Tails to Kirigakure, or Konoha handing over part of the mission resources it can no longer complete in its current state, these are all very reasonable compensation demands. For Konoha, which has now suffered such severe losses, continuing to forcibly occupy these resources would instead become an overly heavy burden, would it not?"
Truthfully, Shikaku Nara very much wanted to shout at Mei Terumi, "This is not negotiation at all! This is outright robbery!"
But the moment he thought of Kirigakure—or rather, the strength the Fourth Mizukage, Rei Kaguya, had displayed in the previous battle—he found that no matter what, he could not muster the courage in this situation to say such offensive words to Rei's envoy, Mei Terumi.
In fact, some of Mei Terumi's words, which were practically sophistry, did touch upon real troubles and dangers for Konoha in its greatly weakened state.
Now that the village needed reconstruction, and the number of shinobi at every level had suddenly decreased by nearly half, the mission resources Konoha originally possessed had undoubtedly become a heavy burden that Konoha could not possibly handle.
But if they transferred those impossible missions to Kirigakure, whose strength was rapidly rising, the probability of the other party returning them after Konoha recovered was basically infinitely close to zero.
The Nine-Tails was similar.
Such a strategic resource was vital to every shinobi village. Under normal circumstances, if anyone dared to brazenly place it on the negotiation table and treat it as payment to be collected for a mission, Konoha's negotiators would have flipped the table on the spot, beaten the other party into trash, and thrown them out of Konoha's gates.
How could there possibly be a situation like now, where they not only had to maintain the negotiations properly, but even had to smile apologetically at the other party?
But there was no helping it. Strength determined the situation.
If Konoha did not show the necessary submission right now…
The Fourth Mizukage could save Konoha.
Naturally, he could also erase this wounded village from the map of the shinobi world with his own power.
"Regarding this matter, please give us more time to consider. Aside from the Fourth Hokage, we also need to ask for the Third Hokage's opinion…"
Shikaku Nara forced himself to make this request to Mei Terumi.
Mei Terumi also nodded sympathetically, accepting his request. However, she immediately changed the topic, dragging the negotiation toward another issue that was extremely troublesome for Konoha.
"If you cannot immediately decide on the transfer of the Nine-Tails and mission resources, then the matter concerning Shisui Uchiha alone should be resolvable, yes?
"As a meritorious contributor who held back the actions of Root's leader, Obito Uchiha, during Konoha's defense battle, and who also helped the Uchiha clan avoid the fate of being destroyed by a Tailed Beast Ball, if his bounty notice and Missing-nin status remain hanging on the official announcements of Konoha and the Uchiha clan, then that would be… rather unsightly, would it not?"
"But Miss Mei Terumi," an Uchiha member who was also responsible for negotiations raised his hand helplessly. "The fact that Shisui defected from Konoha to Kirigakure cannot be changed no matter what… The Uchiha clan can revoke his bounty, but wanting to erase his Missing-nin status as well is a little too much."
"There will always be a way."
Mei Terumi lightly propped up her fragrant cheek. Her lake-green eyes narrowed into an unreadable curve.
"If even a shinobi like Shisui Uchiha, who rendered great service and showed great kindness to both Konoha and his clan, must always bear the stigma of being a Missing-nin, then Konoha and the Uchiha clan will also gain a reputation for being heartless, will they not?"
"You insist on clearing even his identity as a Missing-nin?"
"He has already become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen as a shinobi from another village. Mr. Shikaku, how much trust and favor do you think Lord Mizukage has toward him?"
Mei Terumi spread her hands. Before she realized it, a trace of jealousy had appeared on her beautiful, charming face.
"Not to mention, he is also one of the only few shinobi in the village who has obtained a summoning contract with Ryuchi Cave…"
Shikaku Nara and the Uchiha shinobi beside him looked at one another.
At the same time, both of them saw helplessness and bitter smiles filling the other's face.
The problem was precisely that Shisui Uchiha was one of Rei Kaguya's trusted subordinates.
The closer his relationship with Rei Kaguya was, the more attractive he became to the young people in Konoha who had witnessed that battle between gods.
…
At the same time, in Konoha's temporary hospital.
Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha, who was carrying a basket of fruit, were walking together toward Fugaku Uchiha's ward.
Although Fugaku Uchiha possessed the forbidden genjutsu Izanagi, which could deceive the world itself, he had still been seriously injured while trying to completely intercept the Tailed Beast Ball.
Moreover, one of his eyes had gone blind due to the side effect of using Izanagi.
Even though Fugaku himself strongly objected, Mikoto Uchiha had still forcefully pressed him into the hospital and made him receive medical-nin treatment.
Shisui Uchiha was the person who had brought the injured Fugaku Uchiha to the hospital. Today, he had come to see whether this elder, who had once taken great care of him, had recovered somewhat.
As for meeting Itachi Uchiha, who had gone downstairs to buy a fruit basket, that was purely coincidence.
However, when Shisui saw little Itachi clearly carrying a belly full of questions he wanted to ask, yet burying them all in his heart because of various concerns, only able to sneak glances at him from time to time with eyes that could not be considered subtle at all, Shisui hesitated for a while before deciding to take the initiative and break the awkward silence between them.
He asked, "How is Sasuke? He wasn't frightened by what happened that night, was he?"
"Mother is staying with him."
Itachi Uchiha held the fruit basket and unsteadily stepped aside to avoid an injured person coming from the opposite direction.
"When Lord Mizukage was fighting the Nine-Tails, one blade light happened to sweep past less than five meters in front of us. Maybe he was frightened then. Sasuke hasn't been sleeping well these past few days. He often wakes up crying after only sleeping for a while…"
"…I'm sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, Brother Shisui. It wasn't that Mizukage's fault either. If he hadn't fought the Nine-Tails, all of Konoha would have been destroyed by the demon fox."
Itachi Uchiha shook his head maturely.
Then, taking advantage of the moment when the two of them turned a corner, he quietly asked Shisui Uchiha, whose face carried guilt, "More importantly, Brother Shisui, I heard that the person who used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails… was Obito Uchiha, whom the clan had long since acknowledged as dead. Is that true?"
"Ah, it's true. I even exchanged blows with him for a while. Unfortunately, I was not strong enough and was taught a lesson by him instead."
Shisui Uchiha sighed, raised his hand to stop Itachi Uchiha from continuing to ask, then gently shook his head.
"Later, let's go to the clan training ground. Ask whatever questions you have then… For now, let's not make Mr. Fugaku listen to such infuriating things, all right?"
"Oh."
Itachi Uchiha nodded obediently. Then he pushed open the door to his father's ward and spoke to Fugaku Uchiha, who was leaning against the bed with a helpless expression, staring blankly.
"Father, I'm back."
"Oh, Itachi is back…"
Fugaku Uchiha subconsciously turned his head, intending to praise his eldest son for being sensible.
Then his entire gaze and attention were drawn to Shisui Uchiha, who was standing beside his eldest son, wearing a Kirigakure forehead protector and looking much older than before.
"Mr. Fugaku, long time no see…"
Shisui Uchiha looked at Fugaku's pale white right eye. After taking a deep breath, he greeted him very politely.
"Yes… Long time no see, Shisui."
Fugaku Uchiha answered with an expression full of complicated emotions.
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