Konoha Notes

Chapter 77 Struggle

“Sunagakure is not in a hurry for an answer. Go and think it over carefully, my ally.”

Ebizo waved his withered hand casually, and as soon as he finished speaking, two Sand Village ninjas silently appeared at the door and gestured for him to enter.

Shuji maintained his calm, almost emotionless expression, nodded slightly, and turned to leave with Anko and Itachi.

Just as they stepped out of the room, they caught a glimpse of another door being pushed open by a Sand Village ninja at the other end of the corridor.

A figure, dressed in dark Iwagakure attire that seemed out of place in the Sunagakure environment, was being led inside—presumably the one who had arrived earlier with the "generous gift."

The three were led into a small lounge.

Hongdou opened her mouth as if to say something, but Xiu Si stopped her with a finger.

He still had a smile on his face, which dispelled Hongdou's initial anxiety.

Things seem to be getting serious. The key is for Shuji to find the crucial problem.

There are two questions now. One is why Sunagakure wants to meet with people from Iwagakure; the other is why Sunagakure wants to meet with people from Konoha.

In terms of their purpose, the people of Sunagakure were looking for someone to drive up the price; they were looking for someone who would offer the highest price to be their ally.

So, is it Iwagakure that can afford the price, or Konohagakure?

It is Konoha.

Iwagakure Village was not wealthy and had nothing to offer.

Based on this, it can be inferred that Ebizo of Sunagakure is using Iwagakure to raise the price, hoping that Konoha will offer a higher price.

So? Is that all there is to it?
The incident of the Cloud Village envoys going out of control in the heart of Konoha triggered a crisis in itself, one of which was external doubts about the strength of the Konoha Village.

They questioned whether Konoha had the ability to handle this crisis.

If this issue cannot be resolved, no matter how high the price offered by Konoha Village is, it will only trigger greater greed in Sunagakure Village.

Therefore, the more concessions a village makes during negotiations, the more it may reveal its weakness, which could make Sunagakure an ally of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, and they might try to take over Konoha together.

That's when things will really be over.

Therefore, among the things to do, revealing one's own bargaining chips is secondary; demonstrating Konoha's attitude towards handling this incident is the most important.

When the door to the lounge was opened again, Sunagakure had come to deliver the food—none of the three of them touched it.

It wasn't until late at night that the three from Konoha were arranged to meet Ebizo again.

When he saw Ebizo again, he didn't even ask Shuji if he had made up his mind, and directly stated his conditions: "Sunagakure wants the entire Land of Rivers' mission quota..."

Ebizo looked at Shuji's indifferent expression.

He continued, "As compensation for helping Konoha survive this war, Sunagakure requests..."

Shuji interrupted him.

"I think that Consultant Ebizo doesn't need to ask for this or that."

A sharp glint appeared in Ebizo's eyes.

"The Land of Wind has a vast territory, but there are very few oases that can truly support the ninja villages and produce value."

Shuji's tone was flat: "Under these conditions, Sunagakure has maintained a ninja force size almost comparable to that of the other major powers, and its finances are already overburdened."

"The reason why Konoha maintains its alliance with Sunagakure is because the two sides share common interests—Sunagakure needs cheap food and supplies to keep the village running, while Konoha needs peace on the western front to recuperate."

"If we follow the advisor's advice, Sunagakure is a 'money-devouring beast' that Konoha has to constantly feed in order to sustain itself."

"Even if the cost of peace exceeds the expenditure of war... then, transferring everything that was originally given to Sunagakure to Iwagakure might not be a bad option for Konoha."

Ebizo's face twitched almost imperceptibly.

"The Land of Earth is also not rich in resources. What Iwagakure wants to gain from all this is nothing more than wealth."

The ninja, who had been active since the founding of the village, suddenly stood up. "Arrogant and foolish brat! Hiruzen Sarutobi is old and senile, actually sending you here to discuss such an important matter. The destruction of Konoha will begin with you."

"With three major ninja villages attacking simultaneously, what can Konoha possibly do now?!"

Shuji smiled coldly: "On the contrary, you haven't figured out that there has never been any such thing as the three great ninja villages besieging each other."

"Kumakure is no longer capable of fighting. Cut off their food supplies. How many ninjas do you think we'll need, Mr. Ebizo? Five? Or ten?"

"Even if it's destroyed, the Hidden Cloud Village won't get a single grain of food from outside!"

"As for Onoki of the Two Libras, he's probably a loyal ally."

“A loyal ally?” Ebizo was taken aback, then, as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world, his withered face contorted with wrinkles, and he burst into a hoarse and loud laugh.

"Hahaha... Konoha brats, they actually know how to tell jokes now? Onoki of the Two Scales is a loyal ally? Hahahaha!"

Before being successfully persuaded by talk-no-jutsu, Onoki was a person who would do anything for the benefit of Iwagakure. If the benefits of peace with Konoha outweighed the benefits of war with Konoha, he would not hesitate to abandon Sunagakure.

After laughing for a while, Ebizo sat back down.

"Alright, Shuuji, kid, let's end the jokes here."

"Show us Konoha's cards. Sunagakure's patience has its limits."

Shuji also dropped his confrontational attitude.

"The peace talks with Kumogakure were about to succeed, and the food embargo on the Land of Lightning had been eased. But now the situation has suddenly changed..."

"Konoha will take over this batch of grain that cannot be sent to the Land of Lightning and sell it to the Land of Wind at the lowest possible price."

"Our demand is that it be given away free of charge."

We shouldn't dwell on this too much; this is exactly what Sunagakure needs most.

So Shuji nodded in agreement.

"Two-thirds of the mission quota for the Land of Rivers is to be taken by Sunagakure." Ebizo held up two withered fingers.

This refers to the portion of the Land of Rivers that was originally allocated to Konoha.

"One-sixth..."

What followed was nothing more than banging on the table and arguing until a basic consensus was reached.

Ebizo wearily raised his hand and rubbed his lower back: "I'm getting old, really old. I can't keep up with you young people anymore."

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes to rest for a moment, then opened them again, his gaze falling on Xiu Si with a hint of barely perceptible amusement: "A generous gift, would you like it?"

"It would be wonderful if you could call him over."

Ebizo did not respond, but simply waved his withered hand very slightly towards the doorway.

After a moment of silence, the door was pushed open.

The envoy, dressed in Iwagakure attire, entered, his face initially showing relief at having completed his mission. However, his expression changed drastically the moment he saw that there were still Konoha ninjas in the room!

A mixture of shock, wariness, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes. He instinctively took a half-step back, opening his mouth to rebuke—

A dark light suddenly pierced his throat!

He couldn't even utter a complete syllable; all his questions and anger were frozen in his throat.

With his eyes wide open and his body convulsing violently, the Iwagakure messenger futilely reached for his own neck with both hands, dark red liquid seeping from between his fingers, before collapsing heavily to the ground with a thud.

Shuji, who had just thrown a kunai, casually thanked Ebizo.

May the friendship between Konoha and Sunagakure last forever.

"What a fierce and cunning brat," Ebizo thought with a yawn.

(End of this chapter)