The leader of the Hidden Cloud envoy narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the man from the Hidden Leaf who had come to greet them.
"So, it's you who's welcoming us?"
"Well, I'm the one with the most experience dealing with the Hidden Cloud." Minato Namikaze gave a bright, sunny smile, seemingly unaffected by the complex emotions behind Ai's words, the son of the Third Raikage.
"Hmph." Ai let out a cold snort but didn't say much more. His personality was similar to his father's: aggressive, domineering, ruthless, and decisively extreme.
However, he still maintained a certain level of patience and respect for those with talent who could gain his recognition.
Having faced off several times, each encounter had brought Ai to the brink of life and death with Minato Namikaze, and thus Minato had earned his respect.
Having Minato lead the welcoming party was clearly a tactic by the Hidden Leaf to intimidate them.
Ai sneered to himself. What a boring tactic! He hadn't planned on clashing with Minato, fully aware of his mission.
"Oh, seeing Minato Namikaze again, my brother's face is glum; he's on a big mission, so he's gotta stay mum, but I'll keep quiet, won't even hum…"
A strange voice, with a peculiar rhythm, suddenly rang out from the Hidden Cloud envoy. A's face turned furious as he spun around and shouted, "Shut up, B!"
"My brother's fury soars, tells me to hush and say no more…"
Killer B was holding a small notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, scribbling something down while muttering and humming nonstop. Occasionally, he'd draw a line across the paper, completely absorbed in his own world.
Seeing B's strange behavior, Ai felt embarrassed and lost the urge to bicker with Minato and his Hidden Leaf welcoming team. The tension deflated.
For a moment, the standoff between the two teams gave way to a strange, silent calm.
For over a year, nearly two, skirmishes between the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf had been ongoing at the border. The Leaf's shinobi harbored resentment toward the Hidden Cloud. The tension just moments before had everyone on edge like a powder keg.
The Leaf and Hidden Cloud teams traveled silently, keeping distinct, separate formations. Finally, just before nightfall, they arrived at the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village. The source of this content ɪs novel_fіre.net
Minato handled the registration and proof of entry for the Cloud envoy before leading them into the village.
"Lord Hokage is waiting for you," Minato said to Ai, who was walking alongside him.
"Then let's meet him. I have the peace treaty documents to deliver." Ai responded as he observed the Hidden Leaf Village.
They walked along the street, and the surrounding pedestrians fell silent, casting attentive glances toward them—especially at the one leading the group.
Ai could easily sense the anger and hostility in those gazes, yet he kept his expression calm as he walked beside Minato Namikaze.
He was no stranger to this mix of fear and hatred in people's eyes. Over the past few years—especially in the last two—he'd seen it often from those of Sunagakure, Amegakure, and even Konoha.
As long as it wasn't from Kumogakure, he didn't care.
"Chōsuke-senpai, please take them to settle in. I'll take Ai to meet Lord Hokage," Minato said to Akimichi Chōsuke, who was following behind them.
Akimichi Chōsuke nodded and moved ahead to lead the Kumogakure delegation to their quarters.
In the Hokage's office in the Hokage Building, Ai met the man known across the shinobi world as the "The Professor," the Third Hokage.
For a ninja, whose lives are usually brief, the signs of age on the Third Hokage gave Ai the impression not of a legendary hero, but rather of a kind grandfather.
But it wasn't the Hokage who triggered Ai's instincts of caution and threat; it was the silent, single-eyed old man standing behind him, wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane.
Danzo Shimura! The Darkness of Konoha!
Ai recalled the information he had studied on the key figures of Konoha before arriving. Danzo Shimura was noted as someone particularly dangerous—someone he needed to watch out for.
"Is Kumogakure no longer able to withstand the pressure from Sunagakure and Iwagakure?" Danzo spoke, his tone laced with mockery.
"Is this an intimidation tactic?" Ai ignored Danzo's question, instead turning his gaze toward the Third Hokage.
Though it was an excuse as part of their plan, it wasn't far from the truth.
Even Konoha would feel the pressure facing two major shinobi villages. Kumogakure was not only in conflict with Sunagakure and Iwagakure but also had tensions with Konoha.
Ai knew it was pointless to engage in an argument with Danzo on this topic, so he chose not to respond.
"Of course not. A peaceful relationship between Konoha and Kumogakure benefits both countries. It's late today; we'll discuss the terms of peace tomorrow."
"Minato, I'll leave you to host the son of the Third Raikage," said the Third Hokage, accepting the official document from the Hidden Cloud Village. After exchanging polite formalities with Ai, he turned to Namikaze Minato, who was standing nearby.
Ai nodded. He had already planned on stalling for time. As for Minato's role in "hosting" him, Ai understood that it also meant he'd be under surveillance.
But it didn't matter. As the leader of this diplomatic mission, along with Killer B, he knew they were just a distraction to draw attention.
After Minato and Ai left, the Third Hokage and Danzo Shimura unrolled the scroll from the Hidden Cloud Village.
The scroll was filled with dense text, and as they read, both frowned. One remained silent while the other's expression grew more and more furious.
"This is an outrage!" Danzo muttered coldly after reading the terms for peace. "It's clear the Hidden Cloud has no real intention of negotiating! They just want some time to regroup. Let's deploy the ninja forces and have the Root unit take action in secret!"
"We need to make that Raikage understand his position—and Hidden Cloud's," he added darkly.
"We can talk." The Third Hokage's calm response made Danzo do a double-take.
"Hiruzen!" Danzo narrowed his eyes, wondering whether to stop Hiruzen now or wait for him to lose face from pursuing such a plan, then step in himself to clean up the mess.
"I know Hidden Cloud is making excessive demands, and there's no way Konoha would agree to them," the Third Hokage replied, lighting his tobacco pipe. His face looked slightly obscured by the smoke.
"But we can still talk. Even if it only buys Konoha one more day of peace and time to prepare for war, it's worth it."
"You're stalling them, hoping they'll weaken themselves?" Danzo asked, his hand tightening around his cane.
"Of course, if peace can be achieved, we should pursue it. As for these conditions, we can selectively agree to some of them," the Third Hokage said, gently tapping his pipe against the open scroll on the table to emphasize his point.
Inside the meeting room of the Hokage building.
The Konoha advisory council and the gathered jōnin sat across from the delegation from the Hidden Cloud. They began a heated back-and-forth over the terms written in the document.
In the end, the first round of negotiations concluded with the son of the Third Raikage erupting in anger, smashing a solid wooden table, and storming out with the delegation. Both sides parted on sour terms, with no resolution in sight.
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