Konoha: Uchiha Shisui's Advisor Alliance

Chapter 176 Peace Talks and the Western War

"For the next half month, we will teach you. You don't need to know our names, and we are not interested in knowing your names. You just need to remember that those who can extract chakra within half a month can stay here for follow-up training. Those who fail will have their memories wiped and be sent back."

At Hulushan Ninja Academy, an Uchiha ninja looked at the hundreds of people standing below and said calmly.

These people were sent by the nobles from Xihe Road.

The people sent by the nobles of Xihe Road were divided into three parts. One part was people with noble blood, and the other part was family children, that is, children born to slaves who had been trusted by the nobles for generations. These two parts were regarded as their own people, and they had one month to extract chakra.

As long as you successfully extract chakra within a month, you can stay and continue practicing.

But the talents of ninjas vary greatly, and these nobles are just ordinary people to ninjas. Their so-called aristocratic bloodline is of no use in ninja training.

They wanted their own people to control the military force, but did not want to waste too much money on useless people, so they found a third group of people.

These people are children searched in their territory, and they need to successfully extract chakra within half a month to prove their talent.

Those who can successfully extract chakra within half a month are considered to have qualified talent. They can receive support from the nobles and stay to continue their training, while others will be eliminated.

Hundreds of people in the audience looked at each other in bewilderment, and the bright future in their hearts suddenly lost its brightness. Many people felt uneasy, fearing that they would not be able to meet the requirements.

Perhaps they have countless worries or goals, but no one dares to speak out. They are of humble origins, and the Uchiha ninja on the stage has a cold face and indifferent eyes, which makes them feel scared as if he is looking down at ants.

"You will be taken to class next. If you want to become a ninja, work hard to prove yourself. Your destiny is in your own hands."

Uchiha Feng crossed his arms across his chest and spoke coldly to the boys and girls in the audience. These people would serve the nobles in the future, not the Uchiha, so he naturally didn't need to cultivate feelings with them.

The simple meeting between teachers and students ended like this, and they had to go to the backyard, where what they did was one of the real purposes of establishing this academy.

The entire academy is roughly divided into two parts, front and back. Each part has independent teaching buildings and dormitory buildings as well as supporting training grounds.

The front yard was used to train ninjas for the nobles, while the back yard was used to train orphans they found from the West River, the Rain Country, and the River Country.

These orphans also have a month to nourish their bodies while trying to extract chakra.

The successful ones will be kept for further training, while the unsuccessful ones will have their memories erased and sent to nearby orphanages for other training.

This academy will be the Uchiha barracks.

"Master Feng, the information of the first season students has been sorted out. The nobles of Xihedao sent a total of 272 full-month students and 804 half-month students. The total test fee is 6740 million taels.

The first batch of students in the backyard totaled 300, a total of 1376 people.”

If this was not the first collaboration, and due to limitations on venue and teaching staff, the number of half-month students would have to double.

The nobles have a long heritage, have accumulated countless wealth, and control land and manpower. They are very concerned about ways to enhance the strength and security of their family, especially this kind of secret training that can avoid the daimyo, which is something they cannot refuse.

Feng took the document and nodded, saying, "Quickly send the information back to Konoha and ask the head of the family for instructions."

"Yes!"

After the order was given, Feng set his eyes on a young girl in the crowd. Like the other children, the girl was thin, ragged, and pale, and seemed to be malnourished. Her calm expression was mixed with confusion about the future.

There were people like this in the front and back yards, but the girl had bright red hair that attracted Feng.

Such red hair would only seem strange to ordinary people, but to Feng from the Uchiha clan, she almost subconsciously thought of that ninja clan.

Feng sighed, his eyes puzzled.

"If I had known this earlier."

Tang Kingdom, a small town temporarily designated as a neutral zone by both sides.

peng~
A big hand hammered down on the negotiation table, and the table broke instantly. However, the people sitting on both sides looked calm, as if they were used to it.

"You are kidding me, people from Konoha, you are not serious about talking!"

The Fourth Raikage pointed at several people and yelled, expressing his dissatisfaction.

The ones coming from Konoha were Jiraiya, Hyuga Touhiko, and Nara Shikaku who had just recovered a little from his injuries.

Sima Yi considered himself just a Genin, so he continued to stay at the defense line and did not come along.

The six people from both sides have been talking in this small town for more than ten days, but there is still no progress.

"You are kidding me. You want to exchange Hyuga Hizashi for a tailed beast? That's impossible! Don't even think about it!"

The person who spoke was Hyuga Dongyan. Even though they were both from the Hyuga clan, Hyuga Dongyan felt that he was not worth the price, and Hyuga Hiashi was even further behind.

Even though Hyuga Hizashi is the head of the family's younger brother, in Hyuga Haruhiko's eyes, he is just a dog of the main family!

Everyone has become accustomed to hearing such words these days. Jiraiya and Nara Shikamaru did not say a word, allowing Hyuga Touhiko and the Fourth Raikage to argue.

The two quarreled for a long time, but after the people from Yunyin brought in a spare table, both sides calmed down.

Jiraiya and Sima Yi had discussed that the two sides had been negotiating for more than ten days, and the time was almost up. There was also a small problem in the west, and they could not delay any longer.

After Nara Shikaku felt Jiraiya's gaze, he said, "It's impossible to return the tailed beasts to you. Let's talk about the prisoner exchange."

"The Two-Tails is from the Hidden Cloud Village. You must..."

The Raikage didn't react and wanted to say a few more words, but when he saw that it was Nara Shikaku who spoke, he held it back. Seeing this, the person next to him quickly continued: "If you want us to withdraw, all our people in Konoha must be sent back, including the bodies of Yukito and Troy."

As for the bodies of other people, it’s not that they can’t be brought back, but some of the minions have probably been buried on the spot by Konoha long ago.

Nara Shikaku ignored him and said directly: "Konoha supports a one-to-one exchange of prisoners, and the remaining ones need to be redeemed by sufficient money from Kumogakure."

"Impossible. If Konoha is unwilling to release our people, then this war will continue."

"Please consider this, Raikage-sama. If the war continues, the supplies we have here may not be enough to feed the extra two thousand Kumo-inu ninjas. We may need to take some measures to reduce the pressure."

"What did you say?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Fourth Raikage's mouth twitched. He certainly understood what Nara Shikaku meant.

If anything happened to the more than 2,000 Kumogakure ninjas, the entire Kumogakure Village would be in mourning, and countless families would lose their loved ones. This was something he absolutely could not allow.

Konoha currently has an absolute advantage, and Konoha's fifth generation is a young Uchiha, who knows what he will do?
"Iwagakure is not trustworthy. It seems that we can no longer continue to pester him."

The Fourth Raikage sighed inwardly, and after hesitating for a moment, he had no choice but to compromise.

Afterwards, the two sides discussed the difference for several days and finally settled on a price of 200,000 ryo for lower ninjas, 500,000 ryo for middle ninjas, and 3 million ryo for joninjas.

The price is moderate. If it is too expensive, Kumogakure won't be able to spare that much money. However, Konoha has made an additional requirement: one must buy all the Genins before buying the Chunins, and one must buy the Jonins after buying the Chunins.

Excluding the captives who were directly exchanged, the Hidden Cloud Village took out a total of 800 million taels to redeem the remaining ninjas.

Kumogakure couldn't come up with so much money at once, so it could only pay 300 million ryo first and sign a contract with Konoha. The remaining money would be paid in two years, and both sides would cease fire within two years.

Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage signed their names on the contract. The establishment of this contract marked the end of the intermittent war between Konoha and Kumogakure that had lasted for several years since the Third Ninja World War.

A few days later, the news reached Konoha and the whole village rejoiced.

"Finally, the war is over, everyone can live in peace again, and my child can come back."

"That's great. The war is finally over. Yuta, did you see that? I've taken good care of your wife and children for you. You can rest assured!"

"This is all thanks to the Godaime. The mere Kumogakure is nothing compared to the might of the Uchiha. It is only a matter of time before they surrender."

The complexity of the discussion was hard to describe, but compared to the happiness of the villagers, the atmosphere in the Hokage Building seemed a little depressing.

"They say it's a ceasefire, but the Kumogakure army is still stationed there. Are they waiting for the Iwagakure people?"

In the Hokage's office, the three advisors, the heads of the various departments, and the jonin squad leaders were all gathered here.

A letter was placed on the table, and a map of the ninja world was hung opposite them.

"According to the information we gathered in the Land of Grass, the Iwagakure ninjas have crossed the defense line several times, but there are no signs of a large-scale ninja army gathering."

Nara Suzaku stood beside the map and explained the intelligence he had obtained and the results of his analysis one by one.

"Humph, Iwagakure could no longer bear the losses and withdrew from the war. That old fellow Ōnoki would never help Kumogakure for nothing."

Of the three advisors in the room, Danzo in particular was definitely the one with the most in-depth knowledge of the Kages of various countries, and as soon as he spoke, he elicited a slight nod from Shisui.

"That makes sense. Then, what do you think the Iwagakure is trying to accomplish by making such a fuss?"

Danzo looked at the map, squinting his eyes, and said nothing.

Utane Koharu was calm and composed, and didn't make any movement. Mito Kado En said, "Oonoki has always been insidious. Iwagakure may be acting so abnormally to attract our attention and create an opportunity for Kumogakure."

Shisui nodded, not caring about the attitudes of the other two consultants. As for Iwagakure's motives, Sima Yi had already written to help him analyze them.

Ōnoki's purpose was just as Mito Kado En guessed. Konoha's victory attracted the Raikage, which made Ōnoki see the possibility of a bloody battle between the two sides.

But Ohnoki was a little disappointed that both sides were slow to take action, so he took the initiative. On the one hand, he wanted to attract Konoha's attention and help relieve the pressure on Kumogakure. On the other hand, he could also tell Kumogakure that Iwagakure would not launch a sneak attack on Kumogakure.

Although the Fourth Raikage was reckless, he was not stupid. He attacked Konoha to make money and defended against Iwagakure to save his life. Of course, he could not trust Ōnoki, so both sides stopped.

However, the Cloud Village did not make any money and suffered a heavy loss. The Fourth Raikage was obviously unwilling to accept this. He wanted to see if the Iwagakure would fight despite being injured, so that he could take the opportunity to show his support.

"Advisor Yan is right, so we must not give Ohnoki any chance. I decided to take the initiative and send troops to the Land of Grass to kill Iwagakure who crossed the line and kill Ohnoki's intention in the cradle!"

Although the possibility of Ōnoki actively responding to the Raikage's idea is not high, Shisui still decided to make enough gestures to make Ōnoki give up this idea as soon as possible.

Danzo opened one eye slightly and glanced sideways at Shisui, with an inexplicable look in his eyes.

"Do you have any different opinions?"

Shisui glanced at everyone, his expression remaining gentle.

"Hokage-sama is wise!"

Nara Suzaku spoke first. He agreed with Shisui's opinion and that taking action now would solve the problem at the lowest cost.

Although Danzo didn't say anything, he also agreed with Shisui's method in his heart. This behavior was in stark contrast to the Third Hokage's concession.

'What a pity, this kind of thing should be done by me!'

"Hokage-sama is wise!"

Except for Danzo and Utane Koharu, the rest followed suit and spoke one after another.

"Then let's do it this way. The ransom for Kumogakure will be delivered to the village soon. The ransom will be given to Tatsune and Mitomon Advisor for allocation. The candidates to go to the Land of Grass will be selected by the Jonin class and then handed over to me for confirmation."

"Yes!"

"The Godaime Hideaki."

Upon hearing this, Utane Koharu nodded slightly and gave a reluctant compliment.

"Who is in charge of this Grass Country operation?"

Everyone fell into deep thought after hearing this. They definitely could not go on such a mission of leading troops out of the village, so they could only consider other people. However, in their opinion, as long as Konoha's attitude was firm enough, Ōnoki would not allow the situation to escalate. It could be said that this mission was a sure thing.

"You can ask Hyuga Hiashi to take people there."

Someone spoke up and made a suggestion. Shisui's expression did not change. He also tended to favor Hyuga Hiashi. The two tribes were now in a period of easing relations, and this military achievement might bring a lot of help.

But after careful consideration, he looked at Danzo and then signaled to Nara Suzaku with his eyes.

Nara Suzaku immediately said, "Counselor Danzo may be...Counselor Danzo is old, so he may not be suitable."

"Ok?"

Danzo snorted coldly. He now needed an achievement to prove his ability so as to pave the way for becoming Hokage in the future.

Of course, he also needs money and people. After all, the root has just been unsealed and everything is missing.

"But it's just Iwagakure, and it's not Ōnoki himself, so I'll just take the others on a journey."

If the Root were asked to carry out this mission alone, Danzo would definitely not be willing to do so, but the village had contributed manpower and effort, and he was only responsible for taking the credit, so why would he refuse such a good thing?
Wasn't it that he endured humiliation and worked under the inherently evil Uchiha brat in order to find an opportunity to restore order and save Konoha?

As soon as Danzo opened his mouth, no one thought of making any suggestions. Although he had lost his power, there was almost no one in the village who was higher than Danzo in terms of seniority and status, except for the fifth and third generations.

"Then I'll trouble Advisor Danzo to make the trip. I hope you can assist me with the relevant matters."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)