Naruto: Yes, Uchiha-sama.

Chapter 123 This idea is tricky. Close the door and let Tobirama Senju go up and bite his teeth!

After a series of overt and covert confrontations.

this will.

After the battle to establish his prestige, Uchiha Makoto discovered that his personal reputation seemed to be even greater than he had imagined. If a deer were to appear at the venue at this moment, and he pointed at it and said that it was a horse, many representatives from smaller ninja villages would probably echo him, saying, "Lord Kage has a good eye, this is indeed a horse!"

Think of this.

Uchiha Makoto couldn't help but smile, even letting out a soft hum. He now considered himself in control of the negotiation table. So, Uchiha Makoto sat down and said in a gentle tone:

"Our Akatsuki Village has always loved and dedicated itself to protecting the peace of the ninja world. You are all aware of the war situation, and I will not say more about the unfair treatment I personally suffered during the last negotiation, so as not to ruin this rare harmonious atmosphere."

After finishing speaking.

Several people couldn't help but have a slight change in expression.

Tobirama Senju thought that Makoto Uchiha was utterly shameless. He had orchestrated the assassination farce himself, yet he framed the Hidden Cloud Village for it. He was indeed a born evil brat of the Uchiha!
The First Tsuchikage and the Second Raikage also changed their expressions. They thought that Uchiha Makoto was going to use this as an excuse to make trouble again. Moreover, the Second Raikage and the First Tsuchikage were not stupid. After a little analysis, they found that there were too many things that were not right. However, they had no evidence and could only suffer in silence.

We have no choice but to bear with it at this critical juncture.

Uchiha Makoto, on the other hand, didn't have so many thoughts. Since he had already done it, he wasn't afraid that someone would discover the truth afterward. After he finished speaking, he clapped his hands and summoned a long scroll.

Ceasefire Terms

The Akatsuki, Uzumaki, and Kumogakure villages have officially ceased hostilities, hoping for peaceful coexistence forever.

[First, Kumogakure bears primary responsibility for this war and must pay us 40 billion ryo as post-war compensation. They must also pay Akatsuki's Kage, who were attacked by assassins, a total of 1 billion ryo for nutritional expenses, medicine, and compensation for emotional distress!]

[Secondly, to avoid future conflicts and unnecessary disputes, our side possesses special law enforcement authority and immunity within Kumogakure. We have the right to pursue Kumogakure ninjas across village borders. Kumogakure must unconditionally support and cooperate with the pursuit teams dispatched by Akatsuki. If our ninjas are at fault during a mission, Kumogakure has no right to punish them and must protect and escort them back to the village for appropriate punishment!]

[Thirdly, our villagers and ninjas will no longer be required to trade according to past regulations when trading with Kumogakure. They can freely choose to trade with any merchant from the Land of Lightning. From now on, our ninjas and villagers can freely trade in the inland towns and coastal ports of Kumogakure. Furthermore, our ninjas and administrative officials will be stationed in these areas to handle business affairs and freely interact with Kumogakure officials and ninjas. Kumogakure shall not interfere. At the same time, our ninjas will enjoy tax reductions when trading with Kumogakure.]

Fourth, to facilitate the management and storage of supplies, we will have the opportunity to independently select a town and port. Kumogakure must permanently cede it to us and its successor. We may establish offices and legislate governance there, and, when necessary, dispatch ninjas to garrison it to protect our legitimate rights within Kumogakure.

Fifth, Kumogakure needs to send no fewer than ten young and talented ninjas to Akatsuki for a three-year training program to deeply study the Will of Light.

The scroll listed out the ceasefire terms carefully prepared by Uchiha Makoto, totaling more than a dozen. The most important of these were the first five, while the rest were just minor perfunctory privileges, meant to make Akatsuki more prestigious after leaving the village.

After the various parties finished reading the ceasefire terms, they couldn't help but gasp in shock.

The Akatsuki village really went all out!
The first clause is a staggering 400 billion taels in reparations. Not to mention the already severely weakened Cloud Village, even the Cloud Village before the war, which was completely intact, couldn't afford that much money. This first clause alone is like a mountain pressing down on the Cloud Village, making it hard for them to breathe.

The second clause directly infringes on the face and interests of the Hidden Cloud Village. Once this treaty is signed, it means that the Hidden Cloud ninjas will always have to bow their heads when facing the Akatsuki ninjas—the Akatsuki ninjas can unilaterally deal with the Hidden Cloud ninjas, but the Hidden Cloud ninjas cannot deal with the Akatsuki ninjas at all.

Wherever Akatsuki ninjas went on missions, Cloud ninjas would all give way.

The third clause was to give an explanation to the wealthy merchants in the ninja world who supported Akatsuki. If they could curry favor with Akatsuki, the huge market of the Land of Lightning behind Kumogakure would be open to them. Akatsuki could also use business opportunities to win over and corrupt the high-ranking officials of Kumogakure. After all, the village belonged to everyone, but the cash in their hands was their own!

Even the Second Raikage wasn't absolute in Kumogakure.

Akatsuki ninjas are indeed the number one enemy of Kumogakure, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Uchiha Makoto believes that he can become good friends with some people within Kumogakure!
Otherwise, in the original story, Kinkaku and Ginkaku wouldn't have led a direct elite squad that dared to launch an assassination attack on the Second Raikage during the negotiations for the First Shinobi World War.

In the ninja world, being a comprador is still perfectly relevant!
The fourth clause is nothing special; it's a blatant territorial cession, along with the right to station troops at the Cloud Village headquarters, making it perfect for training spies to investigate the situation in the Cloud Village.

The fifth clause is a classic example of cultivating Akatsuki ninjas as mouthpieces for Kumogakure.

Of course, the Second Raikage cannot yet fully understand the profound implications of the third, fourth, and fifth clauses.

His attention was mainly focused on the first two clauses. Of the latter three clauses, only the territorial cession truly pained him. The rest were like slow, agonizing cuts, a covert economic colonization of the Hidden Cloud Village, internal infiltration, and the cultivation of internal spies. It would take several years to see any noticeable results. In contrast, the first two clauses had an immediate effect, directly damaging the interests and reputation of the Hidden Cloud Village!

"The Akatsuki Village is completely disregarding the Kumogakure Village!"

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

The Second Raikage was prepared for a major hemorrhage.

After all, Uchiha Makoto could have foreseen this before the war even started. He was greedy, arrogant, and liked to take advantage of situations. Because of the deaths of several Chunin, he had offered the Hidden Cloud Village terms that were essentially terms of defeat. Of course, the Hidden Cloud Village would never agree to such terms.

But now, Kumogakure has truly been defeated.

The Second Raikage believed that Makoto Uchiha would definitely not show any mercy, but he still didn't expect Makoto to propose such harsh compensation terms!
How can he possibly sign these terms?!
I'm afraid that once I sign the document, I'll be called a traitor to the village when I get back!

Those lurking opposition figures within the Cloud Ninja would also fan the flames and attack them.

In short
Such harsh ceasefire terms.

The Second Raikage believed he simply could not accept it.

The First Tsuchikage was on the side of support, leaning towards Kumogakure, and found the terms unacceptable.

The same applies to the Uzumaki clan.

He was amazed by the sharp terms of the Light and Shadow Master, but he really liked the feeling!
The same applies to Tobirama Senju, but compared to these harsh terms, Tobirama Senju cared more about something else.

That's why Konoha's name never appeared in the terms of the ceasefire reparations!
Konoha never went to war with Kumogakure, so the beginning couldn't state "Akatsuki, Uzumaki, and Kumogakure have officially ceased hostilities."

Uchiha Makoto secretly played a little trick, using "our side" throughout the clauses. Akatsuki and the Uzumaki clan were definitely considered "our side," but whether Konoha could be considered "our side" was a matter of great importance.

After all, the initial ceasefire only specified Akatsuki and Uzumaki. If Kumogakure later exploited loopholes in the terms and refused to recognize Konoha's side, that would be problematic.

Is there anything Konoha can do?

No!
Unless Konoha and Kumogakure also wage war!
The highly perceptive Tobirama Senju quickly realized Makoto Uchiha's sinister intentions. "Damn it, Makoto Uchiha, you born evil Uchiha brat, do you think you can fool me with such tricks?"

"Konoha went to so much trouble and traveled so far, only to get nothing? You also took advantage of Konoha's influence to bully them!"

Tobirama Senju added another mark to his mind about Makoto Uchiha.

He certainly couldn't accept coming all this way for nothing; he'd already lost a lot of face.

After returning home the night Uchiha Makoto was assassinated.

"Disarm! Disarm!"

"Take it off again, take it off again, take it off again!"

"Didn't you hear me ordering you to remove your armor?"

Those Konoha high-ranking officials performed the act of removing their armor several times in front of Tobirama Senju, almost stripping down to their underwear!

They were suffering inside. They had no problem taking sides normally, so how could they suddenly forget such a sensitive issue at that moment? Tobirama-sama, we don't want to eat green garlic!
Since we've already lost face, we absolutely can't afford to lose face!
However, Tobirama Senju didn't have time to unleash his power.

There are people who are even more anxious than him!

"Such ceasefire terms are unacceptable to my Hidden Cloud Village under any circumstances. They are far too harsh. Not only can I not agree to them, but all the ninjas of Hidden Cloud Village cannot agree to such conditions!"

The Second Raikage took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his urge to cause a scene on the spot, and directly expressed his attitude—he would not sign such a clause!

Faced with the resolute tone of the Second Raikage, Uchiha Makoto was not surprised. He did not think that the Hidden Cloud Village would give in so easily. Negotiations always start by raising the bar and then lowering it. It's like the "my cat can do backflips" theory—if you go out to dinner with a girl and ask her to go home with you to explore the mysteries of the human body, she will probably refuse without hesitation. But if you say that you have a cat at home that can do backflips, she might agree.

Negotiations inevitably involve wrangling and haggling.

But even so.

Makoto Uchiha has no intention of backing down!

"Oh, is that really so? May I ask, Lord Raikage, which clause and which part is unreasonable?"

The Second Raikage: "."

This is totally illogical!
The first clause, demanding 40 billion taels in compensation, is already outrageously absurd!

If the Hidden Cloud Village had been able to produce 40 billion ryo from the beginning, would the battlefield situation have turned out this way?

If any village can produce 20 billion taels of cash, my Hidden Cloud Village will fight you to the bitter end!
They signed this bullshit treaty.

I can't explain this to the village, and I can't explain it to the daimyo of the Land of Lightning either!

"Ah, Tobirama Senju, what do you think?"

After speaking, Makoto Uchiha turned to look at Tobirama Senju. In the instant their eyes met, his meaning was conveyed.

If Konoha wants to share in the spoils of victory, they must charge into battle now.

You won't come to shed blood and sacrifice.

We should at least put in some effort at the negotiating table!
"This idea is tricky. Close the door and put it in the doorway!"

"Tobirama Senju, go up and bite his teeth!"

Tobirama Senju was a smart man, and he immediately understood the signal from Makoto Uchiha's eyes, exchanging glances with Nanami Uchiha in the blink of an eye.

"Uchiha Makoto, you're ruthless, you born evil Uchiha brat!"

"They actually used me as a pawn!"

"For Konoha, I will endure!!"

Tobirama Senju was extremely displeased, but for the sake of Konoha, he had no choice but to comply.

He must take this opportunity to amend the ceasefire agreement and add the name of Konoha in several key places!

"enough!"

"Raikage, stop trying to dredge up the issue at this time and sabotage the hard-won peace negotiations. Do you want to face a joint war between Konoha, Akatsuki, and Uzumaki?"

With no other option, Tobirama Senju had to personally draw the fire and put pressure on the Second Raikage. Originally, the Second Raikage and Kumogakure didn't really have any hatred for Konoha. In fact, he even helped Kumogakure gain some goodwill by facilitating the first unconditional ceasefire. Now, the feud has finally been formed.

"You! You!!!"

"Konoha, you've really gone too far!"

The Second Raikage was taken aback that Konoha would be the first to step forward and fight for Akatsuki at this critical moment. A chilling expression appeared on his face. However, the situation in Kumogakure was dire. Faced with Konoha's blatant threat, he didn't have the courage to utter any harsh words of rebuttal for the sake of Kumogakure's future.

That's going too far.

Just like being helpless against a minotaur's husband, revealing immense heartache!

"What, what do you want!"

Are you upset?

For some reason, perhaps because he had been suppressing his feelings for a while, Tobirama Senju became even more aggressive as the Second Raikage had no choice but to back down. He felt an uncontrollable sense of pleasure and satisfaction. "I can't beat the Akatsuki ninja, but I can beat your Cloud ninja."
Konoha will also be eating meat this time!
(End of this chapter)