I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

"That's good." Seeing this, Yun Ting withdrew his killing intent.

The Yun ninja named Ao Yin kept his head down and dared not make any further moves, clearly terrified by Yun Ting's murderous intent.

"Then, let's continue the negotiations," Yun Ting said, regaining his smile.

Having just witnessed its terrifying side, none of the Cloud Ninja found the smile friendly at this moment.

Moreover, after being provoked by Yun Ting multiple times, the momentum of the Yun Ninja side gradually diminished during the subsequent negotiations.

This is undoubtedly very advantageous for Konoha.

Tsunade, who had witnessed all of this, secretly gave Yun Ting a thumbs-up under the table.

Yun Ting responded with a faint smile.

Chapter 122 The End of the Third Battle

"The Cloud Ninja must acknowledge the fact that their delegation leader, Takayama, abducted members of the Hyuga main clan, and retract the false information that Takayama was murdered by Konoha. Furthermore, the Cloud Ninja must also acknowledge that you initiated this war and formally apologize to Konoha."

At the negotiating table, the Konoha representatives made various demands of the Cloud Ninja, who either loudly refuted them or were forced to accept them with grim expressions.

"We are willing to acknowledge the facts regarding the mountain incident, but this great war was clearly initiated by Konoha. How can it be that we, the Cloud Ninja, started the war and now we are expected to apologize? This is simply outrageous! We firmly reject this!"

"Your Kumogakure delegation first proposed all sorts of insincere peace terms, and then shamelessly used the Takayama incident to shift the blame, not only escalating your demands but also constantly threatening war if we don't sign. If we hadn't truly reached our breaking point, why would Konoha have gone to war with Kumogakure? In the end, this war was caused by you Kumogakure!"

"You're just making excuses!"

"This is not sophistry, it is a fact! The Cloud Ninja must take full responsibility for the outbreak of this war and apologize for it. This is a necessary prerequisite for the peace talks. If they do not agree, then there is no need to talk anymore."

"......"

.......

"The defense of the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost is entrusted to Konoha? No, no, no! Your ambitions in Konoha are far too great! This is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Why can't it be done? The Land of Hot Springs was originally under the protection of Konoha, but it was shamelessly seized by your Cloud Ninja a few years ago. What? You're going back on your word so quickly?"

“Then… the Land of Hot Water can be handed over to you, but the Land of Frost has always been considered to be within the sphere of influence of the Land of Thunder, and we absolutely cannot let you take it over.”

"I'm sorry, but the fact that the Konoha ninja have occupied the Land of Frost is irreversible. Konoha has no intention of spitting out what it has swallowed. If you don't agree, then you can try to take it by force."

"You people! You've gone too far!"

"Who told you to be on the losing side? You think you can get what you can't get on the battlefield at the negotiating table? What a joke!"

"..."

......

"The Cloud Ninja will compensate Konoha with 4 billion ryo??? That's absolutely impossible!"

"This amount is simply outrageous! Even selling the entire Hidden Cloud Village couldn't cover this!"

"If you can't raise the money right away, you can pay in installments. Konoha can wait a little longer."

"This isn't about installments; it's about the fact that 4 billion taels in compensation is outrageously demanding. If this is Konoha's sincerity, then let's just part ways! If you really want 4 billion taels in compensation, all the Cloud Ninja would rather die fighting!"

"Haha! Don't be impulsive! Didn't we say before that everything is negotiable? So, what's your Cloud Ninja's asking price?"

"Forty...forty million taels?"

"I think we should continue the war."

"One hundred million taels! We Cloud Ninja are not as rich as your Konoha, this is already the absolute limit."

"Three billion!"

"How much is that compared to four billion???"

"..."

......

It was already noon. For several hours since the morning, Konoha and Kumogakure had been arguing excitedly about the various terms of the peace treaty, their faces flushed.

Although the Cloud Ninja did their best, they were ultimately forced to comply with Konoha's wishes due to the unfavorable circumstances.

By now, most of the terms of the peace treaty have been agreed upon, but the conflict between the two sides is particularly intense over the Cloud Ninja captured by Konoha.

The Cloud Ninja hoped that after the peace talks were signed, the Leaf Village would release all Cloud Ninja prisoners, including the two Jinchūriki, so that the Cloud Village could quickly recover its strength.

But this is absolutely unacceptable to Yunting and Konoha.

"Since you want to sign a peace agreement, then all our ninjas captured by your Konoha should be released. This is the most basic requirement. Why won't you agree?"

"In order to ensure that the Cloud Ninja fulfill their demands for peace talks, the Cloud Ninja prisoners should continue to be held by Konoha until all the terms are met."

"With the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village's reputation as our guarantee, the Cloud Ninja will absolutely fulfill the treaty's requirements. Your Konoha is doing this to deliberately avoid releasing them!"

"The reputation of Kumogakure? Sorry, the reputation of the Kumogakure ninja is not as useful as it used to be."

"..."

Both sides argued back and forth, each taking a firm stance and continuing their fierce debate.

Finally, A, the Fourth Raikage, who, like Yun Ting, had only spoken on important issues during the negotiations, could no longer contain his anger. He slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Hokage! The Tailed Beast Jinchuriki and thousands of Kumogakure ninja are the foundation of Kumogakure. They must all be released! Otherwise, there's no point in even starting these peace talks!"

In response, Yun Ting first reached out to stop Tsunade, who was about to erupt, then looked at the Fourth Raikage, A, and said calmly:

"Lord Raikage, I hope you recognize one fact: the purpose of your Cloud Village's peace talks this time is to prevent the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village from being ravaged by war, not because of those prisoners. The latter, as spoils of war of Konoha, cannot be easily taken back by you with a casual remark."

"Of course, to show Konoha's sincerity in the future peaceful coexistence between Konoha and Kumogakure, Konoha is also willing to release prisoners of war, but it is absolutely impossible to release them all at once."

The prisoners in their hands were undoubtedly the best means to control the Yunren in the future. Yunting was very firm in his attitude on this matter. After Ai tried to argue for a few words to no avail, he could only agree to this plan.

With the Hokage in charge, the Raikage's words allowed the negotiators from both sides to continue the talks effectively.

Half an hour later, the two sides reached an agreement on the issue of prisoners.

Both sides agreed that after the peace treaty was successfully signed, Konoha would first release one thousand Cloud Ninja, and the remaining three thousand would be repatriated over five years.

This is also to ensure that the Yunren side does not delay on the compensation payment within the five-year period.

Furthermore, regarding the Jinchuriki, no matter how dissatisfied A was, under the instruction of the Cloud Court, Konoha still insisted on signing a peace treaty to release Killer Bee three years later and Yugito five years later.

The matter of the prisoners was thus resolved, and only a few other minor details remained, which were quickly dealt with by both sides.

With this, the Konoha-Kumoku peace treaty was concluded.

The specific content is summarized as follows.

First: Kumogakure acknowledges that it started the war and formally apologizes to Konoha.

Second: From this day forward, Konoha will temporarily garrison the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost, and Kumogakure shall not interfere in this matter.

Third: Kumogakure will pay Konoha a total of 2 billion ryo in compensation for the war losses, to be paid in installments over five years.

Fourth: The number of troops stationed by the Cloud Ninja on the border between the Frost and Lightning Kingdoms shall not exceed one hundred, and the Leaf Village shall also abide by this regulation.

Fifth: Konoha has the right to use Turtle Island, which belongs to Kumogakure, three times.

The information about Turtle Island, which could produce a perfect Jinchūriki, was given to them by Yun Ting. Originally, the Konoha people were extremely eager to take it away, but after seeing the Cloud Ninja's excited and vehement refusal, Yun Ting stopped them from pursuing this idea.

Konoha only has one Nine-Tails, so having the right to use Turtle Island three times is enough.

What happens when it's all used up?

By then, whether the Land of Lightning will still exist will be a question, and the ownership of Turtle Island will naturally no longer be a concern.

Aside from these five most important clauses, the others are merely minor details and not very important, so there is no need to mention them again.

Overall, despite the Cloud Ninja's long and arduous struggle, Konoha ultimately emerged as the big winner when it came to the peace treaty.

Apologies, territorial concessions, and reparations—all of these were like cutting flesh off the Yunren.

It can be said that after this treaty takes effect, it will be difficult for Kumogakure to develop for at least one or two decades.

But so what? In the end, the ninja world is all about power.

Although the Cloud Ninja were extremely disappointed, compared to the consequences of the Leaf Village's invasion of the Land of Lightning, what they had achieved was already the limit of what they could accomplish.

"Lord Raikage, please sign."

After signing his name and affixing the Hokage seal to the two identical peace treaties, Yun Ting handed them to the Fourth Raikage with a smile.

The latter accepted the documents expressionlessly, then picked up the pen on the table. After pausing for a few seconds under everyone's gaze, he finally signed his name forcefully on both contracts and stamped them with Lei Ying's seal.

At this point, the peace treaty between Konoha and Kumogakure has legally come into effect.

The people of Konoha were naturally overjoyed.

While the Cloud Ninja and the others wore bitter expressions, they also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Peace has finally arrived, Lord Raikage." Yun Ting smiled and extended his right hand to Ai.

"Peace..." The Fourth Raikage, A, who was experiencing the hard-won peace for the first time, also reached out his hand with emotion.

One hand, white and one black, one slender and one thick, clasped together, signifying the official end of the war between Konoha and Kumogakure.

This also signifies that the Third Shinobi World War, which began in Konoha in 43 and lasted for nine years, affecting most of the continent, has finally come to an end today.

It's likely that everyone in the ninja world who heard this news was overjoyed, as the long-awaited peace had finally arrived.

They even hope that there will be no more wars for the next ten or even decades.

But their hopes were ultimately just wishful thinking.

Just like the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars, which kept breaking out one after another.

So-called peace is always only temporary.

With the underlying conflicts remaining unresolved, the period of peace is merely a build-up for a future major war.

Yun Ting knew this, the Fourth Raikage in front of him knew this, and the other Kage of the ninja villages knew this as well.

If Obito had not taken the initiative to declare war on the entire ninja world in the original story, the Fourth Shinobi World War, in another form, would have eventually broken out between the five great nations after they had recovered from their losses.

Fortunately, now that Yun Ting is the Fourth Hokage, all of this will change in his hands.

This change has now begun.

Chapter 123 Catching Adulterers?

The war between Konoha and Kumogakure has finally ended, regardless of how the outside world reacts.