Yes, the Hokage

Feng Lan waved for the guy to leave, then tossed the scroll with the remaining ten million to the dumbfounded Uchiha Izumi: "Take this to Mr. Shikaku and put it back in storage. The village is short of money as the Reincarnation Festival approaches."

"Yes, yes!" Such a huge sum of money made Quan flustered and she almost couldn't catch it. She took a few deep breaths, quickly hugged the entire scroll tightly to her arms, and then stumbled and ran out.

Fenglan casually unwrapped Yahiko's secret letter scroll, looked at the crystal ball containing the recorded images, and smiled with satisfaction.

"grown ups!"

Just then, Tetsuka rushed in, shouting, "The envoy from Sunagakure has arrived!"

"Hmm? Who's leading the team?"

"It's Granny Chiyo."

"Oh? That's perfect timing." Feng Lan smiled slightly. "I happen to have some good stuff here that can help her get a boyfriend."

……

Half an hour later, Fenglan received the Sunagakure delegation in her office.

Despite being called an envoy delegation, the group was actually quite small: Granny Chiyo walked at the front, followed by only two attendants, one of whom was Maki, who had recovered from her injuries, and the other was a young Sand Ninja whom Fenglan had never seen before.

This was clearly a streamlined delegation, retaining sufficient weight without appearing overly aggressive at this sensitive time when Konoha had just experienced a power transition.

Feng Lan stood up from behind her desk, but did not leave the area around it. She simply nodded slightly in greeting: "Grandma Chiyo, it's been a long time. Please have a seat."

"It's been a long time since I last greeted you, Consultant Fenglan."

Granny Chiyo nodded slightly in greeting and sat down on the sofa for the guests, while Maki and another young guard stood behind her.

Uchiha Izumi carefully moved over to pour tea. She really didn't expect that when receiving the envoy from another village, Lord Fenglan would ask her to be his assistant. While feeling nervous and pressured, she also felt a sense of pride and excitement from the bottom of her heart. She was determined to perform well and not let Lord Fenglan down.

Granny Chiyo didn't touch the cup of tea, but went straight to the point: "I have already heard about the Third Hokage."

This matter has already been publicly announced by Konoha, and now the entire ninja world knows about it. There is no possibility of keeping it as an ace up until the end: "Sunagakure deeply mourns the passing of the Third Hokage. Although he was the Kage of the village, in the eyes of my generation, he was also a person respected by both his opponents and comrades on the battlefield."

She bowed her head slightly, a small gesture, but her posture was proper, neither impolite nor overly eager.

Feng Lan stood up and returned the greeting: "Konoha is deeply honored that you have come to pay your respects in person. The funeral is scheduled after the Reincarnation Festival, and there will be a formal reception process at that time. However, since you are an elder, Konoha would naturally welcome you if you could come earlier."

"Advisor Fenglan, you're too kind." Chiyo's voice was unhurried. She finally picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Sunagakure and Konoha are allies. It's only natural that you should come when something happens to your ally. But I didn't expect that even after such a major incident, you would still have the energy to personally receive us old bones."

She had already begun to probe indirectly, and her words were very skillful. She didn't directly say what trouble the Third Hokage's death had caused, or what help Konoha needed. Instead, she was assessing Feng Lan's condition.

If Feng Lan can continue to argue with her nonchalantly, it means that Konoha has already dealt with all the troubles and turmoil caused by the death of the Third Hokage. If he shows even the slightest impatience, Granny Chiyo will know that Konoha is still facing internal troubles, and she may become even more aggressive.

"Thank you for your concern. However, under the leadership of the Fourth Hokage, Konoha is united and determined. We should be able to overcome the current difficulties." Feng Lan raised his glass and smiled. "I think the Third Hokage would not want to see the village shrouded in sorrow and darkness because of his departure. So this Reincarnation Festival should be celebrated in a lively and beautiful way."

This was undoubtedly telling Granny Chiyo that the death of the third generation didn't matter, and that they could continue playing music and dancing.

Chiyo's eyes flickered slightly. Although Fenglan spoke with great confidence, a shrewd and calculating person like her would not be easily fooled by the other party: "I do not doubt the stability of Konoha. It's just that some things are uncertain, and I always feel uneasy. Advisor Fenglan should understand, right? The Kage of an ally died at such an awkward time. Anyone would ask a few more questions."

She emphasized the word "ally," meaning that Sunagakure's stance remained unchanged, attempting to lower the other party's guard and then probe for more information.

"The sudden departure of the Third Hokage was indeed a significant blow to the village, both in terms of combat strength and morale. But fortunately... before he left, he also dedicated himself and made a final sacrifice for the village."

Feng Lan calmly replied, "I suppose you know that the Third Hokage was killed by Orochimaru."

"Yes, I have indeed heard about it." Granny Chiyo used the word "heard about" to express her skepticism.

"Although the Third Hokage did not kill Orochimaru before his death, he sealed his hands. This was the conclusion reached by the Fourth Hokage, who also mastered the forbidden sealing technique. Therefore, Orochimaru, who could not form hand seals, escaped through the reverse summoning technique of Ryuchi Cave."

Feng Lan revealed some valuable information: "As for me, after discovering this matter, I immediately led my men to chase after them. Although I failed to capture Orochimaru, I unexpectedly reached a cooperation agreement with Ryuchi Cave."

"A cooperation agreement has been reached with Ryuchi Cave, one of the three holy sites..." Chiyo's old eyes narrowed slightly.

Her expression was somewhat indifferent, as if she was calculating how far the cooperation between the two parties had progressed. If it was just a simple matter of signing summoning contracts with a few ninjas like Orochimaru did, it wouldn't amount to much.

"That's right. To show his sincerity in cooperating, the White Snake Immortal specially dispatched his three goddesses to participate in the Samsara Festival at this somewhat delicate moment, in order to deter those villains with ulterior motives."

As Feng Lan spoke, she tapped the crystal ball on the table, and the recorded image on it lit up immediately. It showed the Three Goddesses shopping with Uchiha Momo and Pakura.

Although they all appear to be human women, the unique ethereal aura of the three goddesses, especially the cross-legged posture of Ichikishima-hime who likes to float in mid-air, all demonstrate that they are not ordinary humans.

It's important to know that while ninjas possess great abilities, very few, except for a few with special powers, are capable of flight. Even if the three goddesses in the crystal ball aren't the human form of the serpent from Ryuchi Cave, they are definitely quite skilled and a powerful ally.

After seeing the three goddesses in person, Granny Chiyo knew that although Konoha was missing three generations, it was by no means weak. She then moved on to the next topic: "It seems that Pakura is doing quite well here."

"Yes, she lives next door to me."

Chiyo's expression didn't change, but the fingers gripping the cup tightened slightly. She lived next door to me, which was closer to my private space than she was my subordinate. Fenglan had clearly made his stance clear from the beginning, directly extinguishing his idea of ​​exchanging benefits for Pakula.

"I thought she would return to Sunagakure after assisting Kirigakure," she tried to confirm one last time.

“She won’t be returning to Sunagakure.” Feng Lan’s tone was calm but resolute. “She will only be my person now and in the future. If Granny Chiyo wants to see her, I can help pass on the message… but Pakura has to agree to arrange the meeting.”

“No need.” Chiyo was silent for a few seconds. “Since it was Advisor Fenglan who spoke up, she will have nothing to do with Sunagakure from now on.”

Seeing that obtaining Pakula through a bargaining arrangement was impossible, she had no choice but to back down temporarily, stabilize Feng Lan first, and then look for an opportunity to assassinate him later.

Now, let's get down to business: "Advisor Fenglan, I heard from Maki that when you were in Kirigakure, you used a special ninja tool to perform the Iron Sand Technique."

“Not bad.” Feng Lan didn’t try to hide anything. “This is the latest ninja umbrella developed by our Konoha. It can simulate bloodline limits and secret techniques through scientific ninja tools, so as to perform those secret techniques that can only be passed down in the family in theory, such as manipulating iron sand.”

The old ninja umbrella was still with Hiruko. He took a new ninja umbrella from the scroll that Inuzuka Tetsu had brought back and handed it to him: "I suppose you would be interested in it too."

Granny Chiyo caught it and stroked it carefully, her eyes almost narrowed into slits, and her expression gradually became serious and cold: "This is... the craftsmanship of Takumi-nin Village."

"The old man is indeed knowledgeable; this is indeed the craftsmanship of Takumi-nin Village." Feng Lan clapped his hands and admitted it.

For a fleeting moment, Granny Chiyo had a thought: if Sunagakure provided iron sand and money to Takumi Village so they could manufacture ninja umbrellas, could they bypass Konoha as the middleman?

However, this greedy thought only flashed through her mind for a moment, and she quickly made a judgment: "No!"

Feng Lan dared to admit this to his face, so he wasn't afraid of him having any ulterior motives. The entire Takumi Ninja Village was probably already under his control. Besides, Sunagakure had already researched scientific ninja tools. If the Takumi Ninja Village's craftsmanship alone could simulate bloodline limits, then all sorts of advanced technologies would have appeared in the major countries long ago.

This must involve Konoha's own core secret techniques; Takumi Ninja Village is merely an auxiliary force, while Konoha's technology is the main component.

“Advisor Fenglan.” So she quickly adopted a proper posture. “Making scientific ninja tools of this caliber must consume an astonishing amount of iron sand. I wonder if Konoha needs more iron sand? Sunagakure is willing to provide it, as long as…”

She actually struck the same pose as Feng Lan and rubbed her fingers together.

Feng Lan also switched to his smiling tiger mode, saying with a forced smile, "It's wonderful that Sunagakure is so understanding."

Chapter 200 Mei Terumi Arrives

Since both sides have expressed their intention to cooperate, the next step is naturally the distribution of benefits. Granny Chiyo's bottom line is to obtain at least 30% of the Ninja Umbrella quota to help Takumi Ninja Village complete its military upgrade from scratch. Unfortunately... Fenglan saw through this bottom line.

So no matter how eloquently she spoke, Fenglan insisted on a 30/70 split, and in the end, the cunning Granny Chiyo couldn't gain any advantage, because she was at a disadvantage in terms of the village's strength.

"Advisor Fenglan..." However, since they had already secured 30% of the quota, Granny Chiyo was quite satisfied. "Now that the cooperation has been reached, shouldn't the Takumi Village send one of our Sunagakure's supervisors?"

She wasn't worried that the people of the Craftsman Village wouldn't work diligently, but rather that Konoha couldn't just decide how many ninja umbrellas they wanted to produce. The Sand Village needed to have a better idea of ​​the numbers so they could distribute them 30/70.

"Well... I'm afraid this will be a bit difficult." However, Feng Lan hesitated. "As you know, it involves the core technology of the Ninja Umbrella. If people from other villages come into contact with it, I, as the advisor, will be under a lot of pressure."

[Hmph, starting to ask for favors now.]

This was exactly what Granny Chiyo had predicted, and she breathed a sigh of relief, putting on a smile: "We naturally remember the pressure that Advisor Fenglan has endured for Sunagakure. Please feel free to ask for anything you wish for, and Sunagakure will do everything within our power to help."

Based on her years of experience dealing with village leaders, Granny Chiyo figured that what Fenglan was asking for was probably kickbacks, rare items, or even beautiful women—things she was used to in the past and could prepare quickly once she returned to the village.

But to her surprise, the other party's words made her dizzy: "I am very interested in the puppet making and control techniques of Sunagakure. I hope you can give me some pointers."

"puppet?!"

Granny Chiyo felt her voice trembling. Although they had concluded in the previous meeting that they would give Konoha whatever it wanted, the puppet technique was practically the Sand Village's last trump card, so naturally they wanted to preserve it if possible.

Moreover, based on her previous judgment, she thought that Konoha would not be interested in such a secret technique, so why did Fenglan suddenly bring it up?

"No, I wonder why Advisor Fenglan has suddenly become interested in our village's puppetry?" Granny Chiyo tried to probe indirectly to obtain more information.

"This is not something I can tell outsiders." Feng Lan smiled without saying anything. His reason for asking for the puppet was naturally to give it to Hiruko for research, but he did not intend to give Sunagakure a share of this, so he would not tell the other party the specific reason.

"This..." But with Granny Chiyo's shrewdness, after seeing Konoha's vigorous promotion of scientific ninja tools and even the results achieved, she could roughly guess that Fenglan was preparing to transform the puppet into a higher-level scientific ninja tool.

The fact that the other party showed such an attitude clearly indicates that they are not prepared to share these puppet ninja tools with Sunagakure, thus allowing Konoha to maintain its dominance...

Seeing Granny Chiyo's unpredictable expression, Feng Lan suddenly smiled: "If you are unwilling to share, I can understand. After all, puppetry can be considered the foundation of Sunagakure."

Seeing Feng Lan's smiling expression, Granny Chiyo did not feel relieved; instead, she became even more cautious and vigilant.

Sure enough, Feng Lan said calmly, "Anyway, there is a genius puppeteer in my Akatsuki organization in Amegakure. I can just go and ask him for advice."

The words "Akatsuki" and "genius puppeteer" were like an incredibly sharp knife, repeatedly churning at Granny Chiyo's heart. Although she tried her best to control herself, her voice still trembled slightly: "Is Advisor Fenglan so confident that person will meet your requirements?"

“That’s natural,” Feng Lan said with a smile. “You don’t know this, but he calls himself an artist, and I have shown him the corresponding respect for his art, so he has a certain good impression of me. What’s more… I can offer him something that will win him over.”

At this moment, Granny Chiyo knew that the other party was setting a trap, but she couldn't help but jump in. She asked in a trembling voice, "What kind of bargaining chip?"

Feng Lan remained silent, instead taking out the crystal ball that Yahiko had given her and infusing it with chakra.

"Buzzing—!"

The crystal ball slowly began to operate, playing recorded images showing the daily life of the Akatsuki organization. However, while the others were only briefly filmed and then skipped over, Sasori of the Red Sand recorded the entire process of him turning the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, into a puppet.

Granny Chiyo's face turned deathly pale. If this image were to spread throughout the ninja world, the entire Sand Village would likely become the target of everyone's wrath. What's the difference between turning the corpse of the dead into a human puppet and the Impure World Reincarnation? Even a powerful village like Konoha would have to obediently agree to undo the Impure World Reincarnation of the First and Second Hokage. Sand Village, which is arguably the weakest of the Five Great Nations, might truly be destroyed if it were to be treated like this.

Feng Lan stopped the video at the right moment and said with a smile, "You see, I can even give the corpse of the Water Shadow to this artist. It's not unreasonable for me to ask him for some advice on puppetry."

Granny Chiyo lowered her head deeply. As shrewd as she was, how could she not know that this meant her relationship with Sasori of the Red Sand had been exposed? This was something that Fenglan had deliberately made Yahiko record to put pressure on her.

“Advisor Fenglan…” This time, her body was trembling. “What you want, Sunagakure is willing to offer with both hands…”

With trembling hands, Granny Chiyo took out three scrolls from her ninja tool bag: "The first scroll is the technique for creating the core puppet of Sunagakure, the second scroll is the method for manipulating and controlling the puppet, and the third scroll... is the White Manual: Chikamatsu Ten Guards."

"Grandma Chiyo!" Maki couldn't help but exclaim. Although Konoha would give you whatever you wanted, wouldn't it be too humiliating to hand over such a scroll of inheritance?

But Granny Chiyo did not respond to him. She had no choice but to humble herself now, not only for the village but also for her grandson. Sasori's act of turning corpses into human puppets was no less than Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation. This heinous act was absolutely outrageous and even an S-rank rogue ninja was not enough to describe it. She could be considered the public enemy of the ninja world.

All she could hope for was that Feng Lan would be willing to keep the matter quiet, considering how cooperative she had been.

“That’s excellent.” Feng Lan grabbed all three scrolls without any hesitation. “With your technical support, I won’t need to seek any more help from the Akatsuki. Of course, rest assured, with the support of Sunagakure, I can withstand some pressure and will naturally allow you to send a supervisor to Takumi Village.”

Grandma Chiyo took a long breath, and her trembling gradually subsided. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment, but fortunately, Inagi ran over to report, "Lord Maplestorm! The delegation from Kirigakure has arrived, and the person leading them is your fiancée..."

"When you're working, you should refer to your job title," Feng Lan replied casually.

"Yes! The leader of the Kirigakure delegation is the Mizukage advisor, Mei Terumi!"

“Grandma Chiyo,” Feng Lan turned around with a smile, “It was a very pleasant conversation with you, but right now the Fourth Hokage is busy dealing with the Samsara Festival, so I will be the one to receive the delegation…”

"In that case, I shall take my leave." Granny Chiyo also descended the steps, but her once straight back, though old, seemed to have become much more hunched over, causing Maki, who knew of Sasori's existence, to sigh inwardly.

"Grandma Chiyo...you must hold on, Sunagakure cannot do without you now..." he couldn't help but whisper.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Granny Chiyo's figure swayed slightly, but her voice had returned to calm. "Right now, we just have no choice but to bow down to Konoha and Fenglan. Once Sasori's matter is exposed, not only will I be in trouble, but the entire Sunagakure will be doomed."

"Our original plan remains unchanged: to submit to Konoha, bide our time, and wait until the village's military strength has developed further."

"Yes!"

Just then, someone walked in, and the two immediately shut up. Then they saw Mei Terumi walking gracefully behind Inahisa. When she saw Granny Chiyo, she smiled and greeted her.

Granny Chiyo nodded in acknowledgment, but she keenly noticed something: [They didn't even bring any attendants or guards; was this a deliberate attempt to emphasize their close relationship?]

She didn't believe that Kirigakure would only send Mei Terumi as an envoy to Konoha. She probably arranged for the woman's entourage to wait outside so that she could talk to Feng Lan alone.

[Damn it, Sunagakure sacrificed so much, yet Kirigakure managed to overtake them in the end, or was it all thanks to a woman's charm...?]

Granny Chiyo herself knew that Fenglan did not favor Mei Terumi because of her beauty, but this was even worse, meaning that Sunagakure could not replicate the model of Kirigakure, especially since the woman in Sunagakure who was currently closest to Fenglan was Pakura, which was rather ironic.

Meanwhile, inside the consultant's office.

"It's been a long time, Consultant Fenglan." Mei Terumi greeted him with a smile, and before Fenglan could even gesture, she sat down on the sofa.

[Wow! This is Lord Fenglan's fiancée!] Quan had naturally seen the newspaper and immediately recognized her. [My goodness, she's even prettier in the photos...]

She went up to pour tea while lost in thought, and the tea almost overflowed the cup. Fortunately, Mei Terumi caught Izumi's hand in time: "Please be careful, little sister of the Uchiha clan."

"I'm sorry..." Quan blushed, quickly put down the teapot, and ran away.

She went back behind the desk, pretending to tidy up documents, but her ears were perked up, eager to hear what Lord Fenglan would say to his fiancée.

"How is everything in Kirigakure?" Feng Lan didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Everything went relatively smoothly, especially the post-war reconstruction. Thanks to the engineering teams under your command, the people of the Land of Water were able to resume their daily lives without much suffering." Mei Terumi took out two scrolls from her bosom. "The one on the left is the payment for the construction work, and the one on the right is the list of the first batch of children with bloodline limits sent over. Kimimaro and Haku, whom you specifically requested, are both in it."

"Good, these children should have been sent to the orphanage by now." Feng Lan opened the scroll and began to check the list.

"Yes, Dean Nono has already started taking in these children, but I also spoke to her in advance, saying that these children will be under your tutelage in the future and cannot be raised like ordinary children." Mei Terumi said in a businesslike manner.

“You’re overthinking this.” Feng Lan frowned. “Although those children possess bloodline limits and it would be better if they could become ninjas, it might not be useful if they don’t like fighting.

For example, Haku, who is compassionate and unwilling to kill whenever possible, is clearly not suitable to be a ninja. The first batch of children with bloodline limits that Fenglan asked for were essentially orphans who had become orphans because of the Blood Mist Village's rejection of bloodline limits. While he intended to extract combat power from them, he did not intend to completely exploit them to death, after all, he is not a demon.