"So, performing assassination missions in Konoha counts as a friendly visit? That's certainly news to me." Kakuzu laughed as his expression gradually grew serious.
"Are you unclear about why Shimura Danzo was killed, Konoha? He attempted to assassinate our leader. Fortunately, our leader was more skilled and countered, killing Shimura Danzo; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."
"Whether the Ninja Sect will go to war with Konoha depends on Konoha!"
If Kakuzu had been present, he would have certainly stopped Sosuke from killing Shimura Danzo, but now that things had come to this, Sosuke also expressed that he had the strength to protect the Ninja Sect, so naturally, there was no need to give face to Konoha, just get it done.
Orochimaru frowned slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.
The Ninja Sect's attitude was too aggressive, aggressively outrageous.
A ninja organization with only a few hundred ninjas, even with Rain Village added, would not exceed two thousand ninjas, how could they have the courage to challenge a giant like Konoha.
Not only does Konoha have the capability in numbers to crush the Ninja Sect, but the quality of ninjas also far surpasses such a small force as the Ninja Sect; it's an all-around dominance.
Orochimaru thought rapidly, Kakuzu's unexpectedly tough stance disrupted his negotiation plans.
He originally intended to oppress with force, forcing the Ninja Sect and Sosuke to comply, but Kakuzu's behavior seemed to fear no war with Konoha.
This made things difficult because Orochimaru couldn't really declare war on the Ninja Sect on behalf of Konoha; he wasn't qualified, his mission didn't allow for it.
"Oh, it seems the Ninja Sect was prepared in advance." Orochimaru thought while not remaining silent.
Silence at this time would mean yielding, even if the negotiation breaks down, one must never yield.
"It is Konoha that is already prepared, isn't it? From start to finish, our Ninja Sect has been the victim." Kakuzu sneered.
Orochimaru's frown deepened.
"Is that so? Our current Hokage Assistant Habu Mokgetsu personally witnessed Sosuke doing his utmost to kill Shimura Danzo, as if worried about leaving behind a living witness."
Nagato: ...
For him, this meeting was a bit torturous in a sense.
"If you continue to twist the facts to avoid, there's no need to continue today's negotiations." Kakuzu vaguely sensed Orochimaru's bottom line.
Although Orochimaru spoke harshly, under Kakuzu's tough attitude, he hadn't turned hostile, which likely meant Orochimaru also didn't wish to go to war.
"If the Ninja Sect continues to lack sincerity, the negotiations indeed don't need to proceed. I will report the Ninja Sect's attitude truthfully to the Hokage." Orochimaru said indifferently.
"Regarding a neutral organization like the Ninja Sect, Konoha is willing to give opportunities, but Konoha won't give opportunities indefinitely."
The attitude of the Ninja Sect was truly peculiar; Orochimaru estimated that this mission would likely fail nine out of ten times.
"Since the words have reached this point, let's not beat around the bush, let's be frank." Seeing Orochimaru want to throw caution to the wind, Kakuzu decided to ask clearly.
"Since you've sent people to negotiate, Konoha should also wish to avoid war. What exactly do you want? Just say it directly."
"A life for a life, Sosuke commits suicide, and Konoha will act as if this didn't happen." Orochimaru thought for a moment and directly stated the demand.
With Kakuzu's attitude, normal negotiations were impossible. If he didn't speak now, there would be no opportunity to speak later.
Whoosh!!
A terrifying aura erupted from Nagato, powerful Chakra swept up a gale, blowing the documents on the negotiation table away.
Although knowing that even if "Sosuke" committed suicide, Mokgetsu would probably be fine, Nagato still inexplicably felt a nameless fire ignited in his heart.
This reminded him of the time when the Ninja Sect was first established and was lured and killed by Hanzo.
At that time, Hanzo was high and mighty, attempting to use the Ninja Sect as a threat to force Mokgetsu to commit suicide.
Nagato couldn't control the power of the Rinnegan back then; he wasn't strong, and he still couldn't forget the powerless feeling when Mokgetsu was injured trying to save him.
Now, Orochimaru was trying to highhandedly force Mokgetsu to commit suicide again, which made Nagato furious.
"Much stronger compared to before."
Shisui, considering Nagato as a hypothetical enemy, found that even using the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would have difficulty defeating Nagato.
Because his Tsukuyomi might not have a good effect on Nagato; Nagato's eyes were the legendary Sage Eye.
"What powerful Chakra." Orochimaru was surprised, feeling a not weak threat coming from Nagato, this teenager.
Who was he? He was one of Konoha's top combat strengths; how old was Nagato, fifteen? Or sixteen?
Terrifying, indeed. Orochimaru could only use this word to describe Nagato's talent as a ninja.
Ninja World's first genius, this seemingly exaggerated title, felt well-deserved when applied to Nagato.
"It seems the Ninja Sect truly was well-prepared." Orochimaru deeply looked at Nagato and said.
"Nagato has a high laugh point, can't stand too low-level jokes, I hope you understand." Kakuzu said leisurely.
Negotiate? Still negotiate what?
The Ninja Sect couldn't possibly do without Sosuke; not to mention Sosuke himself, Kakuzu would never agree to such a foolish condition.
"Then can I understand the Ninja Sect refused to resolve issues through negotiation?" Orochimaru asked.
"As long as Konoha's demands don't change, then there's no negotiation." Kakuzu was too lazy to banter with Orochimaru.
"Don't you report to Sosuke first?"
Logically, in such a major diplomatic event, Kakuzu shouldn't have the final decision-making power.
"Konoha has such broad management." Kakuzu did not answer Orochimaru's question.
At this point, negotiations could no longer proceed; Kakuzu and Orochimaru rose in succession, followed by their subordinates leaving the conference room.
Orochimaru didn't return to the Ninja Sect's reception area but directly led his team back to Konoha.
It wasn't about worrying the Ninja Sect would use deceit to keep them; generally, in warfare, the lives of negotiators are not threatened.
Orochimaru felt the Ninja Sect's attitude was too strange and needed to report to Sarutobi Hiruzen promptly for investigation.
On the road, Orochimaru didn't forget to comfort Shisui, improving rapport, saying the failure of such tasks shouldn't be minded; it wasn't the fault of those executing the task.
Unfortunately, Shisui didn't have the heart to listen to Orochimaru's comfort; he was thinking about the Ninja Sect's matters.
"At this rate, the Ninja Sect will be annihilated, and the remaining ninjas might form an evil Akatsuki. What should be done..." Shisui pondered deeply.
He didn't understand why the Ninja Sect could be so tough, but in any case, the Ninja Sect couldn't be Konoha's opponent; the strength gap between the two was too vast.
Future history also proves the Ninja Sect's ending wasn't pleasant, neither Naruto nor Yamato mentioned the Ninja Sect.
If Nagato and the others were inherently evil, the matter would be simple to handle; preemptively strike and snuff them out in the cradle.
But the Ninja Sect isn't evil; on the contrary, it's a widely praised ninja organization in the Land of Rain and the Ninja World, making it quite the dilemma.
Should one just watch a group of peace-loving good people endure hardships, eventually becoming terrorists?
"Perhaps I should confess to Teacher Mokgetsu about changing the future." Shisui thought.
Mokgetsu's attitude towards the future was quite subtle, refusing Namikaze Minato's memory seal but never asking Naruto and the others about future matters.
Kakashi and the others couldn't gauge Mokgetsu's mindset; coupled with the future information being secretly inquired, they quietly worked behind Mokgetsu's back.
Now that the future had been changed significantly by them, even if Mokgetsu had objections, she couldn't go back in time to alter history.
Moreover, Shisui thought Mokgetsu wouldn't want to see a kind ninja organization encounter misfortune and turn wicked.
As Hokage Assistant, Mokgetsu could do far more than Shisui and the others.
Just having the authority to speak in high-level meetings was something Shisui and the rest couldn't manage.
Of course, if Mokgetsu couldn't prevent all this from happening, Shisui would eventually find a way to snuff out the evil Akatsuki in its cradle.
He wasn't familiar with the Ninja Sect's ninjas, but his friend Asuma would be killed by the Akatsuki.