Right after that, Minato used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared at the very front of the line.
He stood there calm and steady, a faint smile resting on his face. He looked relaxed, almost casual, yet there was an invisible pressure in the air around him. Slowly, he spoke, "Looks like your Sunagakure has come up with a different idea?"
As he spoke, the three Susanoo behind him had not been withdrawn. They still stood there silently, their massive forms like three unbreakable walls, guarding Minato in the center.
With that, the identity of Minato as Konoha's Fourth Hokage was made even more clear and imposing.
Facing this scene, the people of Sunagakure all wore dark expressions. Their mood had sunk to the lowest point.
They knew very well that even if Uchiha Rengoku was not here, Konoha could still crush them with ease.
Pakura opened her mouth as if to speak, but Ebizo quickly stretched out an arm to stop her.
Ebizo stepped forward first and said, "Honorable Fourth Hokage-sama, Sunagakure has decided to surrender. We sincerely ask that you show mercy and let us off this time."
After saying this, he bowed slightly, his face full of sincerity and humility.
Minato quietly looked at Ebizo. His gaze lingered on him for a moment, then he gently waved his hand.
With that simple motion, the three Uchiha clan members behind him withdrew their Susanoo.
Although the Susanoo they had activated were huge, this was only meant as a show of force.
The amount of eye power they consumed was actually not much.
To outsiders, no one knew that the Mangekyo Sharingan had limits to its eye power.
When people witnessed such enormous and terrifying Susanoo with their own eyes, they would instinctively weigh in their hearts whether they could possibly defeat them.
But in most cases, when facing something over ten meters tall like that, they would feel completely helpless.
That was exactly why this kind of display was necessary. It served to intimidate the enemy.
Minato shifted his gaze away from Ebizo and looked toward the crowd of Sunagakure ninja in the distance.
There was a faint trace of thought in his eyes.
After a brief pause, Minato slowly asked, "So then, where is your Kazekage, Rasa? Let him come out and speak with me."
Hearing Minato's request, Ebizo kept his steady and composed tone and replied calmly, "Fourth Hokage-sama, Rasa has already stepped down from the position of Kazekage. At present, as an elder of Sunagakure, I am the one making decisions here."
The moment he said that, the entire scene fell into silence.
The group of jonin behind Pakura began to stir, their eyes turning toward her as if hoping to get some explanation or instruction.
However, Pakura simply stood there quietly, her expression complicated and hard to describe, her eyes fixed straight on Ebizo.
At the same time, Minato's eyes flickered slightly, as if he had sensed the subtle shift hidden within all this.
Without hesitation, he spoke, "Since things have come to this point, then regarding the last Great Ninja War, your village invaded our territory for no reason. There must be an explanation."
"You need to provide proper compensation for this unprovoked war."
Hearing that, Ebizo slowly turned his head and glanced at the many Sunagakure ninja behind him.
His face was as dark as a sky before a storm, but his voice remained steady and firm, "I agree to your request. We can discuss the specific details of the compensation right now."
After saying that, he made a gesture of invitation toward Minato, signaling his willingness to proceed with further negotiations.
Facing Ebizo's invitation, Minato stepped forward calmly.
At his side were three powerful Mangekyo Sharingan users, as well as Akatsuki members Konan and Sasori.
The six of them followed Ebizo together toward the Kazekage Building.
At this moment, Pakura walked closely beside Ebizo, her face filled with complicated emotions.
She had originally thought that when Ebizo asked her to take the position of Kazekage, it was so she would step forward and bear the responsibility for this incident.
But she never expected that Ebizo planned to carry it all on his own.
At that thought, a deep sense of guilt rose in Pakura's heart. At the same time, she was moved by Ebizo's selflessness, his willingness to think only of Sunagakure.
Someone like Ebizo, who did not care at all about personal honor or loss and devoted himself wholeheartedly to Sunagakure, was truly a pillar of the village.
Before long, they arrived inside the meeting room of the Kazekage Building.
Ebizo and Namikaze Minato sat facing each other. The atmosphere was heavy.
Ebizo was the first to break the silence.
"Fourth Hokage-sama, you must also be aware that in the last brutal war, Sunagakure suffered severe losses."
"Your village's Fifth Hokage was incredibly powerful. Our army was beaten until we fled in panic, completely routed."
He paused briefly, then continued, "Even now, we still have not finished paying the pensions for the ninja who died in battle."
"Because of the enormous costs brought by that war, Sunagakure's finances have remained in a serious deficit."
"So if you are asking us for money, I'm sorry, but we truly cannot produce a single coin."
Although Ebizo's words sounded like compromise and weakness, in reality, it was more like a desperate, all or nothing stance.
After all, Sunagakure's current situation was exactly that miserable. They were already at the point of having almost nothing left.
At this moment, aside from Ebizo, there were other high ranking officials from Sunagakure in the meeting room, including several respected elders.
When they learned that Ebizo had taken all the responsibility upon himself and successfully pushed both sides into peace talks, they finally let out a small sigh of relief.
At the very least, Konoha would probably not start a massacre right now.
The way they looked at Ebizo was extremely complicated.
Everything he said was true, but for Sunagakure as a whole, it was like stripping themselves bare in front of others.
That naturally felt humiliating and disgraceful.
But there was no other way. Even if you did not take off your own clothes, others would still tear them off for you.
Minato understood Sunagakure's current condition very clearly. He knew well how tight their finances were.
However, from the very beginning, he had never intended to ask for money.
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