Chapter 234 Arrogance Before Concession, a Laughable
Act Upon hearing this news, Uchiha Touko smiled, indicating that either A or Killer Bee had awakened.
"Does your country need to send two groups of envoys to discuss the same matter?" Uchiha Touko asked, a half-smile playing on his lips, looking at the haughty envoy from the Land of Lightning in the hall.
"That certainly fits our stereotypical image of your country as fickle," Miura Kazuo added, offering his support.
All the civil officials in the hall burst into laughter, filling the hall with a joyful atmosphere.
Even Minamoto no Yuuki, on the throne, couldn't help but laugh. The
previously arrogant envoy from the Land of Lightning's face flushed red and then paled in an instant.
After laughing for a while, Uchiha Touko finally spoke, "Please invite these envoys in as well. Let's see what they have to say."
Soon, the second batch of envoys from the Land of Lightning entered the hall. If the first batch of envoys resembled the high-flying, clueless natives of the West Coast that Uchiha Touko had seen in his previous life, the expressions on the faces of these second envoys were exactly like those of someone leaning against a police car.
Upon entering the hall, the second delegation from the Land of Lightning, seeing the appearance of the first delegation, felt a pang of panic.
[Would they have said something they shouldn't have? Had they already submitted that document?]
They were sent after Ai awoke, and the Daimyo learned what had happened on the front lines. To save time, they were carried by ninjas on a mad dash to the border, then rushed straight towards Konoha without even taking a breath. But despite their haste, they were still a step too late.
"Greetings, Lord Daimyo of the Land of Fire, greetings, Minister of State," the leader of the later envoys bowed respectfully to Minamoto no Miki and Uchiha Touko before forcing a question, "Regarding the ceasefire agreement between our two countries, what stage have we reached in our negotiations?"
"Well..." Uchiha Touko raised an eyebrow, "You've come at the right time. Our Daimyo is preparing to behead these fools as a sacrifice to his flag before declaring war on you. You can take their heads and our declaration of war back with you."
"Please calm your anger, Lord Daimyo and Minister of State," upon hearing Uchiha Touko's words, the second group of envoys broke out in a cold sweat, "They are not envoys from our Land of Lightning, but a few traitors attempting to sow discord between our two countries."
"Cameron! What are you saying!" The leader of the first group of envoys, enraged at being labeled a traitor, flew into a rage.
But just then, Cameron approached them and whispered a few words in their ear.
The moment before, the previously defiant envoy from the Land of Lightning collapsed, his face filled with terror.
He had never imagined that their Land of Lightning's battle on the front lines would end in such a crushing defeat!
If the situation on the front lines had unfolded as their ministers had predicted—with both Kumogakure and Konoha suffering heavy losses—then their mission to pressure the Land of Fire—would have been a victory. Whether the Land of Fire chickened out and signed the treaty, or, enraged, launched a direct attack on the Land of Lightning and even beheaded them as a sacrifice, they would have been recorded as heroes in the Land of Lightning's history.
But now, the situation on the battlefield was one of unilateral heavy losses for the Land of Lightning, their strength severely depleted. Until they recovered, they had no chance of winning against the well-equipped Konoha.
If Konoha were enraged by their actions and went to war with the Land of Lightning, then they would be the sinners of the entire Land of Lightning!
For these civil officials, death was not frightening; what was frightening was being condemned for eternity as sinners of the entire country after death!
"Uh, this...that...Your Highness, Grand Minister of State, it was just a little joke we were making just now, please don't take it seriously..." Under the pressure of being condemned for eternity, they began to speak recklessly.
"Hehe, why are you so deferential at first and then so obsequious? It's laughable!" Miura Kazuo laughed loudly at this moment, and the hall was filled with grating laughter, but at this moment, they could only endure it. The second group of envoys who entered could only awkwardly smile.
"Speaking of which, I still prefer your arrogant and unruly appearance just now. Can you please recover a bit?" After the laughter subsided, Uchiha Touko said with a smile.
"Grand Minister, you jest... Please forgive my previous rudeness..." The speaker's bald head was beaded with sweat, and in the sliver of sunlight streaming through the window, he resembled a freshly boiled egg.
This scene improved Uchiha Touko's mood considerably, as he had just cleaned up the mess caused by his disobedient disciple. However, Uchiha Touko had no intention of letting these people off the hook.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the second group of envoys entering, and he asked unhurriedly, "Emissary from the Land of Lightning, if I remember correctly, who did you say these people were?"
As soon as Uchiha Touko finished speaking, the legs of the first group of envoys trembled like leaves.
Hearing Uchiha Touko's words, the later envoys also showed a hint of reluctance, but now they were at his mercy, and to gain a chance to catch their breath, they had no choice but to abandon him.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the Grand Minister of State, they are all traitors who intend to undermine the unity between our two nations..." The later envoy hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and speaking.
The first group of envoys, upon hearing this, collapsed to the ground. They knew that for the sake of their country's future, they had been abandoned.
"So they are traitors," Uchiha Touko said meaningfully. "I knew the higher-ups of the Land of Lightning wouldn't be so brainless. However, since they are rebels trying to sow discord between our two countries, perhaps our Land of Fire should help your country deal with them?"
"Your Excellency, we needn't trouble you with this. In this time of friendly negotiations between our two nations, let's avoid bloodshed. How about we, the Land of Lightning, handle these individuals? Rest assured, we will certainly provide an explanation for their offenses against you and His Highness the Daimyo."
"Friendly negotiations?" Uchiha Touko's expression changed. "But I don't believe there's any room for friendly negotiations between our two nations in this matter!"
"During this joint Chunin Exams, Konoha received your visit with the highest honors. I swear, Konoha has done nothing to offend Kumogakure. Yet, your Raikage kidnapped the grandson of our Third Hokage before leaving. Your Raikage's blatant provocation disregards the feelings between our two nations. This is not only a provocation against Konoha, but a complete humiliation of Konoha's Will of Fire! Do you think there's any friendship left between our two nations?"
"Master, stop wasting time talking to them! If you ask me, just chop them all down as a sacrifice to the flag, send those prisoners to grow cotton, and declare war on the Land of Lightning!" At this moment, Minamoto no Yuuki spoke from his throne.
Uchiha Touko turned and glared at the boy, while Minamoto no Yuuki sullenly shrank back and stuck out his tongue.
However, although the boy was causing trouble, he had inadvertently put immense pressure on the other side.
"Grand Minister, please reconsider. This matter was indeed a serious mistake made by our Raikage in a moment of impulsiveness. Our Land of Lightning is willing to compensate for it."
"Compensation? With three hundred million worth of mining waste as compensation?" Uchiha Touko said with a sneer.
"Regarding this matter, perhaps Your Excellency should review our Land of Lightning's official document before making a decision." The Land of Lightning's envoy, Cameron, was sweating profusely and hurriedly took out a document from his robes, respectfully handing it to Uchiha Touko.
After receiving the document, Uchiha Touko glanced at it. Hmm, this document seemed much more sincere.
Firstly, regarding the official position, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning acknowledged that the military conflict was caused by the irrational behavior of the Raikage, A, and promised to punish A.
Secondly, regarding compensation, compared to the previous offer of 300 million ryo of mining waste to offset a debt of 1 billion ryo—a move that treated Uchiha Touko like a fool—this time the Land of Lightning offered 40 billion ryo, to be repaid in cash over ten years.
Furthermore, regarding the prisoners, the Land of Lightning also offered ransoms of 50 million ryo for Jonin, 30 million ryo for Special Jonin, 10 million ryo for Chunin, and 5 million ryo for Genin, totaling approximately 26 billion ryo, to be paid along with the compensation over ten years.
Seeing Uchiha Touko review the treaty, Cameron tentatively asked, "What do you think of this price, Minister of State? Our Land of Lightning is here with the utmost sincerity to negotiate with your country."
"The amount of reparations is as stated, but I will only give you three years to pay it off," Uchiha Touko said. "Furthermore, the ransom for the prisoners must be increased by 30%, and installment payments are not accepted. We will release the prisoners only after you have paid the ransom. In addition, you will bear all expenses incurred by the prisoners during their imprisonment."
"This… Minister of State, isn't this a bit too much? Our Land of Lightning's finances simply cannot afford to come up with so much money all at once," Cameron said with a wry smile. If they wanted to take all the prisoners back as Uchiha Touko suggested, they would have to pay nearly 50 billion ryo in cash in the first year, but their Land of Lightning's annual revenue was only slightly over 100 billion ryo.
"That's your own business," Uchiha Touko said with a cold laugh. Pay it off in 10 years? There's no such thing as a free lunch. It's uncertain what the Land of Lightning will be like in ten years. Furthermore, if they don't put some economic pressure on the other side, given the nature of those barbarians in the Land of Lightning, they'll likely go back and aggressively develop their military in an attempt to avenge their defeat. Uchiha Touko certainly won't give them that opportunity.
Under this immense financial pressure, the Land of Lightning and Kumogakure only have two choices: either reduce military spending to pay off Konoha's debts first, or further exploit the civilians to restore their strength.
In this scenario, no matter what choice they make, Konoha will be the only beneficiary. The former is self-evident, but if the Land of Lightning chooses the latter path, then when Konoha's heavenly army enters the Land of Lightning, they'll be the liberators.
Regarding the possibility of the Land of Lightning uniting its people amidst internal and external troubles, Uchiha Touko stated that this was possible before rap culture became popular in the Land of Lightning. Now, the black and white populations within the Land of Lightning are practically fighting amongst themselves, especially after the defeat caused by the actions of the black leadership. The white people of the Land of Lightning, already extremely dissatisfied with black rule, will definitely take action.
"Furthermore," Uchiha Touko continued, "this military conflict has not only caused losses to Konoha. The war you instigated on the border of the Land of Hot Springs has also deeply hurt the feelings of the people of the Land of Hot Springs. As an ally of the Land of Hot Springs, I feel that the Land of Fire has an obligation to seek justice for them."
"I wonder what Your Excellency, the Grand Minister of State, thinks we should do to compensate the Land of Hot Springs for their losses?" Cameron sighed and said. The situation was now clear: Konoha was demanding exorbitant prices, and he would have to consult the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning before making a concession. The conditions Uchiha Touko had just offered were beyond his authority to agree to. Therefore, he decided to listen to Uchiha Touko's conditions before making a decision.
"I remember that during the Second Shinobi World War, your country forcibly occupied nearly 10,000 square kilometers of land in the Land of Hot Springs, including their northern port. I think you should return this land to its rightful owner," Uchiha Touko said.
"This... I'm afraid our Daimyo will find it difficult to agree to," Cameron said, his face showing difficulty upon hearing Uchiha Touko's words.
Territory is secondary. This port, located at the border of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Hot Springs, is extremely important to the Land of Lightning. Although the Land of Lightning has a large coastline on its eastern coast, there are only a few areas suitable for ports, and most of them are at a higher latitude. In winter, the entire port freezes over. The port that Uchiha Touko mentioned, which they forcibly seized during the Second Shinobi World War, is their only ice-free port.
"Since that's the case, it seems that your Land of Lightning isn't very sincere," Uchiha Touko sneered. "Or do you think that the losses of a small country like the Land of Hot Springs are insignificant? Then let me tell you, the Land of Hot Springs is now a loyal ally of Konoha. Their affairs are Konoha's affairs! And the Land of Fire, as a responsible major power in the shinobi world, has a responsibility to stop the Land of Lightning's hegemonic behavior!"
"That's right!"
"The Grand Minister of State is absolutely right!"
After Uchiha Touko's words fell, the civil officials in the hall raised their voices in approval.
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(End of this chapter)