Compared to Konoha, Kumogakure chose its Third Raikage much faster.
The style of Kumogakure was practically no different from a mafia family. After crushing Kinkaku and Ginkaku's coup, A naturally inherited his father, the Second Raikage's, position.
But taking the seat in such a hurried fashion left a mountain of messes for the Third Raikage to clean up.
And the most urgent issue was how to calm Konoha's fury.
The Third Raikage stared at Tobirama's corpse in front of him and felt a splitting headache.
If this matter was not handled properly, Kumogakure itself might end up facing destruction.
This was not easy to solve.
They had agreed to stop fighting, negotiate peace, rest for a few years, and then compete again later.
But Kumogakure had failed to control Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who launched a coup and killed the Second Hokage during the negotiations.
Sure, their own Second Raikage had died too, but Konoha definitely would not care about that. What did the death of Kumogakure's Raikage have to do with Konoha? They had agreed to negotiate instead of fighting, and yet Kumogakure's own people carried out a sneak attack.
Did they have no respect at all for the dignity of the greatest ninja village in the world?
Putting himself in Konoha's place, the Third Raikage knew that he would absolutely rage until things ended in mutual destruction.
At this point, he could only pray that Konoha would restrain itself and not lose its mind enough to drag Kumogakure down with it.
Because if it really came to that, then the Third Raikage would have no choice but to fight Konoha to the bitter end.
...
A few days later, Kumogakure's envoys arrived in Konoha to discuss signing a new peace agreement, as well as the return of Tobirama's body and related issues.
Since Kumogakure was clearly in the wrong, they were willing to make concessions beyond the previous agreement.
Konoha immediately convened an emergency meeting.
Now that Tobirama's body was about to be returned, there was no longer any meaning in Mito trying to buy time. Reality had to be faced sooner or later.
The arguments at the meeting were fierce.
The demands of the Senju jonin were simple.
Fight to the end.
Their clan head and Hokage had been killed by an enemy village. If Konoha could not even dare to let out a fart in response, then the village might as well just break apart and let everyone go their own way.
Konoha had to take revenge.
A blood debt had to be paid in blood.
Those voices rose one after another and quickly became the mainstream opinion.
But reality was brutal.
War was the greatest matter of a nation, a place of life and death, and it could not be approached carelessly.
Konoha simply could not launch a proper campaign anymore.
There was no money.
War burned money.
Who was supposed to pay for it?
They certainly could not count on those pampered nobles in the Land of Fire.
Of course, no one could say that out loud.
Political correctness still mattered.
Calling for revenge for the Hokage was the correct slogan.
Even Haru, sitting below, wanted to applaud from the bottom of his heart, but his expression still had to look full of righteous anger, as if he wanted nothing more than to rush to the battlefield and fight Kumogakure to the death immediately.
The slogans had to be shouted loudly.
But when it came to actually sending troops to fight Kumogakure, every clan head present had to weigh how much longer their businesses could hold out.
It was not as if they could sell off their ancestral property to those black-hearted bankers from the Land of Fire.
Those vultures were all monsters.
They sat firmly in the fishing position. The moment you were desperate enough to sell, they would offer a price so low that even they themselves would feel a little ashamed.
And if you refused, then the price would only fall lower later.
Mito looked at the noisy crowd of ninja below, all shouting for revenge, while the clan heads wore sorrowful expressions and remained silent.
Their attitude was already obvious enough.
Revenge was possible.
Just not now.
Konoha was already close to running out of oil.
If they kept fighting, everyone would be finished.
And once the war started again, Konoha would not just have to deal with Kumogakure. There was a good chance Iwagakure and Kirigakure would join in too.
They might end up fighting one against three.
In the end, Mito took the various clan heads into a small room for the final meeting.
After a long discussion among the clan heads, the conclusion was clear.
They could not fight.
But the posture had to be strong enough.
They could not let the outside villages think Konoha had grown weak.
If even the death of their Hokage did not make them dare speak out, then how was Konoha supposed to keep leading the smaller villages around it, like the Grass Village and the others?
Naturally, Haru had no objections to this.
The one who died was not an Uchiha.
It was Tobirama.
Mito personally gave a war mobilization speech to Konoha's ninja, swearing that justice would be won and blood debts repaid in blood.
But in secret, each clan head sent word to their clan ninja stationed toward Kumogakure's direction.
They had to remain restrained.
They were not to launch any initiative attacks.
Of course, if Kumogakure dared to send troops again, then there would be nothing left to discuss. In that case, everyone could simply go down together.
"If Kumogakure does not give a satisfactory answer this time, Konoha will fight them until one side is annihilated!"
That was the harshest official diplomatic statement Konoha issued to Kumogakure's envoys, and it made those envoys feel that this trip to Konoha might end with no return.
Still, with their mission weighing on them, they proceeded with the talks.
On top of the original peace agreement, Kumogakure agreed to pay Konoha an additional four billion ryo in reparations, with one billion to be paid in the first year and the rest spread over five years.
Kumogakure was poor enough to jingle when it walked, but because they were in the wrong, they still made a major concession.
They simply did not have more money to give.
If Konoha demanded any more, Kumogakure truly could not pay it.
People in the village were already starving to death.
Grain merchants had long since raised food prices to absurd levels, more than three times the peacetime price.
The Raikage naturally responded to such merchants with heavy fists and killed several black-hearted profiteers.
Unfortunately, it changed nothing.
The profit margins were simply too huge. They were enough to make people risk death for them.
And besides, grain merchants always had backers.
Making a fortune during wartime by raising food prices was not something only one country was doing. Which nation had not seen its food prices soar?
Just look at Sunagakure next door. Their food prices had nearly risen five or six times, and they still had not said a word.
So why did Kumogakure think it was special?
And so, after the Raikage killed those merchants, he was warned.
...
Once Konoha saw Kumogakure lowering its posture, the rest of the negotiations became much easier.
There was intimidation, outrageous price demands, endless wrangling, and several rounds of harsh threats.
If things really failed, then they could always fight until both sides were ruined.
But in the end, reality prevailed.
Konoha demanded another five hundred million ryo on top, and the Third Raikage gritted his teeth and accepted.
Money was only an external possession.
Whether ten people starved to death or ten thousand starved to death, they were both just strings of numbers.
He had no choice.
Reality was that cruel.
Let Kumogakure's villagers suffer.
He would bear the blame himself.
The final matter discussed in the meeting was when Tobirama's body would be returned.
For Konoha, that was a major issue.
They would hold a full village funeral for Tobirama.
It had to be grand.
All of Konoha's clan heads had to attend in person, and the scale had to be impressive.
The nobles of the Land of Fire also had to be informed. All of them were expected to attend the funeral.
Konoha intended to collect funeral contributions from the nobles and use the Hokage's funeral as a way to gather money.
It sounded a little pathetic.
But money was money.
There was no shame in making it.
The household was already close to having no rice left in the pot.
Continuous budget deficits had left Konoha unable to make ends meet.
And if Tobirama's spirit truly lingered in heaven, then surely he would agree with it.
He had contributed to Konoha while alive.
And even in death, he was still contributing.
That was the very meaning of the Will of Fire, exhausting oneself in service until death.
(End of Chapter)
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