"Not pursue it at all?"
Gento almost laughed.
"You Sand… do you even still have the ability to pursue anything?"
He slowly crossed his arms, his gaze sweeping across the group of Sand shinobi opposite him.
"You claim you've come to negotiate, yet I don't see even the slightest bit of sincerity. You think a few empty words can make us retreat?"
His voice suddenly turned cold:
"Since you're unwilling to give, then we'll take it ourselves!
"If you have any discontent, feel free to fight us head-on!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Shisui, Shinku, and Hishu—three Jonin—stepped forward at the same time.
Behind them, hundreds of Hidden Leaf shinobi gathered in unison, weapons in hand, forming a standoff with the opposing side.
Both sides looked ready to clash at the least bit of disagreement.
Chiyo looked at the formation before her and sighed inwardly.
The Hidden Leaf of the past… was not like this.
In the past, the Hidden Sand would always take the initiative to break agreements and plunder the Land of Fire's border. When Hidden Leaf reinforcements arrived, the two sides would confront each other and fight briefly before Sand proposed negotiations… and Leaf would often just agree.
When the next upheaval in the shinobi world came, Sand would once again break the agreement and invade, repeating the cycle over and over.
But now…
Since when did Leaf shinobi start demanding conditions?
More troublesome… still, she didn't dare refuse.
The opponent's number of Jonin and overall combat strength both exceeded theirs.
If they truly started fighting, Sand would gain no advantage at all.
Rasa had seen the situation as well.
He took a deep breath, stepped forward half a pace, and spoke in a restrained tone:
"The Hidden Leaf may state its conditions. As long as they are reasonable, the Hidden Sand can accept them. The premise is that you cease the plundering and withdraw to the Land of Fire at once."
Gento raised an eyebrow.
"We want war reparations."
He raised a finger, counting them off one by one.
"To deal with you, the Hidden Leaf has expended massive manpower and resources.
"Not to mention anything else; just explosive tags alone, I used one hundred thousand of them.
"At a market price of five thousand Ryo each, that's five hundred million Ryo!"
At this point, Gento spread his hands, his tone half-mocking.
"What you lost were merely cold, lifeless comrades. What our Hidden Leaf lost was warm, tangible money!"
Rasa's chest rose and fell.
For a moment, he even wanted to give the order to attack.
Albeit reason ultimately pulled him back.
If they lost another battle, the Hidden Sand would lose the Feudal Lord's full trust.
A budget cut would be the least of their concerns… his position as the next Kazekage would likely be in jeopardy as well.
He forced himself to calm down and asked in a deep voice:
"How much do you want?"
Gento raised a single finger.
Rasa secretly let out a breath, and said: "If it's ten billion Ryo…"
"Ten billion?"
Gento sneered and interrupted.
"Do I look like a beggar to you? I can loot more than that from just one city!
"I want one hundred billion!"
Both sides fell silent at once.
Even the Hidden Leaf shinobi felt that their Commander-in-Chief was asking for an outrageous amount.
Chiyo stepped forward immediately, anger appearing on her aged face.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"One hundred billion is the Hidden Sand's entire four years of fiscal revenue! There is no way!"
"That's exactly what I want. Your four years of revenue."
Gento's smile turned cold.
"Otherwise, what? With how shameless your Sand is, once you recover, won't you just tear up the treaty again in four years and invade the Land of Fire?"
He swept his gaze across the Hidden Sand shinobi.
"We might as well stall your development for a few years so everyone can have some peace."
The Hidden Sand shinobi fell into silence.
Refute him?
It seemed that the Hidden Sand had indeed always behaved this way.
In the end, Rasa spoke again:
"One hundred billion is far beyond what we can bear… can it be reduced somewhat?"
Gento shook his head without a second thought.
"Don't even think about it!
"If you can't provide it, we'll just take it ourselves.
"How about this: We promise that once we've looted one hundred billion, we'll stop?"
Rasa's face completely darkened.
They absolutely could not allow Leaf to continue plundering.
Otherwise, if the Feudal Lord of the Land of Wind became enraged, Sand would be unable to bear the consequences.
Suddenly, Pakura, who had been silent all along, raised her head. Her gaze burned as she looked at Gento.
"Gento Uchiha, treating the civilians of the Land of Wind like this… don't you feel ashamed before the ancestors of the Uchiha clan?!"
Gento shifted his gaze to her, sizing her up, then suddenly laughed.
"Oh? You're trying to morally blackmail me?"
Gento shook his head.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any morals, so you can't blackmail me."
For a moment, the scene fell into a stalemate.
After a short while, Gento suddenly spoke again:
"Actually, reducing the amount isn't impossible, it's just…"
Rasa's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
"Just what?"
All the Hidden Sand shinobi looked at him at once.
Gento's gaze fell on Pakura, his smile faintly teasing.
"I can settle for fifty billion Ryo!"
The Hidden Sand shinobi all let out a sigh of relief.
Although fifty billion was still a huge amount, it was half of one hundred billion.
Moreover, fifty billion was exactly Rasa's psychological bottom line.
Gento continued:
"However, Pakura must come back to the Hidden Leaf with us."
Pakura's pupils shrank sharply:
"…What?"
"What's wrong? Aren't you all about morals? Using you, a single Kunoichi, in exchange for fifty billion Ryo; That's quite a profitable deal.
"Countless citizens of the Land of Wind can be spared because of you."
Chiyo fell silent at once.
Rasa even revealed a tempted expression.
He suddenly turned and walked up to Pakura, lowering his voice:
"Pakura, the village truly cannot afford that much money. Why not… agree to it?"
Pakura stared at him blankly, a look of disappointment appearing on her face.
She had bled for the Hidden Sand and carried out countless dangerous missions.
The name of Scorch Release had once struck fear into many enemies.
And now… she was to be used as a bargaining chip?
Chiyo also slowly walked up to her.
"Pakura, this is the village's decision… and also a mission."
A mission!
Yes, wasn't it a shinobi's duty to carry out missions?
As a Kunoichi, even as a Jonin… how many missions would she have to complete to earn fifty billion Ryo?
Pakura's lips trembled slightly, her gaze moving from Chiyo's face to Rasa's, and then to the silent Hidden Sand shinobi behind them.
She suddenly felt very cold.
Resist?
But if she left the Hidden Sand, where could she go?
If she refused the mission, what kind of shinobi would she be?
In the end, she lowered her head, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible:
"…Yes."
Step by step, she walked toward the Hidden Leaf's ranks.
Hishu stepped forward, Gentle Fist striking repeatedly, sealing her Chakra flow.
The familiar flow of Chakra was cut off.
Having just experienced the abandonment of her village, and now even the Chakra she had relied on since becoming a shinobi was no longer under her control… a sense of helplessness suddenly rose within her.
Gento watched Pakura walk to his side, his face immediately lighting up with delight.
This meant that after Dual Cultivation with her, he would be able to claim an S-rank luxury treasure chest!
He turned to Rasa:
"Then, the remaining fifty billion, prepare it within three days. Once the money arrives, we leave."
Rasa looked toward Chiyo, who slowly nodded.
"…Fine."
He turned and left with over a hundred shinobi.
---
Three days later, Rasa returned and handed a sealing scroll to Gento.
Gento had someone verify it.
Fifty billion Ryo, not a single coin missing.
He stored the scroll away and called out loudly:
"All Hidden Leaf forces! Withdraw!"
"Roar!!!"
Thunderous cheers erupted from behind him.
"Move slowly.
"Let the entire Land of Wind remember the figures of us victors!"
Afterward, Gento even had someone bring over a camel cart with a carriage and sat inside it.
The troops slowly set off, leaving behind the furious and humiliated gazes of the Hidden Sand.
After traveling several li¹, Gento knocked on the carriage wall and ordered outward:
"Someone, bring Pakura in. I'll personally interrogate her!"
...
¹ li: Traditional Chinese unit of distance; today standardized as 500 metres
...
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