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Chapter 396: Dohei's Negotiation Skills!
Chapter 396: Dohei's Negotiation Skills!
Two Embassies!
The Cloud Village Embassy arrived openly and with much fanfare.
The Fire Country Embassy, on the other hand, approached with stealth.
This difference in approach was due to the Cloud Village's slight advantage in the recent local conflict, and they wanted to make a grand spectacle of the peace negotiations, ensuring everyone in the Shinobi World, including the leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages, knew that even Konoha had to bow to their might.
As for the Fire Country, they preferred a discreet agreement, hence their low-key approach, even using the Cloud Village Embassy's arrival to conceal their own.
The negotiation venue wasn't even set in the Fire Shadow Tower. Instead, a secluded chamber in a merchant's guild was chosen, and the meeting was scheduled just an hour after their arrival in Konoha, indicating the urgency of the matter.
The delay wasn't due to Fire Country's reluctance but because Skyguard had been stalling.
With prisoners like Chi Kuru Maru in their possession, they held the upper hand and had no need to rush.
Now that they had finally received a tentative agreement from Skyguard, indicating their willingness to negotiate, Fire Country was eager to proceed without delay.
The number of participants was limited, totaling less than ten individuals, divided into three factions.
Skyguard: Dohei, Honglian
Konoha: Choshin Kokoro, Doraku Mizutogashi
Fire Country: Minister, Sarutobi Asuma
Yes, the negotiation team was this small.
Hyuga Cangyue was not present.
To outsiders, she was merely a background character and an assistant, so it was understandable that Honglian, the new leader of the younger generation, was chosen instead for such a critical moment.
This was a form of deception.
After all, although Hyuga Cangyue could now partially resist the Cage Bird's effects, the issue hadn't been completely resolved, hence this decision.
Until the Cage Bird was fully removed, she would continue to play her role.
At the negotiation site, one individual felt extremely awkward.
Sarutobi Asuma!
Not only was he a native of Konoha, but he was also a 'Second Kazekage' who had joined the Guardian Ninja, an organization directly under the Daimyo.
Even the Sannin wouldn't dare to do something like this.
It was almost like betraying the village! But they could justify it as a 'Fire Shadow Dispatch' mission.
In other words, Asuma's inclusion in the Guardian Ninja was by the Hokage's order, which wasn't considered a betrayal but rather a meritorious act.
The village sure knew how to play the game!
As for whether Asuma was actually on a mission or not, those who knew understood, and there was no need to explain to those who didn't.
The term 'double standards' perfectly described the Konoha F4.
"The traitor of Konoha has the audacity to return, I wonder if the Shadow Division is blind!"
Sitting at the head of the long table, Dohei, with his feet almost on the table, directed his words towards the two 'Konoha representatives' seated in the middle.
They were the neutral party and witnesses, so their presence was necessary.
Sensing Dohei's gaze, Choshin Kokoro and Doraku Mizutogashi's faces turned slightly grim.
They were well aware of Asuma's inclusion in the Guardian Ninja and understood that the so-called 'Fire Shadow mission' was a retroactive excuse, perhaps even fabricated by them.
If scrutinized, Asuma could indeed be considered a 'traitor of Konoha', and the Shadow Division should have captured or even eliminated him upon his return to the village.
After all, their primary responsibility was to hunt down rogue ninjas.
The Shadow Division's full name, the 'Tactical Assassination Unit', made it clear that their main task was to assassinate traitors, with all other duties being secondary.
"Don't bring up irrelevant matters!"
Choshin Kokoro steered the conversation away.
She certainly wouldn't allow the Shadow Division to arrest Asuma, so she chose to ignore the taunt.
"Alright, let's begin!"
Dohei also stopped his verbal assault.
He couldn't help but think of the double standards of the Konoha higher-ups whenever he saw Asuma, and how they brainwashed others with the 'Fire of Will'.
Pfft!
They had truly lost all sense of shame.
"Uchiha Dohei, is Skyguard aware of its crimes?"
The Fire Country Minister, adorned in elaborate and intricate clothing, resembling a white pig in stature, began by directly accusing Skyguard.
"???"
Dohei was perplexed, and the minister's actions seemed somewhat familiar.
Wasn't this the favorite tactic of a certain disabled individual?
If not for seeing the minister's eyes, hands, and body functioning normally, Dohei might have suspected an imposter.
Misinterpreting Dohei's 'confused' expression, the Fire Country Minister believed his initial aggressive strategy was working and intensified his accusations.
"You dared to attack the Daimyo's ninja army. Are you planning a rebellion? Don't you fear Konoha and the other Daimyos?"
The minister's words grew more forceful with each sentence.
Hmm, Choshin Kosuke and Doraku Mizutogashi were like puppets.
Even with the agreement with Dong Ping, at most, he wouldn't stop him from proposing the conditions later on. If they wanted him to help, they'd have to pay up.
"Honglian?" Dong Ping asked the girl beside him, "Am I under an Illusion Technique? Wasn't the Skyguard Fortress defeated in the previous Great War? Are we here to make peace?"
Honglian naturally understood the implied meaning behind Dong Ping's words, and replied seriously, "No, we won't stop you from proposing those conditions. We won't even try to stop you from asking for help, but you'll have to pay up."
She recounted the outcome of the Great War, directly slapping this Fire Country diplomat across the face.
"Oh, I thought we were the losers. Otherwise, how dare this guy talk like that?"
Dong Ping exclaimed as if he had just realized something.
Yes, you represent the losers, so who are you trying to impress by acting like a winner?
Do you really think you're Konoha, who can afford to make concessions everywhere?
"You..."
Facing Dong Ping's ridicule, the Fire Country's diplomatic minister, whose face had been full of pride, instantly turned extremely ugly.
Yes, no matter what, the Ninja Army was the loser.
If it weren't for those prisoners and Chi Kuru Maru, they could have deceived themselves into believing they were the winners of the Great War.
But with the main general of the Ninja Army captured, there was no way they could deceive themselves.
"What are you saying? This negotiation is you asking for my help. If you don't understand this, then we can end the negotiation right now!"
Dong Ping's tone was casual, as if he didn't care about the other party at all.
And this was the truth!
Although he did want to take advantage of this opportunity, which was called mediation but was actually a negotiation, to obtain the territories that had already been encircled.
But if the negotiation fell through, he wouldn't mind continuing the fight.
As long as he didn't reveal his ambition to overthrow the noble class right now, the other great nations would never truly support him, and they might even prefer for the fighting to be more intense.
Even if it was just the Fire Country, he wouldn't back down, even if Konoha was included.
Don't be fooled by the Skyguard Fortress' defeat of the Ninja Army; they had exposed a lot of their strength.
In fact, they still had a super ace up their sleeve, a move that could instantly turn their weakness into an advantage.
Question: What is the Skyguard Fortress' weakness?
Answer: People!
To be precise, ninjas.
No matter how strong the Skyguard Fortress' combat power was, they only had a limited number of ninjas, barely over a thousand. This was their biggest weakness.
Without enough mid-low rank ninjas, they couldn't deploy on a large scale on the battlefield, and they couldn't afford the attrition.
Dong Ping was aware of this weakness, and it was also intentionally exposed.
The plan was to use this against the Five Great Ninja Villages in the future, to directly trap and defeat them.
Dong Ping had never forgotten that the Skyguard Fortress' strongest enemy was always the Five Great Ninja Villages, not the noble class. So, he would only use this killing move when facing an absolute strong opponent; the Ninja Army didn't deserve it.
"Uchiha Dong Ping, don't go too far!"
The diplomatic minister threatened, his voice harsh but his demeanor betraying his inner unease.
"I can go further!"
Dong Ping stood up, making a gesture as if he was about to leave at any moment.
He wasn't an expert in negotiation techniques, but he knew one thing: if he couldn't get what he wanted at the negotiation table, he would get it on the battlefield. So, he was confident and unafraid of the negotiation falling through.
"Sit down first, the negotiation has just begun. What are you trying to do?"
Doraku Mizutogashi spoke up.
Today, his task was to play the bad cop.
"Alright!"
Dong Ping sat back down.
He had just been putting on a show; he wasn't prepared to leave without even trying to negotiate.
If he really didn't want to negotiate, he wouldn't have agreed to the mediation in the first place.
But with this gesture, the Fire Country's minister became more restrained, and they eventually reached an agreement.
There was no other way; the Daimyo naturally didn't want to see them expand.
But the Skyguard Fortress had too many bargaining chips.
And Konoha didn't side with them, so this negotiation went smoothly.
The Skyguard Fortress released all the prisoners in exchange for the 'purchase' of the nearby wilderness area.
Obviously, the Skyguard Fortress got the real deal, leaving the Fire Country Daimyo with just a show of face.
Next up was the main event.
The Cloud Village Embassy!
(End of Chapter)
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