Revitalizing the Uchiha clan starts with becoming a Kage.

Tu Tai also stood up, his gaze sweeping over Huang Tu and Jiang Si, and he clearly lingered on Jiang Si for a second or two longer.

Huang Tu and Jiang Si naturally turned their attention to the earthen platform and the other slightly shorter figure following behind it.

Huang Tu wasn't a big deal, after all, in his view, this must be someone like a guard of the earthen platform.

But when Jiang Si saw that figure, his eyes narrowed slightly. It was an image that perfectly matched the famous person from Kumogakure in the original work: dark skin, white hair, and bangs covering his left eye. However, compared to his appearance in the original work, he looked much more immature and naive now.

This figure is absolutely Darui, who later succeeds as the Fifth Raikage in the original work!

This Fifth Raikage, who grew up in Kumogakure, is currently around fourteen or fifteen years old, but the aura he exudes is already quite astonishing. When he first appeared in the original work, he already possessed the strength of a Kage, and now he is at least an elite Jonin, or even stronger. After all, his bloodline limit—Storm Release—has tremendous destructive power!

In other words, even without Si using the Kaleidoscope, Darui would have a hard time suppressing him in a short period of time.

This is someone I need to pay some attention to in the future.

However, even though he was slightly surprised to see the future Fifth Raikage in Konoha under these circumstances, he was still somewhat taken aback.

But on the surface, Jiang Si maintained a calm demeanor.

The other three people present naturally did not notice the subtle psychological changes that Shoji made at that moment. Darui was even more unaware that he had been targeted by Shoji Uchiha, who was now known as the contemporary Uchiha Shura in the ninja world, just after they met.

"I apologize for my intrusion, Mr. Huangtu. This gentleman must be the renowned Uchiha Shoji of your village. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Shoji!"

Unlike Tsuchida, who always seemed serious and earnest in his own ninja village, at this moment, in front of Shoji and Kyoto, this Raikage's chief strategist appeared as a harmless and gentle person, greeting the two with a light smile and a peaceful expression.

"No, as a senior in the ninja world, it is we who should be visiting Tsuchida-san. It would be impolite for us to make him come to us in person!"

Although they were enemies, this wasn't the first time Huang Tu and Tu Tai had met. On the battlefield, it goes without saying that they had dealt with each other several times. In Huang Tu's twenty years as a ninja, he had also dealt with Tu Tai several times, so he wouldn't be deceived by Tu Tai's appearance.

Although this was the first time that Shoji had met Tsuchida face to face, he would not be any less vigilant towards him. To put it simply, in an environment like Kumogakure, he could become the Raikage's most trusted chief strategist!

That alone is enough to explain a lot.

"You're too kind, Tutai-san. I'm still just a junior in front of you. I should be asking Tutai-san for guidance!"

Jiang Si lagged half a body length behind Huang Tu, a formulaic smile on his face, and calmly met Huang Tu's gaze, speaking in a low voice.

Shoji's indifferent demeanor caused Tsuchida's smile to fade slightly. After giving Shoji a deep look, the highest strategist of Kumogakure deepened his impression of him.

'This isn't just a young man with exceptional strength!'

This further intensified their fear of the general!

After a brief exchange of pleasantries.

Both sides then took their seats.

"Tsuchida-san must have just arrived in Konoha today. Judging from this, he probably hasn't had a formal meeting or conversation with Konoha yet. There must be a deeper meaning behind his direct visit to our Iwa ninja."

As soon as he sat down, Jiang Si stared directly at the earthen platform opposite him. This was clearly a blunt statement with no room for negotiation, causing the earthen platform to pause slightly for less than half a second.

He had been living in the ninja world for decades.

Tu Tai has seen all kinds of people.

They immediately realized what was going on and could guess the possible division of responsibilities between Huang Tu and Jiang Si, the leaders of the Iwagakure delegation.

"Hehe, there's definitely a deeper meaning, but it doesn't just depend on us Cloud Ninjas. It also depends on your village's attitude. It takes two to tango. I think you can guess what we Cloud Ninjas mean, right, Lord Jiang Si, Lord Huang Tu!"

Tu Tai placed his hands together in front of him, leaned forward slightly, and said with a meaningful smile.

When you need something from someone, you need to learn to take the initiative in the conversation.

This is the only way to avoid unfavorable situations to the greatest extent possible, a skill that anyone who frequently engages in diplomatic negotiations needs to master.

367. Ideas that are hard to guess

Moreover, from the perspective of the earthen platform.

He had no need of Iwagakure at all; his visit was a mutually beneficial act, a win-win situation. As for what happened before, Tsuchida naturally chose to ignore it.

As a seasoned diplomat and political figure, this is a basic skill and operational procedure. Tsuchita does not believe that Iwagakure truly intends to confront Konoha alone. As long as they share common interests, Tsuchita is confident in proceeding with the next step of the operation.

It must be said that Tu Tai's views and predictions are perfectly reasonable and based on common sense. However, sometimes, what is reasonable and based on common sense may not always be applicable!

At least for now, that won't work with the general.

"We understand? I'm sorry, Mr. Tsuchita, we from Iwagakure really can't understand your village's actions and thoughts. After all, we just had a bloody battle with Konoha recently, and we're exhausted. It's hard for us to understand what your village is trying to do!"

This seemed like a sudden reversal of attitude. Even his formulaic smile vanished, and at this moment, Jiang Si spoke with a faint, cold glint in his eyes.

The provocation and sarcasm were blatantly revealed.

It's obvious they're bringing up the fact that Kumogakure ignored the 'alliance' between the two villages, watched Iwagakure and Konoha fight to the death, and then reaped the benefits from the chaos.

The hostility is extremely strong!

Even the still relatively young Darui, sitting to the side, clearly heard what was happening and immediately frowned. However, with Tu Tai present and Darui's personality not that of a reckless person, he forcibly suppressed the restless emotions deep within his heart.

Only a faint, dangerous glint was revealed in the depths of his eyes as he looked toward Jiang Si.

With Shoji's strength and perception, he could sense Darui's subtle changes in aura, but he didn't pay much attention to it. At this time, Darui was far from reaching his peak and only posed a certain degree of threat to him.

In the Hidden Cloud Village today, the only people we really need to be wary of are the Fourth Raikage A and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer Bee. As for the others, including the Two-Tails Jinchuriki Yugito, as long as Shoji activates his Mangekyou Sharingan, although it will still take some effort, they are definitely no match for Shoji!

As mentioned before, tailed beasts are also divided into different levels. For the first seven tailed beasts, the suppression of the Mangekyou Sharingan is extremely obvious. Only when you reach the level of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails will the difficulty suddenly increase.

Of course, if Shoji's eyes could be upgraded again, that would be a different story.

"What does Mr. Shoji mean by this? Is he blaming our Hidden Cloud Village? And Mr. Huangtu, can I interpret Mr. Shoji's meaning as the meaning of your village, and the meaning of the Third Tsuchikage?"

Faced with Jiang Si's aggressive stance.

Tu Tai also completely suppressed his smile, looking at Huang Tu and Jiang Si opposite him with a cold expression, and said this.

Diplomatic matters are not child's play. Acting purely on personal preferences and emotions is, in Tsuchitai's view, foolish. What kind of true friendship exists between ninja villages? Tsuchitai does not think his own ninja village's previous actions were wrong at all.

He could understand that the Hidden Stone Village was angry, but shouldn't they have restrained themselves and engaged in meaningful discussions in such a situation? Bringing anger into diplomatic negotiations was extremely unwise!

This is a completely irrational and immature behavior. Judging from Tsukasa's previous behavior, he doesn't seem like that kind of person at all. From this point of view, there is a certain probability that Iwagakure does not intend to continue cooperating with Kumogakure!

This is a clearly expressed attitude of 'rejection'!

Of course, this is only one possibility. A greater possibility is that Si is playing the 'good cop' role, using the most offensive words to provoke himself.

Then, let Tsuchikage play the good cop so that the initiative in the negotiations can be in the hands of Iwagakure. As for which possibility it is, that is up to Tsuchikage to decide.

"If that's how you want to understand it, that's not impossible, after all, the facts are right in front of us, aren't they?"

Huang Tu's expression turned slightly cold, and he spoke in a flat tone.

Being kind and gentle doesn't mean Huang Tu is truly an honest person. Moreover, that kindness is only directed towards his own comrades in the ninja village. When facing enemies, he still has to be ruthless and cold-blooded. Huang Tu is very clear about this distinction. Previously, the inaction of the Hidden Cloud Village forced his side to bear almost half of the pressure from Konoha. Nearly 10,000 main force troops, plus Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, all had to be dealt with by the Hidden Stone Village. Not only did they have to give back some of the benefits they had taken, but the casualty rate of the front-line troops exceeded one-third, and the death rate reached one-quarter!

Although the losses and gains were acceptable compared to the casualties Konoha had to pay, the thought that Kumogakure could gain more benefits than Iwagakure with almost no effort was unbearable even for someone as strong-willed as Huang Tu!

To put it bluntly, Kumogakure is using Iwagakure's blood to pave the way for themselves, and now they're planning to use Iwagakure again. Do they really think everyone in Iwagakure is a fool? The fact that they didn't immediately turn against them shows that Koto and Shoji have shown considerable restraint!

The words of the loess are utterly devoid of warmth.

This caused Tsuchikage to frown slightly. He realized that he had underestimated the anger of Iwagakure. He had thought that Iwagakure would still need the help of Kumogakure!

They'll most likely hold their noses and temporarily ignore what happened before.

But now it seems that things are not as simple as he imagined. The most important point is that even Tsuchida himself is not quite sure whether Huangtu and Jiangsi are really unwilling to continue cooperating with their Hidden Cloud Village, or whether they are deliberately keeping them hanging!

Of course, for a moment, Tsuchitai also considered whether to give up the next plan. After all, the benefits that their Hidden Cloud Village had obtained were already substantial enough. Even if they stopped here, they would still be very satisfied and would have to digest them slowly for a long time!

There's no need to say that you absolutely have to get something more, but considering Konoha's current situation and the timid attitude the Third Hokage showed in the previous negotiations, Tsuchita felt that it would be a great pity to miss this opportunity.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. Who knows what the future of the ninja world will be like? This time, Sunagakure was hurt badly, while Kirigakure strangely didn't react at all. If, like in the previous Shinobi World War, all five great ninja villages acted together, the result would definitely be the same!

For example, if Sunagakure were to march north, Kirigakure would be lurking along the coast, watching with predatory intent. How would Iwagakure and Kumogakure possibly organize such forces to invade Konoha from the south? The biggest reason Konoha was able to win time and time again in the previous three Shinobi World Wars was precisely this. Otherwise, after Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were 'dead,' what would Konoha use to withstand the forces of the four great ninja villages?

Do you really think that Konoha's strength can overwhelm the Four Great Ninja Villages? It's impossible for them to even defeat two of them, let alone the others. Konoha's strength is only because Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha could easily defeat the Four Great Ninja Villages, not because of anything else!

Quantity can overwhelm quality, but there's a prerequisite: that quality hasn't surpassed the level that 'mortals' can understand. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha may not have reached the Six Paths level, but they still belong to the Super Kage level. However, these two guys' Super Kage level is in a class of its own. Other Super Kage powerhouses, such as the Third Raikage, are just toys that can be easily manipulated in their eyes!

Therefore, after the passing of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, if two major ninja villages in the ninja world could jointly send their main forces to intimidate Konoha, Konoha would be in a very sorry state and suffer greatly. If three major ninja villages were to besiege Konoha together, Konoha would definitely be destroyed!

Even with the Sannin, White Fang, and Minato all present, Konoha at its peak would still suffer greatly. Tsuchida, realizing that the situation was indeed beyond his expectations, couldn't help but feel a rare sense of irritation deep within his heart.

If Iwagakure were to refuse to continue cooperating with Kumogakure because of this, Tsuchida would definitely feel extremely uncomfortable.

However, Tsuchikage would not regret his previous judgment. From the perspective of results, Kumogakure did indeed gain considerable benefits. The only regrettable thing was that the losses of Konoha and Iwagakure did not meet Kumogakure's expectations. Otherwise, they would not care about either side. If the casualties on both sides were doubled, there would be no need for such trouble. Their own ninja village could simply push forward!

Thinking about this.

Tsuchitai reaffirmed his idea: if possible, he would drag Iwagakure into putting pressure on Konoha. People are never satisfied. Initially, Kumogakure's goal was indeed only to acquire the Land of Hot Springs, and they even planned to leave the area around Mount Hōzui as a buffer zone for Konoha. Later, they wanted to gain more additional benefits!

Those who rolled their eyes were never really trying to acquire anything!

It was Hiruzen Sarutobi's repeated appeasement policies that fueled the desires of Kumogakure. They now even had some expectations for the borders of the Land of Fire. Of course, it was difficult to achieve this. Iwagakure, for example, occupied the Wuyuan Mountain area and suffered a strong counterattack from Konoha!

Tsuchitai had reason to believe that if his own ninja village were to truly advance...

Konoha's reaction will be more intense than ever before. If Iwagakure stands idly by, it will be Kumogakure that suffers. Therefore, Konoha must drag Iwagakure down with them no matter what, or at the very least, let Konoha continue to 'see' this relationship.

This way, the earthen platform can proceed with the next steps.

At the very least, they should use this as a condition for advancement or retreat, to gain more benefits for their own ninja village, such as economic and trade routes, mission quotas, and the like!

These are all real, tangible benefits.

"Alright, I admit that in the previous operation, our Hidden Cloud Village was indeed somewhat disrespectful, failing to properly uphold the 'alliance' and coordinate the attack. Our actions were slightly slower, causing your village to suffer slightly more losses. On behalf of Lord Raikage, I would like to offer some compensation to your village. Moreover, now that both of our great ninja villages are pressing close to the border region of the Land of Fire, this is the best opportunity for us to join forces and further squeeze Konoha. Our Hidden Cloud Village can promise to allow your village to gain more benefits to make up for the previous losses. What do you think? Isn't that a very good proposal?"

After taking a deep breath, Tu Tai considered his words carefully, but still intended to proceed according to the previous plan.

Regardless, let's postpone it for now and see if it succeeds.

"Make amends? Mr. Tutai, those words are too easy to say, and they're all just empty promises. One lesson is enough. I don't think it's necessary to spell things out, but the truth is there. Mr. Tutai, no matter what you say this time, as long as we don't see anything concrete, no matter how eloquently you speak, it's useless. The reason is simple: in my opinion, your village has no credibility whatsoever!"

Jiang Si looked at the earthen platform with a cold expression, and spoke in a chilling tone.

"Shoji's meaning is my meaning. Before we set off, our Tsuchikage-sama also gave instructions that we would not interfere with your village's actions. Similarly, we do not want your village to interfere with our actions. As for the matter of joining forces, hehe, let's put it on hold for now!"

Huang Tu smiled faintly and continued Jiang Si's words. Before Tu Tai could say anything, Huang Tu interrupted him with a firm tone. The resolute look that Huang Tu and Jiang Si both showed made Tu Tai feel a real headache at this moment.

This development was somewhat beyond Tsuchida's expectations. Even though he had considered that the Iwagakure village would no longer trust them, there should still be a possibility of joint action, right? This involved the village's highest interests!

Does Iwagakure truly believe it can extract more benefits from Konoha on its own? What are their trump cards? Or perhaps they have some other motive?

At this moment, Tsuchida's mind was a little flustered. His furrowed brows as he looked at Shoji and Huangtu perfectly illustrated the state of mind of this top strategist of Kumogakure at that moment.

It seems unlikely that we'll achieve much today!

Regardless of whether it was a genuine expression of emotion or something deliberate, in this atmosphere, Tsuchida was well aware that anything he said would be meaningless. He would either further provoke the other side or fall completely into their negotiation rhythm. Either outcome would be extremely unfavorable to the Hidden Cloud Village.