Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

I wonder if the seven ninja swords of Kirigakure will be forged here in the future.

If we get the chance, we'll snatch them all, especially Samehada, which can devour chakra.

Before we knew it, the day of the formal talks arrived.

She then changed into a pure white tsukehaori with the Zen temple's family crest and followed Hashirama into the conference hall.

As soon as you enter, a heavy and powerful sense of oppression hits you.

At the main pentagonal table, the leaders of the four hidden villages were already seated, with their respective guards standing behind their chairs; at the round table a little further away, the leaders of the smaller ninja villages were also all present.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

After all, before coming here, they were still fighting each other. If it weren't for Tobirama Senju of Konoha and the reputation of the Land of Iron as their guarantee, they would never have been able to sit down and talk.

This was the Five Kage Summit, which was enough to rewrite the entire ninja world's landscape.

Shen Er's gaze swept across the entire room without making a sound.

At the main table, he saw two familiar faces: the future Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, and the Second Tsuchikage, Mu. Somewhat surprisingly, the First Mizukage's bodyguard wasn't the future Third Mizukage, whose name he couldn't recall.

The eight people sitting around the pentagonal table, who are Kage and future Kage, possess the most valuable physical bodies and hearts in the ninja world.

Even so, he knew that the deaths of everyone present were all scheduled around the time of the First Shinobi World War.

After they die in battle, Shen'er will secretly collect their bodies and preserve them. Whether used as spare hearts for local vengeful spirits or as tactical reserves for Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation), they would be perfectly suited.

Of the eight, apart from Mu and Hozuki Gengetsu, none of them were ever resurrected by Edo Tensei. They either perished in battle or rotted away due to the passage of time.

I would prefer the latter.

In this way, he will have the opportunity to build an invincible army of reanimated shadows in the future.

Looking further out to the large round table, the first generation of Sound and Shadow Ze Mu, a pawn he had placed there, was prominently seated.

To Sawaki's right sat Hajime, the second leader of the Takigakure ninja.

Shen Er's feelings for Taki Shinobu are somewhat complicated.

Takigakure was his first stop after he traveled to this ninja world, where he stayed for ten years.

If the village leadership hadn't been so corrupt and their starting point so low, he might have stayed there.

Now that Takigakure has lost Kakuzu and his two top combatants, it has become extremely weak. This Hajime, who was only a special Jonin when he left Takigakure, has now become the new leader.

Five years have passed, and Takinobu's bounty of 70 million taels of silver for him has not been cancelled.

That's really quite a lot of perseverance.

Is the Earthly Grudge and the Demon Realm really that important to them?

The First Tsuchikage, Ishigawa, said in an unfriendly tone: "Hokage, you have quite the nerve, making us all wait for you."

Of all the villages present, Iwagakure and Konoha probably have the worst relationship.

The reason for this is...

About seven or eight years ago, before Madara Uchiha left Konoha.

At that time, Mu was on a diplomatic mission to Konoha with his disciple Onoki, but they unfortunately ran into Madara Uchiha. They were supposed to discuss an alliance between Iwagakure and Konoha, but Madara ruthlessly rejected them with the words "The weak are only fit to submit," refusing to even let them into Konoha's gates and severely injuring both of them.

Ishigawa's grandson, Onoki, became withdrawn for a long time because of this.

It's understandable that the people of Iwagakure, having come with such sincerity to seek an alliance, would harbor deep resentment towards Konoha, their love turning to hatred.

Hashirama was aware of this old grudge, so he adopted a humble attitude and smiled as he cleaned up Madara Uchiha's mess: "Sorry, sorry, I'm late."

After everyone was seated, Hashirama looked around, his eyes slightly reddening. "I am truly grateful that representatives from all the villages in the ninja world have gathered here today for the Five Kage Summit!"

boom.

Hashirama slammed his head directly onto the table.

This act of treating negotiations like a child's game left me speechless, even though I had expected it: "Hokage, you represent Konoha of the Land of Fire. You cannot bow down to others so easily."

"But I was just so touched..."

The First Raikage, A, crossed his arms and spoke with a cold expression:

"Hokage, raise your head. This is not the demeanor of a village's Kage. We are here to discuss matters. The recent disappearances of tailed beasts across the ninja world—are you responsible?"

Hashirama Senju straightened up and replied calmly:

"I did it."

"Shen'er, please explain on behalf of everyone here." Hashirama introduced to the crowd: "This is an elder of Konoha, Zen-in Shen'er."

"Elder? Not that wretched fellow Tobirama Senju?"

"That's interesting."

The murmurs had barely begun when Shen Er took out the prepared documents and slowly began to speak, revealing his long-planned distribution of the tailed beasts:

"The Hokage captured the nine tailed beasts with the intention of peace."

"Each village will receive a quota of one Tailed Beast, which will be transferred uniformly by Konoha. Each Tailed Beast will be priced at 500 million ryo. Those who cannot pay in full at once can make a down payment, pay in installments, or use their property or resources as collateral..."

"The following is the assignment list..."

As Shenrōn announced the corresponding tailed beasts for each village, a variety of reactions were displayed in the venue.

The Wind Shadow and Earth Shadow had gloomy expressions, while the Water Shadow and Thunder Shadow seemed to be deep in thought.

The leaders of small villages like Yinying, Caoying, and Longying were overjoyed, never expecting that they would also receive the power of a tailed beast to protect their village.

As expected, as soon as the list was released, Fengying Liedou expressed his dissatisfaction:

"I disagree!"

"The One-Tailed Shukaku has been guarded by the monks of the ancient temples of my Land of Wind since ancient times. Now it has been forcibly taken away by Konoha and sold to Kirigakure. They even want us to buy Isobu from the Land of Water. What does this mean?"

The First Raikage followed up, "So, the Nine-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Two-Tails have all been active within the Land of Lightning. Not only did Konoha take the Nine-Tails, but now they're going to sell the Eight-Tails to us?"

"..."

"Gentlemen."

Shen'er said calmly, "You need to understand one thing: if the Hokage of Konoha hadn't used Wood Release to subdue these tailed beasts for you, how many ninja lives would your village have had to sacrifice to accomplish this?"

He looked at the First Kazekage: "Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast of the Land of Wind, is guarded by monks, but it has repeatedly broken out of the temple and wreaked havoc in the desert."

"The same goes for the Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails of the Land of Lightning. A few years ago, the Hidden Cloud Village also tried to capture the Nine-Tails, but didn't they suffer heavy casualties and return empty-handed?"

"The purpose of distributing the Tailed Beasts was to balance the power of the villages and to curb the war to the greatest extent possible. If you insist on not purchasing them for 500 million ryo... Konoha is not incapable of monopolizing all the Tailed Beasts. At the very least, we can simply release them back into the ninja world to wreak havoc."

"In the end, 500 million taels is not expensive. Konoha came with sincerity."

"As for why the Three-Tails was assigned to Sunagakure and the One-Tails to Kirigakure, the reason is quite simple..."

"Isobu is the tailed beast of water, and is most skilled in water-style techniques. It can greatly solve the water shortage problem in Sunagakure and improve people's livelihoods. Shukaku is the tailed beast of sand, and the sand it gathers can solve the problem of land scarcity in Kirigakure."

"This allocation resolves the dilemma; what's the problem?"

These words.

Everyone present was stunned.

Lie Dou and Bai Lian began to consider the rationale behind Shen Er's words.

Ray Shadow Ai came to his senses.

Training ninjas requires a great deal of time and money, especially training excellent ninjas. And these ninjas' lives are so fragile in the battles to capture the tailed beasts.

All things considered, exchanging 500 million taels for a stable and controllable eight-tailed beast is indeed a worthwhile deal.

He pressed on in a deep voice, "Then why distribute the Tailed Beasts to smaller ninja villages?"

"We in Kumogakure can pay for two or even three tailed beasts in one go!"

These words were spoken.

The leaders of the Grass Ninja and Hot Spring Ninja became timid and hesitant again. As opportunists, they simply did not have the courage to compete with a great ninja village like the Hidden Cloud Village.

Shen Er calmly said, "Since it's about balance, the most important thing is fairness."

"The peace that the Hokage pursues is not just peace between the five great nations, but peace throughout the entire ninja world. Small ninja villages are weak and vulnerable to invasion. Only by having tailed beasts to protect them can true peace be secured."

Yin Yingzemu's eyes welled up with tears as he listened.

For a small country like theirs, the greatest desire is to be respected. Hashirama and Jinji undoubtedly showed them ample respect. He couldn't believe that a small ninja village, established less than six months ago and with only 50 people, could receive such respect.

Ai pondered for a moment, then said no more.

Nine-Tails is difficult to control, Eight-Tails is powerful enough, and Two-Tails is relatively weak. This result is acceptable. We won!

Mizukage Byakuren secretly calculated: Kirigakure is located in an island nation. Although they didn't get the Three-Tails, Shukaku's sand control ability could be used to help the village reclaim land from the sea. No matter how you look at it, it's a win-win situation. Kirigakure has won!

Even assuming Konoha were to sell them a second tailed beast, Kirigakure's finances would likely be unable to afford it.

As for the Three-Tails in the hands of Sunagakure...

Let's wait until Fog Shadow develops in the future, then find another way to take it back.

Anyway, Kirigakure is far from the ninja world mainland, so there's no need to worry about other ninja villages attacking their homeland.

Tsuchikage Ishigawa remained silent, as receiving only one Five-Tails was far from enough for him. His gaze swept over the leaders of the Oto, Kusanagi, Taki, and Yu countries, and he had already begun to plan his future schemes to seize the Tailed Beasts.

Distributing the tailed beasts to these small countries will make it easier for him to steal them later. He can feign agreement to lull everyone into a false sense of security, and then steal the tailed beasts in the future. Iwagakure will still win!

Only the First Kazekage, Retsuto, was still somewhat unwilling: "But we Sunagakure already have tailed beasts, and now we have to spend money to buy them."

"Sunagakure isn't actually at a disadvantage..."

Shen Er was about to explain the advantages and disadvantages.

Hashirama immediately stepped in to smooth things over: "If all else fails, Konoha can send professional ninjas to guide Sunagakure in sealing and taming the Three-Tails, and the price will be reduced by 30%."

Ultimately, he couldn't go against his own conscience.

Sorry, I really thought I picked it up from the roadside.

Shen Er: "?"

We were just about to negotiate, why did the Hokage surrender first?

Shen Er's explanation and Hashirama's sincerity finally moved Retsuto, who said, "These are words you said yourself, Hokage."

Sunagakure has its own sealing techniques, so it doesn't need Konoha to send anyone to help seal the Three-Tails.