Before Sunagakure''s negotiation team entered the fire capital, they were greeted with a completely unexpected sight. Though the path to the city was open, thousands of ninjas surrounded the path.

    While they weren''t as visible as the civilians in Fire Capital, they didn''t bother hiding their presence. As such, experienced ninjas like Yura and Arisa and sensors could feel the vast amount of ninjas in the trees around the paths.

    Even the ones who couldn''t sense them were unnerved as they felt the gazes of hundreds of bloodthirsty ninjas lock on to them! After all, though Konoha didn''t suffer much due to their attack, over a hundred people died and thousands were injured. As such, most Konoha ninjas had a friend or a relative who was injured in the attack.

    Fearing the worst, a few Suna ninjas gulped nervously, ''Don''t tell me Konoha plans to eliminate all of us as revenge for our attack...''

    Luckily, Arisa spoke softly but firmly, "Get a hold of yourself. Don''t forget that we are representing our village. Stop standing still like bloody fools and follow us."

    Led by Arisa and Yura''s brave march, the others in the negotiation team found courage and followed their two new Council Members. Either that, or they were afraid of being left behind. Until the moment they set foot in Fire Capital, the entire group was watched like hawks by the Konoha ninjas!

    The members of the negotiation team let out a sigh of relief. They were finally out of danger, or so they thought. Just like Konoha''s team, Suna''s team was welcomed as well. However, there were some differences. Instead of the Fire Daimyo and dozens of nobles and officials welcoming them, they were greeted by a single noble who was in the Fire Daimyo''s bad graces. In addition, there was no audience to cheer them.

    The noble welcomed them and led them to Daimyo''s palace. However, they were stared at hatefully once again, this time by ordinary citizens of Fire Capital who spotted them. Their looks conveyed the Land of Fire''s disappointment, disgust, anger, and myriad other emotions due to Sunagakure''s actions. The peace they enjoyed was nearly destroyed due to Sunagakure''s folly.

    Yura sighed internally, ''This must be Konoha''s play to put us on the back foot. We should have traveled here with the Wind Daimyo...''

    Suddenly, he had a realization. He thought, ''Wait! Don''t tell me this is why the Wind Daimyo refused to travel with us and left before we did. The Fire Daimyo must have conveyed him a message because Konoha couldn''t do this had he been with us.''

    Yura''s mood became heavy. Arisa had the same realization. They finally realized how stacked the odds were against them! In complete silence, the Sunagakure group traveled to the Daimyo''s palace. They hadn''t even entered it when they saw another scary sight.

    As unnerving as the gazes of thousands of Konoha ninjas were, this sight was downright horrifying! From the corner of their eyes, they noticed several chefs attending to a young man and serving him the best food Fire Capital could offer. In a Daimyo''s palace, such a sight would be considered ordinary. Unfortunately, there was nothing ordinary about that young man!

    One of the Suna ninjas involuntarily muttered, "Sand Slayer..."

    Others wondered, ''Why is he here? Wasn''t that army enough?''

    A few realized, ''Don''t tell me that is the same army Konoha used to attack Kusagakure rebels and Otogakure! Why did they move to this city? What is Konoha planning?''

    While Fujin couldn''t hear their thoughts, his ears picked up the soft mutters. He thought, ''Sand Slayer, huh? Sigh, why are my enemies so much better at coming up with new monikers for me than my allies who are supposed to be some of the smartest people on this planet?''

    Fujin let out a sigh, making the chef next to him very worried. He nervously asked, "Is the soup not to your liking?"

    The Wind Daimyo replied, "Perhaps. Or they could have been intimidated by the two of you."

    Koharu shook her head and said, "No, we would have seen their intentions easily if they had any such plans and dropped them due to our presence. I can say for certain that they didn''t plan on eliminating the two of you. Or at least, this group isn''t responsible for or aware of it."

    Homura added, "Besides, I doubt the two of us could stop suicidal attacks from over 20 ninjas by ourselves. On the contrary, they would have attempted to drag us along with themselves."

    The Fire Daimyo chuckled and guessed, "Maybe our young hero deterred them outside. We should be thankful that he agreed to stay in the palace and look after us old folks."

    Koharu''s eye twitched as she thought, ''If he had his way, then even the two of us wouldn''t have been in this room. You two would have served as the perfect baits for Suna''s doom!''

    Homura calmly said, "While he definitely would have made an impact on them, it wouldn''t matter. Whoever tries to kill you, will do so without any expectations of making it back alive. As I just said, it would be a suicide mission and Sunagakure would declare them rogue ninjas. So, you can relax."

    The Wind Daimyo breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "That''s a relief. You have it easier here. Do you know how dangerous my position is in the Land of Wind?"

    The Fire Daimyo was left speechless at how his fellow Daimyo complained. He could only say awkwardly, "Well, you''re welcome to stay here for as long as you want."

    Without a hint of shame or hesitation, the Wind Daimyo replied, "I''ll take you up on that offer then."

    [A/N: Next chapter in a few hours.]

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