"lady arisa, lord yura, i checked the rooms. there aren''t any seals keeping a tab on us." the sealmaster in sunagakure''s group reported.

    after leaving the daimyo''s palace, they were led to the second-best hotel in fire capital and settled there. needless to say, they wouldn''t blindly trust konoha''s arrangements and immediately inspected the place for traps and seals. while sunagakure didn''t dare to send a fuinjutsu grandmaster on this dangerous mission, they could spare a sealmaster, who did most of the work.

    however, arisa shook her head and said, "good work, but it''s hopeless. ask everyone to act as if we''re being kept watched at all times."

    the sealmaster frowned and asked, "what do you mean?"

    realizing she had hurt his pride, arisa explained, "it''s not your fault. it''s due to the reports we received from kumogakure. their grandmaster failed to detect a trap set for their army and kumogakure believes that suzuki fujin had a hand in that trap."

    yura added, "we aren''t sure how accurate the reports are, but if true, then even our grandmasters could miss seals planted by konoha."

    the sealmaster was shocked. he asked, "then, what do we do? how can we deal with someone who can fool grandmasters?"

    arisa replied, "that''s why i said what i did. call everyone. we need to have a meeting. konoha put up an excellent show today. i have to admit, i wouldn''t have thought of so many tactics to apply pressure on our opponent. they have already entered our minds.

    we need to make sure that we don''t get affected by it and negotiate as if we aren''t in any danger. after all, it''s not like we can do anything if they decide to kill us. the sand slayer alone can kill us silently if he wants to. so, we might as well act as if we don''t care about our lives and the danger that may appear. only then can we get a good deal for our village!"

    realizing the seriousness of the situation, the sealmaster nodded and immediately left. sunagakure''s negotiation team began their first meeting in fire capital. for obvious reasons, they didn''t discuss or revise their tactics and strategies during this particular mission. instead, yura and arisa focused on the mental state of their subordinates. they worked on removing their fear and nervousness and ensured that they stayed sharp throughout the negotiations.

    ——

    "raikage-sama, the damage done to our trading routes by the hurricanes is finally fixed. however..." mabui''s expression dulled as she reported, "i''m afraid this will have a major impact on our trade.

    the hurricanes that appeared a month ago had caused extensive damage, much of which is yet to be repaired. it scared all the traders and merchants. the matter of our missing ninjas and akuro''s attack only amplified that fear. it took a lot of effort to make them start trading in our country again.

    however, these hurricanes will deter them once again. i''m afraid that nearly 80% of our trade will be impacted for a month or two. if such incidents occur again, then it could be even longer."

    ay''s mood wasn''t good. he was still being harrassed constantly by the families of the ninjas that went ''missing'' in the land of rice. his new policy regarding fujin wasn''t taken well by the ninjas either. the ones who didn''t want to see him in power or curtail his arrogance were also bringing back the issue of the previous missing ninjas and the humiliation inflicted by akuro. as a result, his time was absolutely miserable.

    "our two villages have been in an alliance since the end of the third great ninja war. during this time, no conflict broke out between us. in addition, our alliance deterred kumogakure and iwagakure from starting a new war." homura started the discussion by emotionlessly putting the facts on the table.

    he continued, "neither dared to attack you when you were vulnerable after the previous great war due to us. in addition, neither dared to attack us when we were weakened by the nine tails'' assault. in a way, our alliance ensured that the next great ninja war didn''t break out and it maintained peace in the ninja world."

    his tone became cold as he stated, "yet, you broke our alliance. you allied with a traitor and assaulted konoha. your actions destabilized the world and nearly pushed us into the next great ninja war. more importantly, nearly two hundred of our people died. and, my dear friend and our beloved hokage was gravely injured."

    without a shred of mercy or hesitation, homura asked, "give me one good reason why konoha shouldn''t dispatch our armies and wipe out sunagakure from the face of this world?"

    just like hiruzen and danzo, homura''s strength had waned with age. coupled with the fact that he was never as strong as those two, he was no longer considered a great ninja or a major threat. however, the pressure and the killing intent he released this day made all 24 sunagakure ninjas, other than yura and arisa, tremble! irrespective of whether they were chunins or jounins, their expressions became grave and their instincts forced them to raise their guard even though they knew homura wouldn''t make a move.

    even arisa and yura could feel homura''s experience in the pressure he was exerting. even though either could go toe-to-toe with him easily, they were nowhere near in terms of experience.

    the two daimyos, who had a few plans to act as mediators since neither wanted another war, were dead silent and neither dared to move a muscle. while homura''s chakra wasn''t directed at them, they were just ordinary people irrespective of their status. the pressure terrified them regardless of who it was directed at! without a word, both decided to stay quiet throughout the meeting!

    ————————————

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