"Who are you, and what do you want on Nakayama Family territory?" Ichiro asked authoritatively, taking an advantageous attack position.
"I am an authorized envoy from Konoha, and from Sarutobi Hiruzen personally," Tadao replied reservedly, maintaining neutrality. Owl had been strictly ordered to stay silent and not escalate the conflict, or all consequences would fall on him and his family.
"Fine, follow me—Father will meet with you. The rest—wait here," Ichiro ordered, causing Tadao to frown slightly.
His teammates gestured their complete displeasure at the demands, while Owl barely kept his mouth shut, burning with rage at the disrespect shown. Over years in ANBU, he was used to people trembling at the sight of white masks. He couldn't understand why the commander was still tiptoeing around these insolent mercenaries.
"Fine. I hope you realize the consequences of secret plots against an ANBU captain?" Tadao hinted threateningly, to which Ichiro nodded indifferently.
After Aburame Tadao led his men several hundred meters back from the "border" of Nakayama Family territory, Ichiro took him deeper and into Kenshin's office.
"My name is Aburame Tadao. How may I address you?" the entering guest asked, deciding not to hide his real name.
"I see. Since you've shown honesty, I'll do the same. My name is Nakayama Kenshin, and I'm glad to welcome friends from Konoha as guests," Kenshin replied courteously, and gestured to a chair.
"Your warm welcome nearly cost one of my men his life," Tadao said sarcastically, placing one of the metal stakes on the table.
"Don't exaggerate, Tadao-san. Your man is a very strong shinobi—even ten such stakes wouldn't send him to the infirmary," Kenshin replied with a soft smile, adding: "Besides, this is a fully autonomous defense form. It doesn't distinguish friends from Konoha or enemies from Amegakure..."
Hearing Amegakure, Tadao nearly flinched but didn't show it. Being no small figure in Konoha, he knew of many oddities in the Hidden Rain Village, and the mention of that dangerous place broke his focus. But after thinking for a few seconds, he concluded Kenshin had just picked that village as an example.
"My sons wouldn't be attacked for unauthorized crossing of Konoha territory, would they? Exactly," Kenshin added with a smile.
"With all due respect, Konoha is the future capital of our entire Land of Fire, while your base is just a mercenaries' haven," Tadao noted, raising an eyebrow.
"Those are just predictions... The future is unpredictable, and the Land of Fire's capital might well end up right here," Kenshin replied with a smile, taking a sip of strong coffee.
"Those predictions are based on the most probable future variant. Your claim that the capital could be in the middle of a remote forest, at a mercenaries' base—is utterly baseless. The chance is negligible, unless you're the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths," Tadao said, shaking his head, and took a sip from his glass. He noted with surprise the incredibly concentrated brew of blue sage.
"Fine, let's drop that topic. What honor has my small family earned to catch the Hokage's attention?" Kenshin asked softly, leisurely enjoying the high-class coffee drink.
"Hiruzen-sama pays attention to many things, so don't flatter yourself. I'm here to discuss your incursion into Kusagakure," Tadao said in a serious tone.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kenshin replied with a slight smile, taking another sip of hot coffee.
"Don't, Nakayama-san. At the start of our talk, you agreed to be honest," Tadao pointed out.
"Tadao-san, if I asked about your village's secrets, you'd be honest, right? You'd tell me all the details of the Uchiha clan extermination case?" Kenshin asked, narrowing his eyes slightly, causing Tadao to pause before forcing a light smile.
"Fine, Nakayama-san, let's leave that. I'm not here to judge you for your antics in Kusagakure. Others handle that, and they wouldn't be so friendly. I've come so you'd finally pledge loyalty to Konoha."
"What does 'pledge loyalty to Konoha' mean? We're an independent mercenary organization—you can't just come and demand vassalage," Kenshin replied resolutely.
"Of course we have no right to demand vassalage. We're merely offering you to pledge to Konoha and live peacefully. Nothing changes fundamentally for you—you'd just need to provide some men if war breaks out. Here, look at the contract," Tadao said with a smile, handing over a thick scroll.
Kenshin took the scroll and began reading leisurely, pondering each clause. Thanks to enhanced concentration, he had plenty of time to analyze each point thoughtfully.
"It's all rights and duties. Don't you think such a contract is out of place in honest, open negotiations?" Kenshin asked softly, taking another sip of coffee.
"What are you saying, Nakayama-san? Of course it's mutually beneficial. For example, clause 4.12 states that if attacked from outside, Konoha will immediately send a squad to your aid—depending on the threat, you might even get the Hokage himself as reinforcement!" Tadao declared enthusiastically, fully immersed in his beloved negotiations.
"Yeah, right... By the time that old geezer puts on his suit and shows up, my Nakayama Family will be in ruins after the first Kage-level enemy attack!" Kenshin thought angrily, but outwardly just smiled.
"Save those tales for other organizations. As you see, we don't need protection from jonin, and Elite jonin or Kage would wipe us out before we could send a call for help," he said, shaking his head.
"For those cases, we have a special fuin. You could send any message to Konoha and get reinforcements in the shortest time. Plus, upon pledging, your territory becomes part of our Great Village's jurisdiction, protected by law."
"Fine, we'll return to that later. What does clause 6.3 mean? Don't you think that's overreach?"
"Not at all, Nakayama-san. You just need to allocate one of your premises as a transit point for our shinobi on missions. And keep rations for four people per day. It's in your interest to have extra force on your territory for tough times," Tadao explained with a sly smile.
"A bunch of useless spies sniffing out my secrets, more like!" Kenshin thought angrily.
"All very nice, Tadao-san, but let's discuss what you're offering for our loyalty," Kenshin said, smiling no less slyly, making Tadao grimace in displeasure.