Chapter 84: The Incomplete Shinobi Alliance and the Ultimatum
Three days later, Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
Ōnoki sat behind his wide office desk, holding the urgent state letter from Konoha.
The state letter was written by the Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi himself. The tone was earnest, essentially saying, 'Akatsuki is the public enemy of the Ninja World, possessing the power to subvert order. I hope the Tsuchikage will prioritize the big picture and join us in executing this evil.'
"The big picture? Hehe."
Ōnoki let out a sneer and casually tossed the invaluable state letter aside.
He moved his body slightly, and a sharp, sour pain immediately shot through his lower back—a gift from being outmaneuvered by that'Space-Time brat' a few days ago.
"Father, how should we respond to Konoha?"
Kitsuchi, who had returned to normal by now, stood to the side. Seeing his father's disdainful expression, he hesitated slightly. "That organization is indeed dangerous. If left unchecked..."
"Check them? With what?"
Ōnoki glared at his son. "I just signed 'non-aggression' and 'labor dispatch' contracts with that star of calamity, and you want me to turn around and ally with Konoha? Do you think Iwagakure's credibility is toilet paper?"
Of course, to Ōnoki, credibility really was about as valuable as toilet paper.
The real reason was simple—interest.
"Kitsuchi, you must remember." Ōnoki narrowed his eyes, a cunning glint flashing in his cloudy old eyes. "The Akatsuki is a blade right now. Since this blade can cut us, it can naturally stab others as well."
"Now Konoha and Sunagakure are anxious, which means they are hurting. When they hurt, Iwagakure's opportunity arrives."
Ōnoki picked up a brush and wrote a response on a blank scroll with flourishing strokes.
The content was the height of perfunctoriness:
*"I express my deepest sympathies for your village's plight. However, Iwagakure suffered heavy casualties in the last war and is currently in a critical period of post-war reconstruction; we truly have the heart but not the strength. We support you spiritually. Keep it up."*
"Send this back." Ōnoki blew on the ink, a cold smile curling on his lips. "Let them fight like dogs. The time for Iwagakure to reap the benefits is when Akatsuki and the Fire-Wind Alliance have both fought to a standstill."
...Konoha Village.
Slap!
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed Iwagakure's reply onto the desk. His face, usually smiling, was now flushed with rage.
"That old fox! That old bastard who won't release the hawk until he sees the rabbit!"
The Third Hokage's beard trembled with anger. Post-war reconstruction? He was just massing an army at the Land of Rain border a few days ago, and now he's reconstructing?
But that wasn't even the worst news.
"Hokage-sama." An Anbu knelt on one knee, his voice trembling. "Regarding the Hidden Cloud Village... the Fourth Raikage didn't even look at our letter. He kicked the messenger out directly, saying if we want to stop the war, we should bring resources to trade instead of making up nonsense excuses."
"What about the Hidden Mist Village?"
"The Hidden Mist... has completely sealed their borders. Our messenger couldn't even enter the Land of Water's territorial waters before being blocked by an unknown barrier."
A dead end.
The so-called "Five Great Nations Anti-Demon Alliance" was declared bankrupt before it even began.
In the meeting room, the two Advisors, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado, had ashen faces.
"Hiruzen, what do we do now?" Danzo asked with a grim face.
"Since we can't pull in allies, we will use righteousness to crush them."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spread out a document he had already prepared. "This is the 'Ultimatum' we will issue jointly with the Land of Wind. In the name of the Five Great Nations, we will designate the Akatsuki as an 'illegal terrorist organization.'"
"We will isolate Amegakure legally. We give them three days to disarm, unconditionally open their entire territory for the Alliance to search, and hand over S-Rank Rogue Ninjas like Orochimaru and Sasori."
Danzo frowned. "Why would they listen?"
"It's better if they don't." Hiruzen Sarutobi coldly tapped his pipe, the falling sparks burning a black spot into the desk. "Then we will have a legitimate reason to launch a 'just war' and trample Amegakure!"
...Land of Rain, Amegakure border.
Two special envoys dressed in the formal attire of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind stood haughtily before the checkpoint.
Even facing the cold stares of dozens of Rain Ninjas, they maintained the damnable arrogance of envoys from great nations. In their eyes, a small nation was just a small nation; faced with the combined pressure of two great nations, they had no choice but to kneel and beg for mercy.
"Deliver this Ultimatum to your leader immediately!"
The Konoha envoy tossed the scroll, bearing the seals of the Hokage and Kazekage, at the Rain Ninja captain's feet like a piece of trash.
"Tell Hanzou that if he does not comply within three days, the Fire-Wind Alliance will trample Amegakure until not a blade of grass remains!"
The Rain Ninja captain stared deathly at the scroll on the ground, his hand gripping a Kunai so hard it trembled.
"Take it to the tower." The captain squeezed these words out through gritted teeth... Amegakure Center, Rain Shadow Tower.
The scroll representing the Ultimatum of the two great nations was now spread out in the center of the table.
"Hand over the criminals?"
Kakuzu's green eyes scanned the terms on the scroll, and he let out a disdainful snort that reeked of money. "Orochimaru's head is worth fifty million on the black market, and that Sasori kid is worth thirty-five million... Is Konoha planning to use a scrap of waste paper to get my money for free?"
"Hehehe..."
Orochimaru extended his long tongue, licking his pale lips, his eyes fixed playfully on the'search entire territory' column. "They want to search my laboratory? Sarutobi-sensei really is getting more naive as he gets older."
BANG!!
A loud crash.
A steel tail stinger flashing with cold light instantly pierced through the hard stone table and buried itself deep into the floor.
Sasori of the Red Sand, hidden within hiruko, suppressed an impending explosion of rage in his raspy, low voice: "That dead old hag... she wants the Third Kazekage Puppet back? And she wants me to bind my own hands and go to Sunagakure to plead for forgiveness?"
Killing Intent.
Substantial Killing Intent surged wildly within the meeting room, making the surrounding candlelight flicker precariously.
"So scary~"
In the corner, the figure wearing the orange spiral mask exaggeratedly clutched his head, his body twisting like a noodle. "Sasori-Senior is angry! He's going to kill someone! Tobi is so scared!"
Though his mouth shouted fear, beneath that single eye lay a deep sense of mockery.
He wanted to see how that arrogant Yahiko would handle this inevitable 'diplomatic dead end'.
Would he sell out his subordinates to preserve his strength, causing his people's hearts to scatter from then on?
Or would he lead this group of lunatics to head-on clash with the two great nations, only to be crushed to pieces?
Either way, it would be purely beneficial for him to regain control of the Akatsuki.
Yahiko, who had been sitting in the main seat with his eyes closed to rest, slowly opened them.
Yahiko reached out, his two slender fingers picking up the Ultimatum that the two great nations regarded as'sacred and inviolable'.
"Look at these terms."
Yahiko casually waved the scroll, his tone as contemptuous as if he were reading an expired supermarket flyer. "Disarm, open borders, hand over members, cut off trade..."
"This is the so-called face of great nations. When they want to devour you, they start talking to you about law and morality."
Under everyone's shocked gazes, the state letter representing the highest authority of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind was instantly ignited by the oil lamp.
"Since we can't reach an agreement, then let's not talk."
Yahiko said as he watched the burning ashes drift onto the table.
"Fighting is definitely going to happen. But rushing in like a brute to kill people is the inferior way, too low-class."
"Since they want to use 'righteousness' to pressure people and use 'rules' to play us to death," Yahiko stood up, his black robe with red clouds fluttering even without wind, "then we will just buy their 'righteousness' ourselves."
The crowd in the meeting room gradually dispersed, and then Yahiko summoned Maeda.
As the subordinate who had followed Yahiko the longest, he knew his leader's methods all too well. Killing? That was the most basic method. What the leader was best at was destroying the heart—dragging those high-and-mighty figures into the mire and letting them suffocate in despair.
"Maeda."
Yahiko stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, his back to him.
"Your subordinate is here."
"Go and activate that plan." Yahiko's voice was calm, yet more piercing than the thunder outside. "Before their great army officially sets out, set their backyard on fire first."
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