Chapter 194: An Unequal Treaty?
The war had continued until the point where Konoha was finding it genuinely difficult to hold on any longer. Many of those who had been sent to the battlefield that year from the newer generation had been entrusted with important missions well beyond their experience.
With both the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist Villages now having access to medicinal resources, Konoha had honestly done extraordinarily well simply to survive this long.
Therefore, as Hokage, Hiruzen had been left with no choice but to take the initiative and send a letter to the Sand Village proposing peace negotiations and a cessation of hostilities. Like the other two villages, Konoha was seeking access to medicinal resources as part of any agreement.
Hiruzen was not foolish. Through the Fourth Kazekage’s maneuvering throughout this Great Ninja War, it had not been particularly difficult to see the Sand Village’s underlying intentions. They had been using the pharmaceutical trade to accumulate enormous financial resources while keeping their own losses manageable.
If the peace talks succeeded this time, Konoha would gain a desperately needed opportunity to breathe and recover.
The real difficulty was not the negotiations themselves. The issues that had accumulated during the war, the rumors falsely implicating Konoha in the Third Kazekage’s disappearance, the large-scale conflict at the opening of the Third Great Ninja War with the Sand Village’s invasion of the Land of Fire, the deaths of numerous Konoha clan members, all of these, viewed from the current perspective, were the unavoidable costs of war. Painful but manageable as negotiating points.
But one issue was genuinely difficult for Hiruzen to handle.
The Uchiha and Hyuga clan bloodlines that had been taken by the Sand Village. If this was not handled properly, he as Hokage would find it extremely difficult to face the representatives of those two clans. But things had reached the point they had reached, and Konoha had no choice but to make concessions in order to recover its footing.
Half a month later, on the battlefield in the Land of Rivers, Hiruzen finally met with the Fourth Kazekage who had deliberately come to this location.
These were the individuals who had played decisive roles in the first battle between Konoha and the Sand Village, killing considerable numbers of Konoha soldiers. Meanwhile, the renowned Minato had been suffering defeat after defeat against the Sand Village’s forces.
Hiruzen himself had been present on earlier battlefields, and even Blood Doctor Yuji and Sasori had deliberately avoided direct confrontation with him at that time.
But now Akasuna no Sasori had fought Hiruzen on the battlefield to what could genuinely be called an even exchange. And considering the entirety of the Third Great Ninja War, the death of the Third Raikage had shaken the ninja world like a thunderclap. When people throughout the current ninja world heard the name of the Sand Village’s greatest figure, their first association was no longer a battlefield title but the prefix Kazekage.
Times had changed.
As the war progressed, Hiruzen had finally understood that the true commander-in-chief of the Sand Village’s army had not been Shimizu but the Fourth Kazekage himself.
Because after Yuji left the battlefield, the tactical execution and arrangements of the Sand Village army had clearly lost the fierce and innovative quality they had displayed at the beginning. One should not underestimate Konoha’s military training and battlefield experience.
In the short term, the subtle changes in the Sand Village army’s character might be difficult to identify. But through continuous analysis over time, Konoha’s leadership had naturally identified certain shortcomings and understood the positioning of key figures within the enemy structure.
In the battles that followed, the Sand Village had clearly relied more on the raw effectiveness of Sasori and Rasa as top-tier individual combatants rather than the sophisticated early tactical deployments. Hiruzen had, theoretically, always been blaming the wrong person. Although Shimizu appeared on the surface to be the Sand Village’s supreme commander, he had been the scapegoat all along.
Today, the sun shone brightly against a clear blue sky.
The forces of both Konoha and the Sand Village had gathered into square formations of several hundred men each, occupying the left and right flanks across the dividing ground between them.
On the Konoha side, the only leaders present were Hiruzen, his Jonin, and Hyuga Hizashi as the representative of the Hyuga branch family. The current head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku, Hiruzen had deliberately not brought along, precisely to avoid any confrontation with the Sand Village igniting before the talks could begin.
Across from them, the Sand Village’s soldiers stood ready in their positions. Several familiar figures walked forward at a measured pace alongside a young face.
Hiruzen narrowed his aged eyes.
This was his first direct meeting with the Fourth Kazekage.
Looking carefully, standing behind Yuji were four figures in order: Sasori, Rasa, Shimizu, and Chiyo.
Setting aside the two figures at the back, looking at Sasori and Rasa alone, and adding the Kazekage himself, the Sand Village in this era had produced three Kage-level combat forces simultaneously.
The threat posed by the enemy across from him was genuinely frightening.
"Third Hokage."
A figure in ninja attire stepped forward and stood firmly several meters before Hiruzen, relaxed in posture, greeting him with an easy smile.
"Kazekage."
Hiruzen had thought he could face this meeting with composure. But when the other party actually appeared before him, Hiruzen’s usually composed face could not help but darken, the complex weight of resentment and something resembling frustration rising in a way he could not entirely suppress. He appeared momentarily unsettled.
Konoha’s current predicament was, after all, largely the result of this young man’s actions. If the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist Villages had not received the Sand Village’s medicinal supplies, they would not have been able to overwhelm Konoha during the Battle of Kikyou Mountain and the series of engagements that followed, inflicting such devastating losses.
Finally, Hiruzen let out a quiet sigh and composed himself, rubbing his eyes briefly.
He knew that in the early days of the ninja world, Konoha and the Sand Village had been renowned allies. And now.
"Kazekage, your Sand Village’s strategy..."
"Your intention, which must have been present from very early on, was primarily to avoid damage to the village’s own resources and people. Furthermore, I have heard that the Sand Village has already begun rebuilding, which demonstrates clearly that you never intended to become deeply entangled in the battlefield.
Now, Konoha is willing to reach a ceasefire agreement with you. This would be beneficial to both our villages. Konoha would also allocate a considerable sum to purchase your medicinal supplies."
"Your objective has clearly been achieved."
Returning to his composed manner, Hiruzen began the negotiations with a serious expression.
The more Yuji listened, the more ironic he found the framing. With the war having progressed to this point, the Kage and senior officials of every village had almost all come to understand that the Sand Village had been using its medicinal resources as the central lever of its entire strategy.
But regardless of how clearly they saw it now, the situation had already become what it had become. With the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist Villages having gained significant advantages through that very leverage, none of them could easily relinquish their current battlefield positions and unite against the Sand Village. Even if every village saw through the scheme, acting on that understanding collectively was essentially impossible.
Furthermore, the villages had already exhausted most of their resources fighting each other. The Sand Village was now in the position of being the biggest winner among all parties. If they were to turn and fight the Sand Village directly, who among the other villages would be willing to be the first to charge forward?
The combined Kage-level combat power the Sand Village now possessed was enough to demonstrate clearly that it was not the weak and small village it had once been. And the four great villages, based on their various historical grievances and competing interests, found it genuinely difficult to truly trust each other enough to coordinate.
In short, how to collectively deal with the Sand Village on this matter was, for the time being, something none of them could resolve.
"You are correct," Yuji said with a smile. "But the one who benefits even more from a ceasefire is definitely Konoha."
"If, at this moment, the Sand Village were to launch a full-scale attack against Konoha..."
Hiruzen’s expression shifted and he fell silent.
"This Great Ninja War is different from the last one. In the previous war, Konoha had the ability to fight against four villages simultaneously. But this time..."
He stopped mid-sentence.
"What exactly are you implying?" Hiruzen’s tone went cold. The expressions of those standing beside him tensed visibly.
"Do not misunderstand me. I was simply making an observation."
Yuji chuckled lightly.
"I only wanted you to understand the difference between the current Leaf Village and the current Sand Village."
He continued, his tone becoming more direct.
"Whether this war ends or not is not a decision you have the right to make unilaterally. Even if I agree to a ceasefire, all matters and agreements related to it must be decided according to our Sand Village’s terms. Only then will we sell you medicine."
"If you cannot agree to that, then there is nothing further to discuss."
His attitude at this moment was completely different from when he had met Onoki and Yagura previously. There was no diplomatic softening, no careful maneuvering around the other party’s feelings. He was entirely direct and assertive.
After saying this, he reached into his clothing, pulled out a piece of paper he had prepared in advance, and held it out to Hiruzen.
"Hokage, please take a look at this first."
Hiruzen took the white paper in his hand. His heart sank as he looked at it.
The Fourth Kazekage had come fully prepared.
