On the first day of negotiations, things ended on a sour note.
Hanzō (of the Salamander) refused to accept the idea of turning down all mission requests involving the Land of Rivers, saying that doing so would cause significant losses for Amegakure, which in his view would require additional compensation. He demanded money, resources—the lion's share, in fact, more than anyone could agree to.
The Fourth Kazekage was noncommittal, hardly saying a word. He also declined the various benefits the Third Hokage dangled before him. Everyone knew that once the Land of Rivers was stabilized, the Land of Fire would reap most of the gains. So Amegakure applied pressure, and Sunagakure withheld cooperation. By the end of that first day, the atmosphere had become tense, and the session broke up in a hurry.
At midday, at the hot springs inn, Ebizō of Sunagakure—someone Link had met briefly before—came looking for them.
"Our demands are simple. Return the Jinchūriki, hand over Sasori's puppets to us, and allow us to meet with Baki," he stated.
"No, that's impossible," the Third Hokage refused flatly. He might be kind, but he wasn't foolish. Ostensibly, the talks involved three allied nations. Amegakure was too chaotic internally to reap many benefits, while Sunagakure had just surrendered and lacked the capacity for significant resistance. Although they called it a Three-Nation Summit, practically speaking it was the Land of Fire's plan to pacify the Land of Rivers, then share small perks with its two "junior allies" to keep them from causing trouble.
Yet now, Ebizō demanded the Jinchūriki, a batch of priceless puppets, and even an audience with the dead Baki—which would require Konoha's secret jutsu (i.e., Link's necromancy-like summoning). There was no way to agree to any of that.
Ebizō scowled but proceeded like he was "squeezing toothpaste," proposing various items in small increments—money, jutsu, gold dust, intelligence. Those were the only bargaining chips Sunagakure really had.
Everyone already knew that the Fourth Kazekage's new technique to refine gold dust for money was nothing novel—this was standard intel in the ninja world. When Ebizō was younger, he'd been a top spy for Sunagakure. Even in old age he held vast intelligence, some of which was beyond mere monetary value—just right for negotiating the return of a Jinchūriki.
For quite some time, two old men went back and forth. Finally they reached a deal:
A quantity of gold dust + partial information sharing, plus paying part of the sum still owed from the "Konoha Crush" surrender agreement in advance, in return for Gaara (the Jinchūriki) going back. And this time at the Three-Nation Summit, Sunagakure would side with Konoha's position.
Then the Third Hokage turned to Link, who stood off to the side. "As for the puppets, they're Link's spoils of war. If you want to purchase them, you'll have to talk to him directly."
He made no mention of letting them see Baki.
"What are your terms?" Ebizō asked calmly. Even after all this haggling, his face remained composed.
"Money or ninjutsu." Link handed him a prepared little notebook listing the different prices he'd set for each puppet, as appraised by Kankurō.
Scanning it briefly, Ebizō remarked: "We have no money for that." No kidding—the top puppet on the list, "Sasori," was priced at 350 million ryō. Even if Sunagakure pawned everything, it couldn't raise that.
They weren't trying to buy all the puppets, anyway; from Sunagakure's perspective, such puppets held little meaning. The village was too poor to afford puppetry on a large scale. Its once-famous Puppet Brigade had long since died out or lost its arts. With Chiyo retired, the brigade was effectively disbanded. If they weren't so broke, their greatest puppet genius wouldn't be forced to repurpose Sasori's old works left in the village.
They'd pretty much abandoned the puppet style on a large scale. Ebizō only wanted the "Sasori" puppet and the Third Kazekage puppet; the rest they couldn't afford, repair, or use.
Link internally sighed. Just as expected, no direct payment in money. Ninjutsu, though, might still be an option. That could possibly be sold to Konoha in some form.
"We need to take back the Third Kazekage puppet," Ebizō said pointedly, pulling out a scroll. "Inside here is a selection of ninjutsu. You can pick ten of them."
Link took the scroll but passed it straight to the Third Hokage. Negotiations weren't something a "good kid" like him should be doing, and when it came to evaluating ninjutsu, who was more knowledgeable than the man widely deemed the "Professor"?
"Hmm," the Third Hokage muttered, flipping through its contents. With a casual gesture, he remarked, "Some of these jutsu were sold to us before…"
Some of Sunagakure's Wind Release techniques were ones they'd sold previously. The village already had them, and of course they'd eventually be available to Link. There was no sense in buying duplicates. So the two old men resumed their discussions. Eventually they settled on fifteen jutsu, all in the C- or D-rank category. Ebizō's scroll didn't list anything advanced, and the Third Kazekage puppet was badly damaged—Kankurō himself had no idea how to fix it. Both logically and circumstantially, it couldn't fetch a high price.
Link might as well be disposing of junk.
Next came the negotiations over the "Sasori" puppet. That one was fully intact—ready to use, and in the hands of a capable puppet master, it could easily perform at jōnin-level. There was no reason to sell it cheap. But after more back-and-forth, they couldn't agree.
Shaking his head, Ebizō said, "In that case, we'll postpone acquiring the 'Sasori' puppet for now." Chiyo was the main one who wanted it. She hadn't come to the Summit; only Ebizō accompanied the Fourth Kazekage. From Ebizō's perspective, "Sasori" was purely a sentimental matter. Tactically speaking, they had no real need to reclaim it.
He left the scroll of ninjutsu behind to be verified by the Third Hokage, then slipped the broken Third Kazekage puppet into his sleeve. "As for Baki…"
The Third Hokage said nothing, merely glanced at Link. It was clear he had no intention of deciding on that matter himself.
"You want to see Baki…" Link normally would have agreed outright. They might pay money or ninjutsu for a brief meeting, which seemed harmless enough.
Yet he felt something off. Baki himself wanted to see the Kazekage, and now Ebizō wanted to see Baki—probably to share some important intel, right?
"I want B-rank or higher ninjutsu, secret arts, or even forbidden techniques." Link announced after thinking. They probably wouldn't glean much from Baki's intel about him. If the Akatsuki wanted that knowledge, they already had more info anyway—sometimes misinformation can be more damaging.
Ebizō's brow twitched. This kid was sure asking a lot. Some time ago, the price he'd told Temari and the others seemed…well, never mind. That wasn't relevant. When the seller dictated the terms, it was pointless to argue about changing prices.
"Are you sure you want forbidden techniques?" Ebizō asked, squinting at the Third Hokage.
Pursuing ninjutsu was common among shinobi, but aiming for forbidden arts was another matter. As far as he knew, the last Konoha genius who chased after forbidden jutsu ended up an S-rank missing-nin.
Yet, all Ebizō saw on the Third Hokage's face was a serene calmness.
~~~
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