At the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, the Konoha forces had set up camp. The arrival of a squad of several dozen Root members instantly drew everyone's attention.
Inside the command tent, Tsunade lounged lazily in her chair, her expression tinged with irritation as she looked at the unwelcome visitor who had interrupted her moment of relaxation.
"What the hell are you doing here, old man? I didn't receive any orders about you."
Even though Danzo had helped her a few times the previous year, Tsunade still couldn't find any goodwill toward him when she thought about the things he had done in the past.
Danzo ignored her remark and seated himself on a stool nearby, his tone indifferent.
"There won't be any orders. In a few days, you might even receive instructions to arrest me and bring me back to Konoha."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. Interest flickered in her golden eyes.
"Oh? Did you have a falling-out with Sensei? Or are you planning to defect from Konoha?"
Danzo glanced at her smug expression and felt a wave of irritation. He could hear the amusement in her voice, as if she were gloating,
So, you finally got what was coming to you.
Suppressing his frustration, he replied coolly, "You should already be aware of the situation at the Fire Country border."
Tsunade nodded. "Root handled it well. The daimyo of the Land of Rivers could use a wake-up call too."
She had only received the reports afterward—learning that while Konoha was engaged in peace talks, Sunagakure's forces had disguised themselves as bandits and raided villages at the Fire Country border. Given the circumstances, she was quite satisfied with how Root had handled the matter.
"You didn't fall out with Sensei over this, did you?" she asked.
Danzo remained silent.
"No way… you actually did?" A grin spread across Tsunade's face. She didn't even bother to hide her schadenfreude.
Danzo was already regretting coming to the Land of Rivers. His face darkened. He didn't want to waste any more words with her.
"You owe me a life."
—
Three days later, at the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, Konoha and Sunagakure were preparing to restart peace talks.
Before departure, Nara Moriki, the lead negotiator for Konoha, glanced at Tsunade, who was now fully geared up.
"Lady Tsunade, you're going in person this time?"
For all the time he had been in charge of these negotiations, Tsunade had never interfered before.
"I heard that Lord Kazekage will be attending as well. Naturally, I should go," Tsunade said casually.
Moriki hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Danzo, who stood beside her.
"His strength is decent. Bringing him along adds weight to our side and might help intimidate the opposition," Tsunade said with a slight frown, clearly not pleased, but still offering an explanation out of respect for the Nara clan.
"Understood, Lady Tsunade," Moriki said, dropping the matter and going to make the final preparations.
—
At the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, a simple tent had been set up for negotiations. Five Konoha shinobi and five Sunagakure shinobi stood guard around the area. Just five kilometers away, the armies of both sides remained stationed as a precaution.
"Danzo, you've aged quite a bit. I heard you nearly died in the Land of Water," Chiyo remarked mockingly, her voice dripping with schadenfreude. Even Tsunade couldn't help but frown at the taunt.
"I heard your grandson defected. Congratulations," Danzo retorted indifferently as he took a seat, his gaze sweeping over the Sunagakure representatives.
Apart from the Kazekage, Rasa, and Chiyo, another kunoichi stood behind them. She was strikingly beautiful, and her chakra levels were only slightly lower than Rasa's.
Slim figure. Not bad.
Chiyo's expression darkened instantly. As for the murderous glare she shot at him, Danzo ignored it entirely.
"Let's begin," Nara Moriki interjected, attempting to smooth over the tension.
Internally, he sighed. Previous negotiations with Chiyo had always been difficult, but at least they had maintained a semblance of civility. Today, however, things had escalated from the very start.
And it was clear this round of negotiations would not go as smoothly as before.
As always, Moriki and Chiyo led the discussions, while Tsunade, Danzo, and Rasa remained mostly silent, observing from the sidelines.
Most points had been settled, but one major issue remained—
Sunagakure demanded that Konoha withdraw its forces from the Land of Rivers, relinquish any claim to the territory, and cease military operations in the region, allowing the Land of Rivers to act as a neutral buffer zone between their nations. Only under these conditions would Sunagakure agree to retreat and sign a peace treaty.
Neither side was willing to back down on this matter.
In Danzo's view, this was nothing more than a consequence of the Third Hokage's previous concessions to Iwagakure.
Konoha had emerged victorious in the war, yet it had gained nothing. Instead, even Sunagakure—who had lost—was now trying to take advantage of Konoha's weak stance.
What irritated Danzo even more was Moriki's attitude. As a Nara, he was undoubtedly intelligent enough to understand the situation.
But it was likely that the Third Hokage's stance had influenced him.
"Enough."
Danzo stepped forward abruptly, cutting off the negotiations.
"Looks like the village was right to send me. Sunagakure never had any intention of negotiating in good faith. You're just using these so-called peace talks to stall for time. Let me make this clear—if you want war, then we'll give you war."
He turned to Tsunade. "Let's go."
Without waiting for a response, he spun on his heel and strode out of the tent.
Tsunade, after a brief pause, stood up and followed him. She didn't know what had triggered his sudden outburst, but she wasn't particularly inclined to argue.
Seeing them leave, Moriki hesitated for only a moment before quickly following suit.
Inside the tent, the expressions of the three Sunagakure representatives were all different—but none of them looked pleased.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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