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Chapter 189 - Chapter 189: Five Years {1}

"Bastards!"

"Can't we have a proper discussion?!"

The Cloud Village negotiator slammed a palm onto the stone table, locking eyes with Kurama Asuna in a defiant standoff, looking ready to throw punches.

"If Konoha won the war and I still have to negotiate nicely with you, then what was the point of fighting?" Kurama Asuna shot back, unrelenting, her face dripping with provocation, practically screaming, "Come at me if you dare!"

"What you couldn't take on the battlefield, you think you can claim at the negotiation table?"

"Isn't that just laughable?!"

Yamanaka Ze seized the moment, jabbing at the Cloud negotiator with sharp words.

"You… you people!"

The Cloud negotiator was so furious he could barely speak, but he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

They'd lost the war—there was no leverage left. Threatening to restart the conflict would only make them a laughingstock. Everyone knew why Cloud Village had started this war. Their frontline defeat had burned through resources, leaving their nation teetering on the edge. These were facts they couldn't hide.

"Let me make this clear!" Kurama Asuna pressed, sensing the hesitation in her opponent's expression and striking while the iron was hot. "Not only will Cloud Village apologize and pay reparations for this war, but we're also claiming a thousand miles of territory north from the Snow Mountains in Frost Country—Konoha's taking it all!"

"What?!"

"You're going too far!"

"A thousand miles north? That's well into our homeland!!"

"That land is home to our people, not to mention the mineral veins!"

"I don't want your filthy villagers—round them up and get them out! I just want the veins!"

The two sides hurled insults back and forth, their "praise" for one another escalating until papers flew off the table in the heat of the argument. Sakura was certain that if the stone table—created with Earth Release—weren't so heavy, it would've been flipped by now.

This was nothing like the verbal sparring Sakura had imagined. Well, it was verbal sparring, in a way, but far from refined.

Negotiations between nations were completely different from the merchant deals Sakura had orchestrated behind the scenes. In those, whoever had the money held the power, and if someone got on your bad side, you might hire a ninja to take them out. So, merchants maintained a certain level of restraint, if only to save their own skins.

But this clash between military organizations…

No, "clash" wasn't the right word. It was more like two market aunties bickering at full volume, fearless of retaliation. Your ninja forces got crushed—what can you possibly threaten me with?

The lead negotiators, Koharu Utatane and Dodai, hadn't said a word, occasionally sipping tea, waiting for the other to break the silence. Whoever spoke first would lose the upper hand. But while they stayed quiet, their subordinates were practically at each other's throats.

Kurama Asuna, in a bold move, planted one foot on her chair and the other on the table, hands on her hips, unleashing a torrent of "affectionate" greetings aimed at the Cloud negotiators' parents. Her spit was practically drowning them. The battlefield victory gave her all the confidence she needed.

"Ahem." Koharu Utatane cleared her throat lightly, signaling for Asuka to tone it down.

Stepping on the table was a bit too much, even for the negotiation room.

Asuka casually returned to her seat, arms crossed, and spoke slowly, "I'm done wasting energy on you."

She slid a document stamped with her footprint across the table. "These are the reparations you owe us for this war. Take a look."

The Cloud negotiators' faces grew grimmer with every line they read.

The Land of Lightning and Cloud Village would have to publicly apologize for the war, pay fifty billion ryo in reparations, cede all mission shares from Frost Country, Hot Water Country, Rice Country, and nearby smaller nations to Konoha, and—most crucially—hand over Sora-ku City to Konoha's ninja forces.

Sora-ku City was a coastal hub in the Land of Lightning, its largest port and the launching point for their invasion of Frost Country. It was also one of the nation's few prosperous cities, its strategic value undeniable.

This treaty demanded reparations, territorial concessions, and a foreign military presence—everything short of total humiliation.

"This is impossible!"

"Forget the fifty billion—Sora-ku? Absolutely not!"

"And you want to station troops there?!"

The Cloud negotiator's face flushed with rage as he read the terms. Losing Sora-ku meant Konoha could strike at the Land of Lightning's heart at any moment. The city wasn't just a port; its mountainous terrain and eastern plains made it a natural fortress. A hundred ninja could hold it against thousands.

When had the Land of Lightning ever endured such disgrace?

"Our terms are clear," Yamanaka Ze said calmly. "If you want the war to continue, we can keep fighting. Don't forget, we can reach your country by sea or land."

A blatant threat.

With the Raikage dead, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki captured, and only the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki left to hold Cloud Village together, they had no strength to resist Konoha's forces.

"You!" The Cloud negotiator was livid but desperate, his gaze shifting to Dodai.

Zetsu, deep within, remained unruffled. It was time to speak—the consequence of defeat. But to maintain Dodai's persona, he'd fight for Cloud's interests as best he could.

"Fifty billion is too much. Ten billion," Zetsu began, speaking as Dodai. "Sora-ku is non-negotiable. You can have the mission shares."

Compared to the money and the city, mission shares were a small price to pay—Cloud could always squeeze funds from the daimyo later. Limiting their ninjas' operational range was the real cost, but Zetsu understood the priorities.

His opening offer slashed two-thirds of the demands, earning admiring glances from the Cloud negotiators. As expected of Lord Dodai—ruthless bargaining.

Yamanaka Ze and Kurama Asuna turned to Koharu Utatane. Once "Dodai" spoke, their role was done. Now it was Koharu and Dodai's time to face off.

"War is like this," Koharu finally said. "Fighting and killing, life and death—conflicts between nations inevitably become battles between ninja. When one side can no longer hold out, the loser faces a price they cannot bear."

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