Chapter 279 : The war is over, but undercurrents are surging
Having dealt with that side, Naraku carried Hozuki Mangetsu with one hand, held his sword in the other, and led Akari and Shizuku towards Kakashi.
Upon arrival, he found that Kakashi had also finished his battle and was clearing the battlefield with other Uchiha Ninja.
Tied to a tree with steel wire was a girl with long reddish-brown hair, seemingly around Kana's age, and quite pretty.
"Why does she look familiar?"
Naraku casually tossed Hozuki Mangetsu aside and carefully scrutinized the girl.
Stared at by such deep, still, emotionless eyes, the girl instantly felt a chill run down her spine.
"This guy's eyes… they're like a dead person's…!"
"Is he even normal?"
No matter how handsome the face in front of her was, she had no desire to continue meeting his gaze, and she shouted, putting on a brave front.
"Hey, you little brat, what are you staring at! Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman?"
"I'm telling you, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're handsome!"
"If you have the guts, just finish me off! Don't stand there trying to scare me!"
The surrounding Uchiha Ninja reflexively looked up, glaring at the girl with various thoughts.
"How dare she curse our Uchiha genius?"
"We should have knocked her out earlier!"
"Will Naraku-senpai be angry that we didn't do a good job…?"
"Let's cut out her tongue."
Naraku didn't care about her rude attitude; after all, she was a prisoner. What was wrong with a few curses? Besides, daring to curse while captured showed courage.
He carefully recalled the lingering impressions of the Ninja World in his mind, then compared them with her appearance and age, and suddenly realized.
"Oh, isn't this Terumī Mei?"
"So, she was the captain of the other small squad."
"Does this count as achieving the feat of the Sixth Hokage KOing the Fifth Mizukage?"
"Well, this is great. Terumī Mei probably won't consider Kakashi as a potential partner after this."
"By the way, Momochi Zabuza should be the same age as Kakashi, so why haven't they met yet…?"
Just as Naraku was lost in thought and silent, Kakashi walked over with an unpleasant expression, pulled out a Kunai, and aimed it at Terumī Mei's mouth.
"Just in case, I'll pry out your molars…"
"Hey, I don't have poison! If I did, wouldn't I have swallowed it by now?!"
"You can't trust anything Hidden Mist says."
"Hatake Kakashi, you &*@#—"
Naraku quickly stopped the sharp blade that was about to be inserted into Terumī Mei's mouth: "Alright, Kakashi, let's not trouble the strategist."
Naraku held Kakashi's hand, letting him put the Kunai back into his pouch, and pulled him aside, still wondering in his heart.
"Why is Kakashi so ill-tempered today? Did he eat firecrackers before coming?"
"He's even willing to lay hands on Terumī Mei's beautiful face. Truly worthy of his future reputation as being single for forty years."
"Isn't it for inspection?"
Kakashi didn't even notice the faint sourness emanating from him, and grumbled reluctantly: "Then why were you staring at her for so long?"
"I was thinking…" Naraku found an excuse in half a second, "Could she be from the Uzumaki Clan, like Sister Kana and Sister Kushina…?"
Hearing this, Kakashi's brow relaxed, and after careful thought, he replied: "Probably not. Her Bloodline Limit is Lava Release and Boil Release…"
Terumī Mei, tied to the tree, secretly exhaled a breath, looking at Naraku, who was exchanging information with Kakashi not far away, and suddenly felt that this brat had a bit of a living person's demeanor again.
"What the heck, how strange…"
With Hozuki Mangetsu and Terumī Mei, two important hostages, captured by Konoha, Hidden Mist lost face and completely settled down.
They stopped stealing intelligence and plundering supplies, focusing on being law-abiding.
After a period of bargaining and back-and-forth, Konoha and Hidden Mist finally reached a truce agreement.
According to the terms, Hidden Mist had to pay a large sum in war reparations and compensation. If they wanted to exchange for Terumī Mei and Hozuki Mangetsu, an additional fee would be required.
Hidden Mist was already suffering from a scarcity of new generation Ninja due to the "Blood Mist Policy," and these two were among their best. After careful consideration, the Third Mizukage decided to exchange for their return.
As for where this money would come from, that would depend on Sunagakure.
About a month ago, Iwagakure had already realized that continuing to fight Konoha would yield no benefits.
So, Ōnoki turned his attention to Sunagakure, which was still recuperating, and large numbers of Ninja gathered at the border, eager for action.
The two Villages were bound to clash sooner or later.
If Sunagakure did not want to be exploited by Hidden Mist and attacked from both sides while fighting Iwagakure, they could only pay to secure a temporary ally.
However, these matters were no longer Konoha's concern.
Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen eagerly announced to the Village that Konoha and Hidden Mist had ceased hostilities, and then continued to negotiate with Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Through his unremitting efforts, the remaining two Ninja Villages also agreed to sign a truce agreement—at the cost of a moderate reduction in war reparations and the cession of mission quotas.
Thus, as Konoha Year 50 was about to enter summer, the Third Great Ninja War was declared over.
Konoha's Ninja fighting abroad gradually withdrew, wartime organization was abolished, and order slowly began to return to its pre-war state.
Smiles gradually returned to the faces of the Konoha people. Everyone no longer had to live in constant fear, nor would they constantly hear news of friends and family dying on the battlefield.
However, those sleeping in the Cemetery would never wake up again.
Hiruzen Sarutobi held a grand memorial service to honor every hero who had sacrificed for Konoha, and their names were engraved on the memorial stone.
Yet, as he was basking in the glory of his achievements, he was unaware that Tsunade had already teamed up with Jiraiya to gather several major Ninja Clans and announce a major piece of news.
"Lady Tsunade, is what you're saying true!?"
Hyūga Terumori could hardly believe it.
Back then, when Sunagakure invaded the Land of Fire and aimed for Konoha, the Village was on the brink of collapse and had to pay a heavy price at Mount Kikyo to successfully repel them… Now Tsunade was saying that this battle was very likely not supposed to happen?
The fundamental reason it turned out that way was because the Elder Council had temporarily transferred a large number of Anbu personnel from the western defense line?
"Does Hokage-sama know about this?"
Fugaku, who was drinking tea nearby, rolled his eyes at Hyūga Terumori: "Hyūga Clan Head, do you think mere Koharu Utatane and Mitokado Homura would dare to be as arrogant as Danzō Shimura?"
Hyūga Terumori's face darkened from the retort, and a vein throbbed on his forehead.
During that battle, Hyuga Hizashi was at Mount Kikyo, fighting day and night for several days, almost not making it back!
Even if Hizashi was from the branch family, he was still his own son!
The Nara Clan Head lowered his head and silently took a sip of tea, signaling to the Yamanaka and Akimichi not to speak yet.
Sure enough, the short-tempered Inuzuka Clan Head couldn't sit still any longer and immediately burst into curses.
"Damn Hiruzen Sarutobi, he's treating us like fools! He made the mess, and he's making us and the civilian Ninja clean it up for him!?"
Fugaku sneered and continued to twist the knife.
"And what's more, to quickly achieve a truce, he didn't reduce the reparations for Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Where will the compensation for the fallen Ninja come from then?"
At this, Jiraiya could no longer sit still.
Civilian Ninja already had it tough; if the compensation after their deaths wasn't generous enough, how would their surviving families live?
"Sigh, perhaps as Tsunade said, Teacher should make way for the younger generation."
"What kind of things has he been doing all these years?"
After some thought, Jiraiya still felt he should talk to Teacher Hiruzen first, to give Konoha's Third Hokage a dignified exit.
To avoid losing face to the entire Ninja World and becoming a laughingstock for the other Villages…
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