Kizaru's Send-off and Travels

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the delegation from Kumogakure, led by the ANBU ninja, entered the negotiation conference room.

In the conference room, Hiruzen, along with Danzo and several administrative ninjas responsible for recording, had already taken their seats.

"Why did the meeting have to be in the afternoon, Third Hokage?" Upon entering the conference room and before taking his seat, the Kumogakure elder asked with a courteous smile.

"Hahaha!" Hiruzen, who was preparing for a big surprise, laughed lightly and replied with profound meaning, "I have always pursued peace. In order to meet some of your demands, I had no choice but to invite the parties involved."

"The parties involved?" Upon hearing Hiruzen's response, the Kumogakure elder couldn't help but pause, a sense of unease creeping over him.

Not only Hiruzen but also the representatives of Konoha present turned to face Kumogakure delegation with a mysterious smile.

Rarely... could it be that they've called that person back?

With a sudden tightening of the heart, the Kumogakure elder began to feel uneasy.

His smile stiffened, the Kumogakure elder fumbled and slowly took his seat.

"Third Hokage, did you...?" Before the Kumogakure elder could finish his sentence, Hiruzen had already nodded with a smile.

"Third Hokage, your actions are the biggest provocation against Kumogakure!" His expression turning ugly, the Kumogakure elder forced himself to calm down and raised his voice.

With the elder's words, members of Kumogakure delegation participating in the meeting also showed expressions of anger, glaring angrily at the representatives of Konoha.

Not the sound of tables being slammed, but the sound of the conference room door being pushed open just after being closed.

Standing on the shoulders, hands in pockets, wearing sunglasses, Kizaru strode into the conference room.

"Oh ho ho! What a lively scene!" Facing everyone's gaze, Kizaru stopped in his tracks, smiling.

"Shimura Kizaru!" A Kumogakure Jonin who had participated in the battle against Kizaru during the previous battle stood up excitedly.

Angry and fearful, the Jonin stared fiercely at Kizaru, his face fierce but unable to utter harsh words.

Hearing this name, other Kumogakure ninjas also stood up one after another.

The village was attacked, hundreds of ninjas died in battle, the Raikage was captured, and the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails died in battle, losing the Tailed Beast!

The grudge between Kumogakure and Kizaru could be described as deep as the sea of blood!

"So scary!" With a playful smile on his face, Kizaru, who was collectively stared at angrily by Kumogakure ninjas, said in a contemptuous tone.

"Bastard! I'll kill you!" A young and spirited Jonin, whose brother died at the hands of Kizaru, couldn't hold back anymore.

Shouting loudly, this special Jonin ignored the attempts to stop him and rushed towards Kizaru.

Facing the charging Kumogakure ninja, Kizaru smiled slightly, raised his right hand, and extended his index finger.

A golden light burst from his fingertip, and just as Kizaru was about to act, many people at the scene screamed.

"Don't, Kizaru!"

"Stop!"

"Kizaru!"

With these shouts, two ANBU ninjas appeared in the conference room and directly subdued the Kumogakure ninja who intended to attack Kizaru.

Seeing the enemy subdued, Kizaru withdrew the golden laser from his fingertip, withdrew his right hand, and patted his chest.

"That scared me!"

Hearing Kizaru's words, whether it was the elders of Kumogakure or Hiruzen and Danzo, their faces became extremely strange.

"Who scared whom?!"

"Kizaru, come sit down!" Worried that Kizaru might cause trouble again, Hiruzen, feeling like his heart couldn't take it anymore, quickly said to Kizaru.

Smiling, Kizaru looked around, adjusted his sunglasses, and walked to the seat next to Sarutobi-sensei.

"Third Hokage, I strongly protest against your actions!" Seeing Kizaru sit down, pretending to participate in the negotiation, the Kumogakure elder made an excited gesture.

"Old man, I heard you want the Two-Tails?" Leaning back in his chair with a domineering posture, crossing his legs, Kizaru embraced Matatabi in his arms.

Watching Kizaru embrace the Two-Tails, who obediently looked like a pet cat, the elders and other members of Kumogakure fell into shock and silence.

This was a Tailed Beast! A strategic weapon of the ninja villages! Apart from Kage, there were hardly any individuals who could control such powerful monsters!

"The Two-Tails belonged to your village's First Hokage. For the peace of the ninja world, it was distributed to each ninja village!

To repay the kindness of the First Hokage, we also provided a large amount of funds. It can be said that these Tailed Beasts are symbols of the peace of that era!

And your act of seizing the Tailed Beast is a disruption of peace, a violation of the heartfelt intentions of the founder of Konoha, the First Hokage, and it undermines the order and bottom line of the ninja world!"

No face, no opponent in the world!

The Kumogakure elder, who had lived for over seventy years, deeply understood this principle. For the sake of the village's interests, before attending the negotiation, he had already thrown away his dignity.

The words of the Kumogakure elder not only made the representatives of Konoha uncomfortable but also caused several representatives of Kumogakure to lower their heads in shame.

The elder truly lived up to his title! Such words were not something an ordinary person could utter!

Hiruzen and Danzo were also disgusted by these shameless words.

Especially Danzo, his expression turned cold, and if it weren't for Hiruzen's gaze stopping him, he would have been ready to declare war with harsh words.

"What a shameless old geezer!" Hiruzen kept an eye on Danzo, but nobody was watching Kizaru on his other side.

"You want the Two-Tails, I agree!" Speaking, Kizaru, who had already discussed with Matatabi beforehand, directly placed Matatabi in his hand on the conference table before the negotiation.

"Roar!"

Suddenly increasing in size several times, Matatabi, which almost occupied the entire conference table, let out an angry roar at the shameless old fellow from Kumogakure!

Cold sweat dripped directly from his forehead. This experienced Kumogakure elder experienced the roar of a Tailed Beast for the first time at such close range.

Beside the Kumogakure elder, the Kumogakure ninjas stood up one after another, showing expressions of shock and anger, and inwardly feeling a bit scared as they protected the elder.

Knowing that he and the ninjas in his delegation were definitely no match for the Two-Tails, the Kumogakure elder could only barely maintain a calm expression. His gaze passed through the space left by Matatabi and looked at Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.

"Kizaru, don't scare our friends from Kumogakure." Seeing that the intimidation effect was almost enough, Hiruzen turned his head and smiled at Kizaru.

"Sensei, I'm just meeting their demands!" With an expression close to Hiruzen, Kizaru replied with a smile.

After speaking, Kizaru deliberately paused for a moment, then showed an expression of sudden realization and continued, "I understand now, Sensei! How about I take Matatabi to Kumogakure now and return it to them?"

"No!" Unable to hold back any longer, the Kumogakure elder completely lost his usual calmness and anxiously exclaimed.

With the Raikage currently captured, most of the people left in the village were young ninjas from Kumogakure. If these young ninjas encountered an attack from the Two-Tails, the Kumogakure elder couldn't even imagine the consequences.

If Kizaru really did as he said, then Kumogakure would have no hope of rising for at least the next fifty years.

"No, please don't! That would be really appreciated!" Hearing the old man who overheard the conversation shout "no," Kizaru smiled and continued.

"I..." Just as he was about to say he didn't want to, the Kumogakure elder, who didn't want the Tailed Beast, faced the dead stares of Kizaru and Matatabi, and could only stop with his mouth open.

His own life didn't matter, but if Kizaru really took the Two-Tails to the village, even if he died ten thousand times, he couldn't make up for the village's losses.

"Kizaru, thank the great Kumogakure elder." As a qualified politician, Hiruzen naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity and quickly added.

"Thank you so much! Kumogakure elder!" Looking at the Kumogakure elder, Kizaru smiled and expressed his gratitude.

"Hehehe! What a wise remark, Elder!" Seeing the old rogue who had been sickening people a couple of days ago, Hiruzen felt quite relieved in his heart.

Indeed, calling Kizaru back for the negotiation was his wisest decision!

"Come back, Matatabi!" Seeing the Kumogakure elder bowing his head on the matter of the Tailed Beast, Kizaru called Matatabi back.

Resizing, Matatabi turned back into a cat-sized form and hopped back onto Kizaru's thigh.

Once Matatabi shrank and left the conference table, Hiruzen resumed the negotiation.

"Cough, cough!" First clearing his throat twice to attract everyone's attention, Hiruzen began, "Since the matter of the Tailed Beast has been settled, let's continue negotiations on the ceasefire compensation."

"Gifting the Two-Tails to your village's Kizaru represents our sincerity, and I hope you can present a more sincere treaty." Knowing that it was difficult to salvage the situation regarding the Tailed Beast, the Kumogakure elder could only try to minimize the compensation the village needed to give.

Nodding, Hiruzen didn't speak directly but signaled to his assistant behind him to bring out the prepared compensation treaty documents.

Taking the documents from Konoha's staff, the Kumogakure elder carefully reviewed them.

The contents of the document were summarized as follows:

War reparations: 10 billion in funds, with 20% of missions within 5 years.

Raikage's care costs (ransom): 20 billion in cash.

Considering that Kumogakure was different from the Sand Village and still had some strength, Konoha demanded more cash and fewer mission quotas.

"Third Hokage, is this your sincerity?"

Compared to the 8 years and 25% mission quota proposed by Konoha yesterday, the Kumogakure elder found the 5 years and 20% mission quota offered today acceptable.

But the 30 billion in cash was simply too much; it was demanding the life of Kumogakure.

With so much money, Kumogakure simply couldn't afford it alone; they would have to rely on the authority and nobles of the Land of Lightning.

And once Kumogakure, due to defeat, sought aid from the Daimyo and nobles for funds...

Kumogakure's influence in the Land of Lightning would decline, and the daimyo and nobles would have more reason to meddle in the village's affairs.

Such consequences were unacceptable to both the village's leadership and the Raikage.