Chapter 287 : Guiding the Younger Generation

As soon as the Konoha ninjas left, the Nobles and the Ministers exchanged glances. Without exchanging any words, a scheme was formed in mere seconds!

Kyuroku said, "Lord Daimyo, we need to decide on the distribution of the ninjas that will be sent for training. And we also need to decide who will bear the cost of the Elemental Crystals we have to give. Since Jirochi agreed to pay Konoha out of his own pockets, I say we should let him bear the majority of the cost."

Kyuroku was immediately supported by the ministers that were bribed by him and other Nobles. After all, if Jirochi paid, it'd mean that they would have to pay less.

Jirochi was immediately put under pressure. He was disgusted by their actions. However, he stood by his morals and said, "Lord Daimyo, I'm willing to contribute to the safety of our citizens."

The Tea Daimyo nodded. He was worried about Jirochi using Konoha to increase his own influence. He said, "It won't be fair for you to pay the majority cost. However, since you were the one to put forth the proposal and offered to pay, I won't reject it. But making you pay the majority share won't be fair.

I'll contribute 25% of the funds needed for this and you do the same. The other Nobles will contribute the remaining 50% equally. As for the ninjas, we will wait for Konoha to send the details. I will allow everyone to send an equal number of ninjas. But since the Wasabi family is paying more, they will get the first choice. Does anyone have an objection to it?"

Kyuroku was surprised. He wasn't expecting Jirochi to go along with what he said. And he didn't expect the Daimyo to agree to his words. Though Jirochi only had to pay 25%, it would still be many times more than what he would pay. In addition, Jirochi only received the first preference. This implied that he would at most get to send one more ninja than the rest of the Nobles. So he received nothing despite paying more.

He was elated as he realized, 'This is a great opportunity. Since I helped the other Nobles save a lot of money, they will owe me a favor. I'll use these favors to secure control of Degarashi Port in the future! But, I'll have to be careful of Jirochi.

He could sway public opinion in his favor by spreading the fact that he contributed the most to public safety. As soon as I leave, I'll begin spreading rumors that Jirochi offered Konoha the money of this country and paid them several times what we got in return. Though not true, I'm sure every other Noble will cooperate with me. Though the Daimyo can clear his name, Jirochi would gain no benefit from spending so much money here.'

Kyuroku and the rest immediately agreed. The group discussed a bit more and left. As they left, the Daimyo looked at Kyuroku's back and thought, 'This guy is good. Having bribed so many of my ministers, he could corner Jirochi despite having much lesser influence overall.'

The Daimyo shook his head and concluded, 'Unfortunately, he is too short-sighted. The Wasabi family is backed by Konoha. They won't allow Degarashi Port to switch hands. If he truly threatens the Wasabi family's position, Konoha will eliminate him or make me take action. Oh well, until that time, I can make good use of him.'

While the officials of the Land of Tea were discussing, the Konoha's group was travelling rapidly across the country. Their next target was the Land of Noodles.

Hiruzen looked at Fujin and asked, "Fujin, what did you observe during the negotiations?"

Fujin almost replied involuntarily, 'That everyone sitting in a position of power is extremely shameless!'

Fortunately, he controlled himself and answered. "We have to work very hard to secure benefits for our citizens."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "Yes. But that's not what I am talking about. Analyze our actions and words during the meeting. Tell me why we did what we did and their consequences."

Fujin fell into thought while Homura and Choza looked at him. Both were surprised at how openly Hiruzen intended to groom Fujin.

After thinking for a while, Fujin answered, "Konoha is a lot stronger than the Land of Tea and we are the only country that has a land border with them. So we were in a position of power in this meeting. However, since our relations are very good, we couldn't be very forceful."

Fujin turned his eyes towards Homura and said, "I guess Elder Homura came along to act as the bad cop while you played the good cop to get what Konoha wants. Though I'm pretty sure that they could see through this act, just that they didn't dare to say it out loud."

Homura's eyes widened as he looked at Fujin in surprise. He was impressed with Fujin's analysis but felt that it was nothing extraordinary until he heard the last sentence. He thought, 'He could see through their acting?'

Fujin continued, "You used the opportunity provided by the unstable conditions due to the civil war and probably something that happened in the last month due to which we weren't able to accept the missions in time to get the Elemental Crystals.

Since the Daimyo agreed so easily, you should have calculated how much stock he had. As for the yearly payments, what you expected should have been under 200 each. I guess that the situation in the country is quite bad due to which the Daimyo didn't negotiate a lot. As for the tea and herbs discount, I guess you want to take advantage of safer traveling conditions to save some money."

Hiruzen nodded and replied, "Good analysis. Especially the deterrence part. It's the advantage that we get due to being strong. Other countries will act carefully in order to not provoke us.

As for the Elemental Crystals, my lower limit was 150 of each. If I didn't offer the Daimyo to train their ninjas, he would have probably bargained down to this number.

However, you aren't completely right about the tea and the herbs negotiations. Though safer traveling conditions allowed us the ability to propose that, the main reason for doing it was to mask the Elemental Crystal deal that we did. That is why Choza accompanied me on this journey."

Fujin thought for a bit and asked, "The other major villages might take action if we openly gain the Elemental Crystals?"

Hiruzen nodded and answered, "Yes. While Elemental Crystals aren't very useful for someone at my level, it is quite useful for young ninjas at the Chunin level. Though they won't start a war over this, they would do something similar and get the Elemental Crystals assigned to their neighboring villages forcefully. In addition, it would also expose that we are spending a lot on our Military. So other villages will also openly build their armies and we will progress towards the Fourth Great Ninja War."

Fujin nodded and replied, "That makes sense."

He thought, 'In the last month I noticed that the effect of the Wind Crystals on me is reducing slowly. If I keep consuming them at this rate, their effect would be negligible after around half a year.

Or rather, it'd be more appropriate to say that I'd need a lot more Wind Crystals in order to have some improvements. But, if my speed of absorbing the energy doesn't increase, then it'll take months of meditation to make small gains. Definitely not worth the time or cost it'd take.'

However, Fujin had one confusion. He looked at Hiruzen and wondered, 'Why is he teaching me how negotiations happen?'

Hiruzen noticed Fujin's look and asked, "Are you wondering why I am explaining to you how negotiations happen?"

Fujin nodded. Hiruzen chuckled and said, "I want you to be responsible for Konoha's negotiation in the future."

Fujin was surprised. He asked, "Isn't it the Hokage's job to negotiate? Also, I have no experience in this."

Hiruzen replied, "Not really. Any of the elders can negotiate in my absence. So can Shikaku as the Jounin Commander. As for the experience, don't worry about it. I'll be taking you along to all the negotiation meetings from now on. We will be heading to the Land of Noodles next.

Just like the Land of Tea, we have good relations with them as well. So the discussion will probably go similarly. However, since they are a newer and smaller country, the amount of Elemental Crystals with them will be lesser. Just observe once again and understand how the negotiations go better.

A month later, we will go to negotiate with the Land of River and the Land of Grass. Our relationship with them, though good, isn't as good as these two countries. So the negotiations will be tougher. During those negotiations, you are allowed to speak if you feel that it'll benefit the village."

Homura was surprised once again. He looked at Hiruzen and thought, 'He has permission to speak after just two meetings? Sensei took us to several meetings for over two years before allowing us to speak! Why is Hiruzen being so impatient?'

[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]

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