Meeting Kumo Envoys

After he was satisfied with Kumo Shinobi's performance, Araki killed them all. He then started sleeping with a peaceful expression on his face.

Kushina entered his room and noticed the peaceful smile on his face. She touches his hairs and gently pats him before laying next to him. She closed her eyes and started sleeping soon enough.

They woke up in the morning.

After the morning exercise, they returned to their house.

Around this time, Araki received a summon from the Hokage, stating that he must immediately come to the Hokage's Office.

Araki knew what it was about, but Kushina had little idea about it. Reassuring her with a smile, he left the Senju Clan Manor.

Meanwhile, Kushina ordered all the Uzumaki Clan Members inside the Manor to reactivate the seals.

The Uzumaki Clan Members immediately obeyed her order. They were seemingly waiting for this order and immediately went to reactivate the seals.

On the other hand, Araki had reached the Hokage's Office. The secretary glanced at him before giving him a short bow.

He entered the office with an indifferent expression on his face. There… his eyes fell upon the Third Hokage, and two dark-skinned men standing in front of the Hokage. Just from their skin complexion and what had happened the previous night, he could guess that these two were from Kumo.

"So, why have I been called, Hokage-sama?" He said 'Hokage-sama' with a mocking tone.

The Third Hokage noticed it, but the two Shinobi from Kumo didn't. They stared at him for some time before turning towards the Third Hokage, "Hokage-sama, I believe we asked you to call for the Senju Clan Head. Why has this child come instead of the Senju Clan Head?"

The Third Hokage retained a serious look on his face and said, "He is the Senju Clan Head. Whatever you want to talk, talk with him." The Hokage seemed to want to wash his hands off this matter.

Araki didn't care much about it. He also wanted to have a 'pleasant' conversation with these two.

"The Kumo Shinobi went to call out for you yesterday night. Do you know where they are?" The two Kumo Shinobi asked Araki with a stern look on their faces.

Araki adopted a thoughtful look and then asked, "Are you talking about the 5 Kumo Shinobi appearing the in middle of the night wearing dark clothes?"

The two Kumo Shinobi nodded their heads. Although they knew that the mission must have failed, they knew the Raikage wouldn't forgive them if they returned without those 5.

"Those five? Do you want their heads or bodies?" Araki asked them with a smile on his face.

But this question didn't please the Kumo Envoys. They stared at Araki and spoke, "What do you mean?!" They raised their tones in frustration.

Araki indifferently stated, "Can't you understand my words? I said those five are dead. To be honest, I don't even have their heads or body. After torturing them to my complete satisfaction, I fed their bodies to the Inuzuka Clan's dogs. The dogs were thrilled with the meal. Ask Raikage to send a few more… Maybe send 10 or so every week. That should be enough food for the dogs for a week."

The more Araki spoke, the angrier the Kumo Envoys became. It was as if Araki was comparing them to a dog's food. Just how could that be tolerated?

They angrily turned towards the Hokage and said, "Third Hokage, is this your sincerity in peace between our villages? If you do not give us an explanation, Raikage-sama wouldn't be pleased with it."

The Third Hokage let out a bitter laugh. This was far beyond his hands right now. He realised that the peace negotiations had fallen off now.

On the one hand, he couldn't touch Senju Araki because of his status, while on the other hand, he didn't want to anger the Third Raikage too much. He knew that in these 5 years, the three Villages had been heavily supported by their respective nation's Daimyo. Not just the money, the Daimyo had even provided the Three Great Villages with resources to turn more of people into Shinobi.

Although the Third Hokage had been aware of it, he decided not to take any action because he thought that the destruction of their army at Uzushio's hand would be enough to contain them.

However, today's Kumo's Envoys made him understand that Kumo was still not satisfied. The purpose of sending these Peace Negotiations wasn't to build better relations, it was to extort Konoha into accepting their demands. Or else, Raikage would probably ally with Konoha's bitter enemy, Iwa and start a war.

Understanding what was going to happen, the Third Hokage internally decided to delay the war by compensating a little and enforce Konoha's Military. As long as they recruit more Shinobi for the next 4-5 years, they could have enough strength to counter an attack from Kumo and Iwa.

Yet, the Third Hokage was utterly unaware that Araki didn't plan on compensating a tiny bit.

Araki was staring at the two Kumo Envoys and said, "Peace? How interesting…So, you mean to say that if I don't provide a reasonable explanation or compensation for those 5 Kumo Shinobi, Kumo will declare war upon Konoha?"

"That's right." One of these two even agreed immediately.

"Then you can return now." Araki seemed to have given his order to these Kumo Shinobi.

"Huh? What do you mean?" The Kumo envoys were confused by Araki's words. Just what did he mean by that? Weren't they going to get some compensation?

"Your compensation can be your ability to walk out of Konoha. Is that enough, I wonder?" Araki gave them a cheerful smile as if he had given them a good offer.

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Didn't I mention it to you that your 5 comrades were eaten by dogs from Inuzuka Clan? Actually, some dogs are still hungry. I am almost tempted to kill you and feed your bodies to the dogs. I am sure they wouldn't deny a meal from Kumo." The cheerful smile on Araki's face, plus the ruthless look in his eyes made them believe that this was entirely possible.

At this moment, the Hokage spoke to not let the matters get worse, "Senju Araki, you should know that your words are incredibly important. Tens of thousands of Konoha's Shinobi may die due to the consequences of your words."

"Oh, really? So, does that mean we must lower our head for something as worthless as peace when even these dogs can come and threaten Konoha?" Araki asked the Hokage with a casual look on his face.

"Who are you calling dogs?!"

"Sorry my bad. I made a mistake. Dogs must not be insulted by comparing them to you. They are quite lovely animals. Your status isn't any higher than a Dog's food." Araki didn't even glance at the Kumo envoys at this point. He felt that they weren't even worth gazing at.

In fact, he continued to look at the Hokage, who narrowed his eyes.

"You have heard his response. You can leave now." The Hokage seems to want to dismiss these Kumo Envoys.

These two Kumo Envoys were extremely angry that the Hokage wasn't going to take a decision in their favour. The fact that they hadn't been compensated for such humiliation didn't help the situation. However, they had little choice now and left the office.

Araki continued to stare at the Hokage for some time before he asked, "The way you are trying to use me. It's quite funny, monkey."

"What do you mean?" The Hokage just stared at him blankly.