303. A Bold Demand

Arrogant!
Utterly arrogant!

Hearing Shisui's words, Dodai's lips trembled with anger.

As for the Kumo ninja behind him, they were practically itching to attack and teach these Konoha fools a harsh lesson!

This reaction was entirely expected. After all, in past negotiations, it had always been Kumo who acted arrogantly. When had they ever been humiliated like this, with someone essentially spitting in their faces?

However, Dodai, bearing the responsibility of securing peace, did his best to remain calm.

It wasn’t that he lacked courage, but he had to consider the man behind Shisui—Danzo.


Given that man’s character, if he wasn’t showing his face, was he perhaps brewing some even greater scheme?

For example, launching a surprise attack on the Land of Lightning while they were busy negotiating.

This thought spread like a shadow in Dodai’s mind, sending a cold sweat down his back.


He looked at the disciple of Danzo before him and spoke in a stiff tone, "Naturally, I seek peace. But do you truly have the authority to represent Konoha?"

Seeing Dodai’s tone soften slightly, Shisui immediately removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and smiled.

"You need not worry about that, Elder Dodai. Since my teacher has entrusted this matter to me, I naturally have full authority to represent Konoha."

With that, he waved his hand toward the back. A masked ninja, roughly the same build as Shisui, stepped forward.

In full view of Dodai and the Kumo ninja, he calmly formed hand seals. Then, under their murderous gazes, the ground began to tremble!

The Kumo ninja immediately went on high alert, almost drawing their weapons against the Konoha delegation.

However, under the watchful gaze of Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan, they hesitated, nervously observing the changes in the ground.

Suddenly, the ground cracked open, and thick wooden pillars burst forth.

To everyone’s astonishment, the pillars formed a massive round table and exactly sixteen chairs!

"Is this... Wood Release?"

Although Dodai and the Kumo ninja didn’t voice this thought aloud, their expressions betrayed their shock.

Especially Dodai. As a high-ranking official in Kumo, he had never received any intelligence about Konoha’s research into Wood Release!

Yet, under these circumstances, Konoha had produced not one, but two Wood Release users—Danzo and the ninja before them!

What did this mean? Had Konoha fully mastered the kekkei genkai left behind by the First Hokage? How many more Wood Release users had they cultivated? Had Kumo’s spy network in Konoha completely failed? And just how many secrets and trump cards did Danzo still have waiting for Kumo?

In an instant, countless thoughts and speculations flashed through Dodai’s mind.

His expression quickly shifted, losing all traces of his earlier calm and composure.

If Dodai was this shaken, the other Kumo ninja were even more so.

After all, Wood Release had always been hailed as the "strongest kekkei genkai," a power only the God of Shinobi could wield.

To this day, those who could use Wood Release were among the strongest of the strong—like Hashirama Senju and Danzo Shimura.

Therefore, when Konoha produced another Wood Release user, especially a young one, the Kumo ninja couldn’t help but feel a sense of despair.

Seeing that his goal had been perfectly achieved, Shisui smiled inwardly.

Of course, on the surface, he remained expressionless.

Though young, he had already mastered the art of masking his emotions, having learned well from Danzo.

As for the ninja who had just demonstrated Wood Release, it was none other than Yamato, whom Danzo had rescued from Orochimaru’s base and personally trained.

Under Danzo’s guidance, Yamato’s abilities had improved by leaps and bounds.

Unfortunately, time was limited, and no matter how much he improved, it wouldn’t be enough to make a decisive impact.

Fortunately, Wood Release was intimidating enough on its own.

Without even needing to fight, simply displaying it was enough to instill fear and pressure in Kumo. This was exactly the effect Danzo had aimed for.

Facing a hard nut like Kumo, the only way to break their defenses was to keep raising the stakes!

Seeing the uneasy expressions on the Kumo side, Shisui gently patted the back of a chair and said, "Everyone, don’t just stand there. Take a seat, and let’s discuss the terms of peace."

With that, he pulled out a chair and sat down, followed by the prepared Konoha ninja.

As for the Kumo ninja, they were still reeling from Yamato’s display of Wood Release.

Only after Shisui’s reminder did they snap out of their daze and sit down at the table.

"These are Konoha’s demands. Please take a look."

Taking advantage of the fact that the Kumo side hadn’t fully regained their composure, Shisui tossed out a document detailing Konoha’s conditions. The main points were as follows:

1. Kumo must issue a statement admitting that they were the sole instigators of the war and acknowledge their defeat.

2. Kumo must unconditionally withdraw all troops from the Land of Rice and the Land of Hot Water.

3. Kumo must pay Konoha 50 billion ryo in war reparations.

4. Kumo must hand over their method of cultivating perfect jinchūriki and lease the Island Turtle to Konoha for 20 years.

After reading these conditions, Dodai, who had been somewhat dazed, slammed the table and stood up!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The Raikage’s advisor was red in the face, his eyes seemingly about to spit fire!

While Kumo might have been able to grudgingly accept the first two demands, the third and fourth were completely outrageous.

First, the astronomical sum of 50 billion ryo was something Kumo simply couldn’t afford at the moment.

Even if they could scrape it together, it would come at the cost of sacrificing Kumo’s future development—a price Dodai absolutely refused to pay!

As for the fourth demand, handing over their method of cultivating perfect jinchūriki?

What kind of international joke was this?!

Kumo’s rapid rise to become the second strongest military power after Konoha was largely due to their unparalleled ninjutsu and their mastery over tailed beasts.

And the most crucial part of that mastery was the Island Turtle mentioned by Konoha.

In the original story, this was the place where Naruto successfully mastered the Nine-Tails’ power.

It housed the "Waterfall of Truth," where jinchūriki could confront their inner darkness—a vital step in becoming a perfect jinchūriki. It was also one of Kumo’s most important strategic resources!

Lease it to Konoha for 20 years? By then, they’d probably never get it back!

Seeing Dodai’s intense reaction, Shisui finally allowed a smile to surface.

He waved his hand and said, "Don’t get so worked up, Elder Dodai. These are just initial terms. We can always negotiate!"