302. Pure Arrogance!

At the frontlines in the Land of Rice.

"Teacher, Kumo has sent Dodai, the Raikage's advisor, as the chief negotiator for the talks."

"As for the location, they’ve chosen the Ash Mountain within the Land of Rice."

Upon receiving the news from Kumo, Shisui immediately reported to Danzo.

"So, they’ve sent Dodai to handle the negotiations, huh?"

Danzo wasn’t particularly surprised by Kumo’s choice. After all, something as humiliating as surrender couldn’t possibly be handled by the Raikage himself.

They needed someone to take the fall. In the original story, Danzo himself had played such a role. The position of Raikage's advisor in Kumo was essentially similar to that of the Hokage's advisor in Konoha—second only to the Kage in authority.


As a result, they were often tasked with handling matters that the Kage couldn’t deal with directly. So, Kumo sending Dodai, their advisor, to negotiate with Konoha wasn’t exactly disrespectful.

"In that case, let’s set the time for tomorrow morning."

"Also, inform them that they’d better come with sincerity. Otherwise, if the negotiations break down, it will be the moment Konoha marches into the Land of Lightning!"

Danzo’s words were extremely aggressive.

Of course, as the man who had personally slain the Raikage, he had every right to be aggressive.

At least under the current circumstances, if he really wanted to cause chaos in the Land of Lightning, there was no one who could stop him!

Danzo’s message was immediately relayed verbatim to Kumo’s higher-ups, sparking their fury.

"That damn Danzo Shimura, does he really think Kumo is made of clay?!"

"If it comes to it, we’ll just keep fighting! I refuse to believe that Konoha, in its current state, can actually push all the way to Kumo Village!"

For a moment, the entire meeting room erupted into chaotic arguments. It wasn’t until the Fourth Raikage slammed his fist on the table with a loud *bang* that the room fell silent.

"Enough arguing!"

A powerful surge of chakra emanated from him as he turned his gaze to Dodai, the man in charge of the peace negotiations.

"Dodai, what’s your take on this?"

Dodai simply shook his head and replied, "I will lead the delegation to Ash Mountain tomorrow morning to negotiate with Konoha. Please, Lord Raikage and everyone else, make the necessary preparations. If I unfortunately perish, I ask that you do not act out of anger and launch an attack. Kumo’s location on the plateau gives us a geographical advantage. We must not be provoked."

"It would be best to have Killer B stationed at key points. If necessary, he can use the Tailed Beast Bomb to attack from a distance. However, we must maintain a safe distance to ensure Danzo Shimura doesn’t find an opportunity to pick us off one by one."

Dodai laid out a number of instructions in one breath, almost as if he were preparing for his own funeral. But considering that his opponent the next morning would be Danzo Shimura, such preparations were understandable.

After all, Danzo was known as the "Darkness of Shinobi," and his reputation in the ninja world was infamous for being utterly ruthless. It wouldn’t be out of character for him to suddenly kill someone during negotiations or even take Dodai hostage to threaten Kumo.

If Danzo were to hear these thoughts, he would undoubtedly rage at the prejudice and discrimination!

Those underhanded tactics were all the deeds of his former self. Since arriving in this world, he had reformed and become a man of integrity!

Alas... the biases in people’s hearts are like a mountain—immovable.

In any case, after Dodai’s "final instructions," the atmosphere in the meeting room grew heavy once more.

Early the next morning, Dodai led the delegation to the negotiation site—Ash Mountain. It was an unremarkable hill in the Land of Rice, famous for its gray stones.

The slopes were devoid of any greenery, which had the advantage of making it impossible to set up ambushes. Clearly, Dodai, the old fox, was still deeply wary of Danzo.

After waiting on Ash Mountain for a while, the Konoha delegation finally arrived.


When Dodai saw the composition of the Konoha team, he first breathed a sigh of relief, but his expression quickly darkened.

He was relieved because the Konoha negotiation team seemed utterly ordinary. It didn’t look like they were planning to play any tricks, such as capturing him to threaten Kumo or killing him to provoke Kumo into attacking. But why did his expression darken?

It was because the Konoha delegation was *too* ordinary! So ordinary that he didn’t even see Danzo among them!

"Where is your Elder Danzo?"

As soon as they met, Dodai, the chief negotiator for Kumo, asked with a dark expression, directing his question at Uchiha Shisui, who stood before him.

That’s right—this time, the Konoha negotiation team was led by Shisui, who was only in his teens.

The rest of the team consisted of ordinary Konoha shinobi, making it as simple as it could get! In Dodai’s eyes, this was nothing short of an insult to Kumo.

After all, he was the Raikage’s advisor, a position equivalent to the Hokage’s advisor in Konoha! And yet, Konoha had sent a mere teenager to negotiate. Wasn’t this a slap in the face?

Faced with Dodai’s question, Shisui smiled calmly and said, "My apologies, but my teacher is feeling a bit unwell, so he has entrusted me to handle the negotiations on his behalf."

Dodai couldn’t accept Shisui’s explanation at all.

What kind of joke was this? Danzo Shimura had been full of confidence yesterday, threatening Kumo, and now he was suddenly unwell? Who did they think they were fooling?!

The more Dodai thought about it, the angrier he became.

His expression darkened completely as he said coldly, "If Elder Danzo insists on insulting Kumo, then Kumo will have no choice but to prepare for war!"

Hearing this, the Kumo shinobi behind Dodai also wore grim expressions, ready to fight at any moment.

Seeing this, Shisui didn’t show any fear.


Instead, a hint of excitement and mockery flashed in his eyes.

"I am currently the acting head of Konoha’s Foreign Affairs Department, fully authorized to handle all diplomatic matters for Konoha. I have both the authority and the qualifications to lead these negotiations with Kumo."

After introducing his position, his tone suddenly turned cold.

"Of course, if Elder Dodai believes I’m too young and looks down on me, we can always... settle this with a spar!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Shisui unceremoniously placed his hand on the short sword strapped to his back.

At the same time, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, and a chilling, terrifying aura erupted from him.

Feeling this overwhelming pressure, Dodai’s grim expression turned into one of seriousness.

He quickly recalled the intelligence he had on the young man before him—a genius of the Uchiha clan, wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan, capable of holding his own against the Fourth Raikage with his unique "Phantom Body Flicker Technique," and able to summon black flames with his Sharingan to instantly destroy the Eight-Tails’ clone...

Most importantly, this young man was Danzo’s top disciple.

Seeing Dodai’s demeanor soften slightly, Shisui’s lips curled into a faint smile.

"By the way, Elder Dodai, my teacher has given me only six hours to complete these negotiations."

"If there’s no progress after six hours, Konoha’s forces will immediately march into the Land of Lightning."

"So, whether it’s war or peace..."

"Please decide quickly."