Chapter 800 : Refusal to Accept Responsibility!

[A/N: 800th chapter! Just 200 more to go to reach 1,000! Thanks for all your love and support once again guys. Couldn't have done it without you :)]

It hadn't been even a minute since the negotiations began, but the room was already tense. Homura's display unnerved most of the Sunagakure ninjas. Suddenly, Yura and Arisa riled their chakra to counter Homura's pressure.
Yura asked, “Do you mean other than the fact that you can't?”
Arisa asked, “Does Konoha dare to step into the desert? Perhaps you've forgotten what happened in the Second Great Ninja War.”

Their chakra brought relief to the other Sunagakure ninjas who were facing the heat. Of course, neither dared to exert pressure on the Konoha side. Both knew very well what the result would be if they tried to do so. Even if Fujin was ignored, Konoha's side was considerably stronger with as many as 5 ninjas at the Elite Jounin level even though 3 were very old.

Tsume bared her fangs and asked, “Would you like us to try again?”

Unlike Homura, she didn't apply any pressure or direct her killing intent at the Sunagakure ninjas. Instead, she stopped restraining her bloodlust. Even the weaker Konoha ninjas felt nauseated by her display, let alone the Sunagakure ninjas who knew the bloodlust was meant for them.

There were two other casualties, who suffered the most and had to fight very hard not to puke due to her horrible aura. While they succeeded, they cursed themselves for poking their nose into this matter instead of enjoying their lavish lives.

‘Cough’

Just when the tensions seemed to reach a breaking point, a cough echoed in the room. Accompanying the cough were strange winds that eliminated all sorts of auras in the room. Be it Homura, Tsume, Arisa or Yura, everyone's presence and bloodlust were suppressed. The Konoha ninjas turned their heads while Sunagakure ninjas became even more nervous despite the absence of the bloodlust. In a moment, everyone looked at Fujin.

Fujin calmly said, “We are here for negotiations. There is no need to declare a war before even discussing the matters civilly.”

His words calmed down the Sunagakure ninjas. However, before they could completely relax, Fujin turned his gaze towards them and said, “Besides, if need be, I'll just pay a visit to Sunagakure. I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind, would you?”

A slight smile appeared on Fujin's lips as he asked the question. Needless to say, every Sunagakure ninja understood the true meaning behind his words. Yura thought, ‘While rank S ninjas are a threat and play a significant role in wars, a single ninja can't affect a huge war without the support of massive armies.

However, he can't be treated as an ordinary rank S ninja. Not only does he have techniques that can kill over a hundred ninjas in one go, but he also has a strong flying summon, which would allow him to attack and retreat at will. The only way to stop such a ninja is Fuinjutsu traps, but he is already a Grandmaster in that field too and a rather terrifying one.

If Konoha wants to cause us pain, then he alone can cause us a lot of harm just like how Iwagakure suffered at the hands of the Fourth Hokage. Other than Sunagakure, there wouldn't be a single safe space in the Land of Wind. Not to mention, he could even attack Sunagakure and escape if we don't maintain a barrier around the village.’

Arisa and Yura were made aware of the threat Fujin posed by their council. Since their war plans involved slowing down Konoha armies in the vast deserts, Fujin was a bigger threat than even the Sannins and Hiruzen. So, they had to be very careful with their words.

The Daimyos were relieved that things finally calmed down. The Fire Daimyo thought, ‘I thought the two elders would be the voice of reason while youngsters like Fujin would be passionate about going to war. However, the exact opposite is happening. First refusing the offer to become the Fifth Hokage and now calming both sides, Suzuki Fujin has a lot of potential.’

At the same time, Hiromasa thought in amusement, ‘To make the ones in favor of peace take a hard stand while the ones in favor of war advocate for peace, what a fine strategy you recommended, Shikaku. A unique way to negotiate while ensuring both sides in the village are happy.

Of course, there is a hidden danger that one side isn't satisfied by the effort of the others and changes their stance mid-way. While that can be countered by the other side taking their original stance, such a change should be detrimental to us. However, a change that abrupt and drastic would be incredibly confusing and unnerving for Sunagakure's team. Ironically, that'll give us an upper hand instead of putting us on the back foot.

In all the decades I have been a part of the council, I have never seen such a strange strategy. Of course, the real reason for such a strategy is so that Fujin could make a favorable impression. After all, no one wants a warmonger to become the Hokage. Just like Lord Third, Shikaku also wants to see Fujin become the Hokage in the future. The two are quite considerate about his reputation and image.’

After calming herself, Arisa smiled and said, “If a distinguished young ninja like you wants to visit our village, we wouldn't have any reason to decline. If our youngsters consider you as their role model, no one would be more happy than me. However, you're correct. Our talks didn't start perfectly.”

She turned her gaze to Homura and continued, “Considering what happened, I can understand your rage. However, your words were too provoking for us not to reply. Regardless, I apologize for the way we replied.

You're correct. This war was a terrible event. However, your anger is misplaced. While Konoha suffered losses, we weren't unharmed either. You lost nearly 200 citizens, we lost 625 elite ninjas. Your Hokage is injured, while our Kazekage is dead. No matter how you look at it, we suffered far more!

If this was due to our folly, then Sunagakure would have been the first one to acknowledge our mistake, offer unconditional apologies to Konoha and accept all your terms to ensure that peace prevailed. However, that isn't the case.

We were forced into the war against our will. Despite the opposition of our council and elders, Lord Fourth adamantly launched an assault on Konoha. He didn't even give our ninjas any time to prepare and considering our good relations, most of our ninjas were unwilling to fight.

Our council vehemently opposed the war, but Lord Fourth shrugged off all our opposition by claiming that our village's poor financial condition was due to Konoha taking most of our missions. Even though we felt that his behavior was odd, he was our leader. We couldn't disobey him or his orders.”

Arisa let out a sorrowful sigh as she continued, “Looking back, it is obvious that Lord Fourth was already killed by Orochimaru and Sunagakure fell to Orochimaru's scheme. He must have used the Edo Tensei jutsu to reanimate and control Lord Fourth and fooled Sunagakure into attacking our ally and putting the village in danger.

While we suspected something fishy, we never thought of Konoha's Edo Tensei jutsu because we believed the reanimated ninjas didn't retain their strength. Not to mention, the thought that someone killed and replaced Lord Fourth so secretly was too outrageous.”

Yura agreed with his fellow council member and added, “So, it's not just Konoha, but we have been victims as well. If our villages go to war, then we'll just be falling into Orochimaru's scheme. Even though you eliminated his pet village, he'll still end up winning.”

Needless to say, Sunagakure wouldn't give up the opportunity Orochimaru provided them to absolve themselves of all responsibilities. While it would ruin Rasa's reputation, his reputation had already been dragged through the mud.

It also portrayed Sunagakure's council as incompetent, but they didn't mind it. On the contrary, they gave full permission to Yura and Arisa to portray them as incompetent if it could prevent Sunagakure from falling into a war they desperately wanted to avoid.

In addition, Arisa also mentioned the Wind Daimyo's tilt towards Konoha harming their economy, a matter they hoped to change while putting Konoha on the back foot at the same time.

Despite the good argument by the Sunagakure side, there wasn't any change in the expression on Konoha's side. Fujin thought, ‘As we expected, they chose this option. It was just too convenient not to use it.’

Koharu coldly replied, “So, not only did you attack us, but you also want not to accept any responsibility for your actions?”

Yura was about to reply when Homura added, “I have to admit, this was an excellent excuse. If luck was on your side, I would have accepted it and convinced my comrades to go easy on you. However, you overlooked one important aspect.”