Before Sunagakure''s negotiation team entered the fire capital, they were greeted with apletely unexpected sight. Though the path to the city was open, thousands of ninjas surrounded the path.


    While they weren''t as visible as the civilians in Fire Capital, they didn''t bother hiding their presence. As such, experienced ninjas like Yura and Arisa and sensors could feel the vast amount of ninjas in the trees around the paths.


    Even the ones who couldn''t sense them were unnerved as they felt the gazes of hundreds of bloodthirsty ninjas lock on to them! After all, though Konoha didn''t suffer much due to their attack, over a hundred people died and thousands were injured. As such, most Konoha ninjas had a friend or a rtive who was injured in the attack.


    Fearing the worst, a few Suna ninjas gulped nervously, ''Don''t tell me Konoha ns to eliminate all of us as revenge for our attack…''


    Luckily, Arisa spoke softly but firmly, "Get a hold of yourself. Don''t forget that we are representing our vige. Stop standing still like bloody fools and follow us."


    Led by Arisa and Yura''s brave march, the others in the negotiation team found courage and followed their two new Council Members. Either that, or they were afraid of being left behind. Until the moment they set foot in Fire Capital, the entire group was watched like hawks by the Konoha ninjas!


    The members of the negotiation team let out a sigh of relief. They were finally out of danger, or so they thought. Just like Konoha''s team, Suna''s team was weed as well. However, there were some differences. Instead of the Fire Daimyo and dozens of nobles and officials weing them, they were greeted by a single noble who was in the Fire Daimyo''s bad graces. In addition, there was no audience to cheer them.


    The noble weed them and led them to Daimyo''s pce. However, they were stared at hatefully once again, this time by ordinary citizens of Fire Capital who spotted them. Their looks conveyed the Land of Fire''s disappointment, disgust, anger, and myriad other emotions due to Sunagakure''s actions. The peace they enjoyed was nearly destroyed due to Sunagakure''s folly.


    Yura sighed internally, ''This must be Konoha''s y to put us on the back foot. We should have traveled here with the Wind Daimyo…'' Suddenly, he had a realization. He thought, ''Wait! Don''t tell me this is why the Wind Daimyo refused to travel with us and left before we did. The Fire Daimyo must have conveyed him a message because Konoha couldn''t do this had he been with us.''


    Yura''s mood became heavy. Arisa had the same realization. They finally realized how stacked the odds were against them! Inplete silence, the Sunagakure group traveled to the Daimyo''s pce. They hadn''t even entered it when they saw another scary sight.


    As unnerving as the gazes of thousands of Konoha ninjas were, this sight was downright horrifying! From the corner of their eyes, they noticed several chefs attending to a young man and serving him the best food Fire Capital could offer. In a Daimyo''s pce, such a sight would be considered ordinary. Unfortunately, there was nothing ordinary about that young man!


    One of the Suna ninjas involuntarily muttered, "Sand yer…"


    Others wondered, ''Why is he here? Wasn''t that army enough?''


    A few realized, ''Don''t tell me that is the same army Konoha used to attack Kusagakure rebels and Otogakure! Why did they move to this city? What is Konoha nning?''


    While Fujin couldn''t hear their thoughts, his ears picked up the soft mutters. He thought, ''Sand yer, huh? Sigh, why are my enemies so much better ating up with new monikers for me than my allies who are supposed to be some of the smartest people on this?''


    Fujin let out a sigh, making the chef next to him very worried. He nervously asked, "Is the soup not to your liking?"


    Fujin shook his head and said, "Don''t worry, it''s delicious. Make me a couple more bowls."


    The chef sighed in relief and immediately got to work. Meanwhile, the noble leading the Suna ninjas said, "The Wind Daimyo reached the city yesterday and is waiting inside. He said that he wanted to meet you as soon as you arrive, though it''ll be understandable if you want to rest first."


    Needless to say, while he didn''t like the Suna ninjas, they were ninjas at the end of the day, and very powerful ones whenpared to an average ninja. Even though he was a noble and rted to the Fire Daimyo, he wouldn''t act haughtily in front of Sunagakure ninjas.


    Yura said, "We''ll see Daimyo-sama first."


    While watching Fujin warily, the Suna ninjas entered the pce and followed the noble into a room, where the two Daimyo were talking with Homura and Koharu while their Samurai guards watchfully stood behind them.


    The Fire Daimyo turned his gaze towards the neers and said with a smile, "Wee. It''s good to see you here. I hope your journey went well. Come in and make yourselffortable."


    The Wind Daimyo added, "Congrats on your recent promotions, Yura and Arisa. I have a lot of expectations from you two."


    Arisa replied, "Thank you, Daimyo-sama. We''ll do our best for Sunagakure."


    Yura added, "Our journey went well."


    In his mind, Yura added, ''Except thest few minutes.''


    The Wind Daimyo said, "That''s good. I hope you two can settle the differences between the two viges and we can maintain an alliance once again. While there were several other factors, no new Great War has started ever since our two countries have maintained an alliance. Our citizens and even ninjas would like to see the peace maintained."


    The Wind Daimyo''s tone had be extremely serious. While Sunagakure was damaged the most due to their attack, he would be the biggest loser if the two viges became hostile. So, this matter was very personal to the Wind Daimyo.


    The Suna ninjas realized the same and their moods became solemn. Their Daimyo had already be a liability instead of an asset. Of course, they still had several ns to make use of the Wind Daimyo''s personal interests.


    The Fire Daimyoughed and said, "They''ve just arrived. It wouldn''t be fair to make them negotiate today. Souta will guide you to your staying arrangements. You can let him know if anything isn''t up to your standard."


    After the wee they had received, the Sunagakure ninjas wanted a break to reevaluate the situation and adjust their ns. They had no reason to refuse the offer. Yura immediately nodded, "Thank you, it would be appreciated."


    Under the gaze of the two Daimyo and Konoha elders, the Sunagakure ninjas left the room. As soon as the door shut, the Daimyos'' faces became expressionless. The Fire Daimyo asked, "So, what do you think?"


    Homura answered, "Hmm, I didn''t sense any killing intent. It doesn''t look like they have any ns to make a move against the two of you."


    The Wind Daimyo replied, "Perhaps. Or they could have been intimidated by the two of you."


    Koharu shook her head and said, "No, we would have seen their intentions easily if they had any such ns and dropped them due to our presence. I can say for certain that they didn''t n on eliminating the two of you. Or at least, this group isn''t responsible for or aware of it." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Homura added, "Besides, I doubt the two of us could stop suicidal attacks from over 20 ninjas by ourselves. On the contrary, they would have attempted to drag us along with themselves."


    The Fire Daimyo chuckled and guessed, "Maybe our young hero deterred them outside. We should be thankful that he agreed to stay in the pce and look after us old folks."


    Koharu''s eye twitched as she thought, ''If he had his way, then even the two of us wouldn''t have been in this room. You two would have served as the perfect baits for Suna''s doom!''


    Homura calmly said, "While he definitely would have made an impact on them, it wouldn''t matter. Whoever tries to kill you, will do so without any expectations of making it back alive. As I just said, it would be a suicide mission and Sunagakure would dere them rogue ninjas. So, you can rx."


    The Wind Daimyo breathed a sigh of relief and muttered, "That''s a relief. You have it easier here. Do you know how dangerous my position is in the Land of Wind?"


    The Fire Daimyo was left speechless at how his fellow Daimyoined. He could only say awkwardly, "Well, you''re wee to stay here for as long as you want."


    Without a hint of shame or hesitation, the Wind Daimyo replied, "I''ll take you up on that offer then."


    [A/N: Next chapter in a few hours.]


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