Chapter 51 (Patreon)

The following morning, once all the necessary preparations had been completed, Shikaku emerged from his tent with dark circles beneath his eyes.

He brought Inoichi Yamanaka, Chōza Akimichi, and Uchiha Shisui with him to attend the negotiations.

Under normal circumstances, Kushina should have been present as well. However, no matter how long they waited, she never emerged from her tent.

It seems capturing both the Two-Tails’ and Eight-Tails’ jinchūriki wasn’t as effortless as she made it look.

Shikaku’s expression grew solemn.

He decided not to wait any longer. After instructing several ANBU to remain vigilant and ensure Kushina’s safety, he led the others toward the designated negotiation site.

His heart remained heavy throughout the journey.

Almost at the same time, Dodai arrived with several Kumogakure shinobi.

The Fourth Raikage, A, was nowhere to be seen.

“This should be the first time we’ve met under formal circumstances, Lord Dodai,” Shikaku said.

After facing one another across the front lines for so long, both sides had already gathered extensive intelligence on the opposing commanders.

Most shinobi believed Kumogakure’s forces were personally commanded by the Raikage. Shikaku, however, knew better.

The Raikage might have stood at the head of the army as its spearhead, but the one truly responsible for directing Kumogakure’s forces was Dodai—a veteran jōnin who had served as an adviser to two generations of Raikage.

“Nara Shikaku. I’ve heard a great deal about you,” Dodai replied.

His courteous tone lasted only for a moment.

“That is enough pleasantry. State your actual conditions. There is no reason to repeat the absurd demands you made yesterday.”

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Shikaku asked calmly. “The conditions Lady Kushina presented are Konoha’s official terms. How could they possibly be considered absurd?”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“Or are you implying that your village’s jinchūriki hold no standing whatsoever within Kumogakure?”

Dodai remained unfazed.

“Compared to ours, it would seem Konoha’s jinchūriki possess even less authority.”

There was a clear implication behind his words.

Throughout Konoha’s history, there had only been two jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.

The first had been Mito Uzumaki, the wife of the First Hokage. The second was Kushina Uzumaki, wife of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

On the surface, both women had possessed highly respected positions.

In reality, however, their lives had resembled those of caged birds.

Once they became jinchūriki, they were forbidden from leaving Konoha, unable to take even a single step beyond the village without permission.

Compared to them, the jinchūriki of the other great villages possessed far more freedom.

Kumogakure’s two jinchūriki needed no explanation.

Of Iwagakure’s two jinchūriki, one had spent years training alone outside the village. Whenever he was in a good mood, he might acknowledge the Tsuchikage’s orders. Whenever he was not, he simply ignored them.

And Konoha?

Its jinchūriki could not even leave the village.

Had their husbands not been Hokage, their circumstances might have been even more humiliating.

Shisui watched as Shikaku and Dodai exchanged carefully chosen words, each attempting to probe the other’s weaknesses while deliberately avoiding the matter of compensation.

Confused by the direction of the conversation, he subconsciously glanced toward Inoichi and Chōza.

As Shikaku’s longtime teammates, however, the two trusted his judgment completely.

Their purpose in attending the negotiations was not to offer strategic advice. They were there primarily to protect Shikaku in the event that something went wrong.

When they noticed Shisui’s questioning expression, they merely returned a reassuring look.

Leave it to Shikaku.

Eventually, after realizing that neither side could gain the upper hand through the subject of their jinchūriki, Shikaku and Dodai returned to the actual negotiations.

“Kumogakure is willing to withdraw its forces,” Dodai said. “However, two billion ryō in compensation is far beyond reason. The most we can offer is one hundred million ryō.”

“One hundred million?” Shikaku immediately rejected the offer. “Are you trying to dismiss us with pocket change?”

One hundred million ryō might have been equivalent to the payment for more than a dozen S-rank missions, but when measured against the resources of an entire shinobi village, it was far from substantial.

Neither side was willing to yield on the first condition concerning financial compensation.

For the moment, they set the issue aside and agreed to return to it later.

“As for the ninjutsu,” Dodai continued, “you can forget about receiving any S-rank techniques. No village would hand strategic-level jutsu to an outsider.”

He paused briefly before presenting Kumogakure’s counteroffer.

“We can provide three A-rank ninjutsu and five additional B-rank ninjutsu, bringing the total number of B-rank techniques to fifteen. We will also provide the twenty C-rank techniques you requested.”

Dodai’s expression remained calm.

“We are also prepared to hand over the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.”

Shikaku froze.

For a moment, he wondered whether he had misheard him.

“However,” Dodai continued, “you must release both jinchūriki—Yugito Nii and Killer B. As for Konoha’s request to send merchant caravans into the Land of Lightning, Kumogakure is willing to agree in principle.”

Shikaku fell silent.

His mind immediately began weighing the value of the two jinchūriki hostages against the value of the Raikage’s secret technique.

The Raikage’s strength was beyond question.

Through the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, the Raikage possessed speed great enough to contend even with Minato’s Flying Thunder God Technique.

But would Kumogakure truly surrender such an important secret technique so easily?

Once brought back to Konoha, the technique would undoubtedly be reserved for exceptionally talented shinobi who had accumulated enough merit to earn the right to study it.

That possibility made Dodai’s offer even more suspicious.

Could Kumogakure have deliberately altered the technique?

Was there a hidden flaw within the method—one designed to cripple or even kill the talented shinobi Konoha selected to learn it?