Chapitre 68: 3.30

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Sitting next to some of the most important and powerful people in the world, Yahiko was not phased or nervous, or if he was, he was hiding it well. His expression serious and grave, he started, "I would like to start by thanking all of you for accepting to attend this meeting."

He was mostly ignored, met only by cold stares, but Minato was there for the save.

"And thank you for the great opportunity. I hope this assembly will be fruitful."

The others mostly stayed silent, studying the two who had spoken carefully. I say mostly, because of Kumo's Head Jonin.

"Why don't you cut the crap with the formalities and tell us why the hell you wanted us all here?"

We already knew Kumo were going to be the most difficult about this among the lot, because of their position in the war. However, we hadn't even begun the peace talks and he was already being a cunt.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and that seemed to grab his attention as his eyes rolled my way, and he asked, "And who's that bloke standing there?"

I didn't feel angry at his words. I felt more confusion than anything, actually. Wasn't he sent here to become our ally? If he was, this was a poor way to make friends.

Yahiko was patient with the man though as he introduced me, "This 'bloke' is Alexander, the man who killed Hanzo of the Salamander."

The Head Jonin from Kumo frowned, and started, "This-"

He was instantly cut off by Yahiko, however, who added, "And I almost forgot, I have someone else I need to introduce you to."

As he said that, the paper door was once again slid open, revealing Mifune.

The people around the room obviously recognized him, seeing from their reactions, but as Mifune walked in and closed the door behind him, Yahiko still introduced him, "This is our guest from the Land of Iron, the Taisho Mifune."

Taisho was Japanese for general, and the General of the Land of Iron was the equivalent of the Hokage for the hidden villages. In other words, Mifune outranked everyone in here.

Mifune did not take a seat, but went to the wall opposite mine, and stood there, straight like an iron tree.

The air instantly turned still, and a little hostile as everyone became wary. None of them reacted with an outburst, as that would paint a target on their back, but they understood just as well as we did that if we wanted to kill one of them, we would be able to do it.

After all, not only did we have two supposed Kage level fighters, Mifune was also a Samurai, who specialized in attacking so fast Shinobis couldn't weave Ninjutsu in time.

Fortunately for them, we weren't here to kill them.

Raising his hands to appear less threatening and to calm the people around the table, Yahiko reassured them, "We have gathered you all here for a negotiation, and nothing else. I swear to you all that we shall not initiate any kind of attack."

As he said that, Minato raised his hand and added, "I can vouch for this."

These were only a few words, but now everyone around the table knew that the Yellow Flash of Konoha was standing firmly on our side. Next to him, Shikaku did not show any reaction to the pledge of support, and I found reading him to be impossible.

The ball was in our court.

Yahiko continued, and decided to get straight into it, "We brought you all here, because we wish to put an end to the war."

Everyone's eyes, except for those who knew about it, grew wide, before the representative of Iwa scoffed, "I'll give it to you, you know how to joke."

Yahiko shook his head, insisting, "This is no joke. We've brought all of you here to bring an end to the war."

Kumo's Head Jonin suddenly slammed his palms on the table, and I was ready to attack at any point, but he did not do anything more, and simply shouted, "We've already given you more respect than you deserve, child. If that's all you wanted, then we will be leaving."

Saying that, he rose to his feet, eyeing both Mifune and I warily. The others looked like they wanted to go too.

But then, Yahiko said in a faint voice, "Sure, you can leave. But you might cause the destruction of your village."

Kumo's Head Jonin stopped in his step, and Iwa's representative stopped himself from getting up.

Narrowing his eyes at Yahiko, he asked, "Are you threatening me? I thought we had your word?"

"I said you may leave if you want. No one will attack you. But whether you are here or not, I am confident peace will be reached between the villages present."

He still looked like he wanted to leave, but after a moment of silence he regained his seat, growling, "Speak then."

Yahiko nodded, and turned to look at Minato. Minato nodded, and Shikaku whispered something in Minato's ear, who then said, "Konoha is now in the center of this war. Not only are our forces greater than any of you, other than Kumo, massive damage was dealt to your villages. Out of everyone present, we would benefit the most from continuing this war. But we have decided to ally ourselves with the Akatsuki, and are thus ready to sign a peace treaty."

Every other representative now looked deep in thought. Rasa, whose brows creased slightly, asked, "What about the terms? None of our Kages are present, we can't make these kinds of decisions by ourselves."

Knowing this was my cue, I quickly spoke, "Sasori of the Red Sand was spotted a few days ago not far from here. Are you still searching for him?"

Iwa, Kumo and Kiri looked at me weirdly, but Rasa's eyes widened for a moment, before he coughed in his fist and muttered, "But I'm sure we can talk things over."

The others looked confused, but Minato and the Ame Orphans knew exactly what this was about. Yahiko turned to look at Kiri's representative, and asked, "Konoha and Suna are already ready to sign for peace, without any collateral. What do you say?"

The man frowned, but then Shikaku, as sharp as always, quickly added, "The Chunin you took as Sanbi's carrier was the Yellow Flash's disciple. I would advise with agreeing."

Surprise marred his face as he glanced at Minato, and was met by a pair of cold eyes filled with killing intent. Some of Minato's Chakra mixed with the killing intent, exuding out of his body as it created a pressure around the room.

But it disappeared in the next instant as Shikaku patted Minato's shoulder, chuckling with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes, "Of course, we aren't threatening you. We are not barbarians, our word was given."

His smile disappeared, his face now focused, "We are merely speaking of your village."

The Swordsman of the Mist did not look very happy with the way his village was threatened, but even he had to come with the facts. Mentioning the Sanbi incident was simply to tell Kiri they knew how many men they had lost, and since Konoha was clearly allying with both the Akatsuki, the Samurai and possibly Suna, the information would be passed quickly.

Moreover, Minato was quite the deterrent himself.

So, after a second of silence, the Swordsman asked, "If, and I say if, we were to come to agreement, what would it entail?"

Yahiko clapped his hands and smiled, "As we said earlier, no reparation costs or collateral to pay. We've all lost dearly in this war, and these are only the starters of other wars. This war was largely caused by the reparations paid in the second, after all."

Minato's and Shikaku's faces did not change, although they were the ones concerned. Konoha had been among the ones most hit by the Second Shinobi War, and they had been one of the main instigators of the Third Shinobi War, the one we were currently trying to end.

Yahiko continued, "You would be signing a pact of non-aggression between the signing parties, concerning both civilians and Shinobis."

Rasa asked while looking at Konoha's side, "What if someone breaks this pact?"

Yahiko replied, "This, is where we come into place. The Akatsuki was created with the ideal of peace, and our current goal is to ensure said peace not only comes to fruition, but does not rot away. That is why, were any offense to the pact made, the Akatsuki will examine the case with the affected parties, and depending on what we find, act."