章 128: Start of the Talks
Saito took the three of them out of the room and turned into an aisle. On both sides were heavily armed samurai, silently watching the people who came in. As long as the opponent changed anything, they would immediately take action and capture them.
"This place was rebuilt after the last Five Kage meeting to further strengthen defenses," Saito explained as he walked. "There are five aisles, separated from each other. The Five Kage will go to the meeting from separate aisles, so don't worry about other Kage having crossing paths with the others."
Tobirama nodded slightly and said, "You've done well."
On the next journey, Saito seemed to have nothing to say, so he stopped talking, and the others had nothing to say to the samurai, so they could only remain silent.
After walking for some distance, a door appeared in their's field of vision. Saito pulled the door open and then said, "Please come in; this room is only accessible to you, the Five Kage, and the general of our country, Shinosuke."
When the group entered the room, they saw a ring-shaped table, one of which had a broken corner and was deliberately separated. Sitting there was a burly old man with a thick facial beard and an unusually bold look in his eyes.
"Long time no see, Tobirama-sama... No, I should call you Hokage-sama," the old man said slowly.
He seemed quite old, but his voice was full of breath, giving people an invisible sense of authority. Fumori Masaki, and Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at each other. This person should be the talk helper in front of them, a person called the god of samurai.
"It's been a while since I have seen you, Shinosuke-sama," Tobirama said, bowing slightly. Though Shinosuke wasn't presiding over the talks, he was responsible for arranging them.
"You are the first to arrive; please sit down," Shinosuke pointed to the table, and the place where the "Fire" curtain was placed behind it was Hokage's position.
"For the guards, please go to the second floor and wait," Shinosuke then said to Masaki and Hiruzen.
The second floor is also ring-shaped, with five areas separated by curtains and walls. Each area corresponds to the location of the five Kage. Not only does it prevent the two from contacting, but it also allows them to stare at the five Kage at any time to ensure safety.
Just when Masaki and Hiruzen set foot on the second floor, the rest of the Kage arrived one after another. First came the second Raikage, then the second Kazekage, the third Tsuchikage, and the third Mizukage. Shinosuke repeated what he said just now, and their guards also went to the second floor.
Masaki only recognized the guards of Raikage and Kazekage. Raikage's guards were the future third Raikage and Sora, while Kazekage's guards were Chiyo and Ebizō. When these people walked to the second floor, their eyes moved to Masaki direction from time to time. Because of the curtains, they didn't know who Hokage's guard was, so they could only guess based on their own thoughts.
"Thank you all for trusting the Land of Iron. I, Shinosuke, will preside over this Five Kage Summit with impartiality and fairness," Shinosuke said. "The purpose of this meeting is based on the pain brought to the Five Nations by the Ninja War, initiated by Hokage-sama, hoping to establish a new peaceful order."
Then, Shinosuke sighed "The first Hokage ended the troubled times since the Warring States period. Though I detest ninjas, I respect his actions. Unexpectedly, only a few years after the first Five Kage Summit, all Five Kage have changed. Though four of you are familiar faces, it still feels unsettling."
Upon hearing this, Ōnoki, the third Tsuchikage looked a little ugly and couldn't help but glance at the third Mizukage bitterly. It was the previous Mizukage who took his teacher to perished with him!
Sighing for a while, Shinosuke stopped talking, looked at Tobirama, and said, "Since it was raised by the honorable Hokage-sama, let the Hokage-sama speak."
Tobirama nodded in response, looked at the others, and said, "In this meeting, I don't want to put on the air of a winner, and I don't want to be greedy for the interests of other countries. The only goal is to negotiate a way to protect the Elemental Nations and establish a peaceful agreement."
"Hokage-sama is right, and everyone else should know how to be grateful. Don't think about your own interests. If it weren't for his kindness, your situation would be worse than it is now," Ōnoki expressed his support for Tobirama's proposal, but his tone was not so friendly.
The other three Kage couldn't help frowning. Though Onoki spoke the truth, his words lacked any sense of goodwill, sounding more like a sarcastic jibe.
The second Raikage and the second Kazekage were both elderly, no matter how unhappy they were, they would not care to quarrel with Ōnoki. Despite their frustrations, they recognized their positions as representatives of defeated nations. One had suffered heavy losses due to civil war, and the other had ceded land in exchange for peace, which was quite miserable, and they tolerated the young and vigorous performance of the third Tsuchikage.
The young third Mizukage did not swallow his anger and replied, "Those words apply to you as well, Tsuchikage-dono. The actions of Iwagakure, led by you, were guided by a 'Just War.' Don't tarnish that reputation."
"What does you, Mizukage-dono mean?" Ōnoki asked with a smile that was not a smile.
"It means nothing, I support the proposal of Hokage-sama, so I want to avoid anyone exploiting the situation for personal gain," the third Mizukage replied with a slight smile.
Ōnoki's fists were clenched tightly. Because his teacher had died, he harbored no good feelings for the Hidden Mist Ninja Village. More importantly, the words of the third Mizukage stoked Onoki's heartache. At the beginning, the daimyō of the Land of Earth had gone to help the Land of Fire, hoping to eliminate the Land of Lightning, even if that didn't work, it should at least weaken them.
However, due to the dual factors, the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, the Land of Lightning retained a certain amount of vitality after the civil war, failing to achieve the original strategic goal of Iwagakure. It was also because of the name of the Just War that it restrained Iwagakure's actions, preventing them from acting decisively, as the daimyō also had a reputation to uphold.
At first, Ōnoki thought that the 'Just War' was a good thing, but now it seemed that this concept really limited his own actions!
Seeing that the atmosphere of the meeting was a bit solemn, Shinosuke coughed slightly and said in a deep voice, "This meeting is based on friendly conversation. Tsuchikage-sama, Mizukage-sama, please don't harm the peace."
"Yes, I'm sorry, Shinosuke-sama," the third Mizukage replied politely, his appearance gentle and elegant.
Ōnoki, with his stubborn temperament, knew it wasn't easy to continue but didn't apologize like the third Mizukage did. He only hummed softly.
"Then, I will continue," Shinosuke resumed. "This time the Ninja World War brought huge losses to the Ninja Villages I believe you are all aware of this. Under these circumstances, if we start another war in a short time, I am afraid that the village will not be able to sustain it."
This sentence hit the actual situation of each Ninja village completely. Now that the civilian ninjas have not yet appeared, the clan ninjas are the main force of the village, and more than half of them were lost in the first Ninja War. For a village with a total population of more than a thousand, this is an unbearable loss. If another battle of the same scale occurs, the shinobi will almost certainly be disbanded after the war.
"So I hope that at least when the next generation grows up peacefully, no matter what the daimyō asks, you can try your best to communicate and ensure at least ten years of peaceful time." Tobirama suggested.
After the last Ninja War, the lesson learned was that Tobirama no longer thought that the weakening of the war reparations could ensure that war would not happen in the short term. Therefore, Tobirama serve other influences from the interests of the Ninja Village itself, allowing them to consider the safety of their own villages.
Tobirama have a deep understanding of this point. When Tobirama met with the daimyō, even though the daimyō finally agreed, Tobirama obviously felt the jealousy in the daimyō's heart. The essence of the Ninja Village is to be employed by the country because of the traditional rules of ninjas.
So they will obey the orders of the daimyo, but from the perspective of the organization's affiliation, the Ninja Village does not belong to the country of fire. This relationship is destined to be consistent in some areas while contradictory in others.
The other kage nodded slightly. This was in the interest of the Ninja Village, and there was also a clear time limit of ten years, providing an explanation for the daimyo.
"In addition, if a country initiates a war or invades a neutral country within ten years, what do you think about the rights of the other four countries to impose sanctions?" He looked at the others, his gaze steady, before presenting a significant proposal.
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