บท 62: Negotiations

Arriving in a grand hall, our sensei and the whole team took seats beside each other at the long and narrow table, while the clan leader, his elders, and the best strategists in the clan occupied the head of the table. "Let's begin the negotiations and terms for this alliance," the clan leader initiated.

Hanzo nodded and started to speak, not taking his eyes off the clan leader, Teru. "We would like to extend an offer to your clan to join our village." A ripple of disapproving murmurs spread throughout the building.

Holding up a hand to silence the clansmen, he motioned for Hanzo to continue. "You would have your very own clan ground, an equal say as everyone else has in how our village runs, freedom to govern your clan as you see fit, and the protection and resources of the entire village." Hanzo stopped talking and waited for a response.

Teru turned and leveled a gaze at the influential people within his clan and started speaking to them in a low tone of voice. Turning back, he narrowed his eyes slightly as he started speaking. "With all due respect, Jonin Hanzo, I cannot accept this offer. We have been an isolated clan away from everyone else for the past 200 years and haven't had any problems with anyone else. The way that I see it, if we join your village, we would be dragged into unnecessary conflicts with little to no control on when they happen."

Hanzo sighed internally, knowing that this would probably have been their answer no matter how he tried to phrase it. "Would you be opposed to considering a sort of partnership then?"

Going silent again, Teru thought about what this might entail. "What do you have in mind?" he asked, just the slightest bit intrigued.

"I was thinking about a sort of exchange. We give you something, and you give us something back in return." Bouncing his head back and forth, Teru gave this question a very deep thought.

"What would you want from us in this exchange?"

"We would like the basics of your unique sound jutsus, and we would also like a few of them as well."

"Outrageous! You think we would give those to an outsider?!" An elder in the back row stood up, outraged. It wasn't hard to tell that about 90% of the people there also thought the same way as that elder.

Teru frowned once again and put his hand up to silence the growing discontent. "I know you wouldn't ask for something as big as that if you didn't have anything significant to trade for. So what were you thinking about giving in return?"

Haru sat for a few seconds contemplating it. "Here's what I was thinking: we are going to offer you seals at a discounted price. Fresh from the Uzumaki clan, you could get a 10% discount on any seals you would need. This offer would last for either 3 years or until you want to discontinue our partnership."

Turning back to his group of people, they could be heard talking very quietly.

'It's a decent deal, but it's certainly not all we can get. We would be giving our livelihoods away for Kami's sake," one elder whispered in a harsh tone.

"I agree. We should be pushing for more. We should push for at least 30% off and a 6-year timeline as well," a negotiator spoke up from next to Teru.

Teru, being the clan leader, quickly picked up on what his advisor was saying. "That way we can slowly whittle it down, and perhaps we can get 20-25% off. I think that would be a solid plan."

The same elder who yelled out before looked on in disbelief. "What happens if they turn on us? You're just going to give away our secret techniques just like that?"

"Elder, I don't believe you have to worry about that. If they wanted to, they could very much take us out without breaking much of a sweat. On top of that, we aren't a strategic strong point; we are south of everything that happens in the ninja world. If this can help our village, who cares if they know a couple of jutsus from our library? We won't give them the S-rank techniques, after all."

The rest of the people who didn't seem to like the decision before slowly fell in line as they thought about what the advisor was saying. "I agree with what my advisor, Hoka, had to say. I believe that this could do a lot more good for the clan than it would do harm."

Turning back to look at Hanzo, Teru spoke again. "I think that's a good starting point, but for what you're asking, you should be compensating us more. For this, I believe that we should get 30% off all Uzumaki fuinjutsu seals, along with the 3-year plan being bumped up to 6 years."

Haru scoffed at that. "You expect me to triple the price just like that? How about 20% off, and we get an agreement from you that says you'll act as a forward warning system should any Mist shinobi be sent on missions or any platoons land around the Land of Noodles, as well as any sea movements that happen to take place around you? In turn, we can extend it into a 4.5-year plan. Like I said, we would love to have you as a long-term partner."

Teru closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them again. "I will agree to the terms as long as we can have a three-man team of Uzumaki shinobi be sent to the village if we have any large-scale projects we want to do in that 4.5-year timeframe. Of course, that would also be covered under the 20% discount."

Steepling his fingers together underneath his chin, Haru thought for a minute. "We'll agree to that." He got up to shake the clan leader's hand as the clan leader got out a piece of paper and handed it to an assistant, asking them to write in the contract details, so they could make this official.

"I'll have someone get those jutsu and scrolls ready for you while you wait. In the meantime, I can grab a couple of talented chunin to show your genin a little bit about how our sound jutsus work, since you'll know when you get the scrolls anyway," the clan leader smiled and gestured to the field that was out back of the hall they were standing in.

Hanzo looked back to see the curious look on all of his genin's faces and sighed internally. 'These kids really are a handful.' Turning back, he replied in the affirmative, "Sure, let's see if any of the kids have a talent for the sound jutsus you guys practice."

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(A/N: How was the diplomacy chapter; do you think I did well to show the negotiation on both sides? Who do you think won the trade/agreement? I tried to give each party what I thought would be most beneficial to them. The Otozoku clan got a couple of discounts on Uzumaki seals while Uzu now has a different type of jutsu to play with and incorporate into their combat.)

70 power stones for an extra chapter

120 for an extra 2