In the meeting room, everyone exchanged glances. Finally, one decided to speak up and said, "Councilor Fujin, with all due respect, there is no way that they would agree."
Fujin waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's fine. We can negotiate. As long as it is above what it would cost them normally, there is no harm in doing the deal. In fact, even if it goes slightly below it, it'll be fine considering that it is a bulk deal.
Anyway, finalize the amount soon. We still need to decide on the points to use to make them understand that helping them for free is off the table. That will be the main topic during negotiations."
The diplomats sighed in relief as Fujin finally showed some flexibility. They quickly finalized the normal cost and the premium cost for Kusa to pay. The discussion quickly changed towards how to convince Kusa to pay, how strict they should be during the negotiation and when to pull the plug in case Kusa refused to pay under any circumstances along with some other points.
After discussing all the aspects for a few hours, they finalized all the details. Fujin smiled and said, "Good work everyone."
He turned his gaze towards the closed door. The doors automatically opened and he said, "You guys can enter."
Two Anbu squads entered. They were dispatched by Hiruzen to assist Fujin. Fujin looked at them and asked, "Did Lord Hokage inform you about the mission?"
One of the Anbu Captains answered, "He provided us with some details. He said that we have to ensure your group's safety while you are negotiating with Kusagakure."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes. However, all of you will follow us in disguise. You will pretend to be diplomats, but you don't need to speak during any discussions."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Fujin's words confused the diplomats and Homura once again. For the first time, Homura said, "Fujin, everyone knows who our diplomats are. While having one or two more diplomats won't be suspicious, having 8 new diplomats will easily arouse suspicion. It'll be better to have them follow us in their Anbu uniform as Kusa won't stop them."
Fujin replied with a smile, "I know it'll be suspicious, but that's fine. I want them to be suspicious."
Fujin looked at four diplomats and pointed at them one by one and said, "You four won't speak anything during the meeting as well. Just pay attention to the meeting, but don't speak unless I ask any of you to."
The group were puzzled even more. None of the diplomats understood what Fujin's intentions were. Homura wondered, 'Why does it feel like he is going there to fight instead of negotiating? Even if our negotiations don't result in anything, Kusa won't dare to attack us. What exactly is he planning?'
Not providing any explanation, Fujin said, "We will move out in an hour. Settle your matters if you have any and return to this room in less than an hour."
Everyone nodded. Some left, some stayed there. After an hour, the group left Konoha. They travelled the night and the following day, before waiting in one of the Patrol Camps the entire night. Before the sun appeared in the sky, their group entered the Land of Grass and moved towards Kusagakure.
A few hours later, the group reached Kusagakure. They had already sent a message informing Kusagakure about their arrival. As a result, the leader of Kusagakure and other prominent leaders were waiting for their arrival.
When the Konoha ninjas appeared in their sight, the face of every single person fell without any exception. Their leader cursed, 'Damn Konoha! Where are the Hokage or other Elders? And why is that cursed brat leading the group?'
Kusagakure wasn't informed who'd be leading the diplomatic team. On seeing that it was the guy who was rumored to have cut down several of their ninjas, everyone became very alert.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Fujin appeared in front of the leader of Kusagakure and said, "Ashikaga Hiroshi-san, it's good to see you once again."
Ashikaga Hiroshi faked a smile and said, "It's good to see you as well, Suzuki Fujin."
Fujin nodded and said, "Let's not waste any time. Considering your current situation, let's get down to business right away."
Hiroshi nodded. While he would have engaged in small talk with Hiruzen or the other two Elders, he didn't have anything to bond with Fujin due to their vast age gap. They quickly entered the central mansion and entered the meeting room.
During that time, Hiroshi properly observed everyone from Konoha's diplomatic team. He became even more serious as he analyzed, '9 new faces. They are likely hiding their real identity using Transformation jutsu. Something is off. Nine ninjas hiding themselves and sending this crazy kid instead of a normal Elder. We need to be careful.'
The others from Kusa noticed the same thing as well. Without saying anything, everyone became very tense. And the Konoha ninjas and diplomats noticed how tense they were.
Homura glanced at Fujin and wondered, 'Is this what he wanted? Making them negotiate while they are under tension… That said, it doesn't explain why they are so tense. Even when Hiruzen shows up openly with his Anbu Guards, they aren't this tense.'
As everyone took their seats, a few servants appeared in the room carrying trays of food. However, Fujin said, "Let's leave the food for later and begin the discussion."
His words caused the Kusa higher-ups to frown. Hiroshi realized, 'He doesn't trust us. Why did Konoha become so suspicious of us? Even though we hinted at a lot of things in the scroll, our relationship is still very good. This isn't the Hokage's style.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})What they didn't notice was that the diplomats from Konoha's side also glanced at Fujin with eyes full of complaints. Fujin had made them run all morning without any break. They didn't complain as they would have got delicious food in Kusagakure. However, Fujin denied them that as well!
Though they understood the reason why Fujin did so, none of them were worried about the food being poisoned or drugged. Even if Kusa decided to betray Konoha and ally with Iwa, they would never do something like that as it'll only result in their annihilation.
As for the Anbu disguised among the diplomats, none of them had any complaints. After all, they were used to such situations as compared to the diplomats who had long stopped being an active ninja.
Hiroshi nodded and said, "Alright."
He glanced at the servants who immediately left the room. Once all the doors were shut, Fujin said, "Though the scroll gave some details, we are still not exactly aware of the strength and numbers of your enemy and the scale of losses you have suffered. Fill me up on it and also tell me any other details you have about the rebels."
Hiroshi nodded. The person sitting to his left began explaining the details about the rogue faction which was attacking them.
While Fujin was negotiating in Kusagakure, another interesting clash was happening on the other side of the Land of Fire. En route to the wave country, Kakashi and his squad were attacked by Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist and the current wielder of Kubikiribocho.
Just like in the original story, Zabuza trapped Kakashi in the Water Prison jutsu, putting his team in extreme danger. Zabuza's Water Clone had already sent both Naruto and Sasuke flying, showing them the vast difference that existed between Genins and Elite Jounins.
Understanding their terrible situation, Kakashi shouted, "Everyone listen! Take Tazuna and retreat! It's a fight you can't win! If he wants to hold me in this Water Prison, he can't leave this place. He won't be able to hurt me through the Water Prison either!"
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were very tense when they heard Kakashi's words. Suddenly, a look of surprise appeared on Naruto's face as Kakashi's words stuck in his mind. He quickly got up and weaved hand signs while shouting, "Sensei, are you sure he can't hurt you inside the Water Prison?"
His sudden question surprised everyone. Kakashi thought, 'Well he can, but if I say that, you guys won't retreat…'
He quickly shouted, "Yes he can't! Now retreat!"
A grin formed on Naruto's face as he said, "Good! Then I don't have to worry. Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!"
In an instant, a few dozen Shadow Clones formed around Naruto. Seeing that Naruto was still intending to fight, Kakashi cursed, 'Darn it! Wha… Eh, is he planning that tactic? Hmm, it could work. However, it is still very risky.'
Seeing Naruto and his clones put their hands in their ninja pouch to grab a kunai, memories of the graduation exam resurfaced in Kakashi's mind. Even so, he maintained a worried expression on his face.
"Haha… hahahaha!" Seeing Naruto planning on attacking him, Zabuza's Water Clone began laughing. His laugh immediately offended Naruto who wondered, 'Why is he laughing like a lunatic?'
Zabuza's clone said, "Apparently you don't care whether you get any olde…"
Suddenly, his eyes widened. Hanging around Fujin and falling prey to his sudden attacks without caring whether he was ready or not had an effect on Naruto. He didn't bother waiting for Zabuza to be done with his speech. At the same time, Naruto and each of his Shadow Clones launched several kunai. Each of the kunai had an explosive tag attached to them!
