"Naruto: Ice God"Chapter 112: I'm Here to Negotiate
Looking at Kakashi before him, Yahiko's mouth twitched.
So this was the so-called white-haired ninja...
Yūjirō, are you stupid? These kids clearly look like nothing but children—you actually believed he's our uncle?!
Gritting his teeth as he stared at Feng Bai standing at the front, Yahiko forcibly suppressed his urge to complain and managed an awkward smile: "You're supposed to be my uncle?"
"That's right."
Feng Bai nodded matter-of-factly.
"Pfft."
Seeing Feng Bai admit it, Konan couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Hearing the sound, Yahiko turned and glared fiercely at her, forcing Konan to regain her serious expression.
What are you laughing at? Didn't you hear him say he's your uncle too?!
"So, what's your name and where are you from?"
Convinced in his heart that the visitor was here to cause trouble, Yahiko looked back at Feng Bai, determined to find out exactly what he wanted.
"I really am your uncle—more precisely, your senior martial uncle."
Seeing Yahiko's disbelief, Feng Bai earnestly explained: "Your teacher is Jiraiya. Jiraiya's teacher is the Third Hokage, and I'm also the Third Hokage's disciple. Therefore, I'm Jiraiya's junior brother, which makes me your senior martial uncle."
"I came here precisely because of Jiraiya's request."
Finding Akatsuki's base hadn't been difficult.
Before leaving Danzō, Feng Bai had obtained a much more detailed map than his previous one.
With this map, Feng Bai even knew which direction Akatsuki's public restroom was located.
"Jiraiya-sensei? Did Jiraiya-sensei really send you here?"
Hearing it was Jiraiya who'd sent Feng Bai, Nagato became somewhat excited.
"Yes. Before the war erupted, Jiraiya repeatedly tried to locate your whereabouts, but only received news of your deaths. Having great confidence in your abilities, he refused to believe this was true, so he dispatched me."
Glancing at Nagato's eyes hidden beneath his red hair, Feng Bai didn't see the Rinnegan concealed within.
"I see. So, Senior... Senior Uncle, you came from Konoha?"
Yahiko's mouth twitched as he forced out that address.
"Yep."
Feng Bai quickly agreed—this was the legendary Yahiko personally calling him senior uncle! He had to respond enthusiastically.
[This kid sure answered fast!]
On the other side, Yahiko was covered in metaphorical black lines, beginning to believe the man really was Jiraiya's junior brother—their similarly terrible personalities made it hard not to accept.
"I came from the front lines. Jiraiya is currently battling Iwa-nin at the border."
After saying this, Feng Bai paused and grew serious: "I, Shimura Feng Bai, represent Konoha in extending a cooperation invitation to you."
...
Though he hadn't received authorization from his own teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi, Feng Bai had Danzō's tacit approval, which sufficed for representing Konoha in negotiations with Akatsuki.
Seeing Kakashi and the others voluntarily leave the room, Yahiko wanted Konan and Nagato to withdraw as well, but Feng Bai stopped him.
"These two martial nephews don't need to leave—I have things to tell all of you shortly."
[You're calling them 'martial nephew' quite smoothly.]
Konan and Nagato experienced the same sense of helplessness Yahiko had just felt.
"Shimura Feng Bai, I've heard of you. You are indeed the Third Hokage's disciple—the ninja Kumogakure calls the 'White Reaper.'"
Looking at this delicate-featured young man, Konan recited his credentials while abandoning her earlier dismissive attitude.
"Jiraiya-sensei should know that we Akatsuki act to change this shinobi world and achieve peace—we absolutely cannot help you attack the Iwa-nin."
Yahiko wasn't swayed by Feng Bai's reputation and achievements, immediately stating his position: there was absolutely no possibility of allying with Konoha to jointly oppose Iwa-nin.
"Don't worry—I understand that."
Feng Bai smiled, adopting an innocent expression: "I haven't even made any offers yet—how do you know I'm here to invite you to jointly fight Iwa-nin? You have far too little faith in Jiraiya and me."
"Then what cooperation are you referring to...?"
Yahiko was curious. If not planning to recruit them against Iwa-nin, why would Konoha want to cooperate with their small Akatsuki organization?
"This is the area you control."
Looking around, Feng Bai spotted a map of the Land of Rain on the wall.
Standing on tiptoe, he pointed to Akatsuki's location on the map, his finger finally settling on a particular region: "Konoha is willing to provide you with a loan. You can use this money to purchase living supplies, develop the local area, or even buy weapons to arm yourselves. Of course, the condition is that you can only use this money to purchase Konoha's goods, and as collateral, you'll use the silver mine hidden beneath this region."
"How do you know there's a silver mine here?"
Yahiko blurted out, then immediately regretted it. How foolish—if they could find this place, it proved they'd investigated the Land of Rain thoroughly. Knowing the mineral deposits was simple enough.
"I know everything, including his eyes." Feng Bai narrowed his eyes, smiling as he pointed toward Nagato nearby.
Eyes—
Yahiko instinctively looked toward Nagato.
Nagato himself was somewhat surprised, but also felt relieved. Since Jiraiya had even told him about the Rinnegan, he must trust this young man greatly.
He could never imagine that Jiraiya hadn't mentioned the Rinnegan to Feng Bai at all—Feng Bai knew for entirely different reasons.
"Since it's a loan, there must be interest, right?"
Yahiko coughed lightly, continuing the previous topic.
"If you agree to let Konoha mine this silver deposit and use the extracted resources to repay the loan, the interest can be waived."
"These terms seem overly generous—aren't there any other additional conditions?" After hearing Feng Bai's terms, Yahiko had a vague suspicion:
"You should know that Amegakure's true controller is Hanzō-sama, and we—"
Yahiko didn't finish before Feng Bai interrupted: "You should understand what Hanzō's Amegakure looks like. Under that kind of dark rule, no matter how much investment he received, it would probably be seized for military expenses."
Looking directly into Yahiko's eyes, Feng Bai recalled what he'd witnessed upon first entering Amegakure: "That kind of backward, corrupt regime should be buried in history's dust. Conflicts between ninja shouldn't involve civilians—don't you agree, Yahiko?"
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