This is one of the chapters I put the most effort into. I carefully revised and adjusted several elements to deliver the story in its best possible form. I hope you enjoy the style and direction of this chapter.
As a reminder, every 50 Power Stones unlock one extra chapter. Your support truly makes a difference.
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Soon after, Chiyo gathered the remnants of Sunagakure's shattered forces and steered them straight toward Kirigakure. Above the battered ships, white flags were raised and left unfurled, fluttering starkly against the sea wind,symbols not only of surrender, but of political submission and a plea for talks.
When the fleet reached the outer harbor of the Land of Water, the report was delivered to Chiba without delay.
A faint smile appeared on his face, calm yet chilling.
"So… Sunagakure has finally chosen negotiation," he said softly. "Good. Then we can settle this properly."
Inside Kirigakure, the elders' council exchanged looks heavy with satisfaction. This was no longer merely a military victory,it was the beginning of reshaping the balance of power between great villages.
Escorted closely by Kirigakure shinobi, Chiyo entered the village soon after. She brought with her only a small delegation,Mukade, Satetsu, Onikaze, and a handful of others. No banners. No guards of honor. Every step reflected restraint, humility, and urgency.
When she finally stood before Chiba, her breath caught for a fraction of a second.
So young…
And yet, standing there as if the fate of an entire great village rested comfortably in his hands.
No,more than that.
It did rest in his hands.
Chiyo suppressed the tremor in her chest and bowed deeply, her voice steady but heavy with unspoken pressure.
"Mizukage-sama," she said, "I have come on behalf of Sunagakure, carrying our utmost sincerity, to seek negotiations. I hope you will be willing to consider our proposal."
Chiba studied her in silence, letting the weight of the moment stretch deliberately. When he finally smiled, it was neither warm nor cruel,it was the smile of someone who knew he held the upper hand.
"Lady Chiyo," he said calmly, "then present this sincerity."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Let's see whether Sunagakure still has the capital to bargain."
The words landed like a blade across the table.
For an instant, Chiyo was at a loss for words. She had expected demands, perhaps even threats,but not such open dominance, stated so plainly.
After a long pause, she exhaled slowly, her voice carrying both restraint and exhaustion.
"Mizukage-sama… Sunagakure is not a prosperous village. I believe you understand our circumstances."
Chiba chuckled softly, the sound echoing faintly in the hall.
"That," he replied without hesitation, "is Sunagakure's internal affair."
Then his tone hardened, the temperature in the room seeming to drop.
"However," he continued, "a village that lacks wealth, manpower, and stability,and still chooses to invade Kirigakure…"
His gaze locked onto Chiyo, unblinking.
"Does that sound like desperation," he asked quietly,
"or like reckless arrogance?"
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Chiyo understood then,this was no longer a discussion about peace.
It was a reckoning.
From the moment Sunagakure raised its sails toward Kirigakure, the political scales had already tipped. And now, standing before this young Mizukage, Chiyo realized with absolute clarity:
Sunagakure was no longer negotiating terms.
It was pleading for survival.
Lady Chiyo fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking again, her aged voice carrying the crushing weight of both time and defeat. There was no attempt at deflection, no false pride left to cling to.
"…That is true. This war was indeed Sunagakure's fault."
She closed her eyes briefly, as though forced to relive a chain of calamities that had begun long before this battlefield. When she spoke again, her tone was heavy, slow, each word pressed out with visible effort.
"Even before this conflict, Sunagakure had already suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Iwagakure. We paid enormous reparations. A village that was already struggling was pushed straight to the edge of collapse."
Her voice tightened, no longer merely tired, but edged with bitterness.
"To be honest, Mizukage-sama… even if you demanded an astronomical compensation, Sunagakure simply does not possess the means to provide it."
She paused, then continued, her words sharper now, stripped of all pretense.
"As for why a village as impoverished as ours still chose to wage war,"
"That is because the Daimyō of the Land of Wind has been continuously cutting Sunagakure's funding."
Her eyes opened slowly, dull yet resolute.
"And in this world, only war can prove a hidden village's worth."
"In the end, it was nothing more than a gamble. A desperate one."
"And unfortunately… Sunagakure lost."
Chiba knew she was telling the truth. There was no deception in her words.
But truth did not equal forgiveness.
To him, these were merely the misfortunes of an invader,one that had crossed his borders, spilled blood on his land, and threatened his people. Their suffering had nothing to do with Kirigakure, and he had no intention of drowning in sympathy for enemies who had come with blades drawn.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Chiba cut her off.
"Lady Chiyo," he said coldly, "if you continue listing excuses, I will assume this is the full extent of Sunagakure's sincerity."
His gaze sharpened, pressure filling the hall like suffocating mist.
"Whether Kazekage Rasa lives or dies. Whether those prisoners are redeemed or abandoned."
"That is Sunagakure's decision."
"But from the way you speak…"
"It seems that even you have yet to make up your mind."
Chiyo's expression changed instantly.
"No,Mizukage-sama!"
"The Kazekage must return. And the captured shinobi as well!"
She bowed deeply, lowering her head until it nearly touched the floor, her posture abandoning all pride.
"Please… state your conditions."
The hall fell into absolute silence.
Chiba nodded once.
"Very well."
He raised a finger calmly, as though discussing something trivial.
"First: Rasa may leave. However, all the Gold Dust he refined through Jiton (Magnet Release) must remain behind,every last grain, including what was brought to this war and all reserves still stored within Sunagakure."
A second finger rose, unhurried.
"Second: each captured shinobi will require one million ryō for redemption."
"There are eight hundred and seventy-two prisoners."
"That amounts to approximately eight hundred and seventy million ryō."
Then, slowly, a third finger followed.
"Third."
"Sunagakure must hand over the methods and techniques of its core combat systems,Jiton (Magnet Release), Sand Manipulation, and Puppet Techniques."
The color drained from Chiyo's face.
"This… this is,"
Not only her. Even the elders and shinobi of Kirigakure were visibly shaken. What Chiba demanded were not mere concessions or reparations.
They were Sunagakure's lifelines.
The Gold Dust and ransom alone would tear open Sunagakure's already-bleeding finances, yet brutal as they were, those conditions were still survivable. Rasa could refine Gold Dust again, and while one million ryō per shinobi sounded excessive, it was not unheard of. A B-rank mission paid tens of thousands of ryō, and A-rank missions could reach up to one million. Elite jōnin often possessed personal wealth in the millions, and this force had been Sunagakure's elite.
Chiba was not extorting blindly.
But the third condition,
That was the true killing blow.
To surrender Jiton (Magnet Release), Sand Control, and Puppet Techniques was nothing less than cutting the fuel at its source,stripping Sunagakure of its identity, its advantage, and its future.
"Mizukage-sama," Chiyo said slowly, her voice strained, "the first two conditions… though devastating, I may barely agree to them."
"But the third…"
"That is simply too cruel."
Chiba smiled faintly.
"Then there is nothing more to discuss."
He turned his head slightly.
"Bring in the Kazekage."
At his command, Kazekage Rasa was escorted into the hall. His body was riddled with injuries, his chakra unstable and chaotic. Beside him stood his trusted subordinates, Maki and Yura, both bound, exhausted, and barely standing.
"Kazekage-sama!" Chiyo exclaimed.
Rasa looked nothing like the arrogant leader who had marched to war. His spirit was broken, his eyes hollow.
"I'm… fine," he murmured before bowing his head deeply.
"This catastrophic defeat… is entirely my fault. I was arrogant. I underestimated Kirigakure and declared war without understanding our enemy."
"I dragged Sunagakure into an abyss with no return."
"I… am unworthy of the title Kazekage."
Chiyo shook her head firmly.
"Kazekage-sama, you once saved Sunagakure from Kumogakure in its darkest hour. We cannot abandon you."
Rasa clenched his fists, veins standing out.
"But his conditions are unacceptable! As long as I remain Kazekage, I will never agree to them!"
"But,"
"There is no 'but'!" Rasa cut her off.
Chiba laughed softly, almost approvingly.
"Well said. Worthy of a Kazekage."
Then his smile vanished.
"Then negotiations are over."
"We will begin with the execution of the captured shinobi."
"After that,Maki. Yura."
"And then…"
His gaze shifted slowly to Chiyo.
"You as well."
"No one from this delegation will leave Kirigakure alive."
"Do not speak to me of wartime etiquette. Sunagakure invaded Kirigakure."
"You forfeited all such rights."
Rasa's pupils shrank. He had already accepted death,but the image of eight hundred elite shinobi, of Maki, Yura, Chiyo, and the others being slaughtered one by one shattered his resolve.
Was Sunagakure truly going to be annihilated?
Chiyo suddenly gritted her teeth.
"Kazekage-sama… accept it."
Rasa froze.
"As long as people live, there is hope for the future!"
Rasa stood trembling, caught between pride and survival. Was he truly supposed to accept such a humiliating, nation-shattering treaty,to trade Sunagakure's very soul for its continued existence?
The fate of an entire village hung upon his answer.
Chiyo remained kneeling, but the faint tremor in her fingers betrayed her composure. She was not naïve, nor was she inexperienced in the cruelty of war. Still, what Chiba was demanding went far beyond anything she had prepared herself to hear. This was no longer a question of compensation or responsibility,it was the deliberate dismantling of Sunagakure's foundations.
These were not the spoils of victory.
They were the tools of domination.
Even Konohagakure, the village that had crushed nations and reshaped the shinobi world during the Three Great Ninja Wars, had never dared to make such demands. Not once in its blood-soaked history had it forced another village to surrender its bloodline limits, its core techniques, or the very pillars upon which its military and political structure stood.
And it wasn't because Konoha lacked the power.
It was because they understood the cost.
Chiba observed the subtle change in Chiyo's breathing, the hesitation that surfaced only for an instant. A faint smile curved his lips, calm and controlled, as though everything unfolding before him was exactly as expected.
"Lady Chiyo," he said evenly, his voice neither raised nor mocking, "you seem to find my conditions… excessive."
He took a slow step forward, his presence pressing down on the hall like a gathering storm.
"Let me offer you a comparison."
"In the past, the Village Hidden in the Leaves stood at the absolute peak of the shinobi world. They defeated countries, shattered alliances, and dictated the outcome of entire eras."
"And yet,even then,they never crossed this line."
Chiyo's expression darkened. She already understood where this was heading, and that realization only deepened the weight in her chest.
"Why?" Chiba continued, his tone calm, almost instructive. "Because Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, was not merely a man of strength. He was a man bound by ideology."
"He preached peace, restraint, and balance,not because they were always effective, but because they were necessary to hold his village together."
Chiba's gaze sharpened, the faint smile fading.
"Konoha is a village that fears independent power."
"They suppress the growth of clans, dilute bloodline authority, and ensure that no single lineage can exist beyond the reach of the Hokage's political control."
He paused deliberately, letting the implication settle.
"And demands like mine…"
"…would do the opposite."
"They would strengthen clans."
"They would consolidate power into bloodlines that no longer answer solely to the village."
"And that," he said softly, "is why Konoha never dared to ask for such things."
"Not out of mercy."
"But out of fear,fear of tearing itself apart from within."
The hall grew cold.
Kirigakure's elders remained silent, their expressions composed, but their eyes revealed understanding. They knew exactly how dangerous this precedent was,and exactly why it worked.
Chiba's gaze returned to Chiyo, unblinking.
"But Sunagakure," he continued, "is already fractured."
"Your Daimyō doubts your value."
"Your finances are in ruins."
"Your elite shinobi are locked in my prison."
"And your internal balance…"
"…is one misstep away from collapse."
He raised a finger,not to announce a new condition, but to drive the point home.
"If you return to Sunagakure with nothing but excuses and wounded pride, your village will devour itself."
"The clans will turn on one another."
"The civilians will starve."
"And the Daimyō will finish what this war began."
Chiyo felt her throat tighten. This was no longer a negotiation between villages,it was a blade pressed against the future of Sunagakure itself.
Then Chiba spoke again, his tone casual, almost indifferent.
"And since we are speaking of futures," he added, "allow me to ask you something, Lady Chiyo."
"Have you ever truly discovered who killed the Sandaime Kazekage?"
The air froze.
Rasa was confused and found it strange, but preferred to leave the thoughts in the back of his mind..
Maki and Yura stiffened as though struck.
Chiyo's pupils contracted sharply.
She had asked herself that question for decades.
There had always been inconsistencies. Missing details. Investigations that ended too cleanly, too conveniently. A truth that never fully surfaced,only buried beneath silence and necessity.
Chiba's voice lowered, smooth and dangerous.
"I know the answer."
"I know how it was done."
"And I know who benefited the most from his death."
He smiled again,but there was no warmth in it.
"I could speak that truth tomorrow."
"I could whisper it to your Daimyō."
"I could let it reach Sunagakure's clans."
His gaze locked onto Chiyo, unwavering.
"Or…"
"I could let it remain buried."
A shadow crossed Chiyo's thoughts.
Her grandson.
A prodigy beyond measure.
A genius who had walked a path soaked in blood.
She had never had proof.
Never certainty.
But doubt… had always lingered.
Chiba turned away, as though the matter bored him.
"My terms are not cruelty," he said calmly. "They are survival."
"For Kirigakure."
"And, ironically…"
"…for Sunagakure as well."
He glanced back one final time.
"Refuse them, and you lose everything,your people, your future, and your secrets."
"Accept them…"
"And at least your village will live long enough to regret it."
Silence swallowed the hall.
The kind of silence that only exists when history itself is waiting for an answer.
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This is one of the chapters I put the most effort into. I carefully revised and adjusted several elements to deliver the story in its best possible form. I hope you enjoy the style and direction of this chapter.
As a reminder, every 50 Power Stones unlock one extra chapter. Your support truly makes a difference.
https://www.patreon.com/c/ImmortalEmperor