The room was left speechless yet again. Even when Kusagakure leaders had taken a step back, Fujin threatened them once more! It was so strange that the Kusa leaders were confused about whether they should put up a strong face again or just sit in their chairs.

In the end, no one got up. Even the Konoha side was weirded out by the situation. Finally, Hiroshi replied, "You can rest assured that we won't be betraying Konoha."

Fujin nodded and said, "That's good."

He smiled and added, "We would hate to see such a long-standing alliance getting broken as well."

Hearing that, everyone on Kusagakure's side cursed him internally. All of Fujin's actions made them think that he wanted a fight instead of a peaceful negotiation. Yet, he shamelessly claimed that he wanted to preserve their alliance.

Fujin got up and said, "Let's conclude the meeting. I have already informed you what the cost would be to ask for our help. And that cost won't decrease in the future. If you change your mind in the future and decide to ask for our help, you can send a message to Lord Hokage."

Seeing that Fujin was prepared to leave, Hiroshi asked, "Why not wait for some time and experience our hospitality?"

As offended as he was by Fujin's attitude, he understood that he couldn't make Konoha too upset. In addition, if someone like Fujin stayed in Kusagakure for a few days, it would send a message to the rebels and could make them tone down their aggression. It could even make Iwa back off.

Fujin understood his thoughts. However, why would he do something like that? He smiled and replied, "Some other day for sure, Hiroshi-san. I have to return to the village quickly. The world is too tumultuous right now. I'm sure you understand it the best."

Hiroshi sighed and said, "That's a shame. Alright, we will show you our hospitality some other day."

Fujin nodded and turned around. The Konoha ninjas got up and followed him. Within a few minutes, the group left Kusagakure.

Back in the meeting room, there was a total silence. Seeing that no one was leaving the room, the ninjas, who were overlooking the security, assumed that they wanted to discuss among themselves and closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, curses were heard inside the room!

"That fucking bastard!"

"Konoha crossed all limits today!"

"That brat is too damn arrogant! I wish I could cut him down right in this room!"

"How dare they treat us in this manner?"

"Hiroshi-sama! We need to make Konoha pay for humiliating us in our own village!"

Hiroshi looked at the person who said that and asked, "What do you recommend we do?"

That man went silent. However, one impatient youngster replied, "Let's carry out that threat and ally with Iwagakure. We will prepare a trap for Suzuki Fujin with their help and eliminate him when he tries to carry out his threat!"

Hiroshi shook his head and said, "Don't forget that the ones supporting the rebels are Iwagakure. If we try to negotiate with them now, we will be in a weaker position. They will force us to accept the existence of the rebel faction and might also use us as cannon fodder in the next Great War. It might spell our doom."

An old man added, "Besides, even with Iwa's help, there is no guarantee that we will be able to kill Suzuki Fujin. His bounty was actually put up by Iwa. In addition, the rumors about him being the Spectral Swordsman also came from Iwa.

For the Tsuchikage to put up such a large bounty, Iwa should have suffered heavily at his hands. And that something can't be his fight against Roshi as Iwa put the bounty several months later. From my sources in the Land of Waterfall, some Konoha Anbu ninjas had clashed with some Iwa ninjas in that country. My sources said that even Kitsuchi was involved.

I believe that Anbu unit was led by Suzuki Fujin. And that clash should have caused heavy losses to Iwagakure despite Kitsuchi's presence. Considering that Suzuki Fujin is still alive and well, Iwa has failed to do anything to him even after placing that huge bounty.

If we ally with Iwa and fail to kill him, our ninjas will suffer heavily. And that isn't even considering what will happen if he doesn't make a direct move on our village and instead begins hunting down our ninjas after they leave the village. The losses we are facing right now will be nothing compared to what we will face then."

His wise words made the room calm down. Though they were still angry at Fujin, they understood that acting rashly could spell their doom. One person sighed and said, "This doesn't feel good. Despite being insulted in such a manner, all we can do is swallow our pride and endure the humiliation."

Hiroshi said, "There is no choice. This is the reason why we focus on diplomacy. Even though we have experienced a peaceful decade, don't forget the difference in strength between us and the major villages.

That said, not everything that happened in this meeting was bad. While we messed up a bit by threatening Konoha in this way, we now have a clear picture of their attitude."

He took a pause and looked at everyone in the room before continuing, "Their stance can be explained in three points. Firstly, they won't help us in dealing with the rebels for free. Instead, they will charge us a premium for saving us. If we fall into a difficult position in the future, we could request their help even though it'll cost us an arm. However, that is better than losing the entire body.

Secondly, they will help us if Iwa attacks us directly. In that case, it will become an all-out war between Konoha and Iwa. Things might even escalate further. In the worst case, the Fourth Great Ninja War might start. However, I don't think either Konoha or Iwa want that to happen. So, things might not escalate much.

Thirdly, if we ally with Iwa, then Konoha will go all out to target us. Even with Iwa's help, that isn't something we can endure. We can't consider this option unless Konoha takes heavy losses and becomes much weaker."

Everyone in the room nodded. The old man, who spoke earlier, said, "Though his words were humiliating and we were refused any free or cheap help, the situation isn't bad. We can deal with the rebels ourselves. So we don't need to consider whatever Konoha wants to charge us for help. It's just that our losses will be significant."

Hiroshi nodded and added, "Yes. But since we don't need to worry about Iwa's interference, we can finally stop being on the defensive and begin our counterattack. I want to see how much unity they show once their losses start mounting."

He got up and looked at everyone in the room. Making eye contact with everyone, he said, "I know that none of us have deployed all our forces until today due to our worries. However, from this moment onwards, we will be focusing entirely on this war. No more holding back. It's time to eliminate those fucking traitors!"

Hiroshi's words had the intended effect. Everyone in the room began making plans for their counterattack.

As the Konoha group left Kusagakure, Homura looked at Fujin. By that moment, he had analyzed everything that had happened in the meeting. He thought, 'The Spectral Swordsman I almost forgot that he was called that when he was in the Anbu.

I never imagined that he would have such a deterrence effect in the minor villages! None of them had any intention of fighting him. Even though they tried to hide their emotions, fear was visible even in Hiroshi's eyes when Fujin said that he would hunt them down later.

It seems that Koharu and I underestimated his reputation. However, Hiruzen should know it very well. Is this the reason why he insisted upon training him to become an negotiator?'

The others from Konoha had their thoughts as well. The ones from Anbu had worked with Fujin earlier. As a result, they weren't too surprised with the effect he had. However, seeing the Kusagakure leadership being so afraid of him increased their respect for him.

As for the diplomats, they were still full of complaints. They suffered several panic attacks once Fujin started speaking. One of them asked, "Did we need to be so harsh? It could hurt their ego and push them towards Iwagakure. Due to your open threat, they might even do so in the dark."

Fujin replied, "If they want to do so in the dark, then there was nothing stopping them earlier either. It's better to just deter them right now instead of hoping that our goodwill moves them. Besides"