Naruto: The Wind Calamity

Onoki felt Roshi and Kitsuchi's curious gazes and shook his head. He said, "You are looking too much into these proposals. An alliance between three nations can't happen within the blink of an eye. Not unless Konoha declares war against one of the villages and gives us an opportunity to attack. However, they're too smart to take such a risk. Besides…"

The two proposals on his desk turned to dust as Onoki angrily questioned, "Who do these brats think they are? Asking Iwagakure to be the vanguard and the brunt of Konoha's counterattack while they reap the rewards. Hmph, they might even stay out of the war once we attack Konoha and just watch the two of us get weaker. I haven't gone senile to trust these snakes like that fool Rasa did!"

Roshi and Kitsuchi glanced at each other while thinking, 'As expected…'

While Kumogakure's and Sunagakure's proposals were good, there was a major flaw that even they understood. The three villages didn't trust each other. Hence, no one wanted to be the one to start the war. After all, if they attacked Konoha and the other two villages reneged on their agreement, they'd be beaten extremely badly by Konoha! It was too big of a risk.

The only one bold enough to take such a risk was Ay. Unfortunately, Hiruzen had schemed against him just before Sunagakure and Orochimaru attacked Konoha. Fujin's actions in the dark not only gave a huge blow to Kumogakure's military might but it also meant Ay would never have the political support to start a new war before raising several hundred new elite ninjas.

So, Kumogakure wasn't in a state to start a new war. Sunagakure was in an even worse position. While they had some confidence in engaging in guerilla warfare in the desert, they would need to send their forces to the plains of the Land of River to declare war on Konoha.

If they sent a small army, there was a high chance that Konoha would wipe them out even before Iwagakure and Kumogakure could join the war. However, if they sent most of their ninjas and were betrayed yet again by their new allies, Konoha could deal a massive blow to their main forces, possibly wiping out more than half, if not nearly all their ninjas. Sunagakure will simply cease to exist and be disbanded in that case. They didn't dare gamble on it.

The only one who was in a state to launch a war was Onoki. He also had a good reason considering the recent humiliation he suffered on the border with the Land of Grass. Hence, both Sunagakure and Kumogakure insisted that Iwagakure should be the one to start the war and they'll join immediately.

Unfortunately, there was no way to know whether other villages had launched a war or not instantly. While some means of communication, like the Chakra Transmission Communication Devices, existed, they couldn't be trusted. So, Onoki had no desire to go along with such a proposal.

Onoki replied, "Send a letter to them and say that one of them will have to lead the war. Iwagakure will join in immediately after. Unlike them, we'll have to face Kusagakure and Takigakure too. Though they aren't great villages, they are still quite strong. We won't risk facing three enemies at the same time by ourselves. This is non-negotiable."

Kitsuchi nodded. He was about to leave when Onoki ordered, "Also keep an eye on the negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure. If they fail, we may have a good opportunity."

Recalling Onoki's earlier gaze, Kitsuchi smirked and said, "I will do so."

——

In Fire Capital, Konoha's elders called for an internal meeting of the council members the night before the fourth round of talks were supposed to happen.

Koharu pushed a scroll on the table and said, "We received a message from Shikaku. He has confirmed that Sunagakure, Iwagakure and Kumogakure are in talks. They want to create an alliance against us."

Homura said, "Considering their past hostilities, a proper alliance between the three of them is unlikely. However, this is a great risk. If the improbable does happen, we will be in a tough spot.

We need to wrap up the talks quickly. At our current speed, we'll need 4 or 5 more rounds before reaching an agreement. We need to speed it up to 1 or 2 rounds to make Iwagakure and Kumogakure suspicious of Sunagakure."

Tsume asked, "Why would they hurry up the negotiations in that case? Their council must have already informed them about it. No wonder they were so resistant to our demands."

Inoichi said, "I doubt their council would have said anything about this to them. They won't risk letting that information fall into our hands. However, they could act indirectly by asking them to slow down the negotiations or not accept our demands."

Homura and Koharu nodded. Fujin muttered, "If that's the case, then they don't have much of a reason to conclude the negotiations in 1 or 2 rounds. The only way we can achieve that is if we make significant compromises and give them a deal that they couldn't resist."

Homura replied, "Yes, that is the only way."

Seeing Fujin's dissatisfaction, Hiromasa sighed and muttered, "This is how it always happens. In order to maintain peace, Konoha has to take a step back almost every time. In addition, our geographical location makes us vulnerable to attack on all sides. If we try to destroy one of the other great villages, every other great village would gang up on us fearing that it would be their turn next."

Fujin replied, "True, but that doesn't mean we should be so quick to compromise. It just makes us look easy to bully. This time it was Sunagakure and the Kazekage, next time the Raikage might try to assault our village knowing that we won't retaliate."

Fujin glanced at Homura and Koharu and said, "This is enough role reversal. I'll take the role of the aggressor while you guys can contain me when I go overboard. If we have to end the negotiations in 2 rounds, let me give them a sense of urgency."

Tsume glanced at Fujin and thought, 'So he finally had enough. Hehe, this should be fun. I want to see what made Kusagakure accept such an unfavorable deal.'

Homura awkwardly replied, "You have seen them, Fujin. You should know that they are prepared to die. You can't threaten them like you did in Kusagakure."

Tsume smirked and replied, "Why do we have to threaten them with their lives? Even though they're prepared to die, every one of them will have someone they don't want to see dead or tortured.

Even though they will be in Sunagakure and sending our ninjas there will be risky, we don't need to do that. We just need to convince their negotiation team that we will do it."

Hiromasa shook his head and refuted, "Such an agreement won't hold. Their council will tear it up once they return to Sunagakure. Threatening is fine, but we can't threaten in such a distasteful way. In addition, our reputation will plummet once the news spreads. It'll also ruin our relationship with the Wind Daimyo." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Fujin said, "Alright, but I'd still like to try."

Fujin didn't bother giving an explanation or put forth his ideas, putting others in an awkward position. On one hand, giving Fujin a free hand was risky and could derail the talks entirely. On the other hand, they couldn't just say no considering what he had done in the past couple of months.

Finally, Homura decided, 'Oh well, the reason why we are in such a good place is due to his performance during the assault and how he destroyed Otogakure. Even if he squanders the negotiation, it won't be a big issue for the village as we'll just have to make some more compromises. It'll also be a good lesson for him. Of course, if he pulls off another miracle like he did in Kusagakure, then the benefit to the village will be endless."

He nodded and said, "Alright. Hiruzen wanted to see you lead our negotiations in the future anyway. However, I don't think he saw you negotiating against Sunagakure so early. Take the aggressor role, but be careful."

Fujin nodded. Others had similar thoughts as Homura and didn't oppose his decision. The group discussed their negotiation strategy going forward and the demands they could compromise on if they had to. Once everything was finalized, the elders met other members of the negotiation team and informed them of the same.

The next morning, the two sides met again to begin the fourth round of negotiations, a round that would end in a strange manner.

————————————

A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.

Link - www.pat /DevilHex

(No space)

Alternatively you can support me on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi

Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.

Thank You SageRat and Diogo for supporting me on P@treon.