'So, they'd changed their approach.'
Roshi saw it clearly. Sunagakure was no longer relying solely on a hard, even somewhat crude, posture when cornered, as they had in the past.
Unfortunately for them, this new bargaining chip still wasn't strong enough—especially not this year, when the normally insular Hidden Mist had unexpectedly expressed interest in participating.
Of course, judging from Zabuza's immediate request to inspect the venues and fully understand the procedures, Kirigakure's real goal was likely to establish its own system in the future.
But that was a problem for later.
For now, the Hidden Mist's involvement was a card firmly in Konoha's hand.
And a usable card should be played while it still carried weight.
"Of course," Roshi said with an easy smile, his tone unusually accommodating. "Sunagakure is free to host its own exams however it sees fit."
"After all, the Hidden Mist envoys have already arrived. With their participation, this year's Chūnin Exams should be especially exciting."
Baki's expression tightened almost imperceptibly.
The Hidden Mist's arrival had caught Sunagakure completely off guard.
Even if Sunagakure adopted a passive stance this year—sending only the bare minimum of teams to fulfill appearances—the simple headline of 'Four Great Ninja Villages Gather' would be more than enough to drive Konoha's ticket sales and merchandise revenue through the roof.
It might even surpass what Kumogakure had earned.
For a fleeting moment, the thought of withdrawing entirely—of making a show of resolve—crossed Baki's mind.
He crushed it just as quickly.
Without sufficient leverage or follow-up measures, breaking an agreement to pressure a far stronger opponent—especially one currently holding the advantage—was nothing short of reckless.
Konoha hadn't even played its most dangerous card yet.
If they raised the prices of essential supplies by even a small margin, Sunagakure would be in for a brutal year.
In the broader context of the ninja world, Konoha had already signed peace or ceasefire agreements with every major village. The overall atmosphere was shifting toward recovery and development.
If Sunagakure were to disrupt that fragile balance now, they would almost certainly be the first to suffer.
Without concrete expectations of success, they simply couldn't afford to take that risk.
Seeing that Baki had no immediate counterarguments, Roshi abruptly shifted his tone.
"That said, Sunagakure's concerns aren't unreasonable."
"We simply hope to see a proposal grounded in reality—not a vague appeal."
"Baki-san," he added calmly, "please take some time to consider this. Come back with a more concrete plan, and we can continue the discussion."
With that, Roshi rose, signaling the end of the meeting. Anko, who had been quietly waiting in the corner, immediately followed.
As they stepped into the empty corridor, Anko leaned closer and whispered, "You were clearly shutting him down. Why soften at the end?"
"Shutting him down?" Roshi shook his head. "No. There's no such thing as refuting someone at the negotiating table."
"Right now, the situation simply favors us. He doesn't have enough cards—and the ones he does have aren't good enough."
The enormous profits generated by the commercialization of the Chūnin Exams could never remain the exclusive domain of Konoha—or even Konoha and the Hidden Cloud together.
Once Konoha proved the model successful this year, the Hidden Mist would follow next year. Sunagakure would find its own workaround sooner or later.
The same applied to the new combat exchange being negotiated with Kumogakure. Even if they enjoyed the benefits for a year, what then?
Other villages weren't fools.
Even without Konoha or Kumogakure's influence, they could still organize similar events within their own spheres—perhaps smaller in scale, but enough to draw attention.
At that point, the ninja world would be flooded with "combat exchanges" and "elite tournaments," diluting interest, fragmenting the market, and reducing overall profits for everyone.
That outcome benefited no one.
It would be far better to act now—while the structure was still forming and Konoha and Kumogakure held the first-mover advantage—to establish a more orderly framework for competition and cooperation.
If Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Hidden Cloud could first reach a preliminary consensus on frequency, scale, and profit distribution, then bringing in the Hidden Mist—already interested—would be far easier.
And once a relatively stable cooperative model among four Great Ninja Villages emerged…
What, then, would Iwagakure do?
At that point, Ōnoki would be forced to seriously consider whether remaining outside this newly forming system was truly in his village's best interest.
—
"You look a lot more tired than you did a few days ago, Roshi."
Roshi didn't bother denying it. "Reaching an agreement with Sunagakure isn't exactly easy, Samui."
He shifted the topic naturally, gesturing toward the bowls in front of them. "That said, if I had to recommend something truly worth trying in Konoha, Ichiraku Ramen would be near the top of the list. A lot of villagers come here regularly."
After reaching a tentative 'we'll talk again once there's a concrete proposal' understanding with Baki, Roshi's workload had eased—at least a little.
Today, he was once again accompanying Samui. After showing her the areas of Konoha open to foreign shinobi, he suggested stopping by one of the village's most famous eateries.
Samui hadn't refused.
And so they ended up at Ichiraku Ramen.
This place could genuinely be called a Konoha specialty. Even when the Village had been leveled by Pain's Shinra Tensei, Ichiraku had become even bigger.
It was also—though neither of them mentioned it—the favorite food of a future hero.
"The flavor is quite distinctive," Samui said after tasting the broth. "And it's very rich."
On the surface, she was commenting on the ramen. Inwardly, however, she was dissecting Roshi's earlier words.
'Konoha reaching an agreement with Sunagakure…'
Was he implying that even without deeper cooperation from the Hidden Cloud, Konoha still had other powerful partners to lean on?
Sunagakure was, after all, a Great Ninja Village—and compared to Kumogakure, far easier for Konoha to influence, coordinate with, or even partially control.
From a purely commercial and entertainment perspective, Sunagakure's world-famous puppet techniques—complex, precise, and visually striking—were also highly appealing. They could easily be incorporated into exhibitions or performance segments.
Of course, the cost-benefit ratio was another matter. High-grade puppets were expensive to construct, and damage during real combat meant staggering repair or replacement costs.
Far less economical than shinobi fighting shinobi.
Still, those costs could theoretically be offset by event revenue.
In just a few seconds, Samui weighed the potential variables: how Sunagakure's deeper involvement—or strategic concessions—might affect the bilateral cooperation Konoha and Kumogakure were currently planning.
She was carefully choosing her next words, aiming to probe without seeming overeager—
When the curtain at the shop entrance was pushed aside.
Two more customers entered.
They were Konoha shinobi—a man and a woman.
"Boss, ramen—hm?" Asuma Sarutobi stopped mid-sentence, his gaze landing on Roshi and the woman beside him. "Roshi?"
"Asuma-senpai," Roshi greeted him with a nod. "Looks like you've returned from border rotation duty."
He then turned to the black-haired kunoichi beside Asuma and nodded politely. "Yūhi-senpai."
Asuma cleared his throat, suddenly looking less enthusiastic about sitting down.
Kurenai Yūhi knew Roshi well enough—her longtime friend Gai had once been assigned to a temporary squad with him. Even Asuma's return to the Village this time had been indirectly connected to Roshi's work.
"Hello, Roshi," Kurenai said with a gentle smile. Her eyes then naturally shifted to Samui. "And this is…?"
"The Kumogakure envoy, Jōnin Samui," Roshi explained. "The Village assigned me to host her."
With Kurenai already settling in, Asuma had little choice but to suppress his unease and take a seat as well.
Both greeted Samui, who returned their courtesy with a polite nod—quietly setting aside the reply she'd been preparing for Roshi moments earlier.
"The ramen here is really good," Kurenai said warmly to Samui.
"It is," Samui agreed succinctly.
Seeing that Roshi didn't seem bothered by their presence, Asuma continued the conversation. "Yeah, the border rotation just wrapped up, so I came back to rest for a bit."
He left out the real reason.
With the Chūnin Exams approaching—and the situation growing increasingly complex—the Village had deliberately recalled several experienced jōnin to reinforce Konoha's core defenses.
With a foreign envoy present, there was no reason to elaborate on internal security adjustments.
Roshi, however, appeared completely unaware of the atmosphere. He leisurely finished the remaining noodles in his bowl, chatting casually with Asuma and Kurenai about mundane matters within the village.
From time to time, he would smoothly draw Samui into the conversation as well, asking harmless questions about Kumogakure—its climate, common foods, and everyday customs.
Although the two Konoha jōnin didn't quite understand why Roshi, who was clearly handling important official business, had shifted his focus from the Kumogakure envoy to them, they did their best to follow along, keeping the small talk flowing and avoiding any awkward silence.
Samui, meanwhile, only interjected occasionally. She made a conscious effort not to dwell on Roshi's earlier remark about "Konoha reaching an agreement with Sunagakure."
She finished her ramen quickly. When Roshi set down his chopsticks as well, she took the opportunity to suggest that it was getting late and that she wished to return to the inn to rest.
Roshi immediately stood, offering to escort her back without hesitation.
As their figures disappeared behind the shop's curtain, Kurenai turned to Asuma with a teasing smile.
"You looked a little intimidated by Roshi just now."
"Not at all," Asuma replied too quickly, his expression awkward. After a moment, he sighed and lowered his voice. "It's just… the last time I saw him, I made a complete fool of myself as his senpai."
"I caused trouble for his mission."
"That's why it feels… uncomfortable."
Kurenai laughed softly. "You even looked like you wanted to turn around and run the moment you saw him."
"Ahem…" Asuma coughed, then changed the subject. "That guy really is busy, though."
"It looks like he's still handling matters with Sunagakure and the Hidden Mist—and on top of that, he's privately dealing with Kumogakure."
Kurenai nodded, her smile fading slightly.
"Just now, he was probably applying pressure to the Kumogakure side. That's why he deliberately ignored his guest and kept talking to us instead."
Asuma blinked. "Is that so…? He hasn't changed at all. Still calculating."
Kurenai glanced at him. "Careful, Asuma. As his senpai, you shouldn't say things like that."
"Besides," she added more quietly, "Kakashi's the same. He hasn't shown his face in a long time since taking on his new assignment."
—
After Danzo handed over a list of spies and the location of a hidden intelligence warehouse, Kakashi had remained stationed at the Root base.
The list detailed Root's long-term intelligence operatives embedded across the other four Great Nations, as well as several smaller countries.
The warehouse itself stored years of intelligence gathered through various channels—some accurate, some false, much of it speculative.
Calling it critical would be an exaggeration. But dismissing it as worthless would also be wrong; scattered among the noise were fragments of information that could still prove useful.
As for whether this represented everything Root had concealed—Kakashi had once again employed Yamato's positioning method.
As long as there was no trace of Wood Release experimentation or any mention of Orochimaru, it meant the truly important material was still missing.
The results matched his expectations.
Danzo had withheld the core.
Which, by extension, meant that both the completeness and the authenticity of the spy list he had handed over were highly questionable.
After confirming these points, Kakashi requested an audience with Tsunade.
When he entered the Hokage Office and saw Roshi present as well, he wasn't surprised. Nor did he hide anything. He reported his findings and conclusions plainly.
"Based on the current investigation," Kakashi said evenly, "it can be confirmed that Danzo still retains a significant portion of Root's core intelligence network and classified archives."
He paused.
"Root still has deeper layers."
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