Chapter 365: They Have No Choice!

"Agreed."

Upon hearing Ren's first condition, Elder Chiyo agreed almost without hesitation.

Surrendering and admitting defeat was nothing new to Sunagakure. They were already accustomed to it.

Besides, they had originally intended to admit defeat to Konoha anyway.

Seeing this, Ren nodded in satisfaction.

No matter what, this was a good start.

After a brief pause, Ren continued,

"As for the war reparations... considering how much Konoha has already gained this time, we'll let that matter go."

Chiyo and Ebizō secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Both Sunagakure and the Land of Wind had suffered considerable losses this time. Under the current circumstances, however, even if Konoha demanded an exorbitant price, they had no choice but to accept it.

Ren was, in effect, letting Sunagakure off the hook this time.

But before Chiyo and Ebizō could completely relax, Ren's next words struck them like a bolt from the blue.

Ren's expression became serious.

"Second, Sunagakure will completely disarm its existing forces. Konoha will station troops in Sunagakure and take responsibility for protecting the village's security."

"What?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Uchiha Ren, you've gone too far!"

Chiyo and Ebizō immediately stood up, glaring furiously at Ren.

In their eyes, Ren's demands had gone far beyond merely asking for an exorbitant price.

He was trying to swallow the entire elephant!

Ebizō angrily said,

"You want Sunagakure to disarm and allow Konoha to station troops here? Why don't you just say that Konoha should take over the government of Sunagakure while you're at it!"

Ren smiled.

"As luck would have it, that's exactly my third condition."

"Konoha will enter Sunagakure's decision-making structure and provide policy guidance."

Ebizō's expression darkened.

"How is that any different from simply annexing Sunagakure into Konoha?!"

Ren nodded seriously.

"You can think of it that way."

"But before you get angry, think carefully."

"If Konoha and Sunagakure really merged, the ones benefiting would actually be Sunagakure."

"You!"

Ebizō was rendered speechless once again.

He had no idea how to refute that.

Considering the relative size and resources of Konoha and Sunagakure, if the two villages really merged, it was indeed the more prosperous Konoha that would suffer more.

After all, for Konoha, merging with Sunagakure would essentially mean gaining a vast desert.

For Sunagakure, however, it would mean gaining access to an enormous expanse of fertile and resource-rich land.

Chiyo had also calmed down by this point. She sat back down and looked at Ren.

"Are you serious?"

"Is this your personal decision, or is it Konoha's decision?"

Ren answered firmly,

"Of course I'm serious. This is both my decision and Konoha's decision."

After a brief pause, Ren added,

"Konoha has grown tired of Sunagakure's constant wavering and reversals."

"And frankly, the leadership of Sunagakure has proven to be rather limited. Decades have passed, yet Sunagakure is still exactly the same."

"To be honest, Konoha has already drawn up a joint development plan."

"And the focus of that plan is your Sunagakure and the Land of Wind."

"If everything goes smoothly, Sunagakure will undergo earth-shaking changes within the next ten years."

"You should be celebrating."

"A plan?"

Chiyo narrowed her eyes.

"Wait. So you had already planned all of this?"

Ren thought for a moment before nodding.

"The plan was indeed made a long time ago."

"But it wasn't originally intended for this operation."

"Our original intention this time really was just to plunder some supplies from Sunagakure and leave."

"Then, a few months later, once Konoha had finished assembling its new-model army, we would launch a full-scale offensive against Sunagakure."

"But we never expected this operation to go so smoothly."

"So, if we can use this opportunity to move our original plan forward, we'll be able to reduce a considerable number of casualties."

"That would be beneficial to both sides."

Ren knew that revealing a little of Konoha's strength at the right moment would help with the negotiations.

Thus, he deliberately revealed that Konoha was currently assembling a new-model army.

"A new-model army?"

Chiyo's heart stirred.

"You mean an army equipped with those new weapons of yours?"

"Exactly."

Ren nodded.

"The new weapons we brought this time were merely prototypes."

"The actual army equipped with our new weapons will be far more terrifying than you can imagine."

Chiyo exchanged a glance with Ebizō.

Both of them could see the helplessness in each other's eyes.

They knew perfectly well that Ren was using the threat of Konoha's new weapons to intimidate them.

But even though they could not determine whether everything Ren said was true, they still had no choice but to take the threat seriously.

They had already witnessed the destructive power of Konoha's new weapons.

If Konoha really assembled an army equipped with such weapons, Sunagakure might not be able to withstand it.

Well...

Even without those new weapons, Sunagakure probably could not withstand a Konoha offensive.

It seemed Konoha had truly decided to take Sunagakure down.

Chiyo sighed again.

"Can you at least tell me how you intend to develop Sunagakure?"

Ren pondered for a moment before answering,

"It's difficult to explain the specifics in such a short time."

"But if I had to summarize the entire plan in four words..."

"East-to-West Water Diversion."

"East-to-West Water Diversion?"

A flash of understanding appeared in Chiyo's eyes.

"You mean diverting the water resources of the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers into the Land of Wind?"

The geography of the Land of Rain was unique. It was practically rainy throughout the entire year, with rainfall so abundant that its water resources could hardly be described as merely plentiful—they were excessive.

The Land of Rivers was even more self-explanatory. Its territory was crisscrossed by rivers of all sizes, and much of the rainfall from the Land of Rain eventually flowed through the Land of Rivers and into the sea.

Its water resources were equally abundant.

Both countries lay to the east of the Land of Wind.

Therefore, the moment Ren mentioned "East-to-West Water Diversion," Chiyo immediately understood what he had in mind.

Ren nodded.

"Exactly."

Chiyo frowned.

"Leaving aside the scale of the project, this involves four different countries."

"This isn't something that can be accomplished easily."

The concept of diverting water from east to west was actually not particularly complicated.

Sunagakure had considered the idea before.

But as Chiyo pointed out, the project would be enormous and involve four different countries. Aside from the immense difficulty of carrying it out, even if the project succeeded, Sunagakure would become dependent on the other countries for the continued operation of the water system.

That would be more trouble than it was worth.

Ren smiled upon hearing this.

"We've already reached an agreement with the Land of Rain."

"They're on our side."

"As for the Land of Rivers..."

"They have no choice."

Chiyo's pupils suddenly contracted.

Her heart began pounding uncontrollably.