At the Iwa camp…
Iwagakure was the village that fielded the most Shinobi, a testament to their population. But with an approximate 13,000 thousand death toll across all the battles they had fought it was a loss that immediately reduced them to the levels of Sunagakure. That is for the weakest of the Great Villages. Especially with the leverage Konoha had over them, the economic impacts would be just as bad. Iwagakure would be in for some horrible times for years to come. With such a loss their future ranks would also be heavily affected, as most Shinobi came from Shinobi families. It gave Onoki a headache just thinking about all the reforms and policies he would have to make. And that was if he could even stay on as Tsuchikage after all the loss. And even then, would it even be worth it? Could they even reverse the tide in the coming generations while that man still lived? But those thoughts didn't matter now, he was walking into the large tent that Konoha had set up, choosing for it to be in the middle of a flat wasteland where he had previously fought Katsuro. The scenery already put Konoha ahead, with those accompanying him an ordinary Jonin who felt intimidated. He was in an even worse mood after hearing of the resounding loss that those led by his Jonin Commander faced, and to make matters worse the man himself lost his life at the hands of the Toad Sage. And with most of his Elite Jonin dead or injured, Onoki was forced to arrive with just Jonin and Chunin. An embarrassing display.
Konoha was more than able to kill him if they wanted during this meeting, but Onoki went in anyway not out of confidence in himself, but in confidence that Katsuro could have killed him almost anywhere anyway. He would certainly sweat during his meeting as the blade of death hung over him, but he hoped that he could at least get his Jinchuuriki back, as without them Iwa would struggle to even hope to defend their lands.
As he entered his tent with the agreed 10 Shinobi, he saw the lineup Konoha had in front of him. Katsuro was sat down in the middle, his arm wrapped and covered. Minato and Hiruzen were to his left and right. Sakumo and Shikaku also came as both advisors and guards, while the rest of the Shinobi were made up of people Katsuro chose to escort them, almost like a reward. Might Duy, Fugaku, Hiashi, Kaito and Jiraiya. Jiraiya was both the student of the Third and Sensei of Minato making him an obvious choice. Tsunade was busy leading the medical ninja, while Orochimaru was left in charge. Duy, Fugaku, Hiashi and Kaito were chosen for their strength but also as a sign of trust that allowed them to be privy to the details of the negotiations.
The lineup was frightening, 4 known Kage level shinobi and 4 more that weren't far off or were already there. Onoki took a deep breath and took his seat as all eyes locked on him.
"Onoki, I see you are doing well."
Onoki's eye twitched at Katsuro's words, he was clearly wrapped up in bandages from the damage that he himself inflicted and still had the gall to be sarcastic.
Onoki calmed himself with another breath, "I'm not here to waste time, what are your demands?" Onoki looked at the Third despite him being seated to the side, hoping to potentially sow discord while benefitting from the more lenient Hiruzen.
But Katsuro smiled at his antics, thinking of him as a child who could only whine. "Hoh, you don't want to waste time I see. As you know, Konoha is currently holding about 200 Iwa shinobi as prisoners of war as well as both your Bijuu, if you would like to buy them back, it will cost you. And of course the Stone will have to pay us compensation for attacking us, we have lost many precious lives."
The comment caused Onoki to grind his teeth slightly, pissed at Katsuro mentioning their deaths while over 13,000 of his own had died. But the victors decided everything and unfortunately he was the loser and he could already tell Konoha was moving to fleece him.
"Shall we consider each matter separately? For the return of your Shinobi and Bijuu, Konoha demands the price of 9 billion Ryo, one for each tail, as well as a number of Jutsu. One billion from this fund will be directed towards the villages and lands affected by our war. It will help them rebuild, while providing aid to those who need it."
The fund for the villages stuck between the Great villages was an idea put forth mainly by Jiraiya and Katsuro. Jiraiya's experience with the Ame orphans had taught him of the secondary impacts of war to nations who weren't even involved. Making Iwa pay for it would be the perfect method to help those people, and the idea found immediate support.
Minato began speaking, taking over as planned while Onoki gasped at the demands. "We will require mainly Earth style Jutsus, and they must be Jutsu Konoha does not already possess. 5 B-rank, 5-C rank and 10 D-Rank. The B ranks must include both the Light Weight Rock Technique and the Heavy Weight Rock Technique. Furthermore, Konoha will also require the notes and technique for your Particle style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu."
Onoki erupted like a volcano, "YOUR ASKING FAR TOO MUCH! DO YOU WANT TO GUT THE STONE VILLAGE?!! WE WON'T AGREE TO THOSE OUTRAGEOUS DEMANDS!"
But his rant was interrupted by a cold and menacing voice, "Onoki, settle down. I suggest you negotiate or there won't BE a Stone Village."
That made Onoki pause, gulping at the thought and realising that it was very much possible. Depending on how much Konoha was willing to sacrifice, the Stone could become a subset under the Leaf or even outright destroyed. Either way there would be no more Stone village.
Like Katsuro said, Onoki sat down, and spoke more calmly. "9 billion is far too much, the Jutsu…" with hesitation he mustered out the words, "can be delivered, but Particle style is my bottom line, and is the closest secret of the Stone. To give it up would be like giving up our very identity, an absolute and impossibility."
Hearing this, Katsuro and most members of Konoha's party smiled internally. In fact, they knew the Particle Style was Onoki's bottom line. His absolute trump card he could not allow to leave his village. The Kekkei Tota had unimaginable destructive power that he knew best. But by starting so high, Konoha could achieve their actual objectives. The Earth style and Jutsu proposition was one Katsuro proposed, noting the lack in Earth styles and defensive Justus the Leaf had. And of course he had a particular interest in Onoki's Heavy and Light Weight techniques, which seemed to manipulate gravity. Getting them from the village that was best at them was a no brainer, and the lower scale Jutsu would mean that Earth style would be more easily trained. Other than this, they targeted Roshi's lava style Jutsus, and simply wanted to use the particle style to make it more agreeable, with Katsuro largely wanting the notes for his Lava chakra mode, to improve his own and to gain an impressive Nintaijutsu.
As planned they countered, and it made the deal much better. After a surprisingly quick negotiation and concessions, they agreed on terms for the release of all the prisoners, which was Onoki's main aim. The Stone would pay 6 billion Ryo in reparations, and another 750 million Ryo toward the aid fund. 5 B rank, 5 C-rank and 10 D-rank unique Earth style Jutsu would be delivered to Konoha, alongside 3 Lava style Jutsu. Though not many, it came with the concession that notes would be included, therefore Konoha gained the Lava Chakra Mode, the Molten rock variant also mainly attributed to the Jinchuuriki for the 4 tails and a variant that used corrosive quicklime which was much more common among Stone shinobi. With time, this at the very least would enable Konoha to develop the usage of lava style Kekkei genkai among its ranks.
Although not shown on their faces, it was clear in the mood Konoha was far happier and certainly came out on top, and Onoki was forced to concede much to get back his Jinchuuriki and men. He wasn't even bothering to hide the scowl on his face, as he knew perfectly well he had been fleeced, and yet he could do nothing about it.
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