Chapter 27: The Only Thing We Offer is Survival
With the hall emptied, the atmosphere shifted from public posturing to a private, high-stakes negotiation.
"Elder Raizen," Kamizuru Budō began, dispensing with all pretense, "state your terms plainly."
"My terms are simple," Uchiha Raizen replied, his gaze unwavering. "The Kamizuru clan will pledge its allegiance to the Uchiha."
"Allegiance?" Budō's lips twisted into a grimace. "So, you wish for us to become a vassal clan. Is that it?"
"Call it what you will. It is a partnership. But in this partnership, we are the senior, and you are the junior." Uchiha Raizen's words were brutally honest, leaving no room for misinterpretation.
"To demand our submission, you must offer something in return," Budō countered, getting straight to the heart of the matter. "What are the Uchiha's terms?"
"Terms? I appreciate directness. Our offer is this, and it is the only one: we will guarantee your clan's survival. That is our condition." Uchiha Raizen's voice was flat, his expression that of someone stating an undeniable fact.
It was a bluff of monumental proportions. He had been given no authority to promise anything concrete. He was operating purely on audacity, leveraging the Uchiha's fearsome reputation as his only currency.
"Survival? Hah!" Budō barked a harsh laugh, though it lacked genuine amusement. "The Kamizuru have never feared annihilation! We have endured for generations, through countless wars. We are not so easily—"
"Have you truly endured?" Uchiha Raizen cut him off, his voice sharp as a knife. "Or have you merely survived?"
The patriarch flinched, the question striking a nerve.
"Let's not delude ourselves," Uchiha Raizen pressed on, driving home his advantage. "In the current climate, how long can you last? Five years? Ten? And even if you scrape by, how many of your clansmen will be left? Your numbers dwindle with each conflict you flee. You have no stable land, no secure future. You are slowly bleeding out."
Each word was a hammer blow. Budō's shoulders slumped, the defiant posture crumbling into one of weary defeat. Uchiha Raizen had articulated the silent fear that haunted his every decision. Their nomadic existence was a slow death sentence. They had over a thousand members just a year ago; now they were down to eight hundred. The loss was unsustainable.
"I have said all I need to say," Uchiha Raizen stated, rising to his feet. "The decision is yours. I will not force you today. But know this: if I walk out of here without your allegiance, the Uchiha will formally designate the Kamizuru as enemies. Our next visit will not be for talk."
It was the classic strategy: the carrot of survival followed by the stick of annihilation.
"Give us... give us one hour to deliberate," Budō said, his voice hollow. "I will have an answer for you then."
"One hour. I can grant you that." With a final nod, Uchiha Raizen turned and left the hall.
He was acutely aware that the conversation had not been private. Dozens of tiny insect spies had been listening, their chakra signatures picked up by his system. He had even acquired a few of their eavesdropping techniques himself. As he left, he subtly deployed one of his own, leaving a tiny, chakra-sensitive listener behind. In a battle of information, he would not be at a disadvantage. Knowing your enemy was the first rule of warfare.