Facing the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand—the actual commander of the Land of Wind's military forces—Akimiya stepped forward as the civil representative of the court.
He performed a formal bow: his hands, initially joined, slid down his thighs until his fingertips touched the tops of his knees.
His torso bent from the waist, forming an arch with his head, back, and legs, before he slowly straightened back into a standing position.
Shiraishi reciprocated with the same formal court etiquette. Although he personally found such tedious rituals tiresome, he performed them out of respect for the importance of the Fire Country delegation.
Beside Akimiya, the warrior representative—who was also a Konoha envoy—greeted Shiraishi with a traditional ninja salute. They then followed Shiraishi into the conference room of the administrative wing.
The Kazekage's office wing was divided into two distinct zones: one for high-level meetings and another where Shiraishi handled daily affairs.
Compared to the relatively cramped Hokage's office in Konoha, Shiraishi's workspace was palatial.
This reflected the cultural shift between the two villages. Since the founding of Konoha by the First Hokage, their office facilities had seen little structural change.
The Sand, however, had undergone a baptism of fire. This brand-new village needed to project the stature of a superpower.
The Council of Elders had spared no expense, commissioning murals depicting the five generations of Kazekage to line the walls.
"I trust the envoys' journey from the Land of Fire was smooth?" Shiraishi opened with a polite inquiry.
Mr. Akimiya nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Lord Kazekage. The Sand shinobi took great care of us along the way, so we encountered no difficulties."
In truth, the "care" provided by the Sand ninjas was constant surveillance. Shiraishi had prioritized monitoring the Fire delegation to ensure they had no ulterior motives within the Land of Wind.
As the internal situation stabilized, Shiraishi sought to maintain the old alliance with Konoha for the sake of external security.
This included a series of Konoha's "subsidy programs"—a package of material and infrastructural aid originally designed years ago when the Leaf wanted the Sand to act as a shield against the Stone and Mist villages.
Though these projects had been suspended during the recent war, Shiraishi intended to use this meeting to resume them.
Hearing Shiraishi bring this up immediately, Akimiya's face twitched. He hadn't expected the Kazekage, despite his polite demeanor, to be such a greedy wolf. He actually wanted to continue the alliance terms from two years ago? Did he think the Land of Fire and Konoha were charities?
Yet, facing the man dubbed the "Modern-Day Madara," Akimiya could only force a bitter smile. "Currently, the situation in the Land of Fire is unstable.
Konoha has suffered heavy losses, and with the Cloud and Mist villages still restless, we are temporarily unable to provide direct aid."
"I see. Being at the crossroads of four potential wars is a difficult position; I understand. In that case, how about we use Mission Offsetting?" Shiraishi took a sip of tea, smiling.
Mission Offsetting? Akimiya and the warrior representative exchanged a glance, both feeling helpless.
"Konoha enjoys a vast number of mission commissions from surrounding smaller nations and domestic enterprises every year. Since your situation is unstable, those missions must be piling up, right?" Shiraishi asked.
Akimiya bit the bullet. "Yes..."
"Why not transfer those missions to us as a way to offset the promised aid projects?"
"Regarding this... I must return to report to the Daimyo and the Hokage. It is not something a civil official can decide." Ninja missions involved massive financial interests; it required coordination between the head of state and the village leader.
Shiraishi set down his teacup, his smile remaining warm, though to Akimiya it felt piercing. "No matter. It is merely a proposal."
As the delegation departed, Maki, a young female Jonin acting as Shiraishi's administrative assistant, stepped forward.
She was a former member of the Sealing Team and a pharmacist skilled in toxicology, having risen from the ranks of the public ninja school Shiraishi had established.
"Lord Kazekage, will the Land of Fire really agree to this?" she asked. The peace treaty had barely been signed, yet Shiraishi was already making exorbitant demands for Konoha's mission shares. She worried about pushing the Leaf to a breaking point.
"Don't worry. We'll see how they respond." Shiraishi knew the tide was in his favor. He intended to squeeze every bit of profit from the promises Konoha had made years ago.
"Have the envoys from the other great nations arrived?"
"Yes. The Daimyos of the Land of Earth, Lightning, and Water have sent high-ranking confidants of the same rank as Akimiya. Our own Daimyo is also arriving in person to officially crown you as the Kazekage."
Maki's voice carried a hint of excitement. In the history of the Sand, only the First Kazekage had been personally crowned by the Daimyo.
Shiraishi receiving the same treatment proved how much the nation valued him.
"Many people are now calling you the Modern-Day Madara Uchiha."
That title carried terrifying weight. The Warring States period ended because Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju shook hands to create Konoha.
During their partnership, they cowed the entire world. It was only after Madara disappeared and Hashirama died that the subsequent Great Ninja Wars began.
The name "Madara Uchiha" was a tacit acknowledgment of Shiraishi's current power. The charisma and fear associated with that name had brought unprecedented change to the Land of Wind. Even the lofty Daimyo had to lower his head and travel to the village in person.
Other nations were watching with a mix of curiosity and dread. A "New Madara" significantly altered the global power balance.
Ironically, the primary pushers behind this title were the Konoha high command. By elevating Shiraishi to such heights, they hoped to shift the world's focus onto the Sand, thereby relieving the pressure on themselves.
The three-way conflict between the Cloud, Leaf, and Stone was ongoing, and a new clash with the Mist in the west had resulted in reports of the Three-Tails and its Jinchuriki causing massive damage to Konoha.
Currently, Minato Namikaze had no time for his own inauguration; he was on the front lines suppressing the threat.
Shiraishi hoped to finalize his demands while the aging Hiruzen Sarutobi was still in power, before Minato officially took the reins.
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