Early the next morning.
Tsunade obviously hadn't slept well.
Minato, however, was glowing with radiance. With his constitution, not sleeping for a few days would not have any effect.
This stinky brat——
Watching Minato, who was checking his ninja tools and preparing to set off for the mission, Tsunade gritted her teeth secretly in her heart.
Last night, perhaps because of the atmosphere, the two exchanged many unspeakable thoughts through the chakra connection.
The scale was so large that if it were exposed, it would be enough for her to suffer social death, and being thrown into the eighteenth level of hell after death would not be an exaggeration—
Tsunade never thought that she, who always had a hot temper, would behave so submissively, as if she had lost herself, pleasing the other party without any bottom line.
And her gentle, generous, and polite disciple would actually behave so————aggressive.
Making her now feel like the weather in the Land of Rain————
"Sensei, we are leaving."
"Mmh, be safe."
Before leaving, Minato greeted Tsunade.
Both of their tones were very natural, but they both knew in their hearts that their relationship, and even their status—had completely changed.
Swish swish swish——
After leaving the camp, Minato, who was the fastest, scouted ahead at the front of the team. Behind him, Mikoto and Nawaki were responsible for guarding the flanks, and Orochimaru was at the end of the team. The four sped all the way towards the direction of Hidden Rain Village.
After advancing for about half an hour, suddenly a sound of breaking air struck.
Minato threw a few shuriken, knocking away the kunai shooting towards them.
"Konoha ninjas!"
A team of Hidden Rain Village ninjas appeared on the road ahead, looking at Minato and the others warily.
"Don't misunderstand, we are envoys sent by Konoha."
Minato stepped aside. Orochimaru took two steps forward and said lightly: "I am Orochimaru, a disciple of the Third Hokage. By the order of Lord Hokage, I hope to negotiate with Lord Hanzo."
"Envoys?"
Looking at the three kids beside Orochimaru, the leading Rain ninja frowned: "Actually sending just these few brats? Isn't your Konoha too arrogant?"
"You misunderstood. They are my subordinates and disciples."
Orochimaru chuckled: "This also just shows our Konoha's sincerity. After all, I can't possibly bring three children to launch a suicide attack, right?"
"Hmph, what you said makes sense."
The other party opened the scroll and took a look, finding that it was indeed just an ordinary document, then dispelled his doubts, returned the scroll to Orochimaru, and beckoned: "Follow me."
With the Hidden Rain Village ninjas leading the way, the rest of the journey was fairly peaceful.
Soon, they arrived outside Hidden Rain Village.
Hidden Rain Village was located in the hinterland of the Land of Rain, and the rainfall was far greater than that at the border.
However, unlike the unpleasant sticky drizzle at the Konoha camp, the heavy rain in Hidden Rain Village came more freely, as if someone had poked a hole in the sky. Heavy rain fell incessantly from the sky.
Inside the village stood tall steel buildings, with flyovers shuttling among them. Huge drainage pipes were exposed outside every building.
Various colorful neon signs could be seen everywhere on the roadside. Under the gloomy sky, the whole village had a cyberpunk feel.
The group was taken to a hotel for receiving foreign guests. After waiting for about half an hour, they finally met Hanzo.
The other party's appearance looked exactly like in the original work, wearing a gray ninja flak jacket and a gas mask on his face.
In the meeting hall, Orochimaru held the scroll in both hands, walked forward slowly, and said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Lord Hanzo, this is the negotiation document personally signed by the Third Hokage—"
"Put it down."
Hanzo's voice came through the gas mask, muffled and cold. He didn't even have the interest to take a look, just waved his hand casually.
Orochimaru paused slightly and placed the scroll gently on the long table.
"Does Lord Hanzo not want to see the content first?"
Orochimaru raised his golden vertical pupils, his tone still peaceful, just slightly subtle.
"If I read it, will Konoha withdraw from the Land of Rain?"
Hanzo glanced at Orochimaru coldly, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone: "The First Great Ninja War has passed, but for so many years, the struggle between Konoha and Hidden Sand has never ceased."
"You fight on the land of the Land of Rain, destroy villages, trample on farmland, and treat my Hidden Rain Village as nothing. Is this the first time I have protested to you?"
"Every conflict, I sent people to protest to both of you, demanding that you immediately stop military operations in the Land of Rain. And what did you do?"
"Now that the war situation has worsened, and the flames of war are about to burn onto your homeland, you remember to negotiate with me?"
As Hanzo spoke, he sneered and threw the scroll back to Orochimaru casually: "Negotiation————hmph, these surrounding small countries are just buffer zones in the eyes of your Konoha."
"Tell that guy Hiruzen Sarutobi, don't put on a hypocritical appearance with me. Hidden Sand Village is indeed the invader, but your Konoha isn't noble anywhere either."
Hearing this, Nawaki was instantly furious and subconsciously wanted to step forward to argue, but Minato held his shoulder down.
Noticing the actions of the two, Hanzo couldn't help snorting lightly, his gaze lingering on Minato's face, the youngest one, for a moment.
"Actually sending a child to be an envoy. Is there no one available in Konoha? Or do you think you can move me with such an innocent face?"
"They are subordinates and disciples I brought along. This trip is only to gain some knowledge. However, listening to Lord Hanzo, it seems there is no need for negotiation."
Orochimaru chuckled, not angry at all by Hanzo's refusal, or rather, this situation was actually expected by him long ago.
This trip was just a mission from the Hokage.
Based on his personal thoughts, he definitely still hoped for war.
After all, there were not so many materials for him to experiment with in peaceful times.
"If you really want to negotiate, immediately withdraw all troops from the Land of Rain, otherwise there is nothing to talk about."
Hanzo said coldly, waving his hand: "See the guests out!"
As the voice fell, two Hidden Rain Village ninjas walked out of the shadows, standing on the left and right sides of the meeting hall door, making a gesture of invitation.
Orochimaru didn't insist anymore, just nodded slightly: "In that case, we will take our leave. However, Lord Hanzo, the battlefield situation changes rapidly, please think twice."
Orochimaru turned and walked towards the door, followed closely by Minato and the other two.
Hanzo glanced at Minato's back and suddenly felt something was wrong.
He only then realized that the little blond boy with a bit of baby fat on his face seemed to be overly calm.
The two children next to him showed more or less certain emotions. He could even detect the faint wariness on Orochimaru.
Only that little blond boy, his eyes were terribly calm!
No anger, no disappointment, not even any emotional fluctuations, just like looking at something unrelated to himself.
would a normal brat of this age be so calm?
Thinking of this, his heart trembled inexplicably.