Marvel: Trading with Worlds

The envoy nodded but replied with measured words. "The daimyo's response to the envoys from both nations was the same. However, it remains a fact that a noble family from the Land of Wind was murdered. The situation is delicate, and the other party is putting immense pressure on the daimyo to take decisive action, Third Hokage."

The envoy showed some embarrassment before asking, "Speaking of which, White Fang's reputation has reached even the great lords, and he is often praised. Why is there a problem with this mission, and why is he still being targeted?"

The envoy didn't explicitly state what seemed to be an obvious attempt to frame someone. As a representative from the daimyo's mansion, he usually wouldn't be so direct in his speech, as it could be misunderstood by the Third Hokage as an implication of the daimyo's will.

"Hatake Sakumo himself was too naive," Danzo suddenly interjected. As the Hokage's assistant, it was easy for him to speak freely.

"Hatake Sakumo knew that the rescue was hopeless, yet he chose to expose Konoha and allowed the enemy to frame him successfully. If he had returned to the Land of Fire in time, the enemy could never have implicated us in this incident! We would only have a captured ninja, who could later be redeemed through diplomatic means."

Danzo's last sentence was overly simplistic. How could a captured ninja be easily redeemed? Ten years later, when Morino Ibiki was captured by the enemy, even after his return to Konoha, he was tortured horribly. And now, with tensions rising between the two major ninja villages, once a ninja was captured, they would be subjected to inhumane torture, unless they were a medical ninja, whose value might warrant more humane treatment.

However, the envoy from the daimyo's mansion was unaware of these realities. After hearing Danzo's explanation, he found it reasonable and nodded in agreement.

"So, it seems this time it was indeed White Fang's mistake. Mr. Minister, what do you think of this situation?"

"I have no objections. Everything should proceed according to daimyo-sama's wishes." Kain shook his head. He had no intention of helping Hatake Sakumo at the moment. Speculation couldn't be used as evidence, and unless there was ironclad proof of a setup, he couldn't offer any assistance.

"Since that is the case, I hope Third Hokage will allow me to bring back a detailed report to the daimyo. Also, the daimyo of the Land of Wind has requested compensation from the Land of Fire. The daimyo has already agreed, so the next funds for Konoha Village will also be reduced accordingly."

"What?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and the other two consultants were taken aback. Cutting funding? Why now?

"But..." The daimyo's envoy said helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. The daimyo of the Land of Wind is very angry. He has to make some difficult decisions, otherwise, it will be troublesome if the two countries completely sever communication. This is what daimyo-sama wants. If Third Hokage has any objections, please go to the capital and speak directly with daimyo-sama."

It should be the nobles who do business that will be the most troubled. The Land of Wind is home to the richest mines in the ninja world, and if trade routes are cut off, the loss for the nobles of the Land of Fire will be deeply painful.

But cutting the budget made things even more troublesome for Konoha. Except for Orochimaru, all the Konoha shinobi present frowned slightly after hearing about the budget cut. Tensions were rising, and war seemed imminent.

However, it was obviously unrealistic to voice these concerns to the envoy. Sarutobi Hiruzen shot Danzo a dark look, his mind troubled. He could only go to the daimyo in the capital now, otherwise, Konoha wouldn't even be able to buy military supplies.

In order to suppress Sakumo, who was aligned with the daimyo, Konoha now had to face the situation of reduced funding. If Sarutobi Hiruzen had known this would be the outcome, he would have stopped it earlier.

However, the daimyo should know that Hatake Sakumo was framed—why else would he have cut Konoha's funding? Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, puffing on his tobacco pipe, and suddenly had a thought. But he wasn't sure. If his suspicions were correct, it would require Danzo's roots to uncover the truth.

The meeting ended quickly. Kain only spoke a few words and then spent the rest of the time observing the reactions of those in the room.

With Hatake Sakumo's incident, Orochimaru's chances of competing for Hokage had already been reduced significantly. Among the remaining candidates, only Tsunade and Kato Dan posed any real threat to Orochimaru's position.

However, if Orochimaru expressed his intent to run for Hokage, Tsunade would likely not oppose him. After all, there was a high probability that Orochimaru would support Nawaki after himself, and Tsunade had no interest in the Hokage position. She wouldn't create trouble for her younger brother.

From this perspective, Kato Dan was the only real competitor. Kain considered Namikaze Minato but couldn't imagine how Minato could compete with Orochimaru.

Just then, Kain looked up to see Orochimaru approaching.

"Hey, you guys haven't seen each other for a while. Why did you suddenly become Lord Minister?" Tsunade suddenly leaned over to Kain, curious.

"It probably happened a few months ago. Are you so busy you didn't even notice?" Kain gestured toward the villagers on the street holding newspapers. "Ninja Weekly was founded by me with the daimyo's permission, and thanks to my literary works, he also gave me the position of Minister of Publicity."

"Medical jutsu has been developed and popularized all this time, so... wait, your literature?" Tsunade suddenly remembered the book that Nawaki and Kushina had secretly read. She had read it in secret too.

She, who had never been in a relationship, almost tore the book apart in shame and anger.

Fortunately, she assumed that it was a book Nawaki had bought and then placed it intact in Kushina's drawer.

She hadn't expected Kain to write such a revealing book, and for the daimyo to also enjoy reading it.

"Don't get me wrong, I have more than ten books, and many of them have high literary depth."

Kain had originally intended to mention a few of these books to show Tsunade the range of his works, but then he realized that Tsunade didn't have the temperament of a literary type. Even if he mentioned them, she wouldn't understand, so he abandoned the idea and changed the subject.

"Is that the only reason you're looking for me?"

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