Chapter 537: Four Words Cost Us 120 Million? Made of Gold?

As for going back on the deal or trying to bargain further… Ay and Dodai quickly dismissed the idea of haggling.

At this point, the priority was to secure the intelligence, not to think about negotiating a lower price.

After all, if Konoha wasn't even willing to sell, what was the point of trying to haggle?

"It's not what you think," Tsunade said, shaking her head.

"Since the deal has already been made, Konoha won't do anything dishonorable. The reason we can't proceed with the transaction now is that we're waiting for the other villages to gather the funds. Once everyone is ready, the exchange will happen simultaneously."

Money isn't so easy to earn, and to prevent any secret alliances between villages, Takuya and Tsunade had orchestrated this entire situation.

The intelligence would only be sold once all the villages buying it had gathered their funds and come together for the transaction.

Otherwise, if one village bought it first, others might team up and cause trouble, leaving Konoha at a disadvantage.

Despite the seemingly hostile relationship between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, they wouldn't hesitate to secretly cooperate if it meant saving money.

Two villages could easily pool resources to purchase the information together and avoid wasting extra funds.

What the hell?!

So, this is what they've been planning for?

Tsunade and Takuya had anticipated this, and the various villages had indeed considered such strategies over the past few days.

For example, Sunagakure and Kirigakure had been whispering to each other in secret, clearly attempting to form an alliance.

But Takuya and Tsunade weren't about to give them that chance.

The rule was simple: only when all the villages had gathered the funds could the transaction proceed. No individual sales.

Even if one village managed to gather the money, they still had to wait.

After leaving the Hokage's office and returning to their quarters, Ay confirmed there were no spies nearby before frowning and asking:

"Do you think they discovered our secret talks with Sunagakure?"

How else could they have been waiting to cut us off so early?

Dodai shook his head. "I doubt the secret communication itself was exposed. This is probably a preemptive measure to stop any private alliances. Sunagakure isn't just talking to us; they're also cozying up to Kirigakure."

"If we can't reduce costs through backdoor deals, all we can do is wait and hope the other villages gather their funds quickly."

Everyone was happy to save money wherever possible, even if it meant collaborating with enemies. Immediate benefits always came first.

Unfortunately, Konoha wasn't giving them the chance.

Trying to exploit loopholes?

Not a chance—Konoha had been waiting for just that.

After Kumogakure gathered its funds, Iwagakure's Kitsuchi arrived at the Hokage's office with his delegation, only to leave frustrated like Ay and Dodai.

"Hokage-sama, Sunagakure has been the most active. Aside from contacting Kirigakure, they've also reached out to both Iwagakure and Kumogakure."

"And Kirigakure?"

"Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, seems to have a good relationship with Elder Chiyo of Sunagakure. He's also had some exchanges with Kitsuchi of Iwagakure."

Some allies Konoha had. They were utterly unreliable.

Only shared interests and crises could unite villages.

Even though Tsunade had mentally prepared for this, she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

Sunagakure and Kirigakure had a simple motive: they wanted to pay as little as possible or, ideally, nothing at all.

They weren't even worried about angering Konoha by attempting to freeload or cooperating with enemies.

"What a pity," Tsunade muttered, sipping her tea with a smirk. "Too bad for them."

Once the villages learned that the intelligence would only be sold after all had gathered their funds, Chiyo and Yagura were undoubtedly disappointed.

Their plans to exploit loopholes or save money had gone up in smoke.

Realizing there was no way around it, both villages quickly gathered the required funds.

As for Takigakure, it remained almost invisible. The four major villages weren't even interested in involving them.

Takigakure, knowing its limitations, wisely avoided the larger villages' schemes and quietly worked to gather the money on its own.

Once all five villages had pooled their funds, representatives from each arrived at the Hokage's office as scheduled.

Tsunade greeted them in the conference room.

The exchange was simple: money for intelligence. Once the scrolls were handed over, the representatives eagerly opened them to inspect the contents.

But as soon as they scanned the contents, the representatives were left dumbfounded.

Tsunade couldn't help but stifle a laugh. She had the same reaction when she first peeked at the scrolls.

The contents were so shocking that they left everyone utterly speechless.

"Tsunade, are you messing with us?!"

Ay, with his explosive temper, couldn't help but slam the table. His dark face turned even blacker, and veins bulged on his forehead.

What the hell was this nonsense? Intelligence worth 120 million ryō?

"Integrity, tolerance, compassion, acceptance"?!

What kind of garbage was this?

Four words worth 120 million ryō? Ay was so furious his nose almost twisted out of shape.

The other representatives weren't any better off. Kitsuchi's face darkened as he glared at Tsunade, waiting for a reasonable explanation.

Spending over a hundred million ryō for Four words? Even an idiot wouldn't do something so outrageous—yet they had.

Chiyo and Yagura were also dumbfounded. Was Konoha seriously pulling a fast one on them?

Yagura quickly glanced at the other scrolls to confirm. Seeing the same Four words, he felt a brief sense of relief, which was immediately replaced by panic.

"Hokage, what is the meaning of this?"

The Takigakure representative almost fainted on the spot upon seeing the Four words.

Spending millions for this?!

Had they gone insane?

Anticipating the backlash, Tsunade raised her hand to explain:

"There's no need to panic. Konoha wouldn't dare sell intelligence like this without reason."

"Hmph, I'd love to hear your explanation," Ay growled, suppressing his fury as he sat back down. If he weren't in Konoha, where he couldn't risk making a scene, he would've already lost his temper.

Selling intelligence like this was highway robbery!

Four words for that much money? Were they made of gold?!

"Oh, you all seem rather agitated."

A playful, teasing voice echoed through the room as Takuya pushed open the door, strutting in with exaggerated nonchalance.

"Ahem, Takuya, why don't you explain this so there's no misunderstanding?"

Tsunade vacated her seat to let Takuya take over.

The representatives' gazes immediately locked onto him, and Chiyo complained:

"Takuya, even if you're busy, surely you could've made time to explain earlier instead of sending a shadow clone to brush us off?"

Indeed, it was a shadow clone that had been sent. Tsunade had insisted on this, and Takuya reluctantly agreed to leave one behind.

Otherwise, he would've simply sent Kushina to handle things.

"Well, you're not wrong. I am busy, so let's cut to the chase."

Ignoring Chiyo's grumbling, Takuya plopped into the main seat and said:

"'Integrity, tolerance, compassion, acceptance.' You didn't misread, and you're not imagining things. This is indeed the intelligence about creating a perfect Jinchūriki."

"Before you protest, hear me out first."

Seeing Ay and Kitsuchi on the verge of losing it, Takuya raised his hand to silence them. The two men huffed but reluctantly turned their heads away from each other.

Though they disliked Takuya, they weren't particularly fond of each other either.

"Let's start with 'integrity.'"

Takuya spread his hands and began explaining to the representatives:

"This is simple enough to understand. We all know the immense power of the tailed beasts. Sealing such dangerous entities isn't easy, and many villages have suffered tragedies from tailed beast rampages over the years, haven't they?"

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