Peace Talks

"This is..."

Ginkaku glanced over, his eyes suddenly bulging, "Kin... Kinkaku!"

"What did you do to Kinkaku!"

"Don't worry, he's not dead yet." Kagami's gaze remained calm, "As long as you release Lord Hokage and leave Hidden Leaf Village, I'll spare his life."

"Don't try to fool me with that!" Ginkaku roared, losing his composure, the sword cutting into Tobirama's neck, fresh blood flowing out.

"Ginkaku, I advise you to calm down. If you go too far, this matter will become irreconcilable." Kagami's eyes turned cold, his words revealing a hint of sharpness.

"Not only that, but both of your Tailed Beasts are currently under my control, and are rushing towards your Cloud Village." Kagami tried to meet Ginkaku's eyes, but the cunning fellow wouldn't give him a chance, "My only order to them is... destroy Cloud Village!"

"Liar, how could you have such power!"

"That's the reality. If you don't believe it, we can wait here for half a day and see if your village turns into ruins?"

Ginkaku's breathing became much more rapid, his eyes flashing, clearly caught in a great dilemma.

Those black horns... were undoubtedly Kinkaku's. Whether it was the bloodstains or the faint traces of Chakra, it was undoubtedly Kinkaku's!

Kinkaku cherished his smooth golden hair and his imposing horns the most. Even when facing enemies, he couldn't bear to use them to attack. Breaking his horns in front of a conscious Kinkaku was definitely harder than killing him directly!

Therefore, Ginkaku knew very well that Kagami wasn't lying to him.

But now... was not the time to back down!

"You're just a kid. Even if everything you said is true, it will only strengthen my belief in destroying everything!" Ginkaku laughed loudly, acting like a madman, "Shall we compare who suffers more? Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, the Nine-Tails that your Hidden Leaf Village has been searching for is currently inside my body! If I let him run wild in Hidden Leaf Village..."

"What!" Tobirama's eyes widened, the corners of his eyes twitching slightly, "How could this be?"

Kagami clenched his fists, his Mangekyo Sharingan emitting a cold light, "If that's the case, I swear, I will do everything in my power to stop you and kill you!"

Madness flashed in Ginkaku's eyes, "Okay, then let's see if you kill me first, or if I destroy Hidden Leaf Village first?"

Kagami stared at Ginkaku, his forehead even bulging with veins due to excessive anger. For the first time in his life, he wanted to kill someone so badly!

But he knew very well that if he really fought in the village, Hidden Leaf Village's situation would not be much better than Cloud Village's!

After all, the Nine-Tails was different from ordinary Tailed Beasts!

While the two were arguing, Tobirama was like an outsider, as if he wasn't the one being held hostage. All his thoughts were focused on one thing.

Why did the Nine-Tails, which Uchiha Shin'yu had let go, appear in Cloud Village and get sealed into Ginkaku's body, a high-ranking Cloud Ninja?

Did Cloud Village snatch the Nine-Tails before Hidden Leaf Village could?

But would the Nine-Tails, which Shin'yu had risked his life to release, willingly work for someone else?

No, that's not right!

Madara and his group weren't fools, they wouldn't do something so meaningless.

This was all too strange!

He pondered, his brow furrowed, his mind racing.

After a long time, he seemed to have figured out the reason, his brow slowly relaxing, but his eyes were full of bitterness, and his slightly weathered face revealed a deep weariness.

If everything went as he thought...

This war, all of this was just too ridiculous...

"How about this," Tobirama began, his hoarse voice carrying a deep weariness, "Let's each take a step back..."

"Let's negotiate..."

...

July of Hidden Leaf Year 14. As the war progressed, to avoid a mutually destructive outcome, the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Cloud Village chose to negotiate peace. This vast war, after the cost of one Kage-level expert from each side and countless elite Ninja buried on the battlefield, finally came to an end.

Looking at the overall situation, Hidden Leaf had achieved victories on both the northeast fronts and successfully killed the Second Raikage, capturing two Tailed Beasts and one Kage-level expert from the enemy. It could be said to be a great victory. However, Ginkaku's surprise attack on their home base and the fear of harming something valuable led them to choose peace talks.

Because Ginkaku did not trust Hidden Leaf, and the Tailed Beasts and Kinkaku were in Hidden Leaf's hands, he chose the Hidden Cloud Village as the location for the peace talks and took the Second Hokage with him. If Hidden Leaf sincerely sought peace, then they should come to Hidden Cloud Village with sincerity to redeem him.

Naturally, the Hidden Leaf people were a hundred times unwilling to do this, but they were all rejected by the exhausted Tobirama, who allowed Ginkaku to take him away, leaving only these meaningful words:

"I just want to end this ridiculousness as soon as possible..."

Soon, after discussion, Uchiha Kagami led a guard team to represent Hidden Leaf in negotiations at Hidden Cloud Village. Under the leadership of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the disciples under the Second Hokage took the initiative to join the negotiation camp.

The group arrived at Hidden Cloud Village as scheduled, and the meeting proceeded normally. Ginkaku did not play any tricks, which slightly relaxed Kagami's vigilance.

The conditions of both sides were basically within each other's expectations. Ginkaku agreed to release the Second Hokage, withdraw all Cloud Ninja from the Land of Fire's positions, and promised that they would not offend each other for 30 years. However, Hidden Leaf must release Kinkaku and return all two Tailed Beasts.

After some argument, Hiruzen and Danzo, relying on their excellent eloquence, forcibly detained the Two-Tails in Hidden Leaf for 30 years on the grounds that Hidden Cloud had been defeated on both battlefronts. During this period, if Hidden Cloud started a war, it would not be returned to ensure the authenticity of the peace treaty.

Ginkaku was indignant, but because of Uchiha Kagami's presence, he could only nod reluctantly.

At this point, the peace treaty was reached. Kagami, in front of the Hidden Cloud's high-level officials, lifted the control over the Eight-Tails and released the dying Kinkaku from the scroll.

Hidden Cloud also released the Second Hokage quite readily, allowing the Hidden Leaf people to take him away, and immediately drafted a military order to disband all large and small Hidden Cloud positions and facilities in the Land of Fire and withdraw their troops.

After the Hidden Leaf people left Hidden Cloud Village, Uchiha Kagami suggested directly using the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer back to Hidden Leaf. Danzo and others naturally nodded in agreement.

However, Kagami keenly noticed that Tobirama's mood seemed a little off. He had been silent all the way, as if he had something heavy on his mind.

"Master, is something wrong?"

Tobirama silently shook his head and suddenly asked a strange question: "Do you still remember the answer to that question?"

"Question?" Kagami was a little puzzled.

Tobirama asked, "Comrades or the village, which is more important?"

When he asked this question, he turned his gaze to everyone.

"This..." Hiruzen frowned upon hearing the question, falling into difficulty.

"Of course it's the village. Without the village, where would comrades come from?" Danzo said as a matter of course, "Back then, it was the Senju and Uchiha who jointly founded the Hidden Leaf Village that allowed us Shimura, Sarutobi, Hyuga, and other large families to join. Which is more important is obvious at a glance?"

"But... the Senju and Uchiha became comrades first before there was a village..." Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses, suddenly hesitating, "But... this statement is not accurate either. Lord Hashirama must have first had the dream of building a village before gathering comrades to work towards it..."

"This is a false proposition," Kagami suddenly said.

Tobirama's unwavering gaze produced a trace of fluctuation, and he looked at Kagami along with the others.

"The village and comrades were originally inseparable. The meaning of Hidden Leaf's existence is to protect peace and create a more hopeful future. A village with comrades is a village, otherwise it is just an empty shell filled with power and desire."

Kagami calmly said, "If I have to make a choice, I will choose the path that has more hope. So no matter which one is chosen, as long as it can make the future of the Hidden Leaf Village brighter, I will not hesitate to execute it."

Tobirama breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Kagami solemnly, and suddenly said something that stunned everyone:

"Uchiha Kagami, starting tomorrow, you will be the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village."

...

There was silence, and all that could be heard was the rustling of leaves in the wind.

But from a visual point of view, the expressions of the few people were wonderful.

Hiruzen's eyes widened, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

Danzo's face was full of disbelief, and he looked at Kagami unconsciously, with incomprehension and deep jealousy flashing in his eyes.

Homura and Koharu stared at Tobirama with blank expressions, completely not understanding the situation.

Only Kagami frowned tightly, a trace of panic flashing across his face.

In the silence, a clear voice broke the calm, the calm tone without the slightest emotion, like an impermanent ghost demanding life.

"After explaining your affairs, you can be on your way, Lord Tobirama."

-----------

This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/

To read the full translation, as well as more than 555+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/

You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua

-----------