The first round of iatioween Konoha and Iwa ended hastily.

  Not because the talks went poorly, but because they went too well.

  The senior officials of Iwa felt they had never entered anything so absurd in their entire lives.

  What was supposed to be a iatioween two groups turned into one person, the White Ghost, speaking endlessly. His words flowed like a river, drowning out any attempts at response.

  The most baffling part? He nearly jumped oable and poi their noses, saying: "Is this all you've got? I've got money—ask for more, damn it!"

  The senior officials of Iwa didn't even know what expression to wear.

  Anger? He's iments, and in volumes that could make anyone dizzy.

  Happiness? How could they be happy after beiured like children? That would just be embarrassing.

  In the end, they were stuck, uo be happy ry.

  Truly, they didn't know how to react.

  Gradually, even ōnoki adopted a bnk expression.

  By the end, the Iwa delegation couldn't eve a word in edgewise. They had a lot to say but didn't know how to say it because Masashi kept b them with words.

  They were pletely disoriented. In the end, they could only say, "Let's end today's talks here. We'll sider things."

  They had e prepared to manipute the narrative aort maliciously.

  But what was this? They were scolded and couldn't eve mad about it. Worse, they had to smile!

  It was maddening.

  Watg the White Ghost lead his delegation to the hotel to rest, ōnoki and the senior officials of Iwa felt both fused and stifled.

  But also a bit excited.

  "If we trol the flow of money..." ōnoki began quietly, his eyes narrowing in thought. "We'd bee the gateway to the Land of Earth's development."

  The White Ghost had proposed during the meeting that any loans to the Land of Earth must have Iwa as a guarantor. If Iwa did not approve of a projeot even the daimyō's authority would matter—the association wouldn't lend a single .

  Guarantees could gee fees, not to mention all the es this would build.

  Thinking optimistically, Iwa could even leverage this tthen alliances.

  All they had to do was shuffle a few procedures to divert funds. After all, Konoha wouldn't care, as long as debts were repaid on time. If they couldn't repay, acc to the White Ghost, they could refih ditions or use the daimyō's special-purpose bonds to s the debt.

  And ohe debt was sed, the creditor would bee the daimyō of the Land of Earth.

  Wouldn't that make iations much easier?

  Extending the thought further, wouldn't the Land of Earth have to gh Iwa even when engaging in financial diplomacy with allied nations?

  Before their eyes, the senior officials of Iwa began to see a beautiful vision of the future.

  If Masashi knew what they were thinking now, he'd probably ugh until he bahe table.

  Unfortunately, he didn't know.

  At this moment, he was lounging in a chair at the hotel, enjoying the fttery of a group of veteran doves. The tea oable was stantly refilled with utmost diligence.

  The hotel staff had been directly dismissed uhe pretext of "discussiive peace treaty matters requiring fidentiality."

  As soon as the staff left, the old doves eagerly took on the role of attendants. The younger doves could only watviously as their seniors secured the prime spots to ask questions.

  Masashi, however, felt troubled.

  These people were simply too enthusiastic.

  "How should we interpret this term 'guarantee'?" an old iator from the Shimura asked, notebook in hand, nodding early.

  "Ah, Shimura-san..."

  "Hey! Don't call me Shimura-san—call me Dan!" he waved magnanimously. "I may be friends with young Fugaku, but we be buddies too. Let's not let age get in the way."

  "Alright, Dan..." Masashi gave in, then patiently expined.

  "This term is tailored for Iwa. After all, they also have their own obligations. To protect the is of the nobles, we o implemeai-enhang measures. For example, their mission funds be deposited in banks designated by the association."

  "But how do we know if they're depositing all of it?"

  "That's simple. We set up a specialized trading institution modeled after a currency exge in the Land of Grass. Those accepting missions from Iwa register their tasks there. The facility would be jointly managed by Konoha and Iwa. Once mission funds are collected, they'll be deposited directly but withhold a portion until debts are cleared."

  "So we don't gain anything?"

  "Oh, not necessarily. During the withholding period, the funds be ied elsewhere. Per the agreement, Konoha will share in the profits. Also, hat these credit enhas are for medium-to-long-term products, ranging from three to thirty years."

  "Oh? I see!" Dan excimed in realization. The boy's smarter than his age suggests, he thought.

  "Alright, listen to me for a moment," Masashi said, seeing the crowd of eager akers.

  Are they always this studious?

  Didn't see this enthusiasm ba Ninja Academy... Is it really true that people love learning as they age?

  "All of us had a long journey and jumped straight into meetings upon arriving in Iwa. You all must be tired. Let's rest well today. I predict Iwa will initiate the sed round of talks soon after tonight."

  "Ah, right, right!" Dan promptly took on the role of protector. "What are you all doing? Masashi has had a long day and o rest. What if he colpses?"

  The group of old doves froze for a moment, then grew indignant.

  Excuse me? Weren't you the one asking the most questions just now?

  Still, they admitted he had a point.

  "Masashi, you must rest well. You're a valuable asset to the vilge!" said the sed old dove. "Back then, Fugaku said the future of the Uchiha would rest on your shoulders, so take care of yourself!"

  "Yes, yes. Everyone here is a friend; we afford to wait. You o rest!"

  "Da out of the way—you're blog his path to his room!"

  Masashi smiled awkwardly but politely.

  These old doves were truly a force to be reed with, having once worked with Danzō.

  Many of the enemies who fell to Konoha's covert operations were first sweet-talked and misled by these old doves before Danzō delivered the fatal blow.

  Masashi wasn't worried about their petence; he just didn't want them messing up his carefully id pns.

  Fortunately, they were highly eager to learn, and the foundational knowledge he shared today could help them support the round of talks.

  Iwa? He had them right where he wahem.

  ---

  After overing their initial disfort, the upper echelons of Iwa quickly adjusted and got into the groove.

  In the Five Great Ninja Vilges, anyone capable of reag the top levels of leadership always excelled at assimiting new knowledge swiftly.

  The same went for the doves of Konoha. Being a dove was no easy task; it required a sharp and quick mind.

  However, a colle mented knowledge coupled with ungrounded assumptions was no match for a well-established, systematiowledge framework.

  Not just Iwa— even within Konoha itself, only the upper ranks of the Uchiha had systematically received Masashi's relentless, day-by-day "cramming" sessions.

  Everyone else just scratched the surface.

  Thus, on the surface, the Uchiha oeared more ed than ever with the prosperity of the Land of Fire and Konoha. This stemmed from Masashi's repeated reminders: "This whole approach doesn't gee wealth. If we overpy it, we all lose."

  With this uanding, the Uchiha had shared all other powers within the association with Konoha and the Fire Daimyō's gover—except for risk trol, which they exclusively mahemselves. Anything failing to meet the rigid criteria set by Masashi was ht rejected.

  Even with such measures, every three months, the association piled a set of statistical reports for him to review.

  The resear the Land of Earth had started long ago.

  All pns regarding the Land of Earth had been thhly discussed tless times.

  To be blunt, Masashi khe market of the Land of Earth better than ōnoki himself. He had a clear grasp of Iwa's and the Earth daimyō's needs, uanding their bottom lines and the room fotiation.

  Among the many cuses iated with Iwa, the pledging of non-gover-mission fees by Iwa's in and higher-level ninja, as well as the designated banking and usage rights for deposited funds, were noiable for Masashi.

  This wasn't just about seg a portion of Iwa's funds for Konoha's use. By analyzing fund flows, he could also track the activities of the higher-ranked ninja in Iwa, which was far more reliable than purchasing intelligence from Kusa.

  The upper echelons of Iwa were all savvy individuals, but that didn't stop them from falling into Masashi's trap.

  This was airely new set of rules, different from the past. Though still in its infancy, it gave him an overwhelming advantage. No matter how shrewd Iwa's leadership might be, their defense against this wasent.

  For instance, from the scale of mission payments and frequency of assigs, one could roughly deduce the level and type of missions being performed. The ts depositing mission fees could provide insights into the geographical range of operations and other details.

  All data colle was dohrough the banks, not Konoha's ninja. It art of normal business processes and beyond reproach. This data was included in the association's statistical reports on the banks, which were theed to Konoha.

  Over time, this process would gradually strip Iwa's mid- and high-ranking ninja of their secrets from Konoha's perspective. Konoha would know better than Iwa how many mid- and high-level ninja they could mobilize, whether they were preparing for war, and how they po allocate personnel.

  On a rger scale, as the association had increasingly bee a critical tool for the daimyō's gover in managing the national ey, the inclusion of a rge ey like the Land of Earth bes all csses of the Land of Fire. This was far superior to the crude methods of the past—just look at how the Land of Rain had been drained.

  In the inal timeline, Nagato, uhe name of Pain, attacked Konoha not only to obtain the ails but also to represent the anger accumuted by smaller nations over time.

  The root cause was the overly crude, nearly barbarid ruthless exploitatiohods employed by the rger nations against the smaller ones.

  That was why Nagato said to Tsunade: "Your peace is our violence!"

  When he destroyed Konoha, he did so with vi, and it made sense.

  If strength justified urained as, then why shouldn't someoh the Rinnegan and most of the tailed beasts have the same right?

  As rounds of iations tinued, Masashi's workload began to ease.

  After all, the veteran doves were quick learners, and he had already id out the bottom lines for them. Until a final sensus was reached, it was their time to freely iate.

  This groundwork would allow his eventual "cessions" and "unyielding stao be well-prepared.

  Eventually, he stopped attendiings altogether—there was too much tue about.

  Instead, he began expl Iwa.

  He was genuinely curious about this vilge.

  After all, experieng a fn nd was like a gover-funded vacation.

  And with an Iwa ninja ag as a tuide, why not enjoy it?

  "Deidara, isn't it a bit stifling to have restaurants ihese fortresses?" Masashi asked, pointing to a building.

  "This is just how the vilge is," Deidara replied, relutly ag as the guide. He wasn't thrilled about the task, as he was obsessed with training. "And besides, doesn't Konoha eat indoors too?"

  "It's different for us," Masashi shook his head. "Our air circutes."

  "Our air circutes too," Deidara said, puzzled.

  "Alright, what's for lunch today?" Masashi asked, ging the subject. "Kurotsuchi loves pying with you. Why aren't you hanging out with her today?"

  "Tch! Little kids are so annoying!" Deidara grimaced at the mention of her. "I have training to do. Who has time to eain her?"

  "Oh, aren't you fancy," Masashi ughed. "Having a childhood sweetheart is something to appreciate. I didn't have a girl to grow up with."

  "What does 'fancy' mean?" Deidara asked, fused. He figured it was just another of Masashi's bizarre phrases a slide.

  He jogged ahead across a suspensie and into a new fortress.

  "Just ahead is a famous snack area in the vilge. You should try it," Deidara said, pointing to a passageway.

  "Oh?" Masashi stepped forward. "Sounds good. Let's check it out."

  Deidara nodded and moved ahead.

  "By the way, is this whole fortress just for snacks?"

  "There's more. You row boats on the lower levels. Upstairs, there are shops and theater performances."

  "I see, a ercial plex," Masashi remarked.

  "What's a ercial plex?" Deidara's ears perked up again.

  "You're just a kid; why so many questions? Where's the food? We've been walking forever."

  "Tch! Fine, keep your secrets, stingy!" Deidara pouted and sped up. He perked up when the passage opened into a bustling space filled with all kinds of shops.

  Food smells drifted through the air, making their stomachs growl.

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