Chapter 299: Land Of Earth’s Defeat Treaty
On the platform at Star Capital Train Station, the air seemed to freeze.
Onoki stared fixedly at that face which should have long since passed away, his mind a blank, decades of experience and composure vanishing in this moment.
Even when facing Uchiha Hikari’s terrifying Susanoo, he had never lost his composure like this.
“Minato Namikaze? How are you still alive?!” This exclamation burst forth, filled with incomprehensible shock.
Kurotsuchi beside him was startled by her grandfather’s reaction, curiously tugging at Onoki’s sleeve and whispering, “Grandpa, what’s wrong? Who’s that golden-haired big brother? He looks pretty handsome.”
Akatsuchi was similarly in extreme shock. Though he hadn’t participated in the Third Great Ninja War, he had grown up hearing seniors, especially Senior Kurotsuchi, talk about the terror of the “Yellow Flash.”
He bent down, whispering an explanation to Kurotsuchi in a trembling voice: “Kurotsuchi, that is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. He was the legendary ninja known as the ‘Yellow Flash’ during the Third Great Ninja War. But… he should have sacrificed himself to protect the village during the Nine-Tails Attack eight years ago…”
Kurotsuchi nodded half-understandingly, blinking her big eyes, even more bewildered: “Konoha’s Hokage? How could he be here…”
Minato Namikaze’s face bore his usual gentle smile, but behind that smile was a silence belonging to the dead.
He first nodded to Uchiha Hikari stepping off the train: “Hikari, good work.”
Uchiha Hikari nodded slightly in response, then stood aside with arms crossed, resuming her cold, detached observer stance.
Only then did Minato turn to Onoki, still petrified, and proactively extended his hand. His palm’s skin was an unnatural grayish-white, covered in fine cracks like shattered ceramic: “Long time no see, Your Excellency Third Tsuchikage. But here, there is no Fourth Hokage, only a soul lingering in the world.”
Onoki’s turbid old eyes fixed on Minato’s pupils, which had lost their vibrant blue shine from life and turned dull gray, as well as the clear cracks on his face, neck, and arms.
He could clearly sense the cold dead aura emanating from him, utterly different from the vitality of a living person.
Onoki took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and extended his slightly trembling hand to grasp the other’s icy palm.
The touch was like holding a block of ice.
“Soul… heh…” Onoki’s voice was dry, with a hint of self-mockery: “It seems Shura’s ambition and means are far more astonishing than this old man imagined. Even mastering the forbidden jutsu to revive the dead… no, to bring the deceased back to the world and bend them to his will?”
Many thoughts flashed through his mind instantly.
Minato Namikaze’s appearance was not just a powerful combat force; it represented that the Land of Stars had mastered some terrifying power touching the boundary between life and death.
This was a subversive shock to the order and ethics of the entire Ninja World.
At this moment, Uzumaki Kushina standing at Minato’s side stepped forward, her expression serious yet courteous: “Lord Third Tsuchikage, you’ve had a long journey. The post-war negotiations will be fully hosted by Lord Minato. Please come with us. We hope your side has made the appropriate preparations.”
Her words were polite, but the meaning was blunt.
Onoki nodded heavily, of course understanding what “made preparations” meant.
In this negotiation with absolute disadvantage, Stone Village, or even the entire Land of Earth, had no capital to bargain.
He even sadly realized that this negotiation directly excluded the Land of Earth’s daimyo and noble class. The Land of Stars’ goals likely went far beyond making Stone Village submit.
The group silently boarded a black sedan already waiting outside the station.
This small vehicle driven by a chakra core once again made Onoki and Akatsuchi feel novel.
Sitting on the soft back seat, Kurotsuchi curiously looked around, unable to resist whispering: “So… so comfortable. Is this thing powered by chakra too?”
But Onoki had no mood to care about the seat’s comfort; his gaze was firmly drawn to the scenes flashing by outside the car window.
Wide, flat streets bustled with traffic, flanked by buildings packed tightly and towering into the clouds, their glass curtain walls reflecting dazzling light in the sun.
Pedestrians were neatly dressed, hurrying with expressions focused on their own affairs—a vitality he had never seen on the faces of Land of Earth commoners.
The entire city brimmed with vibrant life and a sense of efficient order, utterly different from any capital of a great country in his impressions.
The more he watched, the heavier Onoki’s heart sank.
This was not just military strength, but a comprehensive superiority rooted deep in society.
For Stone Village or the Land of Earth to face such an opponent and lose so thoroughly seemed no accident.
The convoy soon arrived at the Land of Stars’ administrative center, a grand and highly modern building.
On the long corridor to the conference room, Onoki finally couldn’t hold back, breaking the silence as he asked Minato Namikaze walking beside him: “Fourth Hokage… no, Your Excellency Minato, please allow this old man to address you so for now. This old man wants to know, how will your country… dispose of the Land of Wind and Sand Village?”
After surrendering, through scattered information, he had learned that Sand Village’s main force was also completely wiped out, and Fourth Kazekage Rasa had been severely injured and captured.
He knew well that as the side that started the war, Sand Village’s situation would only be worse than Stone Village’s.
Minato didn’t answer directly but turned his gaze to Uzumaki Kushina beside him, nodding to her.
Kushina understood, stating in a clear and steady tone: “The troops led by Lord Hizashi Hyuga have fully controlled Sand Village as of yesterday. Major cities and transportation hubs in the Land of Wind are also being taken over by our army. Our administrative personnel have advanced with the troops and begun transitional local governance work.”
“As for the Land of Wind’s daimyo and core nobles, after news of our frontline victory reached them, they fled in panic to the Land of Fire under Konoha ninja guard. From this day forward, there will no longer be a Land of Wind in the Ninja World.”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it struck Onoki’s heart like a heavy hammer.
The Land of Wind, which had existed for centuries, and Sand Village, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, had vanished completely in just these few short days?
This thunderous speed of annexation…
Seeming to see the shock and fear in Onoki’s heart, Minato spoke at the right moment, his tone still mild: “However, the Land of Earth’s situation is different, Your Excellency Third Tsuchikage. You can rest assured for now. The Land of Stars currently has no intention of fully annexing the Land of Earth.”
Onoki jerked his head up, a flash of surprise and doubt in his eyes.
Minato’s words were not empty.
This was the result of the final discussion at the war’s end between Menma via the Chakra Network with Minato, Hikari, Kushina, and others.
Annexing the Land of Wind, with its tens of millions of people and vast territory, had already nearly exhausted the Land of Stars’ accumulated administrative talent reserves over the years. The subsequent social transformation, ideological integration, and economic development would require massive resources and energy.
Especially the Land of Wind’s environment—Menma planned large-scale afforestation and terrain modification to link oases in the desert into oasis corridors, then gradually reclaim the desert and curb desertification. This project would be enormous, taking years or even decades.
The Land of Earth’s population was estimated over thirty million, its territory even more vast and complex. With the Land of Stars’ current foundation, forcibly annexing two great countries at once would be like a snake swallowing an elephant, easily leading to indigestion, internal unrest, and covetous eyes from the Land of Fire and Land of Lightning externally.
Thus, Menma proposed a longer-term strategy: “gradual digestion” of the Land of Earth.
First, through treaty, seize five border counties in the Land of Earth’s east adjacent to the Land of Stars, about a quarter of its territory and a fifth of its population.
This area wasn’t resource-rich but was strategically vital and relatively easy to control.
Second, force the Land of Earth overall to become a vassal state of the Land of Stars, with Stone Village downgraded to a military dependency of the Land of Stars.
In the coming period, the Land of Stars would focus on digesting the newly acquired Land of Wind territory and these five border counties, while infiltrating the “Star Will” ideological system into the Land of Earth through various channels, nurturing grassroots forces, with the ultimate goal of promoting a bottom-up social revolution within the Land of Earth.
The Land of Earth would become the first large-scale testing ground for exporting the Land of Stars’ ideology outward.
Soon, both sides took seats in the spacious and solemn conference room.
At the negotiation table, Minato Namikaze representing the Land of Stars directly pushed a pre-drafted treaty text to Onoki.
Onoki took a deep breath, picked up the document, and after merely skimming the first few articles, fine cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
The treaty had nineteen articles, harsh in content and broad in scope, far beyond his imagination:
The Land of Earth cedes the five counties of Linchuan County, Shichuan County, Ghost Lantern County, Black Rock County, and Akatsuka County in the east to the Land of Stars.
The Land of Earth and its ninja village Stone Village acknowledge the Land of Stars’ suzerain status, becoming its vassal state and affiliated ninja village.
The Land of Earth must pay massive war reparations to the Land of Stars, cleared in installments over twenty years.
Major minerals（ already discovered and to be discovered in the Land of Earth, including but not limited to chakra-conducting metals, rare minerals, and other） resources, grant the Land of Stars priority exploration and mining rights; the Land of Earth must provide conveniences.
The Land of Stars has the right to build and operate railways and affiliated facilities across the Land of Earth; the Land of Earth must provide land and ensure safety.
The Land of Earth must fully open its markets to the Land of Stars; Land of Stars goods enjoy most-favored-nation treatment, with tariffs negotiated by both sides.
The Land of Stars’ Ministry of Education has the freedom to disseminate its approved ideologies and cultures in the Land of Earth, the “right to proselytize”; the Land of Earth may not interfere.
The Land of Stars may dispatch a military advisory council to permanently station in Stone Village, providing “guidance” and reforms to Stone Village’s organization, training, and combat doctrines, making it more “militarized” and “standardized.”
Key departments of the Land of Earth’s central and local governments—administration, finance, judiciary, military, etc.—must employ advisors appointed or approved by the Land of Stars; major decisions require advisor approval.
Stone Village mobilizing ninja troops exceeding ten（ including ten） for missions, whether domestic or foreign, must report in advance to the Land of Stars’ advisory council in Stone Village and obtain approval.
…
Article by article, clause by clause, like heavy shackles, not only locking the Land of Earth’s territory and wealth, but also its political, economic, military, and even ideological and cultural autonomy.
Signing this treaty, the Land of Earth and Stone Village would remain only a nominally independent shell, substantively fully reduced to appendages of the Land of Stars, even their most basic self-defense rights firmly gripped in the Land of Stars’ hands.
Onoki’s hand began to tremble uncontrollably, the text blurring in his eyes.
He lifted his head, looking at the calm-faced Minato Namikaze opposite, and the Land of Stars ninjas behind him, his voice hoarse as he spoke:
“Your Excellency Minato… this… these conditions… aren’t they too…”
Minato met his gaze, his lifeless eyes solemn, and slowly said, his voice echoing in the silent conference room:
“Your Excellency Third Tsuchikage, this is not negotiation, but notification. The defeated have no right to choose.”
“I believe you understand.”
As Minato’s words fell, the atmosphere in the administrative center’s top-floor conference room grew so heavy it seemed water could drip from it.
Third Tsuchikage Onoki tremblingly picked up the pen; that light brush now felt like a thousand jin in weight.
Looking at the dense clauses on the paper before him like venomous snakes coiling around the lifeblood of the Land of Earth and Stone Village, Onoki’s throat bobbed, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.
Minato Namikaze calmly watched Onoki, Uzumaki Kushina expressionless, while Uchiha Hikari activated her three-tomoe Sharingan, her cold arrogant gaze seeming to warn the other.
Finally, Onoki sighed deeply, almost in despair, and the pen tip fell on the paper, signing this treaty that would utterly change the Land of Earth’s fate.
………………
Meanwhile, in a relatively quiet residential area of Star Capital, inside a spacious and bright apartment, a different scene unfolded.
“Boss, look, the war is over, prices are falling, and we’re paying half a year’s rent upfront. Can we negotiate this price a bit?” Shizune held the pink little pig Tonton, negotiating mildly yet firmly with the landlord.
The landlord was a kindly-faced middle-aged man. He glanced at the thick stack of banknotes Shizune placed on the table, then at the reliable-looking young woman before him who seemed to be a ninja, hesitated, and finally nodded: “Alright, for your sincere long-term lease, we’ll go with your price. But utilities are on you.”
“Of course, thank you, boss.” Shizune breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.
Saving some money was always good; after all, their expenses were not small.
After seeing off the landlord, Shizune returned inside and began preparing lunch.
Tonton “oinked” helpfully too, nudging lighter ingredient bags with its nose, very personable.
Sunlight streamed through the clean glass windows into the living room, warming the room.
By the time the sun was high, a bountiful lunch was laid out on the living room table, aromas wafting.
Shizune wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, went to the master bedroom door, and gently knocked: “Lady Tsunade, time to get up. Lunch is ready.”
A muffled grumble and rustling of sheets came from the room.
After a while, the bedroom door opened, and Tsunade emerged with messy golden hair, eyes bleary.
She still wore loose sleepwear, her face lazy and irritable from hangover.
She shuffled groggily to the bathroom, unconcerned about the sleeprobe slipping and exposing her, splashing cold water on her face vigorously to dispel some drowsiness.
Sitting at the table, she picked up chopsticks, took a bite of golden-fried pork cutlet, and complained while chewing: “Tch, this Land of Stars is great in everything, but this gambling ban is too annoying! My hands itch so bad, even grabbing chopsticks makes my fingers twitch, dying to play a few rounds!”
Shizune sighed helplessly, ladling her a bowl of miso soup, and tentatively asked: “Lady Tsunade, how about… I play some poker with you later?”
Tsunade glanced sideways at her, huffed lightly, her tone teasing: “Poker? With your pocket change, how many hands would that last? What, planning to lose all your savings from years to me in one go?”
Shizune lowered her head sheepishly, muttering almost inaudibly: “Anyway… anyway you’re just gonna lose it all eventually, better to me…”
“Hm? What’d you say?” Tsunade’s eyebrow arched.
“Nothing! Nothing!” Shizune waved hurriedly, quickly changing topics: “Right, Lady Tsunade, since the Land of Stars bans gambling, why’d you have me rent half a year upfront? Star Capital’s housing is way pricier than anywhere we’ve been before.”
Tsunade set down her bowl, picked up the sake gourd on the table, poured herself a small cup, a complex glint in her eyes.
She sipped, then slowly said: “Expensive for a reason. This country… is interesting. Don’t you think? I feel like something we’ve never seen is happening here. Staying longer might let us see more intriguing things.”
Recalling the reanimated Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, the Uzumaki Clan, Hyuga Branch Family, even the entire Uchiha Clan gathered on one street, an indescribable feeling welled up.
What she didn’t say was that Shura, and the power gathered around him along with the ideology he displayed, subtly touched something long dormant deep in her heart.
As the First Hokage’s granddaughter, she had seen her grandfather’s grand ideal of pacifying chaos become empty talk, and watched Konoha gradually deviate from its original intent amid power and strife.
Yet the Land of Stars, this emerging nation, seemed on a utterly different path, sparking strong curiosity in her, even a hint of expectation she herself reluctant to admit.
Shizune nodded half-understandingly, then said: “Right, Lady Tsunade, this morning while buying groceries I heard the war’s over. Sand Village and Stone Village were defeated.”
At this, Tsunade’s hand holding the cup paused slightly.
She showed little surprise.
Having seen Shura effortlessly crush the Sand elite led by Rasa, and the two Tails in the Sea of Death, she never doubted the Land of Stars would win this war.
But…
“Over? This fast?” Tsunade set down her cup, brow furrowing: “I remember Sand Village formally declared war, and it’s only been seven days full count? Done already?”
Shizune nodded affirmatively, a hint of disbelief in her tone: “Yes, the news is out. Heard Sand Village’s advisor elder Chiyo granny died in battle, Fourth Kazekage Rasa captured, Sand main force almost entirely wiped out.”
“Chiyo granny… dead?” Tsunade’s orange pupils contracted slightly.
As a veteran of the Second Great Ninja War, she knew well that old woman’s tenacity.
Her exquisite Puppet Technique and unpredictable poisons had inflicted massive casualties on Konoha ninjas.
Such a legendary figure active in the Ninja World for decades had fallen in this lightning war?
She was silent a moment, then abruptly stood, ignoring the unfinished lunch, and said to Shizune: “Come on, let’s go to the Uzumaki House.”
“Now?” Shizune eyed the full table, hesitant.
“Yes, now!” Tsunade was decisive, already donning her green jacket with the gambling character draped on the chairback: “Clear the bowl and chopsticks later!”
Seeing Tsunade’s resolve, Shizune hurriedly scooped up Tonton and trotted after Tsunade heading for the door.
The two left the apartment, crossing increasingly prosperous streets, to a serene residential area on the east bank of Ghost River.
This was the core residential area allocated by the Land of Stars to various ninja clans, with relatively strict security.
At the entrance, two Star Ninjas in dark blue uniforms stood guard.
Seeing Tsunade and Shizune approach, one stepped forward politely blocking them: “Ladies, please show your pass or ID.”
Shizune quickly pulled the temporary pass Kushina Uzumaki had gotten them from her small bag and handed it over.
After careful verification, the Star Ninja saluted with a standard Star Ninja Army salute, stepping aside: “Papers in order, please enter.”
Tsunade with her ever-present wine gourd tucked away, sipped while walking. Each time she saw the Star ninjas’ strict discipline and obedience, she felt an indescribable dissonance and curiosity.
This completely overturned her perception of the “ninja” profession.
What method did that kid Shura use to train these ninjas—accustomed to freewheeling, task-focused ways—into such disciplined obedience?
Entering the clan territory street block, compared to their last visit, it seemed more prosperous and lively.
Streets clean, children playing in open spaces, some clan crests clearly visible on houses, brimming with stable harmony.
Soon, they reached the Uzumaki House mansion.
This was a Japanese-style building with a private courtyard, door wide open to the outside, clearly showing the yard inside.
In the courtyard, a little guy with striking red short hair and an “ai” character on his forehead squatted quietly before the veranda, staring eagerly at a black-haired woman sitting on the veranda.
The woman faced sideways to the door, head down, carefully sewing a somewhat worn little bear doll with needle and thread.
Sunlight fell on her sleek black hair, outlining a gentle, serene profile.
“Just the arm seam came loose; it’ll be fixed soon. Gaara, want to watch some television first?” the woman said gently.
Gaara shook his head, small hands nervously clutching his clothes, voice tiny but clear: “Thank you, Aunt Mikoto. I’ll wait here.”
His green pupils were filled with cherishing for the doll, and dependence and trust for the woman before him.
Outside the door, Tsunade looked at the black-haired woman’s back, feeling vaguely familiar yet unable to place it for the moment.
At this point, Shizune beside her exclaimed in surprise: “Eh? That… isn’t that Lord Mikoto?”
“Mikoto?” Tsunade blanked, then light flashed in her mind, a name bursting out: “Uchiha Mikoto?!”
【Today’s illustration: Uchiha Mikoto, dear, you wouldn’t want…】
