Chapter 99: The Treaty

“Please, Lord Madara! This foolish boy may not be good with words, but he truly understands love. He often helps elderly ladies cross the street, feeds stray cats when he sees them, and dreams of being acknowledged as Hokage—he embodies great love without a doubt!” Shiraki hurriedly pleaded.

“Hmph, what kind of person could possibly be Hokage…” Uchiha Madara fixed his gaze on Obito for a long moment. “I’ve truly had enough of this gradually decaying body…”

Shiraki looked at Lord Madara with hopeful eyes.

“Zetsu told me it will still take five more years…”

Shisui was only nine years old now, gifted and understanding the great love of the Hidden Leaf Village, but still too young to bear such a heavy responsibility.

“Living trapped between this underworld and reality makes me sick…”

“So… the decision is made, Uchiha Obito…”

Clap, clap, clap… Shiraki, Afei, and the spiky White Zetsu whistled and applauded with all their might.

“Quick! Help me transplant two iron kidneys! Shiraki said only you, old master, can help me!” Obito just wanted to restore his body.

Uchiha Madara slowly moved his lips twice but ultimately held his temper.

…

Obito underwent a crude surgery, personally performed by Doctor Shiraki. No one knew exactly what happened—two masses of White Zetsu cells were inserted, inexplicably replacing Obito’s kidneys. Truly a marvel of nature. Of course, Madara did not forget to drag his decaying body over to seal Obito’s heart with a limit.

Obito still needed time to recuperate here and receive Madara’s inheritance.

Shiraki had always wondered how, in the original story, Obito stayed here for a year and transformed from a simpleton who could only perform Fireball Jutsu into a peak figure capable of instantly defeating the Kirigakure Anbu with Wood Release. Could it really be a case of a fool suddenly gaining wisdom?

Now that the truth was known, it was no surprise. Madara, with his immense spiritual power and profound mastery of genjutsu, directly infused his combat experience and knowledge into Obito’s mind.

What is called a stroke of fate? This, damn it, is a true stroke of fate!

Forget about piss pots, traveling old grandpas, or sudden epiphanies from great monks—those are weak!

“Kid… why do you look so unhappy? Here, have a lemon!” Afei pulled out a lemon from his belly and offered it to Shiraki, who was slumped over the table.

“I’m sour… a system that’s useless at everything but knows how to screw me over. Look at Obito soaring to the skies… I’m sour,” Shiraki complained pitifully.

[Mission acquired: Defeat Uchiha Madara]

[Reward: A full set of hero skills]

[How’s that for generosity, little brother?]

Shiraki jumped up with a start. “Defeat Lord Madara? In any way?”

[Any way, as long as you can beat him!]

Shiraki took a deep breath, mustering his courage, and approached Lord Madara, who had just finished pouring his knowledge into Obito. He prepared to teach this idiot, who couldn’t even throw a shuriken, despite being exhausted to his core.

“Madara, let’s have a contest—who can pee the farthest?”

Boom!!!

Shiraki was blasted into the hungry ghost realm by a single glare, tormented by hungry ghosts in a genjutsu world for three days and nights, and fled like a drowning dog from that cursed place.

…

“Captain is truly too kind to me. Knowing I love Minato Namikaze, he even went so far as to capture Minato and bring him back for me to care for… so handsome!”

“Even when he sleeps, he looks cool!”

“Love the Captain to death!”

Minato Namikaze remembered clearly that Kushina had embraced him last. Why were there other girls’ voices nearby?

He struggled to open his eyes, only to find a sun-kissed girl watching him excitedly.

“Where… am I?” Minato felt as if his throat was hoarse from not speaking for days.

“Ahhh, you’re awake! Our Captain saved you!” Koki was overjoyed.

“Captain… who is that?” Minato asked weakly, feeling as if he had been unconscious for too long, utterly drained.

“It’s me, Lord Minato,” Shiraki said as he pushed open the door and entered.

“Shiraki… is that you? Didn’t you already leave?” Minato looked at him weakly.

“Yes, but I was conscripted midway by Iwagakure. Compared to that, Lord Minato surely has more important matters to attend to, right?” Shiraki smiled.

“Yes… how is Konoha now… is there…” Minato struggled to ask.

“Rest assured. Thanks to Lord Minato holding the Shinobi Bridge for two days alone, the supply-starved Onoki’s forces had to retreat even if they reached Konoha.”

Of course, the details weren’t as simple as Shiraki made them sound.

When Onoki’s forces rushed urgently to the outskirts of Konoha, the village had less than 1,500 ninja left, including the Anbu Root’s wounded guards. Among them, only Hiruzen Sarutobi was a true powerhouse. The leadership was on the verge of abandoning the village to survive.

Onoki’s troops charged into Konoha’s main village three times but were repelled each time by the tenacious defenders.

Finally, Kushina, upon hearing of Minato’s death, flew into a rage and voluntarily unsealed the Nine-Tails, letting it rampage in humanoid form. It brutally beat the Four-Tails and Five-Tails and then ravaged the Iwagakure forces, inflicting heavy losses. Coupled with Minato holding the bridge, preventing reinforcements, and the depletion of strategic supplies, Onoki faced Konoha’s approaching reinforcements and had no choice but to accept Sarutobi’s negotiations.

“How is Kushina?” After hearing Shiraki’s account, Minato suddenly found strength and grabbed Shiraki’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine. Before your child is born, not even a knife to the throat would kill her,” Shiraki reassured him. The child of this dimension was no joke.

“So… what is the situation in Konoha now?” Minato asked again.

“The Third Tsuchikage and Third Hokage are negotiating a peace treaty. Konoha might suffer some losses—ceding land and paying reparations—but it could force Iwagakure to withdraw from the war. This might be the turning point of the Third Great Ninja War. However, the Hokage might suffer greatly; whoever signs this humiliating treaty will likely be forced to step down,” Shiraki said, rubbing the back of his head and staring at the sky, even analyzing trends for the next twenty years.

“Peace talks, huh…” Minato smiled bitterly.

“Lord Minato, please rest well. The medical ninjas say if the chakra depletion isn’t treated, it could cause lifelong impotence,” Shiraki smiled meaningfully.

Minato immediately lay down obediently.

Shiraki waved his hand and went out to drink with Onoki.

…

Onoki was exhausted too, cursing the First Hokage under his breath. When he was first convinced that Four-Tails plus Five-Tails equaled Nine-Tails, they fought, only to find one Nine-Tails easily subdued both the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, injuring both jinchuriki. Helpless, Onoki had no choice but to accept Sarutobi’s request to negotiate.

Before the talks, some troops had to be withdrawn to show sincerity and avoid being wiped out if surrounded. Onoki stayed in the Land of Fire with Dairenuma, another flying powerhouse, and a few elite troops, while Hidarite and Akadama escorted the two jinchuriki back to the Land of Grass.

“Fifty billion ryō in war reparations, plus this piece of territory—there’s no room to lower the conditions. Iwagakure still has 15,000 ninja ready to prepare for a full-scale invasion of the Land of Fire,” Onoki pounded the treaty map on the table with confidence. It had been three days of negotiations just to confirm the specific amounts of land and reparations.

“…For the peace of the ninja world, for Konoha,” Sarutobi finally compromised. With reinforcements arriving on three fronts, other battle lines were strained. Konoha couldn’t drag this out much longer. He turned to his close comrades, “This time, can you truly no longer bear this burden for me?”

“Sorry, even if I wanted to help you, Onoki wouldn’t agree. You’ve held this position long enough; it’s time for fresh blood,” Danzo Shimura said, eyes half-closed. This burden was too heavy; whoever bore it would be ruined and dishonored forever.

When Sarutobi resigned in shame, Danzo would have a chance to vie for power.

Sarutobi took a deep breath, feeling that the hardest signature to sign in the world was his own. He slowly put down his brush and sealed the treaty with his stamp.

[Ding Dong, mission: Turn dark, assist Iwagakure in defeating Konoha, complete!]

[Rating: Exceptional]

[Mission reward: A full set of hero skills, 1000 gold, 1000 experience]

“Well done!”

“Storms… are about to begin again.” When Shiraki heard the system notification, he knew the treaty was signed and the second phase of the mission was about to start.