The moon set, the sun rose, and in the blink of an eye, the chaotic night was over.
Reiji strolled leisurely back to the guesthouse, only to be greeted by two sour-faced high-ranking officials from Kumogakure—Tsuchishige and Amai.
"Where did you run off to after escaping last night?" Tsuchishige stopped him with a stern expression.
"Got tailed by Konoha's ANBU," Reiji replied casually. "Had to run a few laps outside the village to shake them."
It was Amai who sent him out anyway—let her deal with it.
Seeing Reiji's carefree attitude made Tsuchishige's teeth itch with frustration.
But now wasn't the time to bicker. The priority was getting their people back and salvaging the upcoming negotiations.
That thought alone gave Tsuchishige another headache.
Under normal circumstances, he might have cared about appearances.
But at this point, pride was a luxury he couldn't afford. It was time to fully embrace Kumogakure's glorious tradition—
Brazen shamelessness.
With that in mind, Tsuchishige gritted his teeth and took the lead out of the guesthouse.
...
Negotiations with Konoha resumed shortly after. Today, the young and sturdy Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looked especially grim.
The two seemingly youthful advisers at his side—Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane—didn't look any better.
And Tsuchishige? He looked the worst of them all.
"Hmph! We were testing Konoha's defenses—checking your ANBU's response time—and you go and capture my men?!"
Tsuchishige launched straight into a shameless opener, setting the tone.
Hiruzen's face immediately darkened.
Homura slammed a hand on the table, shouting,
"Nonsense! You were clearly trying to kidnap Princess Tsunade, and now you're calling it a defense test?!
Shameless doesn't even begin to describe you!"
Tsuchishige didn't even blink. Images of the Third Raikage lecturing fools flashed through his mind as he calmly countered,
"Counselor, you keep accusing us of kidnapping—but where's your proof? Is your precious princess missing?"
Then, his voice suddenly rose,
"No! My men were even knocked into the air by your Uchiha!
Not only did she come out unharmed, you people even tucked her back into bed!
Since when is that called kidnapping? You ever seen such a gentle kidnapper?!"
In truth, before the operation, he'd told the four involved: they could grab her, but not harm her.
This wasn't war—it was pressure tactics for negotiation, not an excuse to break ties completely.
Hearing that, Homura choked. His youthful face froze in disbelief.
This bastard… is a shameless old scoundrel!
Koharu, ever the practiced tag-team partner, jumped in without missing a beat.
"But your men were caught red-handed—and inside the Senju compound!"
Tsuchishige didn't flinch.
"Hmph, this is Konoha—you can say whatever you want. Don't bring up the Senju compound.
Hell, if you arrested me right now and said I was caught sneaking into the Hokage's office, I wouldn't even flinch!"
At that, Hiruzen and his two advisors all instinctively shrank back a little, each swallowing a lump in their throats.
Unbelievable. This guy's shamelessness is next level.
If Hiruzen wasn't already the Hokage, he would've used Earth Release: Earth Flow River to flush this guy straight to the Land of Demons.
...
In the end, both sides pinched their noses and signed a peace agreement.
Konoha and Kumogakure agreed to a ten-year non-aggression pact.
Both nations would gain preferential trade rights to each other's caravans.
Kumogakure paid 500,000 ryō as a base price to retrieve their three detained ninja.
And to "celebrate the friendship," Konoha gifted Kumogakure two sealing techniques: the Five Elements Seal and the Four Symbols Seal.
On the surface, Konoha had given up two jutsu—but in truth, the village came out ahead.
Given its awkward geography, Konoha hadn't had the upper hand in diplomacy since the era of Hashirama and Madara.
Right now, peace and development were far more valuable than pride—especially for a village still recovering from war.
...
After finalizing the treaty, a thoroughly drained Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his office.
Waiting for him inside was Danzō Shimura, his expression like ice.
He already knew the outcome of the negotiations.
And he was far from pleased.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi enter, Danzō immediately stood and scowled.
"Hiruzen, how could you hand over a sealing technique to Kumogakure? If they manage to seal the Two-Tails, do you have any idea how much trouble that'll cause us?"
Hiruzen simply shook his head.
In truth, with Reiji keeping an eye on the Two-Tails, there was no guarantee they'd succeed in the sealing.
With that thought, Hiruzen spoke calmly.
"It's not an issue. Even if they manage to seal the Two-Tails into a Jinchūriki, I've held back the Five Elements Unseal and the Four Symbols Unseal."
Danzō, who had fully expected another one of Hiruzen's soft stances, was momentarily stunned. His mouth twitched, and he cursed inwardly.
Damn this guy—sly as ever.
...
Night fell. After three exhausting days, the negotiations had finally come to an end.
Both sides breathed a mutual sigh of relief.
Kumogakure got the sealing techniques they wanted, ready to happily stuff the Two-Tails into a Jinchūriki.
Konoha, on the other hand, secured precious time for development and laid the groundwork for the next generation.
At dawn, the Kumogakure delegation would depart, leaving behind this vibrant, beautiful village.
Taking advantage of the cover of night, Reiji slipped away again. He found a quiet spot, formed a one-handed seal, and reappeared inside the Senju compound.
Carefully skirting the ANBU patrols, he arrived at Rie's door. Laughter spilled from inside.
Perfect. A mix of old and new grudges welled up in his chest.
Face dark, Reiji yanked the sliding door open.
Silence fell immediately inside the room.
Two wide-eyed stares snapped toward the door.
The next second, Rie sprang to her feet, rapidly forming hand seals.
"Bastard! Trying to kidnap Sister Tsunade again?! How dare you—take this! Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
She inhaled, ready to spit fire.
Tsunade, looking mortified, moved quickly. She grabbed the little troublemaker and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"That's your brother," she whispered into Rie's ear.
Rie's eyes instantly narrowed—then her gaze darted around with mischievous sparkles.
"Brother! I missed you so much!"
Releasing her seals, Rie wriggled free of Tsunade's arms and cheerfully charged into Reiji's arms.
Reiji greeted her with a warm smile and scooped her up into a hug.
Tsunade let out a breath, thinking that was the end of it.
She was wrong.
Reiji's smile slowly twisted into something sinister and cold.
"You burned my hair."
With practiced ease, he flipped Rie sideways over his knees, grabbed a book, rolled it up...
And started smacking her.
The little girl ended up kneeling by the side, tear-streaked and sobbing.
Watching this lovely "father-daughter" display, Tsunade covered her face in dismay.
A textbook case of using power for personal revenge.
...
After a thorough spanking and handing Rie a mountain of homework, Reiji stepped out of her room, looking completely satisfied.
Composed again, he made his way to the front hall, where Mito Uzumaki was quietly enjoying the moonlight.
After a bit of small talk, Reiji received what he came for—scrolls containing the Five Elements Seal and the Five Elements Unseal.
A reward for saving Tsunade, even at the risk of blowing his cover.
...
At dawn, Reiji joined the departing Kumogakure delegation, bidding farewell to Konoha.
He stuck to the back of the group, as usual, scroll in hand, intently studying the Five Elements Seal.
Compared to the unrefined version of the Four Symbols Seal—still untouched by Minato Namikaze—the Five Elements Seal had notable advantages.
While not as sturdy as the Four Symbols Seal, its effect lasted significantly longer.
The current Four Symbols Seal was powerful, but its strength diminished over time.
This was one of the reasons Reiji chose the Five Elements Seal—he didn't need it to be indestructible. He and Matatabi had already come to an agreement.
The issue now was, mastering the Five Elements Seal required full control over all five chakra nature transformations.
Reiji, of course, didn't bother training himself—he handed it all off to his shadow clones.
That's how he had developed his lightning nature chakra, after all.
At the same time, Reiji noticed that Tsuchishige, aside from the daily travel, was also diligently practicing the Five Elements Seal.
It looked like the Raikage really planned to use it to seal the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
...
Before long, the journey was halfway over.
Reiji seized a chance, left a shadow clone in the group, and teleported himself toward the Temple of Wind and Thunder.
After a few jumps, he arrived atop the mountain overlooking the temple, currently under reconstruction.
But what he saw left him dumbfounded.
In the windswept great hall, the massive figure of the Third Raikage stood right next to a towering Buddha statue, a huge round jar strapped to his back.
Beside him, Fukai's uncle sat quietly, looking like a picture of peace.
Around them, numerous ANBU patrolled the area, scanning constantly.
Damn it! What's the Raikage doing here?! He's got the Kohaku no Jōhei on his back! And he brought the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki too?!
Judging by this setup, he's not leaving until Matatabi's sealed!
Left with no choice, Reiji formed a seal with one hand and vanished from the mountaintop.
...
He reappeared underground, right in front of Matatabi.
She lay sprawled out, lazily pawing at the ground with her front claws tucked beneath her, the picture of a bored cat.
The moment she saw Reiji, Matatabi's head shot up. She padded over, looking utterly aggrieved.
"Reiji, that damn Raikage's bullying me!"
"How's he bullying you?"
"Well, this stupid chain used to be loose enough that I could roll around a little. But a few days ago, he tightened it straight! I almost got strangled!"
"Did you yell at him?" Reiji asked meekly.
"Of course I did!" Matatabi huffed proudly.
"Uh..." Reiji scratched his head. "Then why didn't he gag you too?"
Matatabi grinned smugly.
"I threatened him. I told him if he tied my mouth shut, even if I got sealed, I'd never cooperate with the Jinchūriki. I'd make their life hell every single day!"
Reiji was impressed. He gave her a big thumbs-up.
"Genius! Absolute genius!"
Then he pulled out a scroll and waved it in front of her.
"Matatabi, I've got the sealing technique. You sure you still want to come with me?"
Matatabi nodded without hesitation.
"You're such a weird guy. You treat me so sincerely, but you don't believe my sincerity at all.
Besides, I lost last time. A deal's a deal."
Her honest answer warmed Reiji's heart.
So this is Matatabi? I'm in love.
Beaming, he pounded his chest.
"Don't worry. Stick with me and you'll live the good life!
Five days on, two days off. Nine to five. And I'll even let you out for walks now and then!"
Matatabi snorted with mock pride.
That was her favorite thing about Reiji—this guy couldn't die, and he let her out to roam whenever he could.
And if things ever got dicey, she could count on him to back her up.
This was immortality?
She loved it. Loved him.