Ōnoki exchanged glances with the elders beside him before looking back at Seigen.
“Oh?
What kind of business?”
“If you’re planning to hire us to attack another village, we won’t accept that kind of mission.”
Seigen was speechless.
So all you people ever think about is fighting and killing?
“I want to hire Hidden Stone shinobi to help construct our village.”
Before he could finish, one of the elders sitting beside Ōnoki shot to his feet.
“What?!”
“You want ninja to do the work of common laborers?”
“Impossible!”
“I absolutely won’t—”
Seeing the negotiations about to collapse, Ōnoki hurriedly yanked the elder back into his seat, repeatedly winking at him.
The village is already poor enough!
Someone finally wants to hire our people, and you’re turning them down?
Besides…
Earth Release users helping build houses isn’t exactly unacceptable…
“Tsuchikage-sama?”
“What’s wrong with your eye?”
Seeing that the old fool completely missed the hint, the veins on Ōnoki’s forehead bulged.
Idiot!
With no other choice, Ōnoki stepped forward himself and cleared his throat to hide the awkwardness.
“So…”
“How many shinobi does the Hidden Flame Village intend to hire?”
After making a quick estimate, Seigen answered.
The village still had countless infrastructure projects unfinished.
Schools.
Hospitals.
Shops.
Soon, most of the villagers would have to shift their focus toward farming.
That meant there would be a massive labor shortage for construction.
If they hired a large number of Hidden Stone shinobi…
Projects that would normally take an entire year could be completed in only half the time.
“We’ll probably need around three to four hundred people.”
“As for payment…”
“We’ll pay monthly.”
“Every Hidden Stone jōnin will receive the equivalent of an A-Rank mission reward.”
“Every chūnin will receive B-Rank mission pay.”
“And every genin will receive C-Rank mission pay.”
“Three…
four hundred…?”
“…What?!”
At first, Ōnoki didn’t quite process what he’d heard.
He had assumed the Hidden Flame Village would hire, at most, a few dozen shinobi for construction work.
He had never imagined Seigen would ask for three to four hundred.
The Hidden Stone Village only had around six hundred shinobi available for missions after accounting for border defenses and permanent village assignments.
And the payment…
It was simply unbelievable.
Normally, the reward for a mission was shared among the entire three-man squad assigned to complete it.
But Seigen’s offer…
Paid every individual shinobi the full reward of an entire mission.
Not only was Ōnoki stunned…
Even the elders beside him shot to their feet.
Even the elder who had just insisted it was impossible…
Was already wondering whether he should send his own family members to the Hidden Flame Village.
Money wasn’t important.
The Hidden Stone Village merely wished to…
improve its Earth Release techniques.
“…
Flame Shadow…”
“We…”
Ōnoki’s tone instantly became far more respectful.
Whatever had happened before no longer mattered.
From this moment onward…
Anyone who dared touch the Hidden Flame Village would first have to ask whether the Hidden Stone Village agreed.
After all…
A contract involving three to four hundred shinobi…
Was worth nearly five years of the Hidden Stone Village’s total income.
Their earlier plan to invade Konoha?
Officially, it was for revenge.
But everyone present knew the truth.
The village was simply too poor to keep surviving like this.
“Oh?”
“Still not satisfied?”
“In that case…”
“We’ll also provide free meals and lodging.”
“You’ll work six days a week and have one day off.”
“The only thing you’ll have to build yourselves is your housing.”
Thud!
The elder in charge of the village’s finances became so overwhelmed with excitement that he failed to catch his breath and fainted on the spot.
“We accept!”
“We accept!”
Ōnoki immediately grabbed Seigen’s hands with both of his, grinning from ear to ear.
“Uh…”
“Tsuchikage…”
“You can let go of my hands now.”
Then Seigen’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“But let me make one thing clear first.”
“If your shinobi cause trouble after arriving in our village…”
“Don’t blame me for being merciless.”
“I promise!”
“Absolutely impossible!”
“I’ll personally keep them under control!”
Seigen took a prepared contract out of a sealing scroll.
“Oh, right.”
“There’s one more thing…”
Seeing Seigen pull the contract back before handing it over, Ōnoki and the village elders became visibly anxious.
They were terrified something might go wrong.
After all…
The deal was already within reach.
“Your Hidden Stone squad…”
“…visited our village.”
Seigen deliberately left the sentence unfinished as he looked at them with a teasing smile.
“N-No…”
“Impossible!”
“Our Hidden Stone Village would never do such a thing!”
The moment those words left his mouth, a terrible feeling suddenly rose in Ōnoki’s heart.
“Oh?”
“Really?”
“Then that shinobi named Kitsuchi must have been an impostor trying to frame the Hidden Stone Village.”
“How despicable!”
“He even tried to sabotage the friendship between our villages.”
“When I get back, I’ll have him executed immediately.”
The instant he learned Kitsuchi had been captured, Ōnoki’s head began buzzing.
Cold sweat poured down his face as he hurriedly explained,
“Well…”
” Flame Shadow…”
“It may have been…
my son…”
“He accidentally…
wandered into your village…”
Ōnoki inwardly cursed.
So this was Seigen’s real objective.
He’s here to extort us.
“Tsuchikage.”
“Do you actually believe that excuse yourself?”
“…”
“So tell me.”
“What do you want?”
Knowing he could no longer bluff his way through it, Ōnoki simply gave up.
His expression practically screamed:
If you want money, I don’t have any.
If you want my life, you can’t have that either.
“It’s simple.”
“We’ll deduct half a month’s wages from your contract.”
“In other words…”
“The Hidden Stone Village will work for us free of charge for the first half month.”