Clearly, bringing thoughts like Pakura’s into a political negotiation was far too naïve.
Kei didn’t even consider it worth explaining himself. Instead, he lectured Pakura.
"Lady Pakura, everything you’ve said is nothing more than the desperate pleas of people at the end of their road. It’s not worth believing in the first place! A bunch of missing-nin coming to talk to me about trust and loyalty—don’t you find that ridiculous yourself?"
Kei’s words struck directly at her sore spots.
The more sensitive a subject was to Pakura, the more deliberately Kei would bring it up.
After all, the truth was what hurt the most.
Just as Kei expected, Pakura became agitated.
"Kei-kun, that’s going too far! We’re only trying to prove our convictions! We’re not a bunch of traitors!"
Having cried earlier, Pakura had regained at least some of her rationality.
"Please give us a chance, Kei-kun. The reason we’ve ended up in our current situation wasn’t our fault. We’re willing to use our lives to prove our faith!"
Looking at Pakura like this, Kei began to suspect that Yūnosuke had been the victim of some kind of setup.
This woman simply wasn’t qualified to be a leader.
She didn’t even understand the most basic principles behind making a demand.
"Pakura, it’s not that I refuse to give you a chance. It’s that your request is obviously an attempt to deceive me. You promise me your loyalty, yet you refuse to hand over any leverage that would make that loyalty meaningful. That proves you don’t actually believe I’ll treat you well!"
Pakura had spent all this time asking Kei to believe in them.
Yet they had never once shown that they trusted Kei.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have repeatedly demanded complete independence and autonomy.
If two parties were independent entities, then cooperation could only exist when their interests aligned.
But every one of Pakura’s demands conflicted with Kei’s interests.
Yōkaze added,
"Naka and all of you haven’t established the foundation necessary for mutual trust! That’s why none of these issues can be negotiated within a framework based on trust."
Yōkaze meant well.
Pakura, however, didn’t appreciate it.
"What is the foundation of trust?"
Yōkaze could only sigh and continue explaining.
"For example, we’re willing to support Lord Orochimaru unconditionally because he has no interests that conflict with Naka. Furthermore, Orochimaru’s relationship with my lord makes it impossible for the surrounding powers to trust him. That means Lord Orochimaru has no choice but to rely on us. That’s the foundation of trust!"
Yōkaze then pointed at the map.
"But Lady Pakura, look at the Land of Rivers. It’s located directly between Naka’s sphere of expansion and the territory of the Land of Wind. It’s a classic strategic crossroads. How could we possibly hand such a place over to someone else so easily?"
Yōkaze then pointed at Pakura.
"What’s more, there’s a fundamental difference between you and Lord Orochimaru. No matter how you look at it, Orochimaru is a man of Konoha. But you are people from the Land of Wind. You said so yourself—you were forced to establish yourselves in the Land of Rivers. Your families and relatives are still back in the Land of Wind."
Yōkaze lightly tapped the back of her hand, paused for a moment, and continued.
"Right now, you have nowhere else to go, so you’ve come to my lord offering false loyalty and friendship. But once you’ve established yourselves firmly in the Land of Rivers, what guarantee do we have that you won’t eventually want to return to the Land of Wind?"
Yōkaze had made herself clear enough.
Yet Pakura responded passionately,
"I’ll guarantee it with my life! As long as my lord is willing to support us, we will never betray him!"
Kei only had one thought.
What an utterly self-important woman. That’s really pathetic.
"Pakura, your life is worthless to me! And you can’t possibly stop a group of accomplished warriors who have conquered new territory from eventually wanting to return home in glory!"
Once the Sand shinobi had gained the merit of conquering the Land of Rivers, would they really never want to use those achievements to regain Sunagakure’s trust and return home to reunite with their families?
Kei certainly didn’t believe it.
Kei stood up.
He was preparing to leave.
He had agreed to meet Pakura entirely out of consideration for Yōkaze, Gen, and the other women.
By this point, he had given them more than enough face.
Continuing the discussion would only waste his time.
Kei still had more important things to do.
For example, checking whether the lamb chops were ready.
Seeing Kei about to leave, Pakura said bitterly,
"Are you really unwilling to give us even the slightest chance, my lord?"
Kei stopped.
"In any case, the Land of Rivers I want is one whose entire logistics and supply system depends on me. It can become a country with virtually no economic development and a military-oriented economy, but it absolutely cannot escape my control."
This was the kind of Land of Rivers Uchiha Kei wanted to create.
Killing everyone there had given Kei an infamous reputation, but it had also left the Land of Rivers as a blank canvas.
Therefore, Kei was the one who decided how that canvas would be painted.
He had paid enough for it.
The Sand shinobi who had merely come along afterward had no right to dictate how the Land of Rivers should be developed.
"If you want to live there, you’ll follow my rules. If you can’t accept that, I won’t force you to stay."
Only those who fit Kei’s plans would be allowed to take up a brush and paint on the canvas of the Land of Rivers.
Those who didn’t could leave on their own.
As he spoke, Kei rubbed his fingertips together.
"Since you’re so determined to be independent, I can give you enough supplies to relocate. With more than four thousand shinobi, you should have enough strength to go somewhere Naka can’t reach and seize a government for yourselves."
The benevolent Lord Kei was even willing to provide the Sand shinobi with the funds necessary to relocate.
As long as they were willing to go somewhere else and make trouble there, stirring up chaos throughout the shinobi world, that was fine by him.
But Pakura couldn’t leave.
Before coming to meet Kei, the leaders of the Sand Shinobi Allied Forces had already discussed the matter among themselves.
They had to survive in the Land of Rivers.
This was the best way forward for the Sand shinobi.
Whenever the economy of the Land of Wind could no longer sustain itself, it launched an external war.
Sometimes against Konoha.
Sometimes against the Land of Earth.
It wasn’t as though no clever people had recognized the policy of sending Sunagakure’s shinobi to die.
And it wasn’t limited to the village’s shinobi.
Even some of those being sent to their deaths understood exactly what was happening.
But so what?
Someone still had to sacrifice themselves for the village.
During these campaigns, there were also Sand shinobi who refused to die and instead became rogue shinobi.
But surviving on their own was difficult enough.
Worse still, their families back in Sunagakure would suffer for their decision.
That was why the Land of Rivers was the best option for this group.
The region had already become sparsely populated enough to allow them to establish new lives and raise families.
And behind them stood a wealthy patron willing to support them.
By remaining here, bordering the Land of Wind, they believed that with enough military strength to serve as a deterrent, the Land of Wind would neither be willing nor dare to harm their families.
That way, everyone could benefit.
All that remained was to see whether they could obtain a degree of autonomy from Kei.
They were willing to offer their loyalty.
And they hoped Kei would respond by giving them his trust.
Unfortunately, Kei didn’t believe in that sort of thing.
Betrayal always began with trust.
Apart from his own people, Kei didn’t trust outsiders.
Even Orochimaru, the person Kei admired most, was still an outsider.
What right did Pakura have to demand Kei’s trust?
Because she had gotten close to his subordinate Yūnosuke?
"Lady Pakura, in any case, this is what my Land of Rivers will be like. It will become a paradise for mercenaries, but it will never be allowed to have any opportunity to betray me.
"To me, you people are no different from those rogue shinobi and missing-nin who have nowhere else to go."
With that, Kei left.
Before departing, he left Pakura with one final sentence.
"If you want to survive in the Land of Rivers, you will follow my rules. It will never become a country where you get to call the shots.
"Abandon your illusions."
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