Habara studied the negotiation bottom line given to him by the Third Hokage and found it to be basically reasonable.
Konoha's proposed conditions could be summarized as follows: either maintain the status quo and mutually recognize each other's territories, or both sides withdraw from the Land of Rivers, allowing it to regain its independence and become a buffer zone between the two great nations.
Honestly, the Land of Rivers was dispensable to the Land of Fire, but it held great significance for the Land of Wind. Therefore, the Land of Fire could do without the Land of Rivers, but it absolutely couldn't allow the Land of Wind to occupy it… This peace treaty negotiation wouldn't be easy. Only then did Habara truly realize that his mission wasn't just to go to Sunagakure and return alive, but to achieve a result favorable to Konoha during the subsequent negotiations.
Before Habara's official departure, Konoha made several preparations: firstly, they formally sent a message to Sunagakure, expressing their intention to send a peace envoy, and they received a positive response from Sunagakure, expressing their welcome for the envoy; secondly, they made some battlefield adjustments, sending Jiraiya to the Land of Fields and redeploying Orochimaru, who had maintained a high win rate against Sunagakure, back to the Land of Rivers.
This was undoubtedly intended to intimidate Sunagakure, meaning that they desired peace, but it didn't mean they were afraid of a fight.
These were the only preparations Konoha made. If they were to massively deploy troops to the Land of Rivers for the sake of a peace treaty, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
......
Three days later, Habara and Tenzo met at the front of the Hokage's office building. The dawn in Konoha was quiet. With no one to see them off, and with hardly anyone even aware of their departure, the two-man team began their journey to Sunagakure to carry out their important mission.
"Konoha is much calmer than I expected," Tenzo started chatting as they walked. At this stage, they could still maintain a relatively relaxed attitude.
"What do you mean?" Habara didn't quite understand.
"I mean the matter of the Fourth Hokage," Tenzo said.
"Oh, you mean that… According to the Fourth Hokage's last words, he should have been given a simple burial by now. However, Lady Kushina Uzumaki and the Third Hokage intend to hold the Fourth Hokage's funeral after the war is over," Habara said. This was information he had gleaned from his previous conversation with Kushina Uzumaki.
"You…"
"My name is now Tenzo."
"Tenzo, a good name… Hanzo, Danzo, Tenzo. People with 'zo' in their names are big shots, but they often have a poor end and their methods are quite dirty."
"…" Tenzo thought to himself, is that supposed to be a compliment?
"It's been almost a year since we last saw each other, hasn't it?"
"Has it? It should be less than a year, I think."
"Logically, I should thank you for getting me out of Root, but in fact, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have ended up in that situation," Tenzo said.
"…What's that supposed to mean?" Habara couldn't figure out how he was responsible for that.
"Originally, I was a 'failure' that Orochimaru had abandoned. But then you were thrown into my cell, and to prevent myself from being injured by your rampaging, I was forced to defend myself. And so, my situation was exposed…"
"Uh… I really didn't know about that. Should I apologize?"
It seemed like he'd done something bad? Habara was speechless. However, the problem was that even if Orochimaru hadn't discovered him, Tenzo would still have been picked up by Danzo later. This was the "will of the universe."
"No need. Even if I had been able to hide it from Orochimaru, I probably wouldn't have fared much better afterwards… We're both in the same boat, aren't we?"
Tenzo's personality was a bit more "lively" than Habara had expected, possibly because he was still very young.
"See, I knew it wasn't necessary. I told you my responsibility was definitely minimal."
"Uh…"
What else could Tenzo say?
The two of them walked and chatted. As they were about to reach the Konoha gate, Habara suddenly remembered something very important.
"Wait, Tenzo, I have a very important question to ask you…"
"What question?"
"Um, do you know the way to Sunagakure?"
"…No."
"That's convenient, neither do I."
"…"
What the, you-know-what, kind of, mission, is this?
After rechecking the mission procedures, Habara finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, we don't need to know the way to Sunagakure. Once we reach the Land of Rivers, Sunagakure ninjas will come to meet us."
Habara didn't need to know the way to Sunagakure; in fact, he only needed to know the way to Konoha's frontline camp in the Land of Rivers. So, they wouldn't have to face the embarrassing situation of having to turn back before they even left.
However, when Habara arrived at the main gate, he found that a "guide" was already waiting for them.
"Senior Kakashi, is something the matter?" Habara had just passed by when he saw Kakashi Hatake walking towards him.
"By order of the Third Hokage, I will also be joining this mission," Kakashi said, handing a written order to Habara.
Habara took the order and found that it was indeed genuine, and then he was a little dumbfounded… Honestly, he felt that two people were just right for this mission; three was too many.
He glanced at Kakashi, his eyes seemingly carrying a cold wind, sweeping back and forth across Kakashi's neck. You-know-what, did you think the mission team wasn't complete? Did you have to come and be the third wheel?
"The average age of this mission team was already on the young side. Adding you to the mix, this is basically a kindergarten field trip. What will Sunagakure think?" Habara said in a helpless tone.
Tenzo had just turned twelve, just old enough to fulfill the role of "Qin Wuyang," but adding Kakashi to the mix, it felt like this official diplomatic mission was a bit too childish.
However, since Kakashi had brought the Third Hokage's written order, Habara had no way to refuse him joining the team. So, he could only reluctantly accept this dead weight.
But Habara didn't forget to remind Tenzo, "Pay attention. After this person joins the team, we need to be extra careful about our own safety."
"Why?" Tenzo naturally asked.
"Because he's cursed to lose his teammates."
Kakashi: "…"
To be fair, it depended on who was saying that Kakashi was cursed to lose his teammates. If someone else accused him of this, Kakashi would have nothing to say. But Habara?
Tenzo glanced at Kakashi and then silently moved a few steps away from him. Tenzo and Habara had similar backgrounds, so he naturally trusted Habara's words more.
However, what he didn't know was that getting close to Habara was equally dangerous. Was Habara someone who could bring good luck to his teammates?
In the end, they were both the kind of people who were always one step ahead of disaster, and one step ahead of their teammates. It could be said that they were…
Too, darn, nimble.
____
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