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Chapter 97 – The Price of Thunder
🕑 Added 2025-07-08 02:39:24 +0000 UTCChapter 97 – The Price of Thunder
The command pavilion near Konoha’s northern front was calm now.
Gone was the tension of war. Gone were the swirling strategies and last-minute defensive measures. Only the faint flutter of the war banners remained, and the rustle of papers being signed.
At the head of the long table stood Shikaku Nara, arms folded behind his back, watching every movement with sharp calculation. Before him, seated on the other side, were Cee and Mabui, representing the bruised pride of Kumogakure.
Mabui’s lips were tight. Cee’s jaw was clenched.
But neither could deny the position they were in.
Before them lay the official terms of surrender, diplomatically worded, but nothing short of a declaration of Konoha’s dominance in this brief and brutal border war.
Shikaku tapped the scroll with one finger.
“You’ve reviewed it thrice,” he said mildly. “The ink’s not going to change.”
Mabui gave him a glare sharp enough to cut steel, but Cee sighed and lowered his shoulders.
“Fifty million ryō,” Cee muttered. “For supplies.”
“Standard reparations,” Shikaku said smoothly. “Given your forces attacked first, unprovoked, and lost.”
Mabui gritted her teeth. “And the jinchūriki?”
Shikaku gave a small shrug. “She will be returned after hostilities cease publicly. Not before. She is in no danger… unless you decide to get foolish again.”
Silence fell. A quiet beat.
Then Cee signed the scroll, pressing his chakra seal against the paper.
Mabui followed, slower, her eyes burning with suppressed frustration.
Shikaku rolled the scroll and handed it to an ANBU for dispatch to the Fire Daimyō’s office.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Shikaku said with just a hint of dryness.
Mabui stood quickly. “This isn’t over.”
Shikaku smiled faintly. “It is for now.”
...
Outside the pavilion, Hajime stood silently near the stone watchpost, armor still dusted with black smudges and battle scarring. His helm was off, tucked beneath his arm, and his expression was unreadable.
Cee and Mabui exited the tent with their escort of Kumo guards. Their faces were tight, eyes forward. They didn’t look at Hajime.
They didn’t dare.
Not after what he did to their army. Not after he broke their compound and smashed Yugito Nii into unconsciousness like she was a rag doll.
They walked past him as if passing a ghost. A god. A nightmare.
Only Mabui paused for a fraction of a second, her lips twitching with something between respect and hate.
Then they were gone.
Back toward their homeland.
Back to deliver defeat to the Raikage.
...
Inside, Shikaku exhaled and stretched his arms over his head.
“That went better than expected,” he said. Then he looked to the tall armored figure entering the pavilion.
“Well done, Commander Hajime.”
Hajime, ever silent, nodded once.
Then Shikaku raised his hand.
“C’mon.”
Hajime raised an eyebrow.
Shikaku smirked and slapped his gauntlet with his palm in a solid, echoing high-five. The tent’s lanterns shook.
The few jonin nearby gave small chuckles and claps.
“We’ll return to Konoha in the morning,” Shikaku said, turning to the gathered shinobi. “The war is over. Pack up, clean up, and be ready to move out.”
Cheers erupted throughout the camp.
The tension of weeks, the worry of death, all evaporated in a single moment.
But Hajime didn’t wait.
He turned his head slightly, focusing inward. His mind reached out, psychic anchoring, perfect memory, spatial lock.
The air around him flickered, not with chakra, but with will.
And then, he was gone.
No flash. No sound. Just empty space.
...
Konoha – Hokage Tower, Late Afternoon
The Hokage’s office was quiet save for the rustling of a paper fan and the gentle sound of sake pouring into porcelain.
Tsunade sat behind her desk with her feet kicked up, bottle in hand. The reports were stacked beside her, most of them unread.
She looked up as the air shifted.
Hajime appeared without warning in the center of her office.
Her chair tipped slightly from surprise, then steadied.
“You really have to warn people before you do that,” she muttered, eyes gleaming.
“I’m back,” Hajime said, setting his helm on the desk.
“I can see that. So? How did our little war end?”
Hajime listed it plainly:
Kumogakure signed a ceasefire agreement.
They publicly admitted unauthorized border operations.
They agreed to 50 million ryō in reparations.
The Two-Tails would be returned only after full peace is verified.
Tsunade stared for a moment.
Then she leaned back and laughed.
“HA! I knew it!” she howled. “I knew I picked the right one to send.”
She jumped from her seat and strode over to the cabinet.
From the top shelf, she pulled out a dark bottle of ceremonial Konoha sake, reserved for special victories.
She waved it like a trophy.
“You know what this is? This is ‘we beat an entire hidden village and took their tailed beast’ sake!”
She popped the cork and poured into two heavy glasses.
Hajime blinked. “Drinking protocol for shinobi”
“Can it,” Tsunade snapped, handing him a cup. “You earned this.”
They drank.
Then again.
And again.
By the time the moon was over the Hokage Tower, one bottle was gone and another had been opened. Hajime’s tolerance, enhanced by genetic superiority and chakra control, kept him steady.
Tsunade, however, was leaning sideways on her chair, cheeks flushed.
“Y’know,” she slurred, waving her cup, “you’re not just scary strong. You’re… you’re really scary good at this. You can become a Kage of a village.”
“I’d rather not,” Hajime said, sipping.
“Then you’ll keep working for me. Cheers to that!”
They clinked cups again.
Down below, the lights of Konoha flickered like stars.
Peace had returned.
And tonight, the Hokage and her sword drank in victory.
End of Chapter 97 – The Price of Thunder
