Chapter 808: The Fourth Great Ninja War!
The Wind Daimyo slowly spoke, "Since Konoha can't prove that the Fourth Kazekage wasn't controlled by Orochimaru and Sunagakure can't prove that he was, I propose we move forward under the assumption that the Fourth Kazekage was indeed controlled by Orochimaru.
In return, Sunagakure will accept responsibility for their actions. They'll accept the blame for launching an assault on Konoha even if the Fourth Kazekage was controlled."
Thoughtful expressions appeared on the faces of ninjas on both sides. The Wind Daimyo's initial words pleased Sunagakure ninjas while upsetting the Konoha ninjas. However, his latter words leveled the field. Both sides quickly calculated the pros and cons of the proposed compromise.
A couple of minutes later, Fujin thought, 'This is rather ingenious. I guess this is to be expected of a Daimyo, an ordinary human who deals with the dangerous ninjas on a daily basis…
By accepting that Rasa was controlled by Orochimaru, Konoha loses its biggest excuse to launch a war. It alleviates his greatest worry while giving some breathing room to Sunagakure in the negotiations.
However, by making Sunagakure accept responsibility, they'll have to pay a painful price to quell Konoha's anger and slowly mend the ties between the two villages. It also allows Konoha to set terms to ensure such an attack doesn't happen again.
Of course, any terms will be unreliable and everything will eventually depend on the actions of the next Kazekage. However, if Gaara becomes the next Kazekage like in the original story, that's not really an issue.'
A Sunagakure ninja suddenly spoke loudly, "This is bullshit! Why should we accept responsibility when this isn't our fault? We are the real victims here!"
Immediately, a Konoha ninja snorted, "Indeed, this is bullshit! Who'd believe that no one in Sunagakure can tell whether their Kage was controlled or not? You should disband your village if you're that weak. Elder Homura, I don't think we should accept such an unfair proposal."