The Five Kage Summit Begins
Seeing that the Elder of Kumogakure was quite accommodating, Shinki silently withdrew his leg from the conference table.
"Alright, since the Elder has said so, then this matter is considered closed on my end. ┐(´-`)┌"
"As for other diplomatic matters, Konoha has its own people to discuss them with you... ╭(￣▽￣)╮"
Upon hearing this, the Elder standing beside Shinki's face immediately lost his smile!
He originally thought that 200 million would settle the matter completely, but he didn't expect that this was just a fee for Shinki's hard work!
Since Shinki said so, he couldn't refute it.
The Elder could only smile obsequiously and continue, "Alright, but I have one more thing I'd like to ask Mr. Shinki for a favor..."
Now that being extorted is a done deal, the Elder can only try his best to make the 200 million yuan as worthwhile as possible.
Shinki said boldly, "Just tell me what's wrong. I help people out of trouble, and then I get paid for it~ヾ(●´∇`●)ﾉ"
Elder: (||๐_๐)
He understood Shinki's intentions: first, he said "help people avert disaster," and then he said "take their money back."
It means that if we ask Shinki for help now, we'll need to pay an extra price!
Hiss~
As expected of Konoha's Taotie!
Knowing he was in the wrong, the Elder swallowed his anger again and said, "We know Bi has returned, but Lord Raikage in the Land of Iron is still unaware. Therefore, we would like to ask Mr. Shinki to help us send a message..."
Shinki was overjoyed upon hearing this.
He had originally planned to go to the Land of Iron after settling things with the Kumogakure Village.
The Elder has now sent him to deliver a message; this money is practically free! (ﾉ∇︎ )
He waved his hand and said, "It's nothing..."
After speaking, Shinki stopped swinging his hand and subtly turned his palm upwards...
The Elder understood and ordered his servants to prepare the money.
Afterwards, the two hundred million Shinki, the quest fee for finding Killer B, and the one million gold coin for the errands were all converted into gold and presented to the Shinki...
As the Shinki placed the gold nugget into the sealing Scroll, the Kumogakure higher-ups members watched with twitching eyelids.
This amount of money represents many years' worth of their wages...
After accepting the gold bars, Shinki gave the group of high-ranking officials a goodbye gesture. "Bye-bye, I'll come again next time."
After saying that, the Shinki disappeared.
Inside the Kumogakure Office, the Elder turned his gaze back to Killer B: "Bee! Tell us in detail what you've experienced these past few days! Don't leave out a single detail! (`･∧･´)"
Hearing the elder's stern tone, Killer B muttered, "You're the ones who went looking for trouble with Konoha without even knowing what happened, why are you taking it out on me? (*￣3￣)"
The Elder became even angrier after hearing this. "You, you, you..."
Just then, with a creak, the door to Raikage's Office was pushed open.
Everyone turned around and saw that the person who entered was Yugito Nii, the Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails.
The elder asked in confusion, "Yugito Nii, what brings you to the Office at this hour?"
Yugito Nii had removed her Ninja Armor and was now dressed in casual clothes. Her thick, blond hair was styled into Scorpion Braid that hung down her back. She had red lips and white teeth, and wore light makeup, suggesting she had dressed up...
Upon hearing the Elder's question, Yugito Nii said somewhat shyly, "I heard that the Shinki of Konoha has come to Kumogakure. Where is he now? (´つヮ⊂︎)"
Elder: (ꐦ ಠ 皿ಠ)
"You! You!"
Yugito Nii's tone of voice this time...
Even a fool could see that she was interested in Shinki.
The Elder felt utterly exhausted.
Why are all these Jinchūriki from Kumogakure so troublesome?! (´இ皿இ`)
Killer B, seeing through Yugito Nii's feelings for the Shinki, teased, "Yo yo~ The old bull of Kumogakure is planning to eat the tender grass of Konoha... (◔◡◔)"
Yugito Nii was immediately both ashamed and angry. "You stinky octopus! You're asking for it! (╬￣皿￣)"
Meanwhile, after leaving Kumogakure, Shinki did not rush to send a message to the Raikage.
When I went to Kumogakure, the Raikage had just set off, and he probably hadn't even reached the Land of Iron yet.
So he plans to take advantage of this lull in the competition to look for Sasuke's whereabouts.
Even if Sasuke might have been taken away by the Masked Man, what about Jūgo, Karin, and Suigetsu?
There should be one left over!
For the next half day, Shinki searched for Sasuke's whereabouts, traveling throughout the Land of Lightning and covering the tens of millions of square kilometers of land with his Chakra sensing!
At this moment, Shinki sat panting on a protruding rock on a mountaintop. His rapidly depleted mental energy made him extremely sleepy.
He said, "We haven't found a single person!"
Where did the Masked Man take them?! (꒪⌓꒪)
"It seems we'll have to wait a few more days before looking again."
"And by this time, the Raikage should have already arrived at the location of the Five Kage Summit. I can just use the Flying Thunder God Mark on Naruto to teleport there... After that, I definitely need to get a good night's sleep... (ー_ー)!!"
Meanwhile, in the Land of Iron.
The Five Kage Summit Hall.
After the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages arrived at the meeting place, the meeting was immediately convened.
On the semi-circular table sat the Five Kage: wind, earth, fire, thunder, and water.
Opposite the semi-circular table, there was another small table, where an elderly Samurai with a sword sat.
He was the representative of the neutral countries and the host of this meeting.
Behind the curtain beside the table, the guards of each of the shadows waited, ready for any unexpected changes that might occur at the conference table.
At this meeting, the Hokage's guards were Naruto and Kakashi.
Naruto carefully lifted the curtain slightly, peering at the serious-looking Kage in the hall.
Then, he looked at the old man from the Land of Iron sitting opposite the Five Kage and cautiously asked Kakashi beside him, "Kakashi-sensei, what makes that old man with bandages wrapped around his head qualified to sit opposite the Five Kage? (‧_‧?)"
Kakashi: "Put your hand down from the curtain. This is such a serious occasion, and the other Kage's guards are watching. What kind of behavior is this...? →_→"
"As for that old man with bandages wrapped around his head, he is Mifune, a general of the Land of Iron. The Land of Iron has no Ninjas; it is a land of Samurai. His status in the Land of Iron is very high, probably second only to the Daimyo..."
Naruto nodded. "I see. By the way, Kakashi-sensei, are we just going to wait here until the meeting is over? This is so boring. =_="
Kakashi: "Shut up! ￣へ￣"
Inside the conference hall.
The meeting began.
The hot-tempered Raikage spoke first, "The purpose of this meeting is not to seek your help, but to hold you accountable! (ꐦ ಠ 皿ಠ)"
"The Akatsuki is composed entirely of missing-nin from your four great Ninja Villages!"
Tsuchikage, the Ōnoki and one of the most senior Kage, retorted with displeasure upon hearing the Raikage's words, "Accountability? Everyone understands your pain at losing your brother, Raikage, but you'd better not let that pain cloud your judgment! ╰_╯"
Raikage: "You old geezer, what did you say?! (`Δ´)!"
--
P. S.: Please support me!