Five Kage Summit (6)

After discussing for a while, the Five Kage gradually ran out of things to say.

Hashirama glanced down at the document again. "Gentlemen, is there anything else you'd like to ask? If not, we can start by making a brief summary."

Upon hearing this, the attendant quickly finished writing the last stroke and then handed the scroll to Hashirama.

After Hashirama... he was overwhelmed by the dense text, and couldn't help but squint and sigh.

"At first, I was full of enthusiasm, hoping for peace to come, but I never imagined it would be so troublesome in practice..."

Ishikawa couldn't help but laugh at him, "Haha, Hokage, don't be discouraged. A treaty that can protect the Shinobi World for decades can't possibly be written in just a few words."

Hashirama smiled wryly and placed the scroll on the table, "That's true. I originally thought that as long as no one wanted to fight, the written document was just a formality."

Ai also found it somewhat amusing. "You really are a naive person, both naive and averse to trouble. If peace could come so easily just by thinking about it, then are all the people who have been at war for thousands of years fools?"

Hashirama couldn't help but sigh, "I'm sorry to have made you all laugh."

Reto closed the file, his tone tinged with genuine emotion. "There's nothing wrong with it. Without someone like the Hokage, who knows when peace would have come?"

Byakuren leaned back in her chair. "That's true. There's still more to discuss, Lord Hokage, don't tire yourself out."

Hashirama straightened his back and said solemnly, "No, I will do everything I can to perfect this agreement. From now on, I hope you will all take good care of me."

Seeing his serious expression, everyone couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Hashirama Senju is truly a remarkable person.

After that, they argued for another hour.

Every word was scrutinized and deliberated upon, and the terms were repeatedly revised and rewritten.

Later, because the records were too fragmented and troublesome, Five Kage simply asked for a calligraphy brush and revised them herself.

But once they started making changes, everyone's opinions couldn't be expressed on the same piece of paper. When conflicts arose, spittle flew everywhere between the two sides. Since they were the leaders of the village, they were so anxious that they didn't want to wait for others to finish speaking. And since there were no guards to stop them, they almost used Ninjutsu to attack each other.

Just then Hashirama suddenly rose up, cracking the ground.

He stood there and scanned the area.

All four of them stopped at the same time.

"Gentlemen," Hashirama's tone remained amicable, "Let's talk this out. What good will arguing do?"

No one spoke; everyone quieted down and sat down.

Hashirama moved his stool aside and pulled the documents over. "Let's continue. Don't get so angry, speak slowly."

After another half point of negotiation, the terms were finally settled.

The servants from the Land of Iron brought up the transcribed official texts, and five official documents were placed on the table.

Hashirama it and flipped through it. After confirming that everything was correct, he picked up a pen, signed his name at the end, and then pressed his fingerprint.

The other Four Kage signed and stamped their names in turn.

After doing all this, Hashirama let out a long breath.

"Finally, it's done."

Ishikawa tucked the documents into his sleeve. "Hokage, don't be too happy yet. This is just the general agreement and its annexes. How each project will be implemented will be discussed later."

"I know," Hashirama smile, "But it's a good start nonetheless."

Ishikawa looked up at the Hashirama.

Unlike the others, he came with hostility.

His cousin died in battle in Konoha, and his grandson was kidnapped by that Asura of the Ninja World to be his disciple. When his grandson returned, he told his uncle that it was "his uncle's and his own choice, and he didn't blame Konoha."

Who could forgive this? The fact that he didn't immediately confront him shows his great composure.

He only helped Konoha because of his grandson.

Besides, that brat's attitude was already bad enough; as his grandfather, he couldn't afford to be any less magnanimous. After all, those were the God of the Shinobi World and the Asura of the Ninja World; he had to be polite.

But after getting to know him, he discovered that the God of the Shinobi World, Hashirama Senju, was actually a very pure person.

His goal was singular: to pursue peace.

He would agree to anything that was conducive to peace, even if it harmed his own interests.

But if anyone tries to sabotage things, he won't tolerate it; he'll immediately make it clear that he will never allow such a thing to happen.

Ishikawa couldn't describe his feelings.

He had never met such a pure person in his life. He unified the Ninja of the Land of Earth simply because he didn't want the Land of Earth to be surpassed by other countries.

He valued the benefits of the Shinobi Village model and never considered whether it was peaceful or not.

In his eyes, Shinobi Villages only exist for bigger wars and bigger profits.

The others probably thought the same way, otherwise the Yakumi wouldn't have been so tense when they sat down.

But Hashirama, the first person to establish Shinobi Village, was completely different from them.

He established the Shinobi Village, seemingly solely for the sake of peace; even the establishment of the Shinobi Village was merely one of the means by which he pursued peace.

For the sake of peace, he could bow to them; for the sake of peace, he could tolerate the disrespect shown to him by others.

Konoha seemed to be just a tool in his eyes; when negotiating with them, he was even willing to make concessions that harmed Konoha's interests.

At the same time, he deeply cherished his village, and every decision he made was genuinely leading the people under his command step by step toward peace.

Now he's also trying to drag them onto the path of peace.

That's truly remarkable.

With such a leader, Konoha should be a good place.

I hope to visit Konoha with my own eyes someday.

Right, it's time to make Wu completely give up his troublemaking intentions.

It's a good thing to let Ōnoki learn from such people and in such an environment; we can't let him, as his mentor, drive away the teacher.

Ishikawa snapped out of his thoughts, looked around, and suddenly felt that something was missing.

"Hmm? Why hasn't Wu come back yet?"

His words made the others realize what he meant. Reto turned to look at the empty seat behind him, Ai frowned, and Byakuren's gaze swept across the room, her expression slowly darkening.

Indeed, none of the five guards who went out to talk to Izuna have returned yet.

Reto frowned. "Lord Hokage, what exactly did your guards take them to do?"

Hashirama was also puzzled, scratching the back of his head. "Uh... I'm not quite sure either? But Izuna shouldn't do anything reckless."

Byakuren snorted, "Won't do anything reckless? You know perfectly well what kind of behavior your guard displayed during the meeting."

Hashirama chuckled dryly, his confidence clearly lacking. "Well... we'll find out if we go look for it."

The five people left the Meeting Room and walked down the corridor. They asked a servant from the Land of Iron, who pointed in the right direction and said that the lords had gone to the Meeting Room over there.

They walked to the door, which was ajar. There were some sounds coming from inside, but no arguing or fighting.

Hashirama raised his hand and pushed open the door.

The Five Kage stood at the doorway, stunned.

Hozuki Gengetsu sat in a chair with a cloth around his neck, while Izuna busied himself on his head with a comb.

His original pompadour hairstyle had been undone, his hair half-wet and limply plastered to his forehead. Izuna looked at it from left to right, picked up a tuft of hair and tucked it to the side, then felt something was off and pulled it back.

"Dude," Izuna muttered as he parted his hair, "You know how weird this hairstyle was the first time I saw it. Please, don't get that pompadour next time, I'm begging you."

Hozuki Gengetsu drooped his eyelids, looking completely unconvinced. "Why? I think he's quite handsome, very manly."

Izuna stopped combing her hair.

"Are you serious?"

Just then, Hashirama's voice came from the doorway. "Izuna, what's going on here...?"

Izuna turned around abruptly and his eyes widened when he saw the Five Kage standing at the door.

"Hashirama- kun! Didn't I tell you to stall them as much as possible?!"

Hashirama stood at the doorway, blinking innocently.

Don't you want to check how much time has passed? I was worried you'd been kidnapped.

Madara was standing nearby with his eyes closed, seemingly bored to death. He opened his eyes once when Hashirama came in, but closed them again as soon as he saw him enter.

Izuna collapsed completely. "I went through so much trouble to prepare this..."

Hozuki Gengetsu, with his half-dry hair, laughed at him, "What, you want our old man to be amazed too? They don't have that kind of aesthetic sense, forget it."

Wu stood to the side, looking at the group of people standing dumbfounded at the door. "I think the effect is quite obvious."

Ai squeezed through the door and immediately spotted his own guards.

Bi wore a black uniform under his shirt, with a Haori draped over his shoulders. The dark base with gold, blue and white Cloud Patterns shimmered under the light. Izuna had combed his hair again, and his beard was neatly trimmed.

Bi was sitting there, but when he saw him arrive, he immediately stood up.

As he stood up, the pattern on his Haori flashed by like Lightning Release, making him look even more dashing.

Ai opened her mouth. "Bie! Your... outfit..."

His facial expression was quite flamboyant.

Abby gave a thumbs up.

"So handsome!"

He flashed a hearty smile, "Right!"

Ai turned to Izuna: "Uchiha Izuna! Do you still have clothes like this? I want to wear them too!"

Izuna was taken aback by this sudden enthusiasm, then flashed a row of bright white teeth.

"Of course! Please wait here a moment while I go get it," Izuna took two steps, then looked at the others, "Everyone, what about you?"

The Five Kage looked at each other. "You've already asked the question, why do you need our answers?"

After changing their clothes, the group sat down again. Being all men, they didn't exchange compliments, but instead chatted about everyday things.

They talked about everything from when they got married to how old their children were, recounting trivial matters with great enthusiasm.

Izuna sat beside him listening, and the more he listened, the more uneasy he felt.

He discovered that although he wasn't the youngest, he was one of only two who weren't married.

As for why it's only one of the two, it's because Ban Ge has never been married.

Besides the two of them, even that bald Shamon has a wife.

Izuna thought about it for a moment and understood. In this era, it was necessary to reproduce in order to ensure the continuation of the family line. It would be strange if they didn't have wives.

These roughnecks started bragging about how gentle and obedient their wives were.

Ai said her husband never talked back to her; if he said go east, she would never go west. Ishikawa said the food at home was all prepared according to his taste, and the saltiness was entirely up to him.

The old man with the Byakuren hairstyle went even further, saying that before he went out, his wife would ask him which foot to step with first.

Even Hashirama said that he would listen to him when it came to family matters.

Upon hearing this, Izuna couldn't help but think to himself, "Bullshit, this guy is like a quail in front of Mito's wife, a total henpecked husband."

As for the others... every single one of them, the louder they boast, the less control they have at home.

It seems that all the ladies here have quite a temper.

Don't men all like gentle and charming women? And indeed, they are gentle and charming in their words, but when the conversation turns to wrongdoing, they all guiltily change the subject.

Does marrying a woman cause her to mutate?

As a bachelor, Izuna silently expressed his interest.

Ban was dozing off nearby.

I was already bored, and now I'm so bored I'm about to fall asleep.

Just then, Ai noticed his bored expression and asked, "Why isn't Lord Madara Ban sharing anything? Does his wife at home forbid him from speaking?"

Madara opened his eyes. "No, I've never been married."

Everyone was surprised.

After all, in this era, many men of their generation got married at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and it was rare to see someone of Ban's age who was still unmarried; in fact, it was practically nonexistent.

Moreover, Ban is handsome, highly Strength, and seems to have a good personality. How could a man like that still be single at this age?

Hashirama waved his hand. "Well, he was engaged when he was young, but his fiancée broke off the engagement. After that, our two clans were constantly fighting, so he probably didn't have a chance to meet any girls, and that's why he's been single ever since."

Ishikawa stroked his beard. "It's truly a pity that such an unparalleled expert left no descendants."

Ai chimed in, "So you manage all your family affairs yourself?"

Ban glanced at him. "Of course you'll manage it yourself. Do you expect me to hand it over to my brother?"

Everyone: "Huh?"

Everyone looked at Izuna.

What's going on, little brother? Is Uchiha Izuna still living with his older brother? And he's not married either?

Izuna chuckled, "Well, I'm not married either, and I don't have a girlfriend right now."

Even Byakuren, who didn't care about other people's marriages, was somewhat puzzled. "Why? I'm already a father at your age. Your brother doesn't have a wife, and neither do you. How will your family continue its bloodline?"

Izuna: "Uh..."

Izuna thought to herself, "Actually, in my world, it's normal to be looking for a partner in your twenties."

Reto raised an eyebrow. "Hey, it's not too late to take a look now. There are quite a few pretty girls in our village. If Izuna is interested, you can come and have a look at our village."

Ai immediately chimed in, "How pretty can desert girls be? They're all tanned! Kid, come to me, every girl in our Land of Lightning is a beauty! I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Izuna stared at them, bewildered. "No, why are you setting me up on blind dates?"

Byakuren snorted coldly, "The girls of my Land of Water are truly beautiful, gentle, and considerate."

Ishikawa waved his hand with a smile, "Haha, everyone, please don't pressure my friend Izuna. It wouldn't be right for us to do this if he doesn't want to."

The others all snorted inwardly at the same time.

You seem quite carefree. So what if your grandson has Madara Uchiha as his teacher? Be careful, he might not honor his appointment!

Ban sneered, "Heh, you lot really have a good plan. Seeing I wasn't easy to handle, you've actually set your sights on my brother... he..."

Hashirama leaned closer, his tone enthusiastic. "Why let good things go to outsiders! Izuna! We have beautiful girls in Konoha too!"

Ban choked.

Izuna was at his wit's end. "Hashirama- kun, don't get involved!"