The Summit Begins

"You're here pretty early, kids." Ōnoki arrived late with Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi.

"Well, unlike the Earth Shadow, we're not so old that our legs don't work properly." Yagura had been smiling, but Ōnoki's "kids" made him snap, and he immediately fired back.

Perhaps because of his height, he hated it when people called him small. He was completely unlike certain old ladies who used ninjutsu to make themselves look younger.

Ōnoki hadn't wanted to arrive this late either. When they were almost at the base, he had floated down from Akatsuchi's back and insisted on walking the rest of the way himself.

"As the Earth Shadow, I can't let people think I'm so old I can barely walk." That was what Ōnoki had said, and then he threw out his back in the blizzard.

Enduring his back pain and the mockery of his utterly unadorable granddaughter, Ōnoki had shuffled into the base one step at a time. Naturally, he wasn't in a good mood.

So the moment he entered, he wanted to put on the airs of an elder. In truth, everyone present really was a kid to him.

He hadn't expected this Mizukage, whom he had never met before, to give him no face at all.

Naturally, Ōnoki shot back without mercy. "The Five Kage have really changed quite a bit, especially Kirigakure. They actually chose such a rude fellow?"

Yagura seemed to be a little taller than Ōnoki and could barely look down at him. "If we're talking manners, Iwagakure should have let an Elder like you retire sooner. Don't tell me the whole of Iwagakure can't find anyone capable of becoming the Earth Shadow? What a pity."

"Heh. Sharp-tongued brat." With Ōnoki's composure, he wouldn't get angry over something so trivial. Still, he represented all of Iwagakure, so he couldn't lose in terms of presence.

The two argued heatedly, while Naruto happily watched the show. He didn't even have the mood to observe the Leg Shadow's legs.

Just as Minato was about to mediate, Mifune's arrival paused the battle of words, and Ōnoki calmly took his seat.

Mifune walked to the moderator's position, followed by two fully armed samurai. Judging from their Chakra, Naruto felt that if they fought, he could beat them without using his hands or feet.

Shibuki followed Mifune and sat in the observer's seat, while Fu stood quietly behind Shibuki for once.

Mifune said in a clear voice, "Since everyone has arrived, let us begin. Please place your hats before you, Five Kage."

The Kage removed their hats and placed them on the tables before them. Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Lightning—the main colors of the hats were blue, green, red, brown, and yellow, respectively.

So Gaara had been wearing a green hat all along. Who knew what the First Kazekage had been thinking when he chose that color? Maybe people in the desert longed for an oasis?

Seeing their Kage move, the guards all leaped to the second floor. Fu, Kagen, and Yoro went upstairs as well.

The reason the leader of Hidden Waterfall Village was attending the meeting was unusual, so no one fussed over the fact that he had brought three people inside. Of course, perhaps they simply didn't care, because Kagen and Yoro's strength was truly... hard to put into words.

As the moderator and witness, Mifune continued, "In response to Earth Shadow-sama's call, the Five Kage have gathered here today. I am the moderator, Mifune, and this is Shibuki, the leader of Hidden Waterfall Village, who is here as a special observer."

The Five Kage nodded to Shibuki in greeting, giving him a bit of face.

Shibuki himself didn't care about such things. Though he too dreamed of leading his village to catch up with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, he knew that his village did not yet possess enough strength to draw the Five Great Nations' attention. For now, he only hoped Fu's safety could be guaranteed.

"Then, the Five Kage Summit officially begins!" After making the announcement, Mifune sat upright and left the time to the Kage.

"Since I was the one who called for this Five Kage Summit, I'll speak first."

Ōnoki was the first to speak. "As I stated in the letters I sent you, the purpose of this summit is to discuss how to deal with Akatsuki.

"I believe your intelligence departments have noticed by now that Iwagakure's Four Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki have been missing for over a month. It can basically be confirmed that Akatsuki is responsible. So, how are the Jinchuriki in your villages doing now?"

The Raikage slammed a hand onto the table and shouted, "Quit babbling! I've clearly found out that Akatsuki's members are nothing but rogue ninja from your villages! How am I supposed to trust you now? What exactly are your villages trying to do?"

Fortunately, he had recently gotten into the habit of controlling his strength whenever he slapped his own table, so this conference table survived. A cause for celebration.

Gaara said, "I am a Jinchuriki myself. It is true that Sasori of the Red Sand, a rogue ninja from Sunagakure Village, joined Akatsuki. He even attacked Sunagakure Village with a companion. However, Sasori is already dead, and the ninja who escaped appears to be a rogue ninja from Iwagakure."

Upstairs, Temari and Kankuro looked at Gaara worriedly. Was it really alright to reveal their own circumstances so directly before those old foxes?

Facing everyone else's gazes, Ōnoki remained calm. "That guy is called Deidara. He was once my disciple, and he was an extremely troublesome fellow. I want to capture him as well. I imagine the other villages are in similar situations.

"That is precisely the meaning of today's Five Kage Summit: capture those rogue ninja and eradicate Akatsuki. Our goals are aligned, Raikage. This should not be a reason for you to doubt us."

The Raikage became even angrier. "You old bastard, you still have the nerve to say that? I found out that you once used Akatsuki!

"And you, Mizukage. Kirigakure has always been known for its secrecy, but the time Kirigakure began communicating with Konoha was exactly when Akatsuki's activities started becoming more frequent! Are all these things really just coincidences?"

Yagura didn't answer immediately. Being controlled by someone else would hurt the village's reputation too much. He had to consider whether to say it and how to say it.

Gaara frowned, even though he had no eyebrows. "Earth Shadow, what do you mean, you used Akatsuki?"

Ōnoki explained, "The reasoning is simple. In recent years, the entire shinobi world has been tending toward peace. Contrary to the military expansion during wartime, every village has probably faced funding cuts. Ordinary missions are limited, after all, so surplus ninja become a heavy burden on their nations.

"But having insufficient Combat Power is not an option either. At times like this, Akatsuki, as a mercenary organization, becomes a very useful tool.

"Hiring them to carry out war missions costs far less than spending time and money training ninja yourself. The choice is obvious."

Everyone fell into thought, especially Gaara. Sunagakure Village was all too familiar with military budget cuts.

No one knew what the Land of Wind's daimyo was thinking. He always believed that instead of funding Sunagakure Village, it would be better to directly hire Konoha's ninja to complete missions.

Sunagakure had once been forced into self-reliance. Besides panning for gold, Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage, had wanted to pull off something big for funding—and ended up getting himself killed in the process.