Five Kage Summit

Since Konoha began rebuilding, the streets that were still intact had grown lively again.

Kushina Uzumaki was finally discharged from the hospital. During that time, the number of people who visited her was actually quite limited—only Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kakashi Hatake, Mikoto Uchiha, and a few members of the village's Jonin Squad came to see her.

After all, with Minato gone, her social connections would thin out considerably. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

The first thing she did upon returning home was issue a mission for the genin to help clean up.

(Genin were good for that sort of thing, weren't they?)

She'd been away from home for a month.

That month had been far from peaceful in the Ninja World.

A figure wearing a Whirlpool Mask had appeared in every major shinobi village, launching surprise attacks on their Jinchuriki.

Fortunately, each village reacted in time—or so they believed—and managed to avoid losing their Jinchuriki.

But the fact that the Masked Man wielded Space-Time Ninjutsu, suspected to be the Flying Thunder God, had already begun to stir. The Four Great Shinobi Villages simultaneously pressured Konoha.

Unfortunately for them, Sarutobi Hiruzen refused to yield to such baseless pressure.

No way—giving in now would be an open admission to the Four Great Shinobi Villages that Konoha was all bark and no bite.

Konoha didn't back down. Instead, it mobilized troops everywhere, projecting an attitude ready to take on the whole world.

The most eager of all was undoubtedly the Uchiha Clan.

The Nine-Tails' Rampage had worsened the Uchiha's reputation in Konoha. The pattern of the Sharingan reflected in the Nine-Tails' eyes couldn't be faked.

The Uchiha were suspected of controlling the Nine-Tails to attack the village.

And now, less than a year after the Third Shinobi World War ended, the threat of another war loomed. To clear their name, the Uchiha rushed to the front lines, ready to throw down at the slightest provocation.

To reduce the risk of conflict, the Five Kage decided to hold a Five Kage Summit.

It was scheduled for one month later.

In Kushina Uzumaki's Sealing Space.

In the living room of the wooden house.

A stern-faced Minato Namikaze, a blissful Kushina, and a lazy Anju sat together.

"Anju, I feel like the defenses around the other villages' Jinchuriki are pretty weak. Why is that?"

Minato had used Kushina's Shadow Clone to visit the Four Great Shinobi Villages.

Each time, he'd gotten close to the Jinchuriki, paused for a second or two, and then attacked.

Sunagakure went without saying. Han of Iwagakure and Utakata of Kirigakure nearly died under his kunai. Killer B of Kumogakure reacted in time but still took a light wound.

Anju had warned Minato not to kill the Jinchuriki outright, so none of the Four Great Shinobi Villages lost theirs.

"Now you see the power of Space-Time Ninjutsu?" Anju snorted twice.

Minato scratched his head awkwardly. "It's powerful, sure, but without the chakra you gave me, I couldn't have pulled it off unscathed."

Back then, after hearing Minato's idea and considering Anju's suggestion to protect Naruto, Kushina had nearly unsealed everything, letting Anju pour chakra into the Shadow Clone.

Then Minato had flown all over the Ninja World, throwing the Four Great Shinobi Villages into chaos.

Now everyone in the Ninja World knew a Space-Time ninja wearing a Whirlpool Mask was targeting the Jinchuriki.

"Minato, how about you go check out the Five Kage Summit? Might be able to put a little more pressure on them," Anju continued.

"That's not a good idea. The Third Hokage will be there." Minato naturally knew what Anju wanted him to do—just make the Five Kage unite against the Masked Man.

"That old man Third? Who cares? Maybe attacking the Third Hokage could even clear Konoha of suspicion," Anju chuckled.

Minato wanted to stop Anju from spouting such disrespectful nonsense.

"I think Anju has a point, Minato. Do it!" Kushina was still smiling as she spoke, but her tone was harsh—clearly, she held quite a grudge against the Third Hokage too.

Just then, Kushina suddenly vanished from the Sealing Space, and the TV screen in the living room lit up.

It showed Naruto waking up, wailing loudly for milk.

"So, Minato, are you going or not?"

Anju's voice was full of temptation. "If you go, maybe Kushina will let you have some too."

"Cough, cough!" Minato said with righteous conviction. "To protect Konoha, I won't shirk my duty!"

The Land of Iron.

This was a country that claimed eternal neutrality.

The Land of Iron had no shinobi. Instead, it was guarded by a fighting force known as Samurai.

It was a neutral nation with its own independent culture, independent authority, and independent military strength.

The Five Kage Summit was held here.

The venue in the Land of Iron was specially built. Above every corner hung banners bearing the emblems of each shinobi village, draped in white cloth. Below sat the Kage of each village.

The Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Hokage, and the Fourth Mizukage were all gathered together.

At the head of the room, the leader of the Land of Iron, Mifune, began to speak.

"Everyone, I'll keep it brief. Let's sit down and discuss the recent incidents of the Masked Man attacking the Jinchuriki."

"Sarutobi Hiruzen! That Masked Man is clearly from your Konoha, isn't he? That man used the Flying Thunder God to attack Bee—our ninja saw it! You can't deny it." The first to speak, Raikage A, was like an enraged lion.

"Yes, Hiruzen, you owe us an explanation. The tailed beasts have already been divided among the villages. Is Konoha planning to redistribute them now?" The second to speak, Kazekage Rasa, also raised a very sharp topic.

The Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, likewise shot Sarutobi Hiruzen a hostile look. After all, he himself was a Jinchuriki now—it was just that Minato hadn't attacked him yet.

"Have you all forgotten? The first person the Masked Man attacked was from my Konoha, and he cost us a Hokage before the Nine-Tails could be resealed," Sarutobi Hiruzen said very calmly. "Since the Masked Man can use Space-Time Ninjutsu, why couldn't he have learned the Flying Thunder God?"

"Are you all going to blame Konoha based on a single Flying Thunder God Technique?" Hiruzen's tone was firm. "Besides, Konoha already has the strongest tailed beast, the Nine-Tails. What would we want with the rest of yours?"

That was a strong rebuttal, and it took a jab at the other villages' tailed beasts being inferior to Konoha's.

"Also, have any of your villages lost a Jinchuriki? Don't forget, because of the Masked Man, Konoha lost a Hokage."

"We need to put out a wanted notice for this elusive Masked Man. Ideally, we should ambush and kill him. Otherwise, every village's Jinchuriki is at risk of being killed." Tsuchikage Ōnoki offered a new suggestion at this point.

"Easy to say. He can use Space-Time Ninjutsu and appears and disappears at will. How do you ambush him? We can't even find him," Rasa snorted.

Rasa's son had only just been born, but the Masked Man had already appeared near Gaara. If not for the sand that automatically protected Gaara, hmph.

In Rasa's view, the Masked Man hadn't succeeded—Gaara's sand had defended on its own. But the ANBU around Gaara had been nearly wiped out by the Masked Man.

After more and more people from Suna gathered, the Masked Man vanished in an instant.

That was why Rasa said there was no way to ambush him.

You surround the guy, and he vanishes in an instant, then tosses a few Exploding Tags from outside the encirclement. There's no defending against it.

You can't have every Kage guarding their Jinchuriki, can you?

Then what's the point of having a Jinchuriki at all?

Something originally meant to deter other villages ends up becoming a liability?

PS: Thanks to Kaito Kiki for the monthly ticket.