The Five Kage Summit was being held once again, but there was less hostility this time.
The Third Hokage's gaze swept around the hall, meeting the eyes of the other four Kage one by one. Only then did he speak slowly. "I imagine you're all aware of the threat posed by the Akatsuki Organization!"
The Third Hokage had learned from Kakashi that Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure had sent people to try to abduct Sasuke.
But now was clearly not the time to settle accounts with those villages.
According to repeated assessments by the Intelligence Squad, Akatsuki's elite fighters were already on par with those of any major village.
And considering that Akatsuki was a covert organization whose members operated swiftly and discreetly...
On a small, localized battlefield, none of the Five Great Shinobi Villages could expect to gain an advantage if they ran into Akatsuki.
So the Five Great Shinobi Villages had to combine their strength to eliminate the threat Akatsuki posed.
The Fourth Raikage caught the implication in the Third Hokage's words and grew irritated. He gave a heavy snort.
The Fourth Mizukage said, "This Akatsuki Organization is unlike ordinary bounty hunter groups. They're constantly recruiting missing-nin from various villages and growing their strength. They must have a much greater scheme in mind!"
The Third Tsuchikage and the Fourth Kazekage nodded in unison.
They were all shrewd. They had undermined one another before because they hadn't taken Akatsuki seriously, thinking it was just a bounty hunter group with a little strength.
Now that they understood Akatsuki—and especially since they had confirmed it was capable of shaking the Five Great Shinobi Villages' control over the Shinobi World—they naturally took it seriously.
And once they did, they could see from Akatsuki's many actions that it had ambitions far beyond what