As more and more details of the battle came to light, the atmosphere at the meeting grew increasingly heavy.
"How is this possible!?"
"Why haven't we heard a thing about this before?"
"What exactly is an organization like this trying to do?"
The people gathered at the meeting had changed their attitude toward the Akatsuki Organization once again.
Before, during the Kage Summit, the villages had treated the Akatsuki Organization as little more than a pretext for competing with one another.
But no one thought that way anymore.
The Akatsuki Organization's threat had now been laid out in plain sight. Even the arrogant Five Great Shinobi Villages had no choice but to bow their heads and admit that no village could stand against the Akatsuki Organization alone.
The smaller shinobi villages outside the Five Great Shinobi Villages were thinking even harder about what to do.
Compared with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, which controlled most of the Shinobi World's territory and resources, these smaller villages, forced to survive in the cracks between them, had far less desire to fight the Akatsuki Organization.
After all, if even a single one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages couldn't defeat the Akatsuki Organization, there was no hope for them.
So long as they mentally raised the Akatsuki Organization to the same level as the Five Great Shinobi Villages, these smaller villages could survive simply by keeping their heads down and acting submissive.
As far as they were concerned, it made little difference whether the Five Great Shinobi Villages or the Akatsuki Organization ruled over them.
Some of them even thought that it might not be a bad thing if the Akatsuki Organization defeated the Five Great Shinobi Villages and brought down the old order of the Shinobi World.
Only after the old order