The Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, Part Two

"Hmph!" After this little incident, Raikage A snorted and sat down again.

"Let's continue the discussion!" Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Mifune said calmly from the head seat.

"Konoha, Iwa, Suna, and Kirigakure—Akatsuki was formed by missing-nin from your villages. Not only that, but we've also discovered that some of you, including the former village chief, have used Akatsuki!"

"You used him?" Gaara was also surprised to hear the Raikage's words.

"I don't trust you, and I don't want to negotiate with you, but the reason I summoned the Five Kage here is to hold you accountable!" Raikage A said loudly.

"How come you used Akatsuki before?" Gaara asked again, voicing his doubts.

"You, as the Kazekage, weren't you informed? Go ask the old folks in your own villages; you used Akatsuki during the war!" A said, pointing at everyone present.

Hiring people to fight is no secret; anyone of a certain age knows it. Even Konoha has done it. Danzo was a veteran at it. Before Root grew strong, Danzo people to do many shady things. Other villages did the same thing. The darkness of a great nation goes far beyond this.

The one who hired the most people was naturally the Tsuchikage, Ōnoki. After being repeatedly defeated by Tianqi, the strength of the Land of Earth had been weakened to the extreme. In order to restore the country's strength and maintain its status as a major power, Ōnoki had hired a lot of mercenaries from the Shinobi World in recent years, and Akatsuki, as a powerful mercenary organization, was naturally within Ōnoki's scope of hiring.

"Now that the major powers have settled down, they have shifted from military expansion to military reduction. Because the tension between countries has eased, there is no longer any threat of war. As a result, the ninja villages that control military power have become a heavy financial burden for the countries. However, there are certain risks in arbitrarily reducing the size of the ninja villages. If a war breaks out, relying solely on inexperienced ninjas will also cause problems, and defeat will result!" Ōnoki explained calmly.

"So one way to avoid the risks is to hire a combat mercenary group like Akatsuki, right?" Gaara understood the root of the problem through Ōnoki's words.

"Training excellent ninjas in your own village requires effort and money. Akatsuki, who make a living from war, are a group of top-tier experts. We can get them to take on wars at a low price and they can bring the most satisfactory results!"

"Stop spouting nice words about the Tsuchikage. The Sunagakure used Akatsuki to destroy Konoha, and that was Orochimaru. At that time, it wasn't even certain whether he had left Akatsuki, but because of him, your father, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, and the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, both lost their lives. This was very likely orchestrated by someone behind the scenes!" As he said this, A looked at Danzo, and seeing that Danzo closed his eyes and remained silent, he cursed him under his breath as an old fox.

"Furthermore, the most suspicious place is Kirigakure. You Kirigakure don't engage in diplomacy, and rumors say you're the birthplace of Akatsuki!"

Seeing Raikage A heading straight for Kirigakure, Terumī Mei hesitated for a moment before revealing her own family's secrets.

"Since that's the case, I'll be frank. We suspect that the previous Mizukage, the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, was being manipulated, most likely by Akatsuki, so we don't want to cause any big trouble..."

"Hmph, they're all cut from the same cloth!" Ai said with disdain as he looked at Terumī Mei.

"Watch your mouth, Raikage. Speaking of which, in this era of reduced military spending, it's all your fault for seeking power and collecting Ninjutsu at all costs. We had no choice but to hire Akatsuki in order to counter them!" Ōnoki retorted as he saw the Raikage criticizing others.

The meaning is very clear: if Kumogakure didn't increase its power and collect Ninjutsu, we wouldn't hire Akatsuki. All of this is caused by your power-up.

"What!" Seeing that Ōnoki was blaming him, the Raikage slammed his hands on the table and stood up again, ready to give the old man a piece of his mind.

"Boring!" Tianqi muttered under his breath as he watched these guys start biting each other, then turned his head away, not wanting to hear them bickering.

"Before we argue from our respective perspectives, I'd like to convey something to everyone..." Seeing that the Raikage and Tsuchikage were about to start fighting, Danzo thought of someone and casually chimed in.

"What's up?"

"The Leader of Akatsuki is probably Uchiha Madara..."

As soon as Danzo finished speaking, Raikage A and Tsuchikage Ōnoki immediately looked at Uchiha Tianqi, who was listening in. Uchiha Madara was Uchiha Tianqi's father. If these two joined forces, what would be the point?

"Look, look, what are you looking at? I'm just here to listen in, why are you looking at me!" Seeing that Ōnoki and Ai's eyes were wide open like bull's balls, Tianqi shouted a couple of times and then turned his head away, cursing Danzo for being Danzo in his heart.

Are you sure?

"Is he still alive? Didn't he die decades ago?"

"That's right, that guy should have been dead long ago?"

The three Kage—Water, Wind, and Earth—all raised questions, unwilling to believe that Uchiha Madara was still alive.

"I'm not entirely sure either, but this information is very reliable!"

"Are you trying to tell us he's immortal?" Ai shouted.

"Maybe..."

"Could he really be a monster..." Ōnoki said, his eyes unconsciously glancing at Uchiha Tianqi.

Compared to Uchiha Tianqi, he feared Uchiha Madara more. At least Tianqi had principles in his actions, and as long as you didn't provoke him, he wouldn't bother with you. But Uchiha Madara was different; he was a demon. If he didn't like you, he would kill you at the drop of a hat. The trauma he suffered from his youth was even harder to erase than the trauma inflicted by Uchiha Tianqi.

The explosive news that Uchiha Madara was alive instantly silenced the Five Kage.

Only Tianqi's lips twitched incessantly. He had a strong urge to Danzo. "Reliable information? Reliable my ass! The old man has been dead for so long, and you're still using him? It's infuriating!" However, Danzo probably only believed half of Obito and Madara's identities, otherwise he would have come to ask him long ago.

Danzo, that old bastard, probably wanted to use Uchiha Madara's identity to stir up trouble. What a wicked fellow.

"Ahem... As a neutral nation, let me say a few words. The Leader of Akatsuki grasped the trends of the times and expanded his power by taking advantage of the suspicions hidden beneath the surface of stability among various countries..."

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Ai asked, puzzled. He didn't understand what Mifune meant.

"Don't rush. Every cloud has a silver lining. It's extremely rare for the Five Kage to gather together. How should we handle this situation? Should we form an unprecedented allied army of the five great ninja villages?"

"A coalition?" Ai was somewhat taken aback by Mifune's suggestion.

"Very good! These are critical times, and we need to work together!" Danzo nodded, agreeing with Mifune's suggestion. Seeing everything progressing in the direction he wanted, he was overjoyed. This momentum was excellent; let's keep it up!