Five Kage Summit Begins

Konohagakure, inside a reception hall.

Five Kage hats, bearing the characters for Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, and Wind, were placed on the table before them at the same time.

Seated in the place of honor, Hashirama Senju wore a white robe and a warm, kindly smile. It seemed that the upcoming talks would make the peaceful vision in his heart a lasting reality, and everyone could feel his joy and excitement.

Behind him, Tobirama Senju watched everyone with a cold expression, saying nothing, as if there was not a single person present he could stand.

Especially when his gaze fell upon Takenaka Kaguya behind the First Mizukage, Byakuren, everyone present could sense the fleeting killing intent emanating from him.

Some wore expressions of schadenfreude, while others acted as though it had nothing to do with them.

Fortunately, Takenaka Kaguya ignored it, and Byakuren acted as if he had noticed nothing. Seeing this, Hashirama Senju glanced back at Tobirama Senju, who immediately became as obedient as a well-behaved child.

Sitting beside Hashirama Senju were Ishikawa, the First Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, and Ishikawa's disciple, Mu, the future Second Tsuchikage.

Takenaka merely glanced at Ishikawa before losing interest. Mu, standing behind him, on the other hand, piqued Takenaka's interest.

After all, excluding those freaks from the Otsutsuki clan, the only Kekkei Tōta in the entire Shinobi World began with Mu's Dust Release.

Not only did Mu possess Dust Release, he could also turn invisible. Given the opportunity, he could take down Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju alike in a single move.

Kumogakure's representative was A, the First Raikage, while the guard behind him was the Second Raikage. Judging by appearances alone rather than Shili, one might have thought Kumogakure's people were the strongest.

Sunagakure's attendees were Retto, the First Kazekage, and Shamon, the future Second Kazekage. In terms of Shili alone, these two were the weakest.

On Kirigakure's side, because of Takenaka, the Third Mizukage, who had served as a guard in the original story, did not enter.

With the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages all present, the talks began.

"Everyone, I am Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage of Konoha. First, I welcome you all to Konoha as our guests and thank you for attending this summit. I believe you all heard before coming that the subject of this meeting is the Tailed Beast Distribution Plan, with the ultimate goal of forming an alliance among the Five Great Nations, something we all hope to achieve. Everyone, peace has not come easily. War has lasted for more than a century, and no nation, large or small, has remained unaffected by it. Now that peace has finally arrived, I believe none of you would object to what I have said, correct?"

Hashirama Senju spoke first, directly setting the topic and intended outcome of today's summit. After finishing, his gaze swept across everyone present.

However, Hashirama's oppressive gaze was not something ordinary people could withstand. Apart from Takenaka Kaguya, who seemed entirely detached from the matter, almost no one else in the hall dared meet his eyes for more than three seconds.

Takenaka was not surprised by this.

Before his transmigration, when he had watched Naruto, he had already discovered from the original work just how powerful Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, was.

Now that he had transmigrated here, he had gained an even deeper understanding of Hashirama Senju's strength.

It could be said that with Hashirama Senju's Shili, even without Madara Uchiha, if he wished, he could sweep across the entire Shinobi World by himself.

Living in the same era as such a powerhouse, who knew whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.

"We have no objection to the Hokage's words. However, this old man believes we should not waste time. Let us keep it simple. How will the Tailed Beasts be distributed, and what price will we need to pay?"

At that moment, Byakuren spoke.

In an instant, everyone's gaze turned toward him.

Byakuren remained composed. Because of Takenaka, he had considered several possible solutions beforehand.

Facing everyone's stares, Byakuren sneered. "Heh, do not look at this old man like that. Since we are distributing Tailed Beasts, should there not first be a distribution plan? Besides, this old man does not believe Konoha would be so kind as to distribute the Tailed Beasts and simply give them to our major shinobi villages for free, would they?"

The moment he said this, everyone present aside from Takenaka was somewhat surprised.

Then Retto, the First Kazekage, spoke in agreement. "The Mizukage is right. There should be no such thing in this world as getting food without paying for it, right?"

"Mm, this old man agrees."

"I agree as well."

For a moment, A, the First Raikage, and the First Tsuchikage both nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Hashirama Senju did not think much of it. To him, Tailed Beasts were like pets—easy to catch, requiring little effort. Since everyone had brought the matter this far, he was about to say that giving them away for free would be fine.

However, before he could speak, Tobirama Senju calmly said from behind him, "It seems that the thoughts of the Kage align with mine. I also believe there is no such thing as something free in this world. Therefore, after Konoha distributes the Tailed Beasts, each of you will need to pay Konoha a considerable sum of money. After all, the power of Tailed Beasts may be nothing to my elder brother, the universally acknowledged God of Shinobi, but for all of you, obtaining and taming a Tailed Beast would undoubtedly add another trump card to your village."

After he finished, the Kage of the various shinobi villages did not find it strange. From the very beginning, they had never expected Konoha to hand over the Tailed Beasts for free.

Thus, when Tobirama Senju asked for money, everyone was actually relieved.

Just as everyone was preparing to agree to purchase Tailed Beasts with money, Tobirama Senju calmly continued, "Originally, when my elder brother proposed this Tailed Beast Distribution Plan, everyone in our village, including me, the Hokage Assistant, opposed it. After all, with all Nine Tailed Beasts in Konoha, it would be an incomparable deterrent to the four great nations of Lightning, Water, Earth, and Wind, as well as to all the smaller nations. But my elder brother longs for peace. He believes that absolute military power cannot truly bring about peace. Only when everyone possesses equal power and all long for peace can peace truly arrive."

The moment these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed. It had to be said that Tobirama Senju had at least eight hundred more schemes in his head than Hashirama.

On the surface, he was expressing Hashirama's yearning for peace, but he was plainly telling everyone else that if they did not agree, Konoha would keep all the Tailed Beasts.

No one wanted to see that outcome.

Konoha was already extremely powerful. It had two incomparably strong legendary Ninja, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and its overall strength surpassed that of every major shinobi village.

It could be said that even now, the four great nations of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water joining forces would not be a match for the Land of Fire.

"The Hokage is righteous, and we admire him. In that case, please tell us how the Tailed Beasts will be distributed. And how much money must we pay?"