Tense Confrontation

In the hall of the house stood a hexagonal table, where the six Kage had just taken their seats. As for the guards, they could only stand behind and watch.

This Takikage's way of thinking is actually quite similar to mine, isn't it? I wonder if he would also approve of my ideas? Hashirama tapped the table; the house was indeed constructed from Wood Release, and every detail of its structure was exactly as he had envisioned, which couldn't help but stir a sense of kinship toward Ruri.

In truth, Ruri had simply been lazy and built it according to the layout of the first Five Kage Summit from his memories.

Once the six were seated and had placed their respective hats on the table, Hashirama spoke up. After all, setting aside the most powerful Land of Fire, he—the God of Shinobi, the strongest ninja recognized by all—held absolute authority in the conversation.

"To be able to gather like this, the five great nations... oh, no, the six First Kage gathered in one hall to hold the Six Kage Summit, I truly..." As Hashirama spoke, he cast an apologetic glance at Ruri. Although he could acknowledge Ruri and acknowledge the Takikage, he could not unilaterally decide on the status of the Land of Waterfalls; to recognize it as a great nation required the consent of the Daimyo.

Ruri shook his head to indicate it didn't matter. Although the Land of Waterfalls was developing rapidly and its economy was approaching that of the five great nations, in reality, its territory was far smaller, and its room for growth was limited. That was a fact.

Just then, Hashirama did something no one expected: he slammed his forehead directly onto the table and shouted, "Thank you very much!"

The group had never expected the highest-ranking Hokage, the God of Shinobi Senju Hashirama, to act in such a manner. Tobirama, standing behind him, was already displeased that Ruri was participating in the Kage Summit, and he found this gesture absolutely intolerable. He hurriedly leaned into his brother's ear and whispered with irritation, "Big Brother, you are the Hokage, representing Konoha of the Land of Fire. How can you easily bow your head to other Kage?"

Hashirama seemed completely unconcerned with his own status, lifting his head slightly with eyes full of sincerity: "But I... I am just too happy!"

"Lord Hokage, raise your head. This is not how a leader should behave," A said, arms crossed, his expression stern.

"I did come here to acknowledge your agreement, Lord Hokage, but that does not mean I will sign it for nothing," Ishikawa stroked his beard and shook his head slightly. Hashirama was still too young and his thinking too naive; just because they could sit together harmoniously now did not guarantee peace in the ninja world later.

"If you are too subservient, it will look like you have ulterior motives!" Byakuren's voice rang out. He did not trust Hashirama—or rather, he did not trust anyone, especially after Ruri displayed Wood Release, which only deepened his suspicions.

"It seems Lord Hokage thinks too highly of the other Kage," Ruri remarked at the right moment with a bland comment. Because of the strength of the Land of Waterfalls, he lacked much political leverage, but he possessed the strength to speak for himself. If he attended the Six Kage Summit only to be a wallflower, it would be too stifling.

Retto glanced at Ruri and said, "Lord Takikage seems to understand the agreement, so there is no need to explain it again. The condition for signing is that Lord Hokage distributes the captured Tailed Beasts to each village. This is a transaction and should not be swayed by emotion."

"That's right. The distribution of Tailed Beasts will take into account the balance of power between villages, but everyone will need to pay to acquire them..." At this point, Tobirama began to speak on Hashirama's behalf; heaven knows what kind of foolish remarks his big brother might blurt out next.

However, it was to no avail. Hashirama interrupted Tobirama, saying with great sincerity, "As for the Tailed Beasts, giving them away for free is fine too..."

"Shut up..." Tobirama felt truly helpless toward his idiot brother and nearly punched him. Although his brother's ideal of peace in the ninja world was good, securing benefits was necessary. With the money from selling the Tailed Beasts, Konoha could develop better. Even if the other four great nations signed the agreement and failed to abide by it, the Land of Fire would still maintain the strongest combat power. Having strength made everything easier; that was the bottom line.

"Paying to acquire them is acceptable. There are nine Tailed Beasts; I wonder how many Lord Hokage has captured?" Ruri asked. The Tailed Beasts would likely be distributed as they were in the original story, meaning the only one not distributed to the five great ninja villages was the Seven-Tails. He was desperate to know if Hashirama had actually captured it.

"Excluding the One-Tail in Sunagakure, the other eight have all been captured." Hashirama was quite straightforward; without keeping any for himself, he produced eight scrolls.

The scrolls were unfurled, each inscribed with a number from two to nine.

Retto glanced at the scrolls. He had no deep understanding of the strength of the Tailed Beasts, so he assumed that since Hashirama could capture them all alone, they were likely only at the quasi-Kage level. Not paying much mind to it, he said, "As for the Tailed Beasts, that is correct. Our Morinji in Sunagakure has already sealed one, so we do not need another. If you want us to sign the agreement, unlike the other villages, we require corresponding compensation. That is not a problem, right?"

"What do you want?" A spoke up. Kumogakure had long coveted the Tailed Beasts. Although the Nine-Tails scroll had been brought out, it would certainly be kept by Konoha, and he wouldn't bother offending them over it. Thus, the Eight-Tails was his target, and having one less village competing for it was to his advantage.

"Our country is covered in sand, so I wish to ask for fertile land from our neighbor, the Land of Fire, rather than Tailed Beasts. Furthermore, thirty percent of the funds used by the other countries to purchase Tailed Beasts must be handed over to us," Retto stated his conditions. It didn't matter if Sunagakure's strength was a bit weaker; the Land of Wind was easy to defend and hard to attack. What they needed most right now was development capital.

"Are you joking, Kazekage!"

"What? Lord Kazekage, this is too much!"

A and Byakuren immediately slammed their hands on the table and stood up. The funds for purchasing Tailed Beasts were not a small sum; thirty percent was not much, but thirty percent of the total from several villages was quite substantial. They could not sit by and watch Sunagakure grow powerful.

"If these conditions are not met, I will not sign the agreement. My country is a land of deserts and cannot engage in production. To compete with the four great nations, we must naturally make the best use of our village's Tailed Beast." Retto did not yield a single inch regarding the interests of his village.

"I think..." Ruri had just opened his mouth to help Retto a little, but was interrupted by Byakuren. This old Mizukage was always so annoying.

"If you persist, Kazekage, the five of us can join forces to attack the Land of Wind. I believe Lord Takikage thinks the same, right?" Byakuren issued a threat and shifted the topic to Ruri. It seemed he had learned through some channel about the past transactions between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Wind, and had sensed something fishy.

A and Ishikawa remained silent, looking at Ruri. Implicitly, they defaulted to Byakuren's way of thinking.

"I am afraid to disappoint you both, but the Land of Waterfalls will not engage in ganging up on a friend," Ruri said calmly. Even facing the pressure of three Kage, he did not retreat a single step. However, he remembered the plot; the final result would not end in such a breakup, and Hashirama would surely step in to mediate.

"If the Land of Waterfalls lacks the funds to purchase Tailed Beasts, you can trade with certain items. Our Land of Wind will provide financial assistance, but I will not yield on my conditions." Retto cast a grateful look at Ruri. He was also nervous in this situation; if things went wrong and he really provoked a joint attack from three nations, it would be troublesome.

Ruri was noncommittal about the trade Retto proposed. "Certain items" naturally referred to Hero Water, but Ruri did not want to easily part with such a precious resource. The Land of Waterfalls indeed didn't have much spare cash to buy Tailed Beasts, but Ruri was different. As the founder of the Black Market Exchange, although he had lost some control over that behemoth, the funds in his hands were still in the tens of millions. It was no exaggeration to say he was wealthier than a nation.

The scene turned grim, and the air seemed to grow heavy. Just then, a loud "bang" echoed through the room.