"It was merely a matter of being more cautious. Of course there was no problem."
Seeing Karatachi Yagura personally speak up for his subordinate, Mifune gave it some thought and did not press the issue further. He merely muttered under his breath, "Then I'll have to see for myself just how capable he really is!"
The moment he finished speaking, he noticed Araki, standing behind Karatachi Yagura, watching him with a strange look. That gaze made his skin crawl.
He hurriedly turned away to avoid Araki's eyes, then continued moving the meeting agenda forward.
"Two days from now will be the day of the formal negotiations. Have you all decided on your positions?"
"Of course. I called this Five Kage Summit to unite the strength of the five nations and wipe out the enemy in one stroke. Could it be that someone here is willing to hand over their homeland?"
The Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, declared firmly.
"Exactly. To dare demand ruling authority from us is nothing but a fool's dream!"
"What kind of gods are they, anyway? Capture them and study them, and we'll find out."
The other Kage also spoke up in agreement.
"Then should we formulate a battle plan for the day after tomorrow? Everyone is confident, but I have to say, based on the abilities they've displayed so far, they'll still be somewhat troublesome."
Mifune reminded them.
Although he had long expected a great battle to unfold within the Land of Iron, he at least hoped the Five Kage would make sufficient preparations. Ideally, they would defeat the enemy in one stroke instead of turning the Land of Iron into a battlefield for a prolonged war of attrition.
That way, their losses would be somewhat smaller as well.
"Naturally."
Thus, for the rest of the day, they gathered