Alliance and Combat Power Upgrade

The agreed date for the summit between Konoha and Amegakure soon arrived. As promised, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan led a delegation of more than a dozen people to Konoha.

The Land of Rain was guarded by tens of thousands of Rain Ninja. As long as no full-scale war broke out, there would be no danger, so the three leaders—Yahiko and the others—felt perfectly at ease about leaving in full force.

Konoha gave the delegation an enthusiastic welcome. This was the first time in decades that the leaders of a shinobi village from another country had personally come for a summit. Konoha absolutely could not allow any accidents, so it deployed a great many personnel on guard duty. Naturally, this was not to guard against the mere dozen or so Rain Ninja, but to protect the delegation and prevent the alliance from being sabotaged. In addition to the Uchiha Military Police Force stationed openly, a large number of Anbu operatives were concealed in the shadows. Danzo's Root, meanwhile, was excluded from this operation. As Nawaki put it, "Those people who specialize in wrecking things don't know how to protect anyone. It'll be enough if they don't cause trouble." The Third Hokage and the others repeatedly nodded in agreement with Nawaki's view.

Hanzo, who had recently lost a great deal of manpower in Amegakure, had never intended to protect his enemies in the first place. But the attitudes of his fellow disciples deeply stung him. That really pierced the heart, brother! If not for his silent (everywhere) sacrifices (courting death), could Konoha possibly enjoy such peace—raising enemies everywhere and piling up countless corpses? This conspirator hidden beneath the earth grew ever more desperate for sunlight and power.

Under Nawaki's direction, the summit proceeded very smoothly. Yahiko and the Third Hokage, representing Amegakure