In the lounge, Mei Terumi lowered her hands from their seal, and the image before her vanished. Her expression was complicated. Behind her, the Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and Gaara looked little better after watching the earlier conversation between Tsunade and the other two.
After the four fell silent for a moment, the Third Tsuchikage drew in a sharp breath and said, "Madara Uchiha with an immortal body... Heh. To think these old bones would have to face that monster in the end. Honestly..."
Gaara said, "Whatever happens, let's pretend we don't know about this for now. Jiraiya thought it through carefully. If word got out, it really would be a serious blow to the Coalition Army we worked so hard to assemble."
The Fourth Raikage said, "No matter what, we have to win this war. We have nowhere to retreat. Whoever we face, we have to defeat him, because if we lose, there won't be a shinobi world anymore."
Gaara nodded. "Exactly. Besides, even if Madara Uchiha really has been resurrected, that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be all that powerful."
The other three gave him questioning looks. Gaara said, "After all, Madara Uchiha lived over a hundred years ago. The shinobi world wasn't very powerful back then, and heaven and earth spiritual energy was sparse. Don't forget that we're all much stronger now than people were a hundred years ago. The difference is practically night and day. The Three Sacred Treasures hadn't begun replenishing the shinobi world back then, so no matter how strong he was, there had to be a limit, right?"
All three froze for a moment, then the Fourth Raikage said happily, "Heh, exactly! The Fifth Kazekage is right. That was a hundred years ago. No matter how impressive Madara Uchiha was, he could only