The Land of Iron was a neutral land blanketed in ice and snow year-round.
The Five Kage Summit was held in a massive martial arts hall built against a mountainside on the outskirts of the capital.
The entire building was constructed from black basalt. Five-colored flags representing the Five Great Nations hung from its eaves, snapping in the howling, frigid wind.
Outside, a blizzard raged, reducing visibility to less than ten meters, as though the whole world had been wrapped in a pale burial shroud.
Inside, the atmosphere was colder than the ice and snow outside.
As the general of a neutral nation, Mifune presided over the summit. Clad in heavy armor, he sat upright at the head of the table, his expression as grim as iron.
He also represented the samurai, symbolizing a power beyond that of the shinobi.
Before him stood an enormous round table engraved with the emblems of the Five Great Nations. Its seats were now filled with people-or rather, with "Kage."
Fourth Raikage A had arrived first.
He had practically kicked the door open, his white cloak covered in grains of snow.
Corded muscles bulged across his bare upper body, his bronze skin gleaming like metal in the candlelight.
Without a word, A walked over to the seat marked with a cloud emblem, but did not sit.
Instead, he stood with his arms folded, his gaze sweeping over the other empty seats like a blade. When it finally settled on the emblem for "Water,"
his nostrils twitched, and he gave an undisguised snort.
What had happened in Kirigakure had not escaped his notice. In his view, the Mizukage should never have been invited to this Five Kage Summit.
Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki floated in.
The diminutive old man hovered half a foot above the ground, drifting