The Rules Are Set Before the Talks Begin

Noon at the border Fortress City of the Land of Iron.

There was no sunshine, only a blizzard raging everywhere. In front of the massive steel gate, Mifune, wearing a heavy winter cloak, stood with his hand on his sword hilt, followed by two hundred heavily armored warriors standing ready for battle.

The atmosphere was so cold you could feel ice crystals falling from the sky.

On the open ground to the left of the city gate, the Fourth Raikage A, stood with his arms bare, his muscles bulging, and azure Lightning Release Chakra crackling and surging across his body. Darui carried a large sword, his expression languid yet his eyes sharp, while Samui stood to the side with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the three figures emerging from the snow.

"Bang!"

A dark, heavy object was hurled onto the snow, slid for more than ten meters, and came to a precise stop at Raikage's feet.

It was a man foaming at the mouth, his body frozen purple.

Naruto walked at the front, his body glowing with a faint golden aura of Yang Release, keeping the wind and snow at bay. Sasuke rested his right hand on the Kusanagi Sword, while Kakashi Sharingan under his Forehead Protector. The three strolled leisurely into the encirclement.

"You brats from Hidden Leaf!" The Raikage took a sudden step forward, his violent Lightning Release Chakra instantly evaporating the snow on the ground. "You put on quite a show, and you actually dared to bring this mess to the Land of Iron? You think you can clear your name of manipulating the situation by dumping a few corpses here?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks, without even lifting his eyelids. He pulled out the intercepted letter tube, flicked it with his thumb, and with a "whoosh," it smashed into the Raikage's chest muscle before rolling to the ground.

"Old man, have your muscles grown into your brain?" Naruto's voice wasn't loud, but it was clearly audible in the howling snow. "The thing is on the ground, pick it up yourself, look at it yourself. Understand it before you spout nonsense, don't embarrass yourself here."

"You're courting death!" Raikage roared in fury, his Lightning Armor instantly erupting, its terrifying pressure slamming forward as if it were a tangible force.

Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly in his eyes, and the sharp cry of Chidori brewed in his palm; Kakashi pulled down his Forehead Protector with one hand, and the light of Chidori danced at his fingertips.

"Lord Raikage, please calm down."

Just at this critical moment, Samui's calm voice broke through. She quickly stepped forward, first picking up the letter tube from the ground and pulling out the parchment inside, then squatting down to examine the veins and collar of the cripple on the ground.

In just five seconds, Samui stood up, his expression becoming extremely serious.

"What's going on?" Raikage suppressed his anger and asked in a gruff voice.

Samui handed over the parchment, pointing to the watermark on the corner. "This is special anti-counterfeiting paper supplied by the Mikawa-ya, a major trading company in the Mikawaya Trading House Land of Iron. The channels in Hidden Cloud and Hidden Leaf simply can't obtain it. Also..."

She pointed to the man's neck on the ground. "This man has traces of a self-destruction Cursed Seal on his body, and the remnants of Lightning Release techniques in his meridians are very crude, belonging to the inferior techniques of the underground black market. It is definitely not the work of our Hidden Cloud's regular army, much less the methods of Hidden Leaf."

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.

The Raikage's thick eyebrows furrowed. Although he had a fiery temper, he wasn't stupid. Samui's judgment meant that someone had used channels within the Land of Iron to forge the Hokage's seal and hired black market assassins to cause trouble in the Snow Valley, attempting to pin the blame for starting the war on Hidden Leaf and the Akatsuki.

Mifune's face darkened completely. The Land of Iron had always prided itself on absolute neutrality and tight security, and now that this had happened right under its nose, it was as if it had been slapped hard across the face.

"It seems the situation is more complicated than anticipated." Mifune forward, his hand still on his sword hilt, his gaze sweeping over the members of Hidden Leaf and Hidden Cloud. "Since this involves our internal affairs, to ensure the safety of the talks, I, in my capacity as the Admiral of the Land of Iron, hereby declare—"

"From this moment forward, the Fortress City is temporarily closed. All village delegations, along with all accompanying personnel, weapons, and sealing scrolls, must remain at the camp outside the city for a thorough investigation by the warriors of the Land of Iron. No one is permitted to enter the city until the traitor is identified."

The warriors of the Land of Iron stepped forward in unison, and with a flick of their wrists, two hundred gleaming samurai swords were simultaneously drawn half an inch from their sheaths, producing a crisp, synchronized sound.

"We hope everyone will abide by the rules of neutral countries," Mifune said curtly.

The Raikage snorted coldly, displeased but not showing it. After all, this was the Land of Iron, and uncovering the truth was what he wanted.

"Wait."

A lazy yet absolutely unquestionable voice rang out.

Naruto raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers. Snowflakes swirled behind him as Karin and Konan, leading Hidden Leaf's reinforcements, quickly arrived and lined up behind Naruto.

Naruto took a step forward, crossing the safety line drawn by Mifune, and looked directly at the general of the Land of Iron.

"Fortress City, wasting time, leaving everyone's cards to freeze in the snow—that's exactly what the mastermind wants." Naruto's lips curled into a cold smile. "The talks cannot be delayed for even a second. The investigation will proceed as planned."

Mifune frowned. "Naruto Uzumaki, don't challenge the Land of Iron's bottom line. Rules are rules."

"The old rules were meant to protect against backstabbers, but the new rules only disgust people." Naruto's body suddenly erupted with a blinding golden light, and nine materialized golden Chakra Chains shot up from behind him, dancing wildly in the blizzard like nine raging dragons. The violent Yang Release pressure instantly crushed the snow and the cold wind within a hundred meters radius!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The dozens of warriors from the Land of Iron in the front row were forced to retreat repeatedly by this terrifying Chakra aura, and some even lost their grip on their swords.

A look of shock flashed in Raikage's eyes, Darui instantly held his greatsword horizontally in front of his chest, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Today, I'll set the rules."

Naruto put away the chains, his golden light receding, but the oppressive aura of a supreme ruler remained firmly etched in everyone's hearts. He pointed to Karin behind him, then to Samui.

"Put your swords away, stop with the nonsense. All the villages will exchange sealing experts and cross-examine the items. Hidden Cloud investigate us, we'll investigate Iwagakure; no one is allowed to hide anything. We, the people of Hidden Leaf, are right here at the city gate, opening our scrolls for Hidden Cloud thoroughly."

Naruto's gaze was like a knife as he swept over Mifune and the Raikage: "Anyone who dares to play dirty tricks is trying to start a Shinobi World war. Those who don't dare, take your people and get back to your village right now. This negotiation can proceed even without one of you."

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The wind and snow howled outside the city gates, but no one dared to utter a sound at that moment.

Using people from other villages to investigate one's own secrets is a drastic measure that completely tears away any pretense of decency. It's brutal, direct, and extremely effective. No mole can keep a secret from the very nose of a sealing expert from a rival village.

The Raikage stared intently at Naruto for a long time, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Good! I like your straightforward temperament!" The Raikage waved his hand. "Samui, take some men and investigate the scrolls in Hidden Leaf! Investigate thoroughly!"

Naruto turned his head. "Karin."

"Understood." Karin pushed up her glasses, a confident smile typical of the Uzumaki Clan, and strode towards the Hidden Cloud's group.

Mifune loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword. He took a deep look at the blond young man, a storm raging within him.

Subduing people by force is not a skill, but being able to break the deadlock in the most direct way and make even a troublemaker like the Raikage obediently follow his methods shows a level of skill and courage that far surpasses that of previous Hokage.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Mifune bowed slightly, making way for a passage to the inner city. "You're not here for talks. You're here to rewrite the rules of the Shinobi World."

"Just to correct you," Naruto paused slightly as he walked past Mifune, chuckling softly, "I'm here to eliminate all the trash who don't follow my rules."

The security checks were completed swiftly in an extremely strange yet remarkably efficient atmosphere. With her foundation in the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, Karin confirmed the safety of the Hidden Cloud's equipment in just ten minutes; Samui also completed the check on Hidden Leaf in the same way.

The gates opened with a roar, and the drawbridge connecting the core venue of the Land of Iron slowly descended.

Just as the Hidden Leaf delegation stepped onto the suspension bridge, Sasuke, who was walking behind Naruto, suddenly stopped without warning.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi keenly sensed something was amiss.

Sasuke didn't reply. He covered his left eye tightly, and wisps of lightning-attribute Chakra seeped out from between his fingers. In the eye he was covering, the three Tomoe were spinning wildly in an extremely twisted and frenzied manner, showing a faint tendency to merge into a more complex pattern.

It is a resonance from the depths of one's blood, and an instinctive tremor when encountering a nemesis.

Naruto stopped and, following Sasuke's trembling gaze, looked up ahead.

We traversed the swirling snow and passed over layers of steel structures, reaching the highest and darkest domed tower of the conference hall.

The storm there seemed to have been forcibly torn apart by some force.

Although he couldn't see anyone, Naruto's extremely sharp Mind's Eye of the Kagura clearly detected a Chakra.

Cold, ancient, and filled with utter contempt for this world. It was not the petty schemes of Obito hiding behind a mask, but the true ancient Asura who had crawled out of the abyss of hell after experiencing mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Looks like someone's getting impatient." Naruto's lips curled up, a flash of purple-gold light appeared in his eyes, and his blood boiled.

Inside the venue, the Death-Killing Formation was complete.

We're just waiting for them to step inside.