The air in the Tsuchikage's office in Iwagakure was suffocating.
Ōnoki stared hard at Kabuto Yakushi, calculation and conflict glinting in his clouded old eyes. He was an old fox who had spent his life scheming against others. Of course he knew how much poison Kabuto's words concealed.
But he had no choice.
"The Five Kage Summit..." Ōnoki gave a cold laugh and leaned forward slightly. "You want to use my name to gather the other Kage? And then what? Wipe us all out at once?"
"You underestimate the scale of my ambitions, Lord Tsuchikage."
Kabuto emerged fully from the snake, straightened his wrinkled robe, and moved with the elegance of a nobleman fresh from a banquet. "Of the current Five Kage, only you and the Raikage amount to more than oversized flies in Lord Madara's eyes. We have only one target—Naruto Uzumaki."
Kabuto walked to the window and looked out at Iwagakure's hive-like stone buildings. His voice turned low.
"Konoha is a fortress now. Naruto Uzumaki's strange sensory barrier, the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan snipers, and Sasuke Uchiha... Even Lord Madara would find a direct assault troublesome."
"So we have to draw him out."
Ōnoki picked up the thread, his brow furrowed. "But Tsunade is the Hokage. If you call a Five Kage Summit, Tsunade will attend. That Naruto brat might not."
"No. He'll come."
Kabuto turned, certainty gleaming in his violet eyes. "Tsunade may be the Hokage, but everyone knows who truly decides Konoha's course: the blond kid sitting in the First Arsenal. Tsunade can't make a decision about something as grave as the 'survival of the Shinobi World,' and she doesn't have the nerve to face Madara's threat alone. She'll bring Naruto as Konoha's strongest deterrent."
"Lure the tiger away from its mountain," Ōnoki said.
"Exactly." Kabuto