Darui sat beside him and said in a low voice:
"It wasn't an invitation."
"It was a summons."
The Raikage glanced at him.
Darui kept his voice low.
"The Uchiha are too powerful. They can easily destroy a country or render any hidden village incapable of fighting in a short time."
"Once someone receives an invitation, refusing to attend amounts to a public show of disrespect."
"Several nobles in the Land of Lightning originally had no intention of attending."
The Raikage's expression darkened.
"Where did they go?"
"They came in the end."
Darui answered.
"On the second night after the invitations arrived, people from the Uchiha Shrine paid them a personal visit."
"There was no argument or fighting."
"They simply subdued every guard in those estates, then told them to attend the Seireitei Conference on time without fail."
The Raikage clenched his hand.
"They didn't hurt anyone?"
"No."
Darui paused.
"But one of those nobles had over a hundred guards at his estate."
"The Uchiha sent only three people."
The Raikage said nothing more.
Three people had subdued a hundred guards without leaving a scratch on them. That alone spoke volumes about the gulf between the two sides.
Darui continued:
"Similar things happened in other countries."
"Some daimyo didn't want to come, some village leaders tried to make excuses, and a few nobles planned to send doubles in their place."
"Afterward, they all received a silent reminder."
"Everyone sitting here now knows exactly why they had to attend."
The Raikage looked around the hall.
The daimyo and nobles maintained calm expressions, but their fingers tapped lightly against the tables.
Several Kage-level village leaders wore stern expressions, yet sat more rigidly than usual. They had all witnessed Uchiha Ren's power.
None of them wanted to be the first to defy him