Under Konoha's threats and inducements, both Hashirama's proposal to make the Five Kage Summit a regular event and Shingetsu's proposal for a Shinobi Alliance passed unanimously. The discussion then shifted to defining the details of the summit and alliance, starting with exactly when the summits would be held.
Seeing how agreeable all four Kage were, Hashirama was moved to tears and wished he could hold a Five Kage Summit every day. Madara was equally happy to have them visit Konoha daily, so he could wipe them all out in one go, but the four Kage clearly could not stomach that.
If they had any say in it, they sincerely hoped the next Five Kage Summit would take place a hundred years later.
After considerable debate, relentless pestering from Hashirama Senju, and intimidation from Madara Uchiha, they finally decided to hold the Five Kage Summit once every six months.
The second motion passed at the meeting was Tobirama's proposal to establish trade routes between the Five Great Nations.
Shinobi were not merchants. Truthfully, the four Kage had no interest whatsoever in Tobirama's talk of trading goods to meet one another's needs. What they really coveted was Konoha's grain.
"Rest assured, everyone. Konoha will never mistreat its allies. We'll sell you our village's grain at very favorable prices!"
Hashirama thumped his chest and solemnly promised to sell the village's grain cheaply to the other Four Villages. Tobirama's eyelid twitched again, but he said nothing. Yet that very casual attitude left the other four Kage seething with envy.
The chaos of the Warring States era had only recently ended, and the Shinobi World was still feeling its way toward a new order. Grain was naturally the foundation of every shinobi village's survival and its ability to contest territory. Yet aside from filthy-rich Konoha