Soon, unhurried footsteps rang out, and the man who had kept the most powerful people in the entire Shinobi World waiting for a full hour finally appeared.
Dressed in a loose, comfortable white robe, Gekkō Raito slowly walked onto the dais with a languid air, giving Sasuke a slight nod as he passed.
"Long time no see, Sasuke!"
Sasuke also raised his head, looking at Raito respectfully. "Lord Mizukage!"
Raito smiled faintly, then sat down quite naturally in the chair that symbolized supreme power.
He turned his head and surveyed everyone, showing no intention of exchanging pleasantries with anyone. His gaze finally settled directly on Gaara and Darui.
"Kazekage, Raikage, you finally decided to come out of seclusion. Now that you're here, the Shadow Palace can finally be said to have gathered every Kage in the Shinobi World."
Raito wore a faint smile, his tone calm.
Yet neither Gaara nor Darui dared relax their guard in the slightest. Every muscle in their bodies was tense, as though they faced a formidable enemy.
Their nervous appearance was even more pathetic than that of the leaders of small shinobi villages who had never seen much of the world.
That overly cautious demeanor also earned them the silent contempt of many of the other villages' Kage present.
Hmph!
These were the legendary Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages? This was all they amounted to?
It seemed Sunagakure and Kumogakure really had declined into spineless weaklings. Even if the man before them was universally acknowledged as the strongest in the Shinobi World, surely they didn't need to cower like this!
They looked like two frightened quails.
Raito was clearly just sitting there doing nothing.
Yet while Raito might truly have appeared to be doing nothing to the others, in the perception of those