As Naruto and the others slowly headed toward the center of the Land of Iron...
In a room in the Central Building...
A muscular man with bronze skin bordering on black sat on a sofa, casually peeling an orange and letting out dissatisfied grunts now and then.
"Lord Raikage, please mind your attitude. You're representing our village's image right now."
A dark-skinned woman with delicate features and white hair looked helplessly at her Raikage and urged him.
"Yeah, I know."
A sighed, let go of the orange he had mangled while peeling, then asked.
"Where's Yugito?"
"Shopping outside, probably. She's with Samui, so there shouldn't be any problems."
Mabui held a notebook against her chest as she spoke to A.
"Tch, I wonder if Konoha will bring that bastard Kakashi along."
Speaking that name made A recall the disaster that had nearly happened years ago.
When Naruto was three, Kumogakure had sent a delegation to Konoha, ostensibly to negotiate peace, but secretly to steal Konoha's Byakugan Bloodline Limit.
Naturally, they had failed, but at least their failure had brought A one piece of information.
Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was still under control and could unleash formidable combat power.
Under those circumstances, A had chosen to settle things peacefully.
And then, as it turned out, that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't played fair either. He had sent Kakashi Hatake to Kumogakure as an undercover agent.
Seriously, he was a Kage Level fighter, and you just sent him over like that?
Sarutobi: Actually, I wanted Kakashi to go over and give you a warning, but I never expected him to just slip right in.
That was right. Kakashi had stolen a Kumogakure Shinobi's identity and successfully worked his way into a relatively high position.
During one mission, he had saved the Two-Tails Jinchūriki,