Konoha.
Not long after the first attempt at forming an alliance had ended on bad terms.
The meeting convened once again.
Through Minato's mediation and persuasion.
The Shinobi Villages finally succeeded in signing an alliance agreement.
Inside the conference room.
Everyone watched footage of Pero's battles on the projection screen. (The tech tree in Hokage World was far too strange.)
Onscreen, Pero froze all the Rain Ninja with a single blast of Freeze Breath, then blurred into motion, a woman appearing in his arms.
"Is this a kekkei genkai? No, something this powerful might be a kekkei tōta. This Pero is terrifyingly strong."
The veteran Tsuchikage raised his cup, took a sip, and paused.
Then he continued, "A seal-less ninjutsu that releases Fire Release from his eyes, possibly even more powerful than Madara Uchiha's Majestic Destroyer Flame back then. So many types of nature transformation."
"His strength is beyond what any of us here can contend with."
With that, the Tsuchikage closed his eyes and fell silent.
The footage changed, showing Pero descending from the sky and using Heat Vision to sweep away Hanzō's remaining followers.
Minato glanced at the screen. "This footage comes from memories provided by Rain Ninja who escaped the scene at the time, converted into images on the screen through Konoha's secret techniques."
"Unifying Amegakure through brutal methods. Truly cruel. So this is the Akatsuki," Karatachi Yagura remarked as he watched the brutal scenes onscreen.
"His speed is absurd, too. It's already on par with my Flying Thunder God," Minato said.
Hearing this, the Raikage glanced at Minato. "For his body to withstand movement at such high speeds, his muscle and bone density must be at an extraordinary level, too."
"In that case, his food intake must be enormous as well."
"Not necessarily." Minato shook his head. After sitting silently for a while, he turned and beckoned to the guard behind him, giving him a few instructions in a low voice.
The guard nodded in understanding, then took his leave of Minato and left the office.
The other four Kage exchanged glances, unsure what Minato was doing.
A while later, the guard returned with a document and handed it to Minato.
"Intelligence reports state that three years ago, Pero of the Akatsuki disappeared after killing some of Konoha's Anbu." Minato picked up the document and gestured toward the guard beside the Tsuchikage. The guard caught on, took the intelligence, and began passing it around.
"There was no news of him for three years. Pero vanished without a trace."
"Now he's appeared again with an exceptionally powerful body. There is reason to suspect that he doesn't need to consume food, and may have a sage body, like the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."
"He's far too powerful." Karatachi Yagura folded his arms. "If we really face him, even if we win, our losses will be devastating. None of us can bear those consequences."
Meanwhile.
Kumogakure.
Only Black Zetsu's head poked out, with one hand raised above his brow to shield his eyes from the sun as he searched for something.
Suddenly, he spotted a little girl with beige-brown hair sitting on the ground, muttering to herself.
"Found her, the Two-Tails' jinchūriki!"
Black Zetsu quietly approached the little girl. Only after drawing close could he finally make out what she was saying.
In the Shinobi World, jinchūriki were important fighting assets for Shinobi Villages, while perfect jinchuriki who could communicate with their tailed beasts were destined to become powerful figures capable of holding sway over a region.
Yet the little girl before him, around two years old, could already communicate with the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
"Matatabi, Matatabi, come out and play with Yugito Nii." The little girl patted her belly, muttering nonstop.
"I'm so bored. The grown-ups won't play with me."
Behind her, Black Zetsu rolled his eyes around, gave a wicked little grin, and sank underground.
The girl sat on the ground, rocking back and forth in boredom and humming an unfamiliar tune.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, she made a puzzled sound, seemingly drawn to something.
"What's that?"
In the direction of her gaze, a clump of grass kept spitting out pebbles.
She stood up curiously and slowly walked toward the grass.
Inside her belly, Matatabi wondered what her jinchūriki was doing, then suddenly felt something was wrong.
"Yugito Nii, what are you doing?"
Hearing the voice suddenly ring out in her head, Yugito Nii happily flashed her pearly teeth.
"Matatabi, you're talking to me again! Look, this grass is spitting out stones!"
With every step Yugito Nii took, Matatabi's unease grew.
The instant Yugito Nii parted the grass.
"No! Yugito Nii, get away!"
A black figure stood in the grass, the Sharingan in his eye sockets spinning continuously.
Yugito Nii and Matatabi inside her suddenly stopped moving, standing dazed on the spot.
The eyes of both girl and beast gradually, then suddenly, took on the appearance of the Sharingan.
"Hahaha! The Uchiha's eyes really are the tailed beasts' natural enemy!"
Black Zetsu pulled himself out of the ground and waved his hands in front of Yugito Nii. Seeing no response, he put his hands on his hips and laughed.
"Yugito Nii, it's time to eat!"
"Ah!! Who are you?!"
A dark-skinned household servant came over to call Yugito Nii to eat.
As soon as she approached, she spotted a strange figure standing beside Yugito Nii. She shouted at Black Zetsu, also hoping her cries would draw people from the village to help.
"Get away from Yugito Nii!" With a flick of her hands, two kunai gleaming with cold light appeared, and she thrust them at Black Zetsu.
Hearing her, Black Zetsu turned around, calmly sidestepped the swinging kunai, and spun into a kick.
He sent the servant flying several meters.
"Nothing special. Not even as fast as Minato."
In an instant, a sense of mortal danger came from behind him.
Alarm bells blared in Black Zetsu's mind. The world seemed to move in slow motion as countless responses flashed through his head, but there was no time left.
Whoosh!
The next second, a fist-sized purplish-black ball struck Black Zetsu, leaving his abdomen looking as though a huge chunk had been bitten out.
Cold sweat poured off Black Zetsu. He looked in the direction the black ball had come from and saw a dark-skinned young man standing with his hands making rock gestures, seemingly chanting something.
Another jinchūriki!
The young man drew closer and closer, a strange cadence carrying from his mouth in the distance.
"Yo~ A told me to practice my Tailed Beast Bomb, blast the enemy from afar, yo."
Black Zetsu gritted his teeth. Two perfect jinchuriki in Kumogakure? I won't be taking this jinchūriki away today.
The black figure flashed, leaving behind half a torn piece of an Akatsuki cloak as he sank into the ground and fled.
Approaching, Bee picked up the scrap of clothing and pondered for a while.
Konoha.
A Cloud Ninja with an anxious expression requested entry outside the conference room.
After entering, he hurried to the Raikage's side, leaned down, and reported something into his ear.
The atmosphere suddenly became extremely tense.
Everyone felt so oppressed they could barely breathe.
Electricity gradually appeared around the Raikage, until lightning enveloped his entire body with a thunderous rumble.
He slammed the table and roared.
"Akatsuki!!"
Before you continue