"You."
When Tsunade said that word, the air in the meeting room seemed to freeze. All five Kage looked at Shengu Xuan, every gaze carrying the same meaning.
Shengu Xuan still had all ten fingers resting on the tabletop. His chaos-colored eyes lingered on Tsunade's face for two seconds, then swept over the Raikage's rugged face, the Mizukage's serious expression, the Kazekage's calm gaze, and the Tsuchikage's deeply wrinkled old face in turn.
"Me?"
"Who else could it be?" The Raikage kept his voice low, but the acceptance in his tone after being crushed by the facts could not have been more genuine. "From the war until now, every time the Shinobi World survived, it was because you were there. Put the five of us together in front of Kaguya, and we wouldn't last a single round."
"A rare moment of honesty from Lord Raikage." A trace of a smile touched Mei Terumi's lips, but there was nothing joking in her eyes.
"Managing all that would be a pain." Shengu Xuan leaned back in his chair, his legs showing signs of going back up onto the table. "Meetings, approving documents, settling disputes, mediating all that crap between villages. Just thinking about it makes me sleepy."
"Routine affairs will be handled by a Joint Council made up of the five of us." Gaara spoke up. The young Kazekage had clearly given this question a great deal of thought beforehand. "You only need to be the final decision-maker. For all major matters, the council will draw up a proposal for your approval. You won't need to concern yourself with day-to-day operations."
"So I just have to show up and stamp something at the crucial moments?"
"You could put it that way." Ōnoki rose with the support of his cane, Shengu Xuan's far-too-young