If they could achieve victory in the war, they would gain enormous benefits. War was like a large-scale reshuffling of power that occasionally shook the otherwise stable peace. The First and Second Great Ninja Wars had broken out like this, while the Third Great Ninja War had been sparked by long-standing tensions among the major ninja villages combined with Sunagakure's urgent search for the Third Kazekage.
"This is terrible. If all the tailed beasts are captured, there will be no more balance," Naruto thought to himself as he followed Tsunade into the conference room.
Two Konoha shinobi stood guard at the door, opening it only after confirming Tsunade's identity.
The room was quite spacious—it had been specially prepared for this Five Kage Summit.
Tsunade walked to the seat at the far end of the room, with Naruto and Yamato sitting on her left and right respectively.
Around noon, their first guest arrived—the Raikage.
He strode into the room accompanied by Darui, B, and several other Kumogakure shinobi.
Seeing that the Raikage had brought such a large entourage, Naruto felt somewhat surprised, but he quickly realized that Tsunade hadn't restricted how many people others could bring.
Within the Raikage's group, Naruto noticed a familiar figure.
"Yugito?" Naruto murmured under his breath, taken aback.
He saw Karui standing at the back of the group, smiling and waving at him. Darui also smiled toward Naruto.
Yugito shifted her gaze to Naruto, her expression softening.
"We'll talk later," she mouthed silently to him.
Naruto smiled and nodded, watching her follow the Raikage to their seats.
Shortly afterward, the delegation from Kirigakure arrived.
The Mizukage entered gracefully, flanked by Ao and six other Kiri shinobi, wearing a charming smile on her face and radiating confidence in every step.
Tsunade was pleased to finally have the chance to speak face-to-face with another female Kage.
From the Mizukage's gaze and stride, Tsunade could tell this woman was extremely confident in herself.
Mei Terumi remained just as she had been upon their first meeting. Whenever Naruto tried to look directly into her eyes, an uneasy sensation would stir inside him.
Most people who tried to meet her gaze were either entranced by her beauty or overwhelmed by the sheer power radiating from her eyes—either way, they couldn't look away.
Not long after, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro also arrived. Although happy to see their friend from Konoha, this clearly wasn't the time for old memories.
Tsunade greeted everyone warmly:
"I'm glad all those invited have safely arrived. I hope you've found your stay in our village pleasant. Still, I believe it's time we began discussing serious matters."
She glanced around the room before adding, "While I haven't placed specific limits on security numbers, I'd appreciate it if each of you kept only two bodyguards inside this room. The rest can wait outside. We will lock the door once everyone is inside. This will be a strictly confidential discussion."
The Raikage briefly furrowed his brow before giving the order.
"Darui stays, and Yugito stays too. Some parts of this meeting are relevant to her." He gestured toward the door, and the rest of his subordinates filed out.
Mei Terumi spoke calmly.
"Ao and Kamemasa." Her team members also headed for the door. Ao stayed at her side, while the other man took position on her other flank.
Kamemasa was a man dressed in standard Kiri attire. He had long black hair and a beard, with a scar over his left eye. His attire was similar to Ao's, but Kamemasa also wore an armored vest.
Gaara had only brought two people with him, so he didn't say anything, merely speaking up after the door shut again.
"Well then, first of all, I'm pleased to meet another jinchuriki, Miss Yugito." He said, offering a small smile.
"The feeling is mutual, Lord Kazekage." Yugito replied with a slight bow.
"All right, let's get down to business," the Raikage stated, drawing everyone's attention. "I think it's high time we took some action against Akatsuki, this terrorist organization. Naruto Uzumaki's intervention in Kumogakure prevented Yugito from being captured—a dangerous warning sign. They've infiltrated our village to reach Yugito, and we still don't know how they managed it."
Tsunade nodded with a frown.
"Yes, even before I became Hokage, they did something similar in our village. But we assumed that might have been because of former members like Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru—both ex-Konoha ninja. There's also one more person, but we can reveal that part later... That might've been how they got inside our village. But I can't explain how your village was infiltrated."
Gaara steepled his fingers, deep in thought.
"Red Sand no Sasori possessed his own espionage network and hypnotized undercover agents... We didn't discover those agents until after his death. Those operatives stayed hidden, which makes it plausible that he had sleeper agents in almost every ninja village, passing intel back to Akatsuki."
The idea of Akatsuki spies hiding among his own ninja enraged the Raikage, but another question crossed his mind:
"A gang of criminals actually managing to defeat and capture jinchuriki under your very noses? Unbelievable! Just who exactly are these people?"
Tsunade pointed at Naruto.
"Naruto, would you please handle this? You've fought most of them, so your opinion matters the most."
At the Hokage's command, Naruto scratched his nose and prepared to speak.
"I've fought most of them... except for one guy I barely know anything about—I don't even know his name or face." He started ticking names off on his fingers. "You already mentioned Sasori. I fought his partner, Deidara, and took him down. I battled Kakuzu and took him down too. I also fought Hidan, and right now we still have his head—we're still interrogating him."
"
At this point, the Raikage chuckled. Everyone in the room except those from Konoha looked at Naruto with confusion.
"To be honest..." Naruto said in a monotone, "he's currently being interrogated. He only curses others, and we haven't been able to extract any information through ninjutsu. Aside from him, there's also Kisame, who's already dead. I've defeated Itachi Uchiha as well… Then there's their leader and his partner."
Mei Terumi carefully listened to the lineup of the Akatsuki organization before asking,
"These ninja are among the most notorious figures in history… Who exactly is leading such a group?"
"Someone who can clearly defeat Hanzo… And at the same time overpower both Jiraiya and Naruto," Tsunade said solemnly.
This statement left everyone in the room stunned into silence.
Yugito and Temari knew that Naruto had failed since a missing-nin alert was issued not long after the failed infiltration into Amegakure, but they didn't know the full details of what happened.
The thought of someone defeating both Naruto and Jiraiya was deeply unsettling, given that Naruto himself was already immensely powerful, while Jiraiya was an even more legendary figure.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, remembering the painful memory of that devastating defeat:
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