"You're early, aren't you, little brats." Ōnoki arrived late, accompanied by Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi.
"Well, after all, we're not like the Earth Shadow, old and with failing legs." Yagura had been smiling, but the Earth Shadow's "little brats" comment broke his composure, and he retorted without thinking.
Perhaps it was because of his height, but he hated being called small, which was completely different from some old women who used Ninjutsu to pretend to be young.
Actually, Ōnoki didn't want to arrive so late, but when he was almost at the base, he floated down from Akatsuchi's back, insisting on walking the rest of the way himself.
"As the Earth Shadow, I can't let people think I'm too old to walk," Ōnoki had said, and then he strained his back in the blizzard.
Ōnoki endured the back pain and the not-at-all-cute sarcasm of his granddaughter, shuffling step by step into the base, and his mood was naturally not good.
So, as soon as he entered, he wanted to put on the airs of a senior, and in reality, everyone present was indeed a little brat to him.
He didn't expect this Mizukage, whom he had never met, to give him no face at all.
Ōnoki, of course, retorted without hesitation: "The Five Kage have really changed quite a bit, especially Kirigakure, choosing such an impolite fellow?"
Yagura seemed to be slightly taller than Ōnoki, barely looking down at him: "If we're talking about politeness, the younger generation of Iwagakure should have let you old folks retire sooner. Could it be that the entire Iwagakure can't find anyone capable of being the Earth Shadow? That's truly a pity."
"Heh, sharp-tongued brat." With Ōnoki's composure, he wouldn't get angry over such a thing, but he represented the entire Iwagakure, and he couldn't lose in terms of momentum.
The two of them argued lively, and Naruto enjoyed watching the show, not even in the mood to observe the Leg Shadow's legs.
Just as Minato was about to mediate, Mifune's appearance brought the Mouth Cannon battle to a temporary halt, and Ōnoki leisurely sat down in his seat.
Mifune walked to the host's position, followed by two fully armed Samurai. Judging from their Chakra, Naruto felt that if a fight broke out, he could let them use both hands and feet.
Shibuki followed Mifune and sat in the audience seat, and Fu stood quietly behind Shibuki, a rare sight.
Mifune said in a loud voice, "Now that everyone has arrived, let's prepare to begin. Please place the Kage's hats in front."
The Kage took off their hats and placed them on the table in front. Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Lightning, the main colors of the hats were Blue, Green, Red, Brown, and Yellow, respectively.
So, Gaara had been wearing a Green hat all along. I wonder what the First Kazekage was thinking when he chose the color. Maybe people in the desert longed for an oasis?
The guards, seeing their Kage's actions, jumped to the second floor. Fu and Kagen Yoro also went up to the second floor.
The Hidden Waterfall Village leader's reason for attending the meeting was special, so no one cared that he brought three people in, or maybe they just didn't care, because Kagen and Yoro's strength was really... hard to describe.
As the host and witness, Mifune continued, "In response to the Earth Shadow's call, the Five Kage have gathered here today. I am the host, Mifune, and this is Shibuki, the leader of the Hidden Waterfall Village, who has come to listen."
The Five Kage nodded to Shibuki as a sign of respect.
Shibuki himself didn't care about these things. Although he also had a dream of leading his village to catch up with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, he knew in his heart that the village didn't yet have enough strength to be taken seriously by the Five Great Nations. He only hoped that Fu's safety could be guaranteed.
"Then, the Five Kage Summit officially begins!" After Mifune announced this, he sat up straight, leaving the time to the Kage.
"Since I initiated the Five Kage Summit, I'll speak first."
Ōnoki spoke first, "As I said in the letters I sent to everyone, the purpose of this summit is to discuss how to deal with the Akatsuki organization.
I believe your intelligence departments should have noticed by now that Iwagakure's Four Tails and Five Tails Jinchuriki have been missing for more than a month. It can basically be confirmed that Akatsuki did it. So, may I ask how your village's Jinchuriki are doing now?"
The Raikage slammed his hand on the table and said loudly, "Stop beating around the bush! I clearly found out that the members of that Akatsuki organization are made up of rogue ninja from your villages! How am I supposed to trust you now? What exactly are you villages trying to do!"
Thanks to his recent habit of controlling his strength when slamming his own table, this conference table survived, which was gratifying.
Gaara said, "I am a Jinchuriki myself. Indeed, Sunagakure Village's rogue ninja Sasori of the Red Sand joined the Akatsuki organization and even attacked Sunagakure Village with a companion. However, Sasori is dead, and the ninja who escaped seems to be a rogue ninja from Iwagakure Village."
The upstairs Temari and Kankuro looked at Gaara worriedly. Facing those old foxes, was it really okay to reveal his bottom line so directly?
Faced with the gazes of others, Ōnoki remained calm: "That guy is called Deidara, he used to be my disciple, a very troublesome guy. I also want to catch him. I guess the situation in other villages is probably similar.
This is precisely the meaning of our Five Kage Summit today, to capture those rogue ninja and eradicate the Akatsuki organization. Our goals are the same, Raikage, this shouldn't be a reason for you to suspect us."
The Raikage was even more angry: "You old bastard still has the nerve to say such things! I found out that you once used Akatsuki!
And Mizukage, your Kirigakure Village has always been known for its mystery, but when Kirigakure started to communicate with Konoha, it was exactly when the Akatsuki organization's activities gradually became more frequent! Are these things all coincidences?"
Yagura wasn't in a hurry to speak. Being controlled was too damaging to the village's reputation. He had to consider whether to say it and how to say it.
Gaara frowned, although he didn't have eyebrows: "Earth Shadow, what's the matter with using the Akatsuki organization?"
Ōnoki explained: "The reasoning is very simple. In recent years, the entire Shinobi World has tended to be stable. Contrary to the military expansion during the war, probably every village will face the problem of budget cuts. Ordinary tasks are limited after all, so the surplus ninja will become a heavy burden for the country.
But it won't work if there isn't enough combat power. At this time, Akatsuki, as a mercenary group, becomes a very good tool.
Hiring them to complete war missions requires a very small price compared to spending time and money to train ninja yourself, so how to choose is clear at a glance."
Everyone fell into contemplation, especially Gaara. Sunagakure Village was too familiar with the matter of military spending cuts.
The Land of Wind Daimyo didn't know what he was thinking, always believing that allocating funds to Sunagakure Village was not as good as directly hiring Konoha's ninja to complete tasks.
This made Sunagakure forced to become self-reliant. The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, in addition to gold panning, even wanted to do a big job for funding, but ended up losing himself in the process.
...
?Recommendation ticket??Monthly ticket?
(Brothers and sisters, is there any side story you want to see? I'm asking for some opinions, and I can consider writing it when I have time)
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 444+ fanfic and original translations or request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the RandomTranslator community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------