On the road from Konoha to the Land of Iron, Hagoromo's behavior could not exactly be called scatterbrained. It could only be said that he was the same as ever.
No matter what might happen afterward, he always carried a kind of "as long as I'm fed, the whole family won't starve" attitude. On this point, he formed a sharp contrast with Tsunade and Jiraiya, who worried about the nation and its people.
Compared to those two, Hagoromo even seemed a little "cheerful."
As they approached the Land of Iron, the heaviness weighing on Tsunade and Jiraiya became increasingly obvious. Their hidden worries were probably based on their pessimism toward reality and toward the meeting that was about to begin. This was especially true for Tsunade. Whether she admitted it or not, she felt a heavy pressure, because she was already the Fifth Hokage. Her every word and action would determine not only her own safety, but also the fate of Konoha and even the entire Land of Fire.
Three days later, the three left the borders of the Land of Fire and entered the Land of Iron. However, they would not head directly to the Five Kage Summit venue next. Instead, they would make a brief stop at a certain location.
Before the big meeting, they still had a small meeting to hold. According to the secret communications between Kirigakure and Konoha, before the Five Kage Summit, the Hokage and Mizukage still had a private meeting to conduct. Both sides aimed to seek common ground from different positions. If the Hokage and Mizukage could reach a rough consensus, then during the upcoming summit, Kirigakure and Konoha might very well advance and retreat together.
"Are the coordinates here? There's no mistake, right?" Tsunade stopped, looked up at the sky, then compared it with the surrounding terrain before asking Jiraiya.
Because of the altitude and climate, the Land of Iron was already quite cold at this time. Snow had even begun to drift down from the sky. It was precisely because the surrounding scenery had been covered in a layer of white, reducing its recognizability, that Tsunade asked this question.
The meeting between the Hokage and Mizukage was itself a sneaky affair. In theory, this kind of advance meeting was a serious violation of the rules. If exposed, it might even lead to the cancellation of the Five Kage Summit.
Therefore, they had to meet in secret, and the location had also been chosen in a deserted place.
"This is the place. There are no issues with either the time or the location," Jiraiya replied. He could confirm it. After all, in certain matters, he was far more professional than Tsunade.
In terms of safety, there were no hidden dangers in this private meeting… at least, none for Konoha's side. Leaving aside Tsunade's escort force, this was still the country of samurai. For all they knew, there might even be some terrifying samurai with silver warrior souls here. In the face of this self-contained power system, it was impossible for shinobi to set up a large-scale ambush in this country.
As for the fact that the Mizukage dared to come near Hagoromo, that could only be called courage. A village's Kage was, after all, a heroine among women.
"They're here."
After waiting for about half an hour, Hagoromo suddenly spoke.
The Mizukage's party was equally punctual. For two sides of shinobi who did not trust each other, fulfilling an agreement was the most basic of basics. Otherwise, what awaited the Mizukage would definitely be the four words: "latecomers not entertained."
Hagoromo was standing at the very front at this moment, just in time to see Terumī Mei's party of three arrive.
The people from Kirigakure were all familiar faces. Needless to say, there was Terumī Mei. The other two were also her long-time subordinates, and both were shinobi who had crossed paths with Hagoromo before:
Ao and Momochi Zabuza.
"White Yaksha. So it really is you. Let me ask first: when is Konoha planning to return our Kirigakure ninja swords?" Terumī Mei stopped after walking to a certain distance. She was not surprised that Hagoromo was here. If she were the Hokage, she would definitely keep this kind of powerful combat force by her side too.
When she spoke, it sounded like old friends meeting. In reality, however, the content of her words was not especially polite.
Her temporary stop seemed to be because she was waiting for Ao's reconnaissance results. Only after the latter nodded did Terumī Mei continue forward… It seemed that courage was courage, and caution was caution.
But as for her question… Setting aside the fact that the ninja swords were Hagoromo's personal collection, and that he had already given them away, there was no way they could allow her to seize the verbal initiative right from the start.
"That matter? When you return the Byakugan to Konoha, we'll return a dozen ninja swords to you," Hagoromo replied tit for tat, without even considering where Konoha would get that many ninja swords of that kind.
The question was, would the Mizukage return the Byakugan to Konoha?
Only if she were stupid.
A single Byakugan was far more valuable than two ninja swords. In a certain sense, the former was a strategic weapon, while the latter were merely tactical weapons.
Terumī Mei smiled and no longer brought up the matter.
From this distance, Hagoromo could even clearly see the textured lines on her lips. Just standing there, this person gave off a special feeling…
Was there any point in being seductive? Hagoromo had seen her naked before… Ahem. For the sake of harmony, the correct way to put it was that he had probably only seen her half-naked…
However, considering the Release techniques Terumī Mei used, well, this was no longer on the low-end level of "flaming red lips." At the very least, it had to be a crocodile's kiss.
No matter what kind of Release technique a shinobi used, they all liked spitting something out. But the Lava Release and Boil Release Terumī Mei spat out were far too special. No matter how much of a mature beauty she was, she was completely on the rhythm of being forever alone.
"How much does Konoha truly know about the organization called Akatsuki?"
No longer mentioning the ninja swords, the Mizukage changed the question. Terumī Mei switched topics very abruptly, but Hagoromo responded quite naturally.
"Probably far more than Kirigakure knows."
Regardless of how much Konoha understood about Akatsuki, there seemed to be no need to inform Kirigakure at this moment… It was not that Konoha was "keeping a treasure to itself," nor that the matter of Akatsuki needed to be kept completely secret. On the contrary, at the Five Kage Summit shortly afterward, part of the intelligence regarding Akatsuki would definitely be revealed by Konoha. In that case, was there any need to explain it to Kirigakure in advance?
However, judging from Terumī Mei's attitude, Hagoromo's previous guess had been correct… Kirigakure had obtained part of Akatsuki's intelligence through some channel.
In that case, the possibility of them reaching a consensus with Konoha was even higher. The reason was very simple. Intelligence painstakingly obtained by oneself was far more credible than something merely told to them by Konoha. As long as Kirigakure fully recognized Akatsuki's danger, there was a very high chance they would advance and retreat together with Konoha.
In the space of those two brief exchanges, Hagoromo had revealed nothing. At this moment, Terumī Mei had already walked closer, and she no longer paid attention to Hagoromo.
Passing directly by Hagoromo's side, Terumī Mei walked toward Tsunade behind him. From the standpoint of equal status, she needed to speak with the Hokage, not with Hagoromo.
…
At the same time, as the Five Kage Summit was about to begin, somewhere in the Land of Rice Fields.
"Found it. I didn't expect there would be this kind of unexpected gain…" A "black and white" figure wrapped in two aloe-like leaves muttered to himself while emerging from some out-of-the-way corner.
He was in "secret observation" mode.
The voice speaking belonged to White Zetsu.
Originally, Zetsu had come to this place to investigate the situation with Deidara and Sasori. Although the two were basically confirmed to have flopped, Akatsuki still held on to a one-in-ten-thousand hope: what if those two had not died completely?
However, after Zetsu saw that huge crater, he knew their side's hope had fallen through.
But what was lost in the east was gained from the mulberry. After suffering countless streaks of bad luck, Zetsu finally got lucky once.
Although Sasori and Deidara were already finished, during his reconnaissance in the Land of Rice Fields, Zetsu made an unexpected discovery—he had found Orochimaru's lair.
In that sense, Uncle Snake absolutely had reason to hate Hagoromo. If you were going to stir up trouble, then stir up trouble. But somehow, without anyone noticing, Hagoromo had dragged him into it again.
"Orochimaru… After searching for so long, we've finally found him."
"But as of today, the situation is different. The current Orochimaru is more valuable alive than dead… Perhaps we should invite this person who betrayed the organization back as a guest," Black Zetsu said in a low voice.
"But the other party doesn't look like someone easy to talk to," White Zetsu sang a different tune.
"It doesn't matter. After all, if one wants to invite someone, there are many different methods."
This fellow looked as if victory was already in his grasp, but he had clearly oversimplified the problem.
So what if they had discovered the lair?
Was Uncle Snake someone you could catch just because you wanted to?
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