"The enemy's first step in carrying out their plan to seize the tailed beasts is also the most important one. It is an issue none of the great shinobi villages can afford to ignore."
"From Akatsuki's decisive invasion of Kirigakure and simultaneous capture of the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, everyone here should be able to make a basic judgment about their combat strength… This organization is made up entirely of extremely powerful shinobi. Their strength is beyond question. In a certain sense, it would not be an exaggeration to say they can rival a great shinobi village."
Tsunade's explanation brought an even heavier silence.
As for the organization known as Akatsuki, while the other villages did not understand them in as much detail as Konoha did, just as Tsunade had said, the previous incident in Kirigakure alone was enough to show that they possessed considerable strength.
However… rival a great shinobi village? Everyone present felt that statement was far too exaggerated.
Frogs at the bottom of a well? Calling them that would be too harsh, but some things truly lay outside the range their imaginations could reach. After all, none of them had ever witnessed Nagato's massive Shinra Tensei, nor could they imagine that a great shinobi village, supposedly an iron fortress, could in fact be destroyed by one person with a single move.
In truth, even Hagoromo could not do something like that. His absolute limit was carving out a canal. No matter how many times the Railgun was magnified, its essence remained a technique of powerful linear destruction. It was different from an area-of-effect destructive technique like Shinra Tensei… Simply put, it was the difference between an armor-piercing shell and an explosive shell.
Although Nagato was dead now, the Rinnegan still existed, and so did Shinra Tensei.
Although Hagoromo's actions had caused Akatsuki to face a shortage of manpower at this point, in reality, it could not be said that they lacked the ability to fight head-on.
The reason they did not launch frontal assaults against the great shinobi villages was not because Akatsuki could not do so, but because there was no need. In terms of their objective, they only wanted to obtain the tailed beasts as efficiently and with as few losses as possible. They were not trying to declare war on all the great shinobi villages at this stage. That was the next step of their plan. The collapse of the shinobi world was something to discuss only after the Ten-Tails was revived.
"It can even be said that no single village can resist their invasion, because compared to the villages, Akatsuki operates from the shadows."
This was not a question of strength, but one of initiative, passivity, and offensive and defensive strategy. It was impossible to "guard against thieves for a thousand days." Akatsuki was like a venomous snake hidden in the dark, constantly flicking its tongue, forever prepared to launch a fatal strike against its target.
No matter how abnormally vigilant any village was, as long as Akatsuki watched it continuously, they would eventually find an opening.
As for taking the initiative to attack? If finding Akatsuki were that easy, things would not be so difficult.
"At the same time, taking the initiative is also inadvisable, because the enemy has extremely strong concealment abilities. Konoha's previous operation against Amegakure was exactly such a case. According to our investigation, that was Akatsuki's hiding place. The results confirmed that this was indeed the case. Akatsuki had long been hiding inside Amegakure, which was enforcing an isolationist policy."
"Even so, our operation achieved no obvious results. We only eliminated two of their members."
Tsunade took the blame for Hagoromo again, making it sound as though the operation against Amegakure had been the result of meticulous planning rather than someone's unilateral decision.
In order to achieve her goals in this summit, Tsunade naturally would not say that the people who died had included Akatsuki's leader. At the same time, even now she had not leaked Akatsuki's member information or their specific combat methods. She was merely saying that they were very strong… In fact, she even needed to emphasize the enemy's strength as much as possible.
"Can an act of invading another country really be explained away so simply?" the Raikage said angrily. Granted, he had been somewhat angry all along, but now that anger had intensified… Tsunade's explanation was indeed far too casual. This had been a serious act of war.
Tsunade neither confirmed nor denied the Raikage's retort. She simply refused to take the bait… Did anyone really think the Raikage would speak up for Amegakure's sake? How could that be possible? Whether Amegakure lived or died had nothing to do with Kumogakure. He was merely using the topic to make a point. At this moment, the Raikage was still trying to suppress Konoha's ability to take the lead, because the Hokage held too much of an advantage in terms of information.
"Amegakure is another matter. Leaving aside whether the intelligence is true or false, how did Konoha investigate these things in the first place?" Taking advantage of Tsunade's brief pause, the Third Tsuchikage also spoke up.
The Tsuchikage's gaze was fixed directly on Tsunade. The unchanging expression on his face made it impossible to guess what he was truly thinking… In a summit like this, whether someone followed up on a topic was extremely important. So as for the Raikage, he could continue worrying about Amegakure all he liked.
Tsunade did not answer directly. Instead, she raised her head and glanced at Hagoromo, who was standing behind her.
No matter how straightforward her personality was, she was not stupid enough to say in this setting, "Akatsuki's leader is from Konoha's Uchiha clan."
"The Nine-Tails incident from more than ten years ago was, in truth, Akatsuki's first activity of this kind. Ever since then, Konoha, having noticed something was wrong, began specifically collecting intelligence on this organization."
Seeing Tsunade look his way, Hagoromo answered the question in her place. In any case, words like these came to him as soon as he opened his mouth. And in his explanation, the actual amount of information provided was close to zero.
But that was already good enough. Who would report the operating process of their own intelligence agency to an enemy country? Was it not acceptable for Konoha to have focused on investigating Akatsuki for over ten years and gathered this intelligence?
"Even if there truly is an enormous external threat, and some inexplicable organization is collecting the tailed beasts, guarding one's jinchūriki or tailed beast is each village's own responsibility. Losing a tailed beast only means the Kage and the village have failed. There is neither a need nor a possibility for the villages to unite over this matter," the Fourth Raikage said.
"They are not some inexplicable organization. They are Akatsuki!" Tsunade shot back at once. Was there something wrong with the Raikage's ears?
The Fourth Raikage clearly had considerable confidence in Kumogakure's strength. An invasion by some unknown organization? That was absolutely not something that could be easily accomplished. In terms of military power, they were much stronger than Kirigakure.
That confidence was good, but he had subconsciously ignored the fact that someone present had already entered and left Kumogakure completely unharmed. That same person had also done the same with Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure.
However, the Raikage's words inevitably carried a hint of accusation and contempt toward the Mizukage, so at this moment, Terumī Mei's smile became even more alluring. She subconsciously bent the index finger of her right hand and pressed the second knuckle against her lower lip… This older sister, who was one step forward from a young woman and one step back from an auntie, absolutely wanted to spit a mouthful of boiling-hot saliva onto the Raikage's old face.
"No, it is precisely the opposite. Joint action by the villages is necessary. Although we are all in a passive position regarding this matter, there is one way to eliminate every crisis at the root…"
Although she was being targeted, Tsunade still had to continue explaining.
"If the tailed beasts are the keys that open the door to disaster, then destroying the keys directly will shut the crisis outside the door forever."
"Does the Hokage mean that some kind of action should be taken against the tailed beasts?" the moderator, Mifune, asked. Was Konoha's specific purpose in convening this summit about to be exposed?
"Exactly," Tsunade confirmed decisively.
"Don't say something stu—"
She cut off the Raikage's words directly with a louder voice and an even tougher attitude. "We have already found a way to completely 'kill' the tailed beasts."
"Kill?"
Not seal them, but kill them.
"Yes. Kill them… kill them in a way that they cannot revive."
"The tailed beasts have always been disasters in this world. Now Konoha has already found a way to eradicate these disasters. Even if it were not Akatsuki, perhaps some other organization would target the tailed beasts in the future. But if the tailed beasts can be completely exterminated, then that possibility will no longer exist."
"Resolving the problem of the tailed beasts has always been something the entire world has yearned for but could never obtain. Now, if everyone works together, that wish can absolutely be realized," Tsunade said. However, she could only say "the world," not specifically "the shinobi world," because some shinobi had very subtle attitudes toward the tailed beasts.
"Do you think I, as the Raikage, would believe such a lie?"
"Sunagakure's One-Tail and Konoha's Nine-Tails no longer exist…"
Everyone present froze for a moment… Damn it, when had two tailed beasts died? Was this true? And one of them was the Nine-Tails?
"This happened recently, so perhaps it is not convincing enough. However, after Takigakure's Seven-Tails died several years ago, it never revived. Although you may find this difficult to accept, that is what we call a fact."
Tsunade spoke with absolute certainty, but facts and persuasiveness did not necessarily have any direct connection, especially when those facts violated "common sense."
After everyone reacted, the first thought that surfaced in their minds was, "How is that possible?" Even the people from Sunagakure were no exception.
So to the Raikage and the others, Tsunade's words were no different from lies, because tailed beasts were immortal.
"In other words, Konoha's fundamental purpose in proposing this summit is to completely resolve the issue of the tailed beasts?" Terumī Mei asked.
She was clearly giving Tsunade a platform to continue.
"Yes. This Five Kage Summit was convened precisely to resolve the tailed-beast problem once and for all."
"In other words, this has nothing to do with Akatsuki or any crisis. The summit is for the redistribution of tailed beasts? According to what you are saying, Sunagakure, Konoha, and Kirigakure have all lost their tailed beasts?"
"In the end, this is merely the same old trick of fighting over the power of the tailed beasts," the Tsuchikage said.
Kill the tailed beasts? No, this was simply about seizing the tailed beasts of other villages.
From his position, interpreting the issue this way was perfectly normal. Regardless of what reason had caused it, if one believed that villages like Konoha had lost their tailed beasts and were now eyeing the tailed beasts of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, then everything made sense.
Akatsuki, the Ten-Tails, the crisis of the shinobi world—all of it was just empty talk Konoha used to cover up the truth. The core of the Five Kage Summit was nothing more than another struggle between villages over the tailed beasts for the sake of their own interests.
Just as the Third Tsuchikage had said, this kind of ugly and filthy struggle for profit had happened far too many times before, so he did not believe a single word.
"No, the crisis truly does exist. If everyone…" Tsunade still tried to say something, but the atmosphere had already turned completely cold.
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