As various pieces of intelligence circulated through the Hidden Leaf Village, each one often signified the life of a shinobi or a group of them.
Undoubtedly, after noticing something amiss, the five great shinobi villages began internal purges to root out traitors.
The Hidden Leaf, Hidden Sand, Hidden Mist, and Hidden Cloud—villages with jinchūriki—placed particular emphasis on these purges, with the Hidden Leaf, Hidden Sand, and Hidden Mist being the most urgent.
Firstly, the Hidden Cloud's jinchūriki were all adults with formidable strength. Secondly, thanks to the leadership of the Third and Fourth Raikage, the Hidden Cloud Village enjoyed political stability and unity, leaving little room for shinobi defections or the growth of traitors.
Compared to the Hidden Cloud, the other three villages were far more pressed.
The Hidden Sand, in particular, had a young jinchūriki in Gaara, the One-Tail's host, and a high-ranking defector like Sasori. There was no question of whether traitors existed—only how many.
The Hidden Mist, meanwhile, had been conducting internal purges for some time.
The Fourth Mizukage had believed most traitors in the village had been dealt with, assuming any remaining ones were not in critical positions.
However, the recent attack on the Six-Tails jinchūriki, Utakata, was a harsh wake-up call, revealing not only the presence of traitors but also their high status.
Thus, the Hidden Sand used Gaara's whereabouts as bait, setting several traps. The Hidden Mist, meanwhile, launched a thorough investigation into the attack on Utakata.
As expected, the Hidden Sand quickly caught two traitors, one of whom was a jōnin. Through interrogation, they learned these traitors were spies left by Sasori before his defection, and there were more accomplices in the village, though their identities remained unknown to the captured.
On the Hidden Mist's side, after meticulous investigation, they locked onto a suspect. However, due to the individual's high status, the investigation was paused pending further instructions from the Fourth Mizukage.
…
Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage Building.
The five Kage gathered once more, sharing updates on their respective purges.
The Fourth Raikage spoke first, "How's the cleanup of your traitors going?"
The Fourth Kazekage, his face grim, replied, "We've caught two traitors who took the bait, and we're still tracking down the rest!"
Next, the Fourth Mizukage spoke, "Our investigation in the Hidden Mist is ongoing, and it's not convenient to disclose details yet."
The Third Tsuchikage snorted lightly, "Hmph, sounds like the traitor holds a high position!"
The Fourth Mizukage shook his head, letting out a soft sigh.
Decades of continuous turmoil had drained the Hidden Mist's vitality. Their Bloodline Limit clans were nearly extinct, and they couldn't even muster the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Faced with the Tsuchikage's taunt, the Mizukage could only swallow his pride.
At this moment, the gazes of the Kage turned to the Third Hokage.
The Third Hokage said, "We in the Hidden Leaf are still investigating."
The Fourth Raikage's voice boomed, "So you haven't even found a suspect yet?"
The Third Tsuchikage added, "With so many defectors from the Hidden Leaf, it must be tough to investigate!"
The Third Hokage responded sharply, "No need for you to worry, Lord Tsuchikage!"
After a brief exchange of verbal sparring, the five Kage quieted down, and the meeting room fell silent.
Moments later, the Fourth Kazekage broke the silence. "Before defecting, Sasori the Red Sand used his position to plant many spies in our Hidden Sand. I can't guarantee we'll catch all of them in a short time, so I'd like Gaara to come to the Hidden Leaf!"
The other Kage turned their gazes back to the Third Hokage.
Before he could respond, the Fourth Kazekage continued, "With the Hidden Sand's current strength, it's hard to fend off the Akatsuki alone. Rather than letting them take the One-Tail, it's better to gather the jinchūriki in the Hidden Leaf. The Seven-Tails and Nine-Tails jinchūriki are already here, so we can concentrate our forces to protect them."
The Third Hokage weighed the proposal.
The Kazekage's idea was simple: instead of letting the jinchūriki remain scattered and vulnerable to the Akatsuki's divide-and-conquer tactics, they should be gathered together, with the five great shinobi villages combining their strength for defense.
While still a passive strategy, it would at least prevent the Akatsuki from leading them by the nose.
The Fourth Mizukage nodded slightly. "Not a bad idea. The One-Tail jinchūriki is still a child, and leaving him alone in the Hidden Sand is too dangerous."
The Third Tsuchikage said seriously, "Indeed. If we concentrate the jinchūriki in the Hidden Leaf, the other villages will no longer be the Akatsuki's targets, reducing our defensive pressure."
Though it didn't rule out the possibility of the Akatsuki attacking other villages to divert the five great villages' forces, this approach would maximize their ability to counter the Akatsuki's threat to the jinchūriki.
The Third Hokage knew this was the best strategy for the five great shinobi villages at the moment, but concentrating the jinchūriki in the Hidden Leaf effectively designated it as the battlefield for the next great conflict.
The next war would undoubtedly be earth-shattering, so the Third Hokage hesitated to make the decision.
Seeing his indecision, the Fourth Raikage said, "Don't worry, our Hidden Cloud's jinchūriki can protect themselves. They don't need your Hidden Leaf's shelter!"
The Fourth Mizukage, a jinchūriki himself, also spoke up. "I won't stay here long-term either. The Hidden Leaf only needs to protect the Hidden Sand's One-Tail jinchūriki, the Hidden Waterfall's Seven-Tails jinchūriki, and your own Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
"Alright!"
After hearing the Raikage and Mizukage, the Third Hokage finally nodded.
He could only focus on the present for now.
At least the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist weren't treating the Hidden Leaf as a default battlefield. With the Seven-Tails jinchūriki already in the village, adding the One-Tail wasn't a big deal—better than letting the One-Tail fall into enemy hands.
As for the future war with the Akatsuki, the Third Hokage planned to stabilize their position and then lure the Akatsuki to fight elsewhere.
Soon, a new resolution was passed at the Five Kage Summit.
The resolution stipulated that all underage jinchūriki would be gathered in the Hidden Leaf Village, with the Hidden Leaf providing unified protection. The other villages, including smaller ones, would send elite forces to support the Hidden Leaf in defending against the Akatsuki.
The Third Tsuchikage chuckled lightly. "With so many people gathered in the Hidden Leaf, why not hold a competition to select some new talent?"
The Fourth Kazekage pondered for a moment before saying, "Isn't the Hidden Leaf hosting the Chūnin Exams next year? Why not hold them now?"
The Fourth Mizukage nodded slightly. "Indeed, with the Akatsuki's threat looming, we should select some new-generation shinobi!"
Bang! The Fourth Raikage slammed the table. "It's settled then!"