Among everyone present, the Fourth Raikage was undoubtedly the most anxious.
Mei Terumi and Gaara both had Konoha as their backing, and in Onoki's village, both of their jinchuriki were already gone, so it was useless for him to panic.
What everyone had been most worried about before was whether the Akatsuki organization was connected to Uchiha Madara.
Now that they had gotten the information they wanted, as for the Fourth Raikage, his brother Killer Bee was still lying on a hospital bed.
If the Eight-Tails hadn't cut off its own tail in time to escape, Bee would probably have been burned to ashes by now.
If the Akatsuki's goal was to collect all nine tailed beasts, then they would definitely come for the Eight-Tails again.
So, even in the face of Tsunade's open disdain, the Fourth Raikage still forced himself to keep calm and said, "Hokage, the Akatsuki are ambitious, they threaten the peace and stability of the entire ninja world. We should unite!"
"After all, each of our villages has a jinchuriki. This is for our own people, and for the peace of the ninja world."
The Fourth Raikage's words were so impassioned it almost sounded like he genuinely cared about the world. Even Aoba couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
He hadn't expected this kind of moral grandstanding to come from the Raikage of all people.
It seemed that although this man normally appeared short-tempered and reckless, he could also be rather eloquent when he wanted to.
Still, Aoba preferred the Raikage's usual unruly, aggressive self.
Tsunade, however, didn't even bother to respond to the Raikage's moral blackmail. She just crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes, resting as if she hadn't heard a thing.
She had no interest in answering, what irritated her more right now was what Mei Terumi was doing beside her.
The Raikage's bad temper was starting to flare up again, his voice dropping low, "Hokage, do you mean to ignore the peace of the entire ninja world? Don't forget, your village also has tailed beasts! And this time, the Akatsuki members who attacked the Hidden Cloud, were Konoha's own rogue ninja!"
"Heh!"
A cold laugh slipped from Aoba's lips as he brushed Mei Terumi's foot away, took half a step forward, and let his chakra explode. It surged outward, directly pressing down on the Fourth Raikage.
"It seems your Hidden Cloud village doesn't quite understand the situation you're in."
"We only came here to give Iwagakure some face and attend this so-called Five Kage Summit. As for you people from the Hidden Cloud, heh!"
He and Tsunade had originally come with the mindset of sightseeing, just to see what brilliant ideas the Cloud might come up with.
But instead, the first thing they did was try to freeload Konoha's intelligence.
And now they were trying to use moral blackmail and accusations? That was really pushing their luck.
Though the others present weren't as terrified as the Sand elders had been back in Suna, they were still shaken by the pressure.
Onoki looked slightly stunned. He had known of Aoba's power, but this was the first time he'd witnessed it in person.
That chakra, it wasn't any weaker than Uchiha Madara's had once been.
For some reason, a strange sense of deja vu came over him.
He remembered the time when he'd gone with his teacher, Mu, on a diplomatic mission to Konoha to propose an alliance.
Uchiha Madara had been just as domineering then, ready to fight at the slightest disagreement.
Actually, there hadn't even been a disagreement; they'd merely suggested an alliance, and they had almost died in Konoha for it.
And now Konoha was producing another person like that.
That pressure… it was exactly the same.
"Aoba, don't go too far!", Even a clay statue would have some temper. The Fourth Raikage, too, could no longer endure. He slammed his fist into the table, cracking it wide open as his chakra erupted, arcs of lightning coiling around his body like serpents.
He was afraid of the three villages joining together in war, that would leave the Cloud powerless. But if it was just about personal strength, he feared no one.
Now that he had been provoked this far, there was no way he would back down.
"You two," Mifune sighed heavily and spoke again, his face dark, "This is the Five Kage Summit, not a place for personal duels."
"If you really must fight, wait until the meeting is over. The Land of Iron has arenas specifically built for that."
If he had known this summit would go this poorly, he never would have agreed to host it.
They could have found some other place to tear each other apart.
Aoba, of course, had no intention of giving the old man a hard time. He smirked provocatively at the Fourth Raikage, "Since Mifune-sama said so, Raikage, how about you and I step outside and have a little practice match?"
The Fourth Raikage had never suffered such humiliation. Without a word, he was about to accept, but Cee intervened quickly, grabbing the Raikage's raised fist.
"Raikage-sama, calm down! This is the Five Kage Summit, we're not here to fight!"
Cee himself felt miserable. The Fourth Raikage's temper was far too explosive, and the situation right now clearly favored the other side, four of them were practically allied.
What if they decided not to play fair and attacked together?
The Raikage managed to cool down a little, but his clenched fists still radiated anger.
Seeing that he wasn't going to lash out, Cee sighed in relief and turned toward Aoba, his face apologetic.
"Our sincerest apologies, Lord Aoba. The Raikage-sama is only upset because Lord Bee has yet to recover. His concern makes him act rashly."
"And besides, given our current circumstances, internal conflict is the last thing we can afford. We should be focusing on the Akatsuki first."
Aoba only chuckled, "Oh? And what great insight do you have, then?"
He quite enjoyed this, seeing people he disliked fume helplessly because they couldn't do anything to him.
"It's not so much insight," Cee said with a strained smile, "but in the face of a threat to the entire shinobi world, we simply hope that Konoha, as the First Shinobi Village, will show the leadership befitting its title."
Aoba replied bluntly, "So you're saying Konoha is selfish and won't share any information at all, is that it?"
The sudden accusation almost made Cee choke on his words.
When he didn't answer right away, Aoba raised an eyebrow, "Ah, so I hit the mark, did I?"
Cee quickly tried to recover, "You misunderstand, Lord Aoba."
"If I've misunderstood…", Aoba smiled, "Then as for intel on the Akatsuki, you can go find it yourselves."
"You!"
The Raikage was about to explode again, but Cee held him down and hurriedly continued.
"Lord Aoba, we only wish for peace in the shinobi world—"
"Enough with those big words."
Aoba cut him off coldly, his tone sharp, "Hearing a bunch of bandits talk about 'peace in the shinobi world', that's rich."
The moment he said that, the expressions of many present turned awkward.
After all, the Cloud's habit of stealing bloodline limits wasn't exactly a secret. They had even once tried to snatch Konoha's Byakugan.
Even Aoba himself had nearly been captured by them.
Cee found himself utterly speechless, with no possible rebuttal.
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