"Alright, I'll cut to the chase."
The Fourth Raikage said, "There are still remnants of the Akatsuki. Tsunade, hand over those two members hiding in Konoha."
When Kiyosuke got married last time, Nagato and Konan had attended the ceremony as guests. The Fourth Raikage had already found those two suspicious back then, but he didn't think much of it. Later, when Killer Bee went missing, he recalled the incident and immediately ordered his men to gather all information related to the Akatsuki. That was when Konan's name came up.
Although Konan had always acted in secrecy, no wall is completely airtight. Years ago, Amegakure had an organization called "Akatsuki." It had risen swiftly and vanished just as fast, so the Fourth Raikage hadn't paid it much attention. But after cross-checking information from multiple sources, he discovered that the old "Akatsuki" and the current one were actually the same organization.
The only difference was that its members had changed completely — and among the current members were Konan and Nagato. Taking advantage of this Five Kage Summit, the hot-tempered Raikage naturally wanted to demand answers from Tsunade.
But would Tsunade hand them over?
Of course not!
"Akatsuki was wiped out by Kiyosuke. That's a fact. Kiyosuke."
"Yes."
Kiyosuke stepped forward and said, "Greetings, Raikage-sama. The Akatsuki has been eradicated. All of its members — except for one named Zetsu, who is still at large — have either been killed or captured. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were acting as undercover agents. But with Zetsu's strength, it's impossible that he could have captured your brother. Isn't that right, Kisame?"
Hoshigaki Kisame nodded.
"That's correct. Zetsu was the one responsible for gathering information in the Akatsuki. Though he rarely engaged in combat, I can assure you his strength wasn't extraordinary. However, when it comes to infiltration and intelligence gathering, no one in the entire ninja world can rival him. He can slip into any village without anyone noticing."
Kisame calmly explained everything about Zetsu. Mei Terumī didn't stop him — there was no point in hiding something like this. It wasn't a secret worth keeping.
"Then who the hell captured my brother?!"
The Fourth Raikage slammed his fist on the table, leaving a deep hole. He was on edge, desperate for any clue to his brother's whereabouts.
In truth, Killer Bee was currently training under a rap master. The one captured had only been a tentacle clone of the Eight-Tails — just like in the original story, he'd used that trick to escape safely.
But since the Raikage didn't know the truth, he was nearly frantic, ready to flip the entire ninja world upside down if necessary.
The meeting continued. Ōnoki mocked Gaara for his youth — not only had he lost his tailed beast, but he also needed the help of other villages to rescue it. But Gaara countered him calmly and eloquently, his tone steady and composed. It was clear that during his time as Kazekage, Gaara had matured a great deal.
The topic soon returned to the Akatsuki.
The Fourth Raikage said, "Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Iwa — the Akatsuki was formed by missing-nin from your villages. You even planted spies among them. So I don't trust any of you. Our investigation revealed that each of your villages has used the Akatsuki for your own ends."
There were many matters that ninja villages found troublesome to handle openly. That's when rogue ninjas like those in the Akatsuki came in handy — efficient and cheap. Most mercenary shinobi survived this way.
Whether Konoha had ever used Akatsuki's services was uncertain, but they had definitely planted spies. As for Ōnoki — that old fox definitely had. That crafty man would never pass up the chance to use a convenient, low-cost mercenary force like the Akatsuki.
"I don't trust you, nor do I wish to negotiate. I convened this Five Kage Summit to hold you accountable."
"What do you mean by 'used'?" Gaara asked, confused.
The Fourth Raikage replied, "Fifth Kazekage, you should know. And if you don't, ask your village elders."
When the war ended, the ninja villages of every nation became somewhat redundant institutions. Without wars to fight, shinobi were no longer seen as vital weapons — yet they still consumed enormous amounts of their nation's finances. But there was no justifiable reason to reduce their numbers. Not every country was like the Land of Wind, which had lost in the Third Great Ninja War and thus had an excuse to cut its military spending.
Take the Land of Fire, for instance. Konoha required massive yearly funding. Fortunately, the Land of Fire was wealthy, and its daimyo wise enough to understand that these ninja needed to be kept content — otherwise, he would've already tried to cut costs.
And without wars, the younger generation grew up in peace, lacking real combat experience. No one trusted them with the future. So, villages began hiring "war experts" — the Akatsuki. Cheap, efficient, and discreet.
That was how Akatsuki funded itself.
"Enough! Stop bickering already!" Tsunade, irritated by the noise, spoke up. "In truth, the real Akatsuki was destroyed many years ago. The current Akatsuki is merely being controlled by someone else."
"What?!"
The Fourth Raikage's eyes widened. Even Ōnoki turned his head sharply toward her.
Tsunade said, "Obito."
"Yes."
Obito stepped forward and greeted them politely.
"Greetings, Kage. I am Uchiha Obito."
"Uchiha Obito? That name…" Ōnoki raised a brow. "Aren't you the one who gave your Sharingan to Hatake Kakashi? I thought you were dead."
The origin of Kakashi's Sharingan wasn't exactly a secret in the ninja world.
"I survived by sheer luck," Obito said with a bitter smile. "But I lived as a puppet for more than ten years."
He paused, then continued calmly.
"The one who controlled me… was Uchiha Madara."
"What?!!"
The room fell silent.
Cold sweat rolled down Ōnoki's face. In his youth, he had witnessed that man's terrifying power firsthand.
"Impossible!" he said sharply. "How could he still be alive?!"
He was already ancient himself — someone even older like Madara couldn't possibly still be living.
"Hey! Don't spout such baseless claims! Hokage, have your man step back!" the Fourth Raikage barked.
But Obito didn't move.
"When I was gravely injured at Kannabi Bridge," he said, "Madara found me and took me in. He used genjutsu to control me for over ten years, forcing me to manipulate Nagato and create the Akatsuki to collect the tailed beasts. I lived in confusion all those years. Only recently was the genjutsu broken. I've since returned to Konoha. Though Madara's body is dead, he left behind a means to resurrect himself. Zetsu — one of the Akatsuki members — is a manifestation of his will, now working to bring Uchiha Madara back to life."
His tone was calm, almost emotionless, yet the entire room felt a chill run down their spines.
The name of the Shura of the Ninja World carried weight indeed — even a rumor of his return was enough to freeze the entire room in silence.
Kiyosuke chuckled softly.
The Allied Shinobi Forces would soon be formed.
All that was left now… was to wait and watch how things unfolded.
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