The Raikage might hesitate—but his two guards certainly wouldn't!
The curtain of the conference hall was flung aside. Darui and C, the Raikage's two escorts, drew their blades at once, stepping in front of the Raikage with fierce expressions!
Dark-skinned and white-haired, Darui lifted his greatsword and shouted first,
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Ծ‸ Ծ"
Kakashi and Naruto weren't pushovers either. The instant Darui and the others made their move, the two of them appeared behind Shinju in a flash!
With two sides suddenly mobilized, all the guards waiting behind the curtain jumped out as well, and the entire scene descended into chaos.
Mifune, the elderly mediator presiding over the summit, was still trying to process what had just happened.
First, some kid had burst out of nowhere and flipped the conference table. Then, in the blink of an eye, the place turned into a complete mess...
--003d͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)
What... what in the world is this supposed to be?! （༎ຶ-༎ຶ）
Though his head was pounding, Mifune still tried to fulfill his role as host.
"Everyone, please, calm down. Whatever this is, perhaps it can wait until after the summit concludes?"
"Or maybe... we suspend the meeting for now, let you resolve your issues first, and then continue later?"
Unfortunately, no one was listening to the poor old man.
Tsunade, the Hokage, stepped forward, silently positioning herself in front of Shinju to shield him.
Normally, Shinju was mild-mannered, sunny, even a little unserious—but if he truly decided to act... he'd be nearly impossible to control.
To put it bluntly, if he actually killed the Raikage here, a war between Kumogakure and Konoha would be inevitable.
And once that happened, the balance among the great villages would collapse. The other four might even unite against Konoha...
Even if Shinju were powerful enough to wipe out the other four villages entirely, what about later—what about when he wasn't around?
"Raikage, you—"
Tsunade opened her mouth, but before she could continue, the Raikage—his face dark and unreadable—spoke first.
"This time, I was too hasty in condemning Konoha without proof. It was my mistake. I apologize to Konoha... and to Sasuke."
"After the Five Kage Summit, Kumogakure will send representatives to Konoha to discuss reparations."
"My deepest apologies."
As he said that, the Raikage began to bow.
Tsunade hurriedly reached out and stopped him.
"Raikage-sama, anyone would worry about their younger brother's safety—we understand. But this isn't the right place to discuss the matter. Let's talk in detail another time."
The Raikage nodded, turned, and quickly left the hall with his two guards.
Inside, Mifune stood awkwardly in place.
Someone had just left the summit—without even notifying the host!
He coughed lightly and said, "It seems today's meeting can't continue... Perhaps the Kage could all return to rest for now, and we reconvene tomorrow morning at nine?"
Everyone nodded and left one after another.
...
On the way back to their lodgings, Tsunade glanced sideways at Shinju with a wry smile.
"Only you would dare flip the Five Kage Summit table like that. (σ≧︎▽︎≦︎)σ"
Shinju's intimidating expression from earlier was gone. His face flushed as he replied,
"I just... couldn't help worrying about Sasuke."
"Thinking about how he risked his life to save those from Kumogakure, only to be blamed in return... who wouldn't lose it over that! (ㅎ‸ㅎ)"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically beside him.
"I totally agree with Shinju! That was awesome!! ୧⍢⃝୨"
"When that happened, my blood was boiling—I almost ran up and punched the Raikage myself! (′д｀σ)σ"
Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, shut up already. You're the number one firestarter. →_→"
Naruto protested, "Hey! I was just telling the truth!"
As the Konoha group chatted, not far away, the dark-skinned, white-haired Raikage approached again with his two guards.
Naruto froze. Σ(っ °Д °;)っ
He'd said that whole "I almost punched the Raikage" line pretty loudly... Did the Raikage hear that?!
Before Naruto could panic further, the Raikage and his escorts had already reached them.
Darui and C both looked furious—they'd definitely heard Naruto's "wild" declaration just now.
But they couldn't lash out. Not now. They needed Konoha's help.
The Raikage spoke. "Shinju, you know the Flying Thunder God Technique. Can you take me back to Kumogakure? I'll only be at ease once I see with my own eyes that Killer B is safe... It's not that I doubt your word, but—"
Shinju nodded. "Sure."
Without another word, he grabbed a corner of the Raikage's cloak and vanished.
...
Inside the Raikage's office.
A group of Kumogakure elders stood around the table, staring at the Flying Thunder God mark etched into it, debating how to destroy it.
The Elder frowned. "Leaving this here in the Raikage's office is dangerous. If relations between Kumo and Konoha sour, that red-haired kid could teleport in and assassinate us all at any time... (||๐_๐)"
Another elder nodded. "He's right. But... how exactly do we destroy it?"
Nearby, Yugito gently placed her hand on the mark beneath the table.
So this is Shinju's mark... (◍ ´꒳` ◍)
She smiled lightly. "I don't think there's any need to destroy it. We could just move it out of the village."
"How about placing it at my home? (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
The elders collectively froze. Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
Even a fool could see it—Yugito was obviously trying to keep Shinju's mark close to her!
This love-struck girl couldn't be left unchecked!
Yugito's imagination began to run wild: Shinju tries to teleport to the Raikage's office, but instead appears at her home...
What a touching scene that would be... (´◊ω◊｀)
At that exact moment—
Whoosh!
Shinju appeared in the office with the Raikage via Flying Thunder God!
Because Yugito's hand was resting on the mark, Shinju's left hand overlapped perfectly with hers upon arrival.
He hadn't expected this. Acting on instinct, he tightened his grip slightly.
The result? Shinju holding Yugito's delicate hand—two beautiful people, standing together like a perfect pair... while beside them stood the Raikage with an expression as dark as thunderclouds!
"Alright, that's enough out of you two!" the Raikage barked, then turned to scan the office.
When he saw Killer B standing there, his eyes welled up. "B..." (ノへ￣)
Killer B grinned.
Just as they were about to hug, the Raikage raised his fist and smacked B hard on the head.
"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you caused Kumogakure?! (▼皿▼#)"
Rubbing the lump on his forehead, Killer B pouted.
"That's not my fault! You guys just jumped to conclusions!〒_〒"
While the two brothers argued, Shinju quietly withdrew his hand from Yugito's, pretending nothing had happened.
"Small world," he said casually. "Didn't expect to see you here."
Yugito looked at him shyly but sincerely.
"Not a coincidence... I came to the Raikage's office because I was looking for you. (〃∀〃)"