Land of Wind, Hidden Sand Village.
Fourth Kazekage Rasa stared intently at the red-haired youth standing in front of the "Wind" flag on the heavenly screen.
The youth had the character for "Love" clearly engraved on his forehead, heavy dark circles around his eyes, and a giant sand gourd on his back.
"That... That's Gaara?" Rasa stood up abruptly from his seat, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, his face filled with absurdity and disbelief.
"He became the Fifth Kazekage? How is that possible!"
Rasa almost roared out loud.
"He is the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi! A monster feared by everyone in the Village! The villagers only feel hatred and rejection toward him; how could they possibly agree to let him become the Kazekage?!"
But in the next second, an even more terrifying and cold thought slithered into his mind like a venomous snake, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar instantly.
"Wait... where am I?"
Rasa's voice carried an imperceptible tremor.
"Ten years later, I should be in my prime; how could I have abdicated? Unless..."
Unless he was dead.
That was the only possibility.
And it was very likely... an unnatural death.
A spine-chilling conjecture surfaced uncontrollably.
Could it be... that Gaara killed me?
Was it the Shukaku inside him going berserk, or did he completely lose control?
Rasa's face turned ashen instantly as he looked toward the direction of Gaara's residence in the distance.
This son of his seemed even more dangerous and uncontrollable than he had imagined!
Land of Water, Hidden Mist Village.
The shock in the Land of Water was no less than that in the Land of Wind.
They saw a mature, charming woman with a slender figure and long reddish-brown hair standing in front of the "Water" character—Mei Terumī.
"It's that woman, Mei Terumī!"
"She became the Fifth Mizukage? Then what about the Fourth Mizukage, Lord Yagura?"
"Lord Yagura is a perfect Jinchuriki with immense strength, how could he..."
There was an uproar within the Hidden Mist Village.
The villagers, currently under the high-pressure policy of the "village under the blood mist policy," felt immense confusion and unease that the future Kage was not the current Fourth Mizukage but another woman.
Recalling the long-term bloody rule and eerie atmosphere within the Village, a suspicion that "the Fourth Mizukage might have met with an accident" spread quietly, adding a bit more of a sinister hue to the already oppressive Hidden Mist Village.
Mei Terumī lowered her head, her eyes flickering.
The exposure of the future and the uncertainty it brought made her feel very uneasy.
At the scene of the Five Kage Summit on the heavenly screen, the smell of gunpowder was so strong it almost permeated through the screen into the current Ninja World.
"Fifth Hokage!"
The Fourth Raikage A was the first to attack. His massive frame contained terrifying rage as he slammed his palm onto the table, causing the hard solid wood conference table to instantly be covered in cracks.
"It's all because of your Konoha's mess! You must take full responsibility for this!"
Tsunade sat opposite him, her face as dark as water, suppressing her anger: "Raikage, I understand how you feel, but now is not the time to discuss responsibility! The priority is to deal with the crisis!"
"You understand my ass!"
The Raikage was like a lit powder keg, standing up abruptly with a voice like thunder; his immense pressure was terrifying even through the heavenly screen.
"Nii Yugito from our Village and my brother Killer Bee have both been captured by those bastards! And you tell me you understand? What can you possibly understand? Have you ever experienced the pain of losing someone important?"
Ay's words were like thorns, stabbing deeply into Tsunade's heart.
Tsunade instantly remembered her deceased brother Nawaki and her lover Dan. Her face turned pale, and her chest heaved violently; she was at a loss for words, so stifled she couldn't speak.
Seeing Tsunade suppressed by the Raikage's momentum, Ōnoki floated in the air and spoke in his characteristic steady yet provocative tone: "Although the Raikage's words are harsh, the logic is sound. Konoha indeed should bear the primary responsibility."
"Now is not the time for infighting." Mei Terumī frowned, her red lips parting as she tried to mediate, "The priority is to unite and face the enemy together, otherwise..."
Her gaze was filled with worry, well aware of the consequences of division at this moment.
Gaara, the youngest Kazekage, maintained a calmness beyond his years as his low voice rang out: "I think the current situation is not something the Fifth Hokage wanted to see either. All of this stems from the darkness of the past."
He paused slightly, looking meaningfully at everyone present, "And as for the darkness of the past, I believe none of the Villages represented here were absent."
"The most important thing for us now is to unite and exchange intelligence; otherwise, no one will escape."
Gaara's words attempted to elevate the issue to the level of the entire Ninja World, slightly alleviating the pressure Konoha was facing alone.
However, the Raikage, who was in a fit of rage, couldn't listen to any persuasion at all. He sneered, his gaze cutting toward Tsunade like a knife: "Sounds good! But right now, my brother's life is hanging in the balance! Konoha must give an explanation; that is my bottom line!"
After being pressured repeatedly, Tsunade Hime's explosive temper was finally ignited.
She stood up abruptly and slammed her palm onto the table as well. With a "boom," the corner of the table on her side shattered!
"Fine! You want an explanation, don't you?" Tsunade laughed in anger, leaning forward and fearlessly meeting the Raikage's predatory gaze, "What kind of explanation do you want? I'll give it to you right now!"
Tsunade's counterattack, which was even more violent and unyielding than the Raikage's, directly stunned him for a moment.
He clearly hadn't expected her to be even tougher than him under these circumstances. After a brief moment of shock, a more surging rage followed:
"What? You woman..." The Raikage's forehead veins bulged with anger, "The victim is our Kumogakure! What kind of attitude is this?"
At the summit scene, swords were drawn; the two Kage, known for their strength and explosive tempers, refused to back down, and the atmosphere dropped to freezing point.
Hidden Cloud Village, Raikage Office.
Ay froze completely, a look of near-daze and loss appearing on his bronze face for the first time.
His burly frame swayed slightly, and he stabilized himself by holding onto the table.
"Yugito... Bee..."
These two were not just the Village's precious strategic weapons, the Nibi and Hachibi Jinchuriki, but also his important partners and family!
Especially Killer Bee, who was a brother as close as hands and feet!
"Both gone... under my leadership..." A massive sense of failure instantly overwhelmed this Kage known for his toughness.
He couldn't imagine what kind of blow his future self had suffered to be unable to protect the two most important people.
Then how derelict and incompetent he must be as the Raikage!
Violent Lightning Release Chakra spilled uncontrollably from his body, shredding the documents in the office to pieces.
And near the Unraikyo, Killer Bee, who was practicing alone, had his perpetual cynical expression frozen.