After Hagoromo had greeted them in a very "harmonious" manner, he no longer paid attention to the situation on the Tsuchikage's side.
It seemed that the young female shinobi held an extremely intense hostility toward him. Hagoromo could naturally sense this, but there was absolutely no possibility of her taking action here and now… Even if her father had died at his hands, when it was time to endure, she still had to endure.
This was the Land of Iron, and what was taking place now was the highest-level Five Kage Summit in the world.
That said, Hagoromo still had quite a lot of "self-awareness." Back when Kurotsuchi's father, Kitsuchi, led ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi in an invasion of the Land of Lightning, he had indeed died at the hands of Hagoromo, who had been "fishing in troubled waters" inside the Iwagakure formation. At that time, this girl Kurotsuchi had only just been born.
Hagoromo did not know the source of her hatred, and he did not continue paying attention to her situation.
The Tsuchikage also noticed his granddaughter's abnormal behavior. He did not turn around, because he knew someone would handle the matter properly.
Akatsuchi, the Tsuchikage's other guard standing beside Kurotsuchi, stopped her.
Akatsuchi held Kurotsuchi's fingers with one hand, preventing her from continuing her hand seals. At the same time, he shook his head at her, telling her that this was not the place to do such a thing.
Kurotsuchi's face showed unwillingness, and her hands struggled slightly… But in the end, she still gave up on the idea of launching an attack.
Suppressing personal feelings was the most basic requirement for a shinobi. Even if everyone walked out and immediately started fighting after the meeting ended, she could not choose to act at this moment.
Grudges were grudges, and rules were rules. No one would violate the unspoken regulations. What was currently being handled was official business between villages. The settling of private hatred was not within the scope of a "Kage's" duties.
Moreover, this was not Iwagakure, but the country of samurai.
"The Five Kage from the Five Great Shinobi Villages have now all arrived. In response to the request of the Fifth Hokage, the Five Kage Summit is hereby officially opened."
"According to the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, the reason for convening this meeting is that the shinobi world, and even the entire world, is currently facing a tremendous crisis. The recent incidents involving the invasions of Sunagakure, Amegakure, and Kirigakure are all connected to this. In fact, it does not stop there. Recently, an unexplained large-scale energy reaction also occurred in the Land of Iron. This confirms the credibility of the Hokage's words and also demonstrates both the necessity of the villages uniting to resolve this issue and the reasonableness of convening the Five Kage Summit…"
Since no one spoke for the moment, Mifune, who stood in a neutral position as the meeting's moderator, spoke first. He briefly explained the reason this meeting was being held.
Although there was no substantive content, it at least broke the deadlock and awkwardness in the room. No matter how one put it, the villages were hostile to one another, which was precisely why a neutral party needed to exist.
However, with the Fourth Raikage's explosive temper, he had no patience to listen to Mifune's lengthy explanation.
In terms of personality, the Raikage did not seem like a shinobi so much as a bouncer guarding a venue. What he admired was a violent, simple, and direct way of solving problems.
"Crisis? There has not been a single moment when the shinobi world has been free of crisis. What necessity is there in this? The so-called 'crisis' spoken of by the Fifth Hokage merely reveals her own ignorance. After all, in such a rushed situation, perhaps she is still not qualified for the position of Kage."
The Raikage's words were filled with sarcasm, as if Tsunade were a little girl who had never seen the world.
"Moreover, judging from the current situation, aside from the previous incident in Kirigakure, the facts of the other villages being invaded are inseparable from Konoha. Even if there is some crisis in the shinobi world, it seems to be one caused precisely by you people of Konoha."
"Therefore, the Fifth Hokage's motive in choosing to convene this meeting cannot currently be affirmed. Perhaps there is some other scheme behind it…"
"So, before Konoha gives an acceptable explanation for the previous incidents, there is no need for this summit to continue," the Raikage said.
Fine. This person looked somewhat big, rough, dark, and stupid, but internally, he was not as reckless as he appeared. After all, he was the Kage of a village. He still possessed the wisdom he ought to have. So the moment he opened his mouth, he intended to seize the moral high ground.
Judging from the division of forces, there was no doubt that Sunagakure should stand on Konoha's side, while the Raikage felt that the remaining three villages would each "fight their own battles." That would place them at a disadvantage in the meeting when facing the two-in-one combination of Konoha and Sunagakure. Therefore, the Raikage wanted to seize the initiative in the talks from the very beginning.
His method was to directly redirect the point of conflict toward Konoha and the Hokage. At the same time, this was also forcing Tsunade to reveal certain pieces of intelligence that everyone else did not know. Right now, Konoha seemed to know many things the others did not.
In reality, the Raikage's words were quite reasonable. Although among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha appeared to belong to the "peace faction," the truth was that from beginning to end, any person or matter that could be connected to "destroying the world" could likewise be connected to Konoha. This was especially obvious in the crisis currently facing the shinobi world.
"Konoha truly must provide a reasonable explanation, especially regarding the invasion of Amegakure. Otherwise, we can judge that you have shown no sincerity whatsoever in this summit, and merely wish to use the villages to achieve some unspeakable purpose," the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, followed up.
He was using the topic to make his own attack, but the topic he borrowed was extremely solid.
No matter what, Hagoromo's invasion of Amegakure was an ironclad and indisputable fact. Konoha had to give a suitable explanation at this moment… Although the hatred between the Raikage and the Tsuchikage, and between Kumogakure and Iwagakure, was no lighter than the hatred between the Raikage and Hagoromo or between Kumogakure and Konoha, at this moment, Ōnoki gave the Raikage an assist.
In this kind of situation, the old man's talent as a social butterfly had awakened.
"There is nothing commendable about making accusations out of nowhere. Recklessness and disorder will only increase the degree of distrust between us. No matter what kind of judgment is to be made, the Hokage should first be given the opportunity to provide a further explanation," Ebizō refuted. This way of speaking seemed to show a clear position, but in reality, it was still somewhat ambiguous.
Terumī Mei directly passed on the first round of speeches. Having learned certain intelligence from Konoha in advance, she now seemed to find the statements from each side rather interesting.
In any case, at this moment, everyone's attention was focused on Tsunade. What she was about to say next was especially important. If her words were empty and meaningless, then this summit might immediately disperse like a joke.
Fortunately, Tsunade was not someone who liked to drag things out, and she had already thought through how exactly to explain the issue beforehand.
It was nothing more than directly revealing certain truths.
"The reason for convening the Five Kage Summit, and the crisis the shinobi world is currently facing—I believe all of you Kage here have sensed some part of it."
"And what I am about to tell you now is that what you have sensed is not some vague, uncertain 'possibility,' but a fact that has already happened."
"Recently, Sunagakure and Kirigakure were successively invaded by a mysterious organization. The objective of this organization is exactly as you have guessed…"
"the tailed beasts."
Right from the start, Tsunade directly confirmed the matter that the other Kage had been worried about and speculating over. At this moment, there truly was someone attempting to gather and exploit the enormous power of the tailed beasts.
"Perhaps none of you find this surprising. After all, from beginning to end, this shinobi world has never lacked people or organizations outside the Five Great Shinobi Villages who seek to make use of the power of the tailed beasts."
"This mysterious organization is called Akatsuki. Although their initial goal is also to seize the tailed beasts, there is an obvious difference between this organization's actions and those past situations: they are not acting for the sake of the power of a mere single tailed beast…"
Tsunade's lips were red, her teeth white, and here she pronounced the word "mere" with exceptional clarity.
"As people of your status, you should understand at least something about the origin of the nine tailed beasts. Akatsuki's objective is precisely that 'origin.'"
"They intend to gather all the tailed beasts and revive the origin of chakra—"
"the Ten-Tails."
"What exactly the Ten-Tails is should not require too much explanation from me. Once the other side truly achieves this objective, then the entire shinobi world will not simply be controlled."
"This is the crisis facing the entire shinobi world that I spoke of."
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