"Wood Shadow, enough!"
The Fourth Raikage roared, "The Ten-Tails' revival is imminent, and you're still messing around? Are you trying to drag us all to death with you?"
"Messing around?"
Itsuki chuckled.
These people actually thought he was messing around?
"That's strange."
Itsuki glanced at each person present and said, "Weren't you the ones who attacked first? Did you not think about the timing when you made your move?"
"Now that you're losing, you're resorting to talk?"
Everyone's expressions turned dark.
"Mifune must die!" Itsuki declared calmly. "We came to the Land of Iron to find a neutral mediator, not to let someone lord over us. From the beginning, Mifune has been biased. Don't be happy just because he favors you now. Can you really trust someone like that to be our mediator?"
Hearing this, the Tsuchikage and the Raikage hesitated.
Indeed!
At first, they had been pleased by Mifune's favoritism.
But!
Such a person could never be trusted from the start.
If Mifune had always been on their side, they wouldn't be surprised by his bias.
But Mifune had no relation to either side, and he had no particular grudge against Itsuki. So why was he siding with them against the Uchiha?
As they thought about it, everyone began to look at Mifune with suspicion.
Even the Raikage and the Tsuchikage began to wonder why Mifune had taken their side.
Could it be that someone was trying to provoke a fight between them?
"Lord Itsuki!"
Mifune, now looking terrified, said, "Everything I did was for the greater good. In fact, during the Six Kage Summit, I hoped you would lead the Allied Shinobi Forces!"
"Oh, really?"
Itsuki sneered. "I don't believe you, nor do I care."
"I could take the role, but you offering it voluntarily makes it worthless to me."
Mifune's fear intensified as he unconsciously gripped his sword.
"What? Planning to resist?" Itsuki mocked, "You're just Mifune. Trust me, you're nothing."
"Guards!"
Mifune suddenly shouted.
Immediately, a large number of samurai gathered around them.
Welcoming the six Kage was a significant event, and Mifune had already stationed many samurai nearby in preparation.
With his shout, the samurai rushed in.
"Well, well!"
Itsuki laughed again, "Were you prepared for this? Has the Land of Iron already sided with Uchiha Obito, ready to trap us all?"
The Tsuchikage and Raikage frowned even more.
Mizukage Mei Terumi and Wind Shadow Pakure, however, immediately prepared to fight.
"Stop!"
Just then, a loud voice rang out.
A man appeared.
Seeing him, everyone was stunned.
Mifune?
Another Mifune?!
The crowd looked at the first Mifune in shock.
Was there a fake Mifune?
"So that's it!"
Itsuki smiled and said, "Zetsu? Impressive. Even I couldn't tell the difference."
"Zetsu?" the Raikage's face darkened. "Are you saying one of these Mifunes is Akatsuki's Zetsu?"
Itsuki glanced at him and chuckled, "Exactly, you're right. What? Do you want to fight the leader of Akatsuki too?"
"Raikage!" the Tsuchikage barked.
His expression was grim as he said, "Even I couldn't detect Zetsu's transformation."
He then turned to Ao behind Mei Terumi, "I remember you're a sensor ninja. Can you tell the difference?"
"You can't."
Itsuki shook his head, saying, "Onoki, don't waste your time. Zetsu can absorb chakra and completely transform into someone else. His transformation is so thorough that even a sensor ninja can't tell."
Ao nodded slightly, agreeing with Itsuki.
"So what do we do?" the Raikage growled. "We can't just kill both Mifunes, can we?"
Itsuki smirked, "Kill? Why kill? Raikage, are you stupid? Zetsu is one of Obito's core members. If we capture him, we'll get valuable intel."
"But what about Mifune…"
"Capture both!" Itsuki replied indifferently. "Sacrificing one Mifune to get secrets in Zetsu's head? That's for greater good!"
Everyone fell silent.
Their expressions grew more dangerous, as if Itsuki's words made a lot of sense.
Seeing this, both Mifunes began to panic.
"Wait! Wait!"
"Wait for what?" Itsuki sneered. "Mei, Pakure, grab these two. I need to know everything in their heads."
"Got it!" Pakure and Mei Terumi, along with their guards, rushed forward.
Though Mifune was strong, he couldn't quite match up to Kage-level shinobi.
In the original story, Mifune defeated the legendary Hanzo of the Salamander. But Hanzo had been resurrected with weakened power, and Mifune recognized him, using specialized techniques.
Meanwhile, Hanzo didn't remember Mifune, had no preparation, and was weaker than his prime.
So Mifune's victory wasn't that surprising.
After all, a shinobi's greatest secret is their own information.
Lose that, and you're at your opponent's mercy.
"Bang!"
The battle began immediately.
As the fight broke out, the Raikage and Tsuchikage's expressions turned serious.
They had been hesitant before, considering Mifune's status as the leader of the samurai and a powerful ally.
But now, seeing two Mifunes using identical techniques?
That was alarming.
It meant that not only could Zetsu perfectly imitate someone's appearance, but even their jutsu.
Such a person was too dangerous to be left alive.
Thus!
The two Kage gave discreet signals to their bodyguards.
Cee and Darui, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, moved to block the samurai trying to intervene.
The samurai, confused by the unfolding events, were still determined to protect Mifune.
Suddenly!
One of the Mifunes launched a series of fierce attacks and then began to retreat.
"Itsuki, you truly are remarkable!"
Mifune grinned, his body twisting as he transformed into Zetsu.
"Bang!"
Just as he completed his transformation, a massive burst of fire surged toward him.
"Uchiha Itsuki!!!"
Zetsu let out a shriek and quickly burrowed underground.
Itsuki withdrew his attack and smirked.
"You think I'm like those characters in movies and anime who wait for you to finish your moves before I attack? Am I that dumb? Of course, I'm going to take you out the first chance I get."
"As long as the head remains, we can still extract some information."
"If we can find Obito current location, then all the trouble wouldn't be trouble at all; we could just head straight to him."
Itsuki glanced at his stats.
[Senjutsu: Level 7 (92%)]
Since his Sharingan had evolved into the Rinnegan, all of Itsuki's stats were slowly increasing.
Of course, what he cared about the most was his Senjutsu.
He needed to advance it to Level 8.
He was still a bit short! And his new mission was to revive the Ten-Tails!
Once the Ten-Tails was revived, Itsuki believed he could use its power to advance his Senjutsu.
Besides, the revival of the Ten-Tails was almost inevitable.
Even if Itsuki could take out Jue, and defeat Obito and Madara, that guy in the Pure Land would likely find a way to revive the Ten-Tails.
Why?
To let his mother have a breather, of course! And to give Indra's and Asura's chakra something to do!
Itsuki smirked with disdain.
Did they think he didn't notice?
Recently, Naruto's and Sasuke's chakra had become more active.
They were probably both at Kage-level now.
Moreover, when he decided to leave Konoha and attend the Six Kage Summit, Naruto's and Sasuke's chakra started growing even more intensely.
He wasn't sure to what extent it had grown now.
Do you think the Sage of Six Paths had nothing to do with this?
Itsuki still stood by his words.
That old man has been in the Pure Land for thousands of years.
He could give his chakra to Naruto and Sasuke to seal his own mother.
He could summon all five previous Kage in the largest summoning ever.
And you think he has no way to deal with the Ten-Tails' revival?
Is that even possible?
Are you kidding me?
"Escaped?"
Itsuki sensed for a moment, then glanced at the grim-faced Mifune and said, "Are you the real Mifune? Or are you just Zetsu in disguise?"
"Huh?"
That one question made Mifune bear a lot more pressure.
"I am real!"
Mifune's face turned pale as he said, "My subordinates can testify."
Itsuki sneered, "Why not say your parents can testify? Your subordinates? Really? You've got the nerve to say that."
The Tsuchikage and Raikage were silent.
Damn it!
Why are we even having a meeting like this?
Mifune can't even confirm if he's really himself?
Ao, standing nearby, said helplessly, "The Byakugan can't see through it, and sensing techniques are ineffective. What on earth is he, really? Is he even a ninja?"
Itsuki shrugged, "Anyway, there's only one in the whole ninja world. You'd have to ask it yourself what it is."
"So what do we do now?"
Raikage gritted his teeth and growled, "If this Mifune can't prove whether he's real or not, what does that mean?"
Mifune's face darkened further.
He had already spoken with his subordinates to prove his identity.
There were many confidential matters that Zetsu could imitate his appearance for but would have no way of knowing.
Relying on those secrets and some personal details, he had finally earned the trust of his subordinates, but clearly, the Kage present were still not convinced.
"Everyone!"
Mifune said in a low voice, "I am absolutely real. Please believe me. Let's hold the Six Kage Summit here in the Land of Iron. We need to unite as quickly as possible to deal with the external threats."
The Kage exchanged glances.
"Alright, we'll hold the summit here!"
The Tsuchikage said gravely, "But Mifune, don't make any strange moves, understood?"
Actually, they were more inclined to believe that this was the real Mifune.
So discussing matters here wasn't totally off the table.
Of course, they couldn't afford to completely drop their guard around Mifune either.
Anyone who had been impersonated by Zetsu could never fully regain their trust.
The group soon took their seats at the prepared location in the Land of Iron.
Seven people in total!
Six were Kage!
Each brought two powerful subordinates.
And with the ninja world's strongest, Uchiha Itsuki, they feared nothing.
Even if the Land of Iron attacked, they were confident they could fight their way out.
"First, let's exchange information."
Ōnoki's voice was deep as he shared some of his information with the others.
After glancing over it, the others nodded and presented their own findings.
Even the isolated Kirigakure provided some intelligence on Obito, as well as information on Kisame.
A tailed beast without a tail was still quite a formidable opponent!
However, Itsuki's intelligence was the only one that made the others' eyes twitch.
"Uchiha Itsuki, are you sure?"
Ōnoki's expression was serious.
"Absolutely."
Itsuki said coolly, "White Zetsu—it's definitely being mass-produced. I've already taken out a large number of them. You all must have dealt with quite a few yourselves, right?"
The group was silent.
Raikage asked, "How many White Zetsu do you think they have?"
"No idea."
Itsuki thought for a moment. In the original timeline, Obito had amassed 100,000 White Zetsu by the start of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
A hundred thousand enhanced White Zetsu!
But that was a few years from now.
The current Obito had already used White Zetsu in several battles, so their numbers were reduced. There were probably still at least seventy or eighty thousand left!
"More than fifty thousand for sure, maybe even… a hundred thousand!"
That casual number carried immense weight!
"So you know quite a lot!"
Raikage sneered, "No wonder you're the leader of the Akatsuki!"
Itsuki glanced at him and said coldly, "If you don't want to play nice, then let's not play at all, Raikage. Who do you think you are? Want me to recount what your village, Kumogakure, has done? Con jobs, kidnappings—you name it. And you're trying to lecture me? Who are you to talk?"
"Alright, alright!"
Mifune quickly cut in, "Everyone, the enemy is stronger than we imagined. We cannot afford to have internal problems."
He understood clearly.
Itsuki was strong!
The enemy was even stronger!
Raikage and Tsuchikage were stubborn!
If they didn't unite, and Obito managed to complete his plan, the Land of Iron wouldn't be spared either.
If the nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact!
So an alliance was inevitable!
"Hmph!"
Raikage snorted and said coldly, "Fine, forget the past. Now what? What should we do?"
Everyone straightened up.
They knew—
The main discussion was about to begin!
(End of this chapter)