The meeting room was inside the main building at the center of the Land of Iron. Basically, it held the same level of importance as a Kage's office in any ninja village, which showed that Mifune took this meeting seriously.
As soon as you stepped in, you'd see six large desks arranged in a circle. Each one was about the size of the Hokage's desk in Konoha, with a chair behind it for each Kage. The assistants had to stand.
The front-most table had the Land of Iron's flag and was Mifune's spot, acting as the neutral party. Starting from the left and going around the circle, the order was:
Land of Water – Kirigakure – Mizukage
Land of Wind – Sunagakure – Kazekage
Land of Fire – Konohagakure – Hokage
Land of Earth – Iwagakure – Tsuchikage
Land of Thunder – Kumogakure – Raikage
There was one person here who didn't quite fit in. I won't say who.
The Tsuchikage, Oonoki, was already sitting in his seat. His face was old, but he still gave off a strong presence—just a bit on the short side.
Seeing the four Kage walk in, he immediately spoke: "I came all the way here. Don't you think it's a bit rude, Lord Hokage, not to give me a proper reason?"
"I'll give you a reason, Lord Tsuchikage. Once everyone's ready." Tsunade walked in calmly, took off her Hokage hat, and placed it on the table before sitting down.
Didn't give Oonoki any respect.
"Hmph." Oonoki grunted coldly, clearly wanting to say something else, but the next second he suddenly jumped to his feet, looking completely shocked.
Terumi Mei had just gotten to her seat and was a bit startled by Oonoki's sudden move. Still holding her hat, she couldn't help but tease, "What's wrong, Lord Tsuchikage? Are you seriously scared by us younger folks?"
The Raikage didn't say a word. He just quietly took his seat.
He came to the Five Kage Summit for one thing—Killer Bee. Now that he had the info, his goal was met. The rest didn't matter much to him.
Gaara, however, knew exactly why Oonoki was so shaken.
Oonoki didn't bother explaining anything to Terumi Mei. He just pointed at the person standing behind Tsunade, his whole hand trembling.
"You… you… Impossible! How are you still alive? Even if you were, how could you still be this young?!"
Behind him, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi glanced at each other, just as confused.
Tsunade smiled and leaned back slightly. "I thought no one here would recognize my granduncle. But of course, someone like Lord Tsuchikage, who's lived this long, has seen more than most."
It sounded like she was mocking the others, but really, she was still aiming at the Tsuchikage.
"Wait a second?" Terumi Mei caught something strange. "Granduncle?"
It wasn't just her—everyone except the folks from the Sand and Leaf villages looked completely confused as they stared at the man behind Tsunade.
Tsunade's grandfather was the legendary Senju Hashirama. So her granduncle could only be the legendary Water God and Flash God—Senju Tobirama!
The Raikage shot up from his chair, his face serious as he looked at Tobirama. "Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama?"
Tobirama stood with his arms crossed and only gave the group a quick glance before turning to Oonoki. "You're not young anymore. Did you see me on the battlefield?"
Then he looked away again. "Doesn't matter. This summit isn't about me. I'm just here to protect Little Tsunade. She's the Hokage now."
Everyone turned to look at Senju Tobirama. Ohnoki clenched his fists, face full of disbelief. "This... this can't be real..."
The poor old guy was so shocked, he sounded like a broken record.
Even Tsunade could tell he was badly shaken — which made it the perfect time to bring up the real reason for the meeting.
She sat up straight at the table, ignoring everyone's reactions, and spoke clearly: "This is why I called for the Five Kage Summit. First of all — the Edo Tensei technique."
Everyone instinctively looked at her. Tsunade tapped the table lightly. "Edo Tensei was a jutsu created by my granduncle. It pulls a person's soul back from the afterlife, bringing them back in a way — but it needs a living person as a sacrifice."
"You actually mess with the dead?!" Terumi Mei's eyes widened.
"No, we don't." Tsunade shook her head. "Konoha banned that jutsu a long time ago. Plus, the version he made was incomplete. Even if you used it, the person brought back would have no mind of their own, and their strength would barely be a tenth of what it was — maybe even less."
The Raikage frowned and glanced at Tobirama. "Then who's this standing in front of us?"
"How rude." Tsunade shot him a look. "Konoha didn't bring him back. It was Orochimaru. He upgraded the jutsu so the people brought back keep their minds, memories, and can fight with around 70–80% of their original power. Their battle instincts also come back with them — but they're still controlled by the one who summoned them."
"Gulp…" Terumi Mei swallowed hard, clutching her hat, unsure if she should put it down or keep holding on.
She was seriously thinking about heading back to the Mist Village and getting ready for war. Honestly, the Raikage and the Tsuchikage were thinking the same thing.
But then Tsunade added, "Don't worry — Konoha won't use this jutsu. The reason my granduncle is here is because he broke free from the summoner's control. He even figured out a way to stop Edo Tensei. That's why I called this meeting — to give that method to all of you."
Everyone except Gaara exchanged confused looks — even the three Kage were completely lost.
But Ohnoki, being the oldest and most experienced, was the first to react. He frowned and asked, "Is Orochimaru planning to attack us with this jutsu?"
That was the only reason that made sense.
Tsunade nodded — then shook her head. "Are the tailed beasts in your villages still there?"
As soon as she said that, Terumi Mei and Ohnoki's faces changed. They clenched their fists at the same time.
Tsunade didn't mind. "According to Konoha's intel, only the One-Tail and the Eight-Tails are still free. The rest have all been captured by a group called Akatsuki. Orochimaru is now working with them, though we don't know why."
"Akatsuki…" Ohnoki fell silent.
Seeing this, Tsunade gave a small smile. "I'm sure the Tsuchikage is familiar with that group."
The Stone Village had hired Akatsuki in the past — not just once or twice, either. For a long time, they were basically on call.
Ohnoki took a deep breath. "So, your village's Nine-Tails was captured too?"
That sounded like good news to him.
But A and Terumi Mei both frowned and turned to look at Naruto, who was standing behind Gaara. Their eyes were full of questions.
Tsunade understood what they meant. She waved her hand. "The Nine-Tails is a bit different. I'm sure you all remember what happened in Konoha sixteen years ago."
The three Kage all nodded.
Tsunade continued, "During that attack, something unexpected happened. To stop the Nine-Tails and keep its power around, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, split the Nine-Tails' chakra in two and sealed it separately."
"One half — the Yin half — was sealed into the Shinigami along with the Fourth Hokage himself. The other half — the Yang half — was sealed into our current Jinchuriki. That blond kid over there." Tsunade pointed at Naruto. "He was just a baby at the time, so he couldn't handle the full Nine-Tails. Half of it was just right. The Fourth Hokage made the decision based on that."
Naruto gave a shy wave under everyone's stare.
Tsunade sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's from the Uzumaki clan. I don't need to explain more, do I?"
"The Uzumaki clan…" A's face changed.
Everyone knew the Uzumaki were the best fits to be Jinchuriki. Back in the day, A even tried to kidnap the last known Uzumaki from Konoha — the mission failed, and the ninja he sent were killed on the spot.
That means this kid's age matches up too… A fell deep into thought.
"By the way," Tsunade added with a teasing look, "years ago, the one from the Uzumaki clan that the Land of Thunder tried to steal from Konoha was named Uzumaki Kushina. Her husband was the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. And that blond kid over there is their son."
"Tch." A clicked his tongue. "The Land of Thunder never did anything like that."
No matter what, he would never admit it.
Especially with Senju Tobirama still in Konoha—and who knows if Hashirama is also back. Either way, there's no way he could admit it. Not even if it killed him.
Tsunade found it boring and kept explaining while shaking her head. "We believe Orochimaru has already undone the Fourth Hokage's sealing technique and brought him back using Edo Tensei. He probably took the half of Kurama that was sealed in the Fourth as well, which is why I didn't count that part of the Nine-Tails earlier."
"If they manage to gather all nine Tailed Beasts, they'll start a technique called the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and that'll be the end of the world."
The three Kage looked at each other, then glanced at Senju Tobirama, and finally, all of them sat down.
That's right—they had decided to stay.
Terumi Mei placed her hat on the table, her expression finally turning serious. "So, are you here to warn us about that group? Or are you hoping we'll team up to fight them?"
"I've got a question," the Raikage asked as he looked at Tsunade. "How strong is this Akatsuki group?"
The Tsuchikage stayed silent, but his face was clearly troubled. He knew just how dangerous they were.
Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "Very strong. Their leader is from the Uchiha clan. He has a space-time jutsu called Kamui, which lets him appear anywhere without being noticed. On top of that, he has the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as his weapon."
"Konoha is already preparing for war. We're almost sure they'll start a big one soon, and this fight will drag all of us into it. So… I'm asking you all to put aside your grudges. I'm not asking for a full alliance, but…"
Tsunade took a deep breath. "At the very least, we can't fight among ourselves right now."
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