[Land of Iron, Hall of neutral concord]
The Land of Iron was cold. Located in the north and elevated in altitude, its mountainous nature made it a hellish place to live. However, humans had dominated the harsh environment by burning coal, an industry that allowed the Land of Iron to become the main suppliers of shinobi tools in the continent. Only Kirigakure, which had inherited master blacksmiths from the Land of Blacksmiths, could compare to them in terms of craftsmanship.
While Kirigakure supplied quality goods, the land of Iron preferred quantity, and the last three years of conflict had enriched them plenty enough. Their armours and blades were of the highest quality, and their population had grown accordingly, whereas the other countries were almost all declining, wounded by the hell called 'war'.
The hall of neutral concord was a fortress, polished black stones capable of resisting the most formidable jutsu, making it a masterpiece of human ingenuity. All the kage could not help but respect their efforts at providing peace to the continent. In all honesty, the land of Iron was the one true victor to their knowledge of this massive war. To initiate a summit of kage to bring peace to the continent, only the samurai valuing honour more than anything could do such a thing. Their neutral stance since the start of the Second Shinobi War was also part of the reason the summit even began.
Five kage, each followed by their two most trusted men standing, were sitting in the circular table.
In the center, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat hunched. His once-vibrant robes faded to the color of dried blood. His pipe laid cold in trembling fingers. The weight of Konoha's collapse pressed visibly on his shoulders: villages burned, clans fractured, the Uchiha teetering on rebellion. Flanking him, Koharu and Homura stood like funeral sentinels, their eyes sharp with suspicion. The trio, just four years ago fresh jonins under the guidance of Tobirama, lord Second, seemed to have aged by 20 years, when only four passed.
Onoki, the third Tsuchikage, clenched his fist at the sight of his sworn enemies. His knuckles were bleached white, his crimson-lined cloak tainted in the blood of hundreds of shinobi. Roshi was dead. The Stone Titan was dead. Many of his elders had died in the past year too, assassinated, betrayed. Worse than anything, his own wife had been killed by a Kumogakure ANBU.
Facing him with a grin, the third Raikage A was smiling. His elbows lied on his knees, his monstrous frame complementing his big brain. Kumogakure had bled too. Marui had been captured and killed, their jinchuriki stolen, and that was without counting the number of shinobi lost in their skirmishes against Konohagakure.
The third Kazekage was perhaps the youngest figure in the room, his youthful arrogance radiating from him like the scent of iron. His magnet release, known to everyone, swirled around him in orbit. Unlike others, Sunagakure emerged quite victorious from the conflicts. The southern front was expanding Sunagakure's territory, the war bringing tremendous innovations in the fields of potioneering and pupeteering. Chiyo and Ebizo, commanders of sunagakure corps, were standing besides him.
Lastly, the third Mizukage, known as the void, stayed silent, his face impassible. The bloody mist had been the perfect excuse for him to cause the downfall of Kirigakure clans, his opposition. The war had been a pretext to assert his political power, and he had capitalized on the gains. Unable to match Kirigakure's strength in the eastern front, Kirigakure had amassed quite a fortune in the past years, though three of its seven legendary swordsmen had been killed by Konoha geniuses. Like the other villages, Kirigakure stood strong, but fractured within.
Mifune, a young samurai who united the lands of iron under the threat of the war, showed composure. Although he was the righteous heir, he was not truly the one to command, his youthfulness equalling that of the third kazekage. However, unlike him, he lacked the strength to back his position.
As such, it was his own grandfather, an elder with a beard reaching the floor, who started talking.
"Thank you for accepting my invitation", he spoke with a rare calmness. Even the elite jonins accompanying each kage were feeling tremendous pressure, yet the man spoke calmly, a testament to his own samurai strength, "This war has consumed you all. For years, you have battled, with little to nothing to show for it. The more it lasts, the more you will lose"
Hiruzen nodded, bowing to the other kage instantly. Others were shocked, but did not interrupt him.
"I agree. This war has taken our sons, our fathers, our brothers. Let's put an end to it. Konoha proposes an armistice- five years to rebuild our homes, five years to regrow our-"
"Rebuild?!", A interrupted in laughter, "What makes you think we are going to let you regrow your strength? Konohagakure is under pressure, and lacks the strength. An armistice would waste all those effort"
The Kazekage nodded, unwilling to see his village's interest diminished: "Suna is not planning on halting its army either. The deserts expand - as should we. I accepted the invitation to see talks of compensation to our losses, but seeing that you only talk of armistice, I may have overestimated the meaning of this summit"
Koharu spat: "Over our corpses. Sunagakure fares no better than us. Kumogakure is on the brink of bankruptcy"
Onoki nodded. Enemies having united in losses, he supported Hiruzen: "Konohagakure is right. If we extend the battlefields, we might regress to an era of famine and poorness. I am sure the Earth Daimyo is not the only one to fear the consequences of further battles"
"We refuse", the Kazekage muttered, "Unless compensation is given, we will not accept those terms"
Homura shook her head: "Konohagakure might be pursuing a truce, but your greed precedes you, third kazekage. What makes you think you have any kind of leverage in this situation? From our reports, the battles in the south were flukes, pyrrhic victories at best, harsh defeats at worst"
The Kazekage smirked: "Things will go different if we continue battling. Our new ally...would find these words amusing"
A pulse of sound- a single, dissonant chord, vibrating the lanterns inside the room.
Samurai stiffened as the doors exploded inward, not with force, but sound and wind, unraveling into shrieking harmonics that dissolved the hinges. Injured, Yukiko could not attend the summit, and Kinzoku Hiroto, one of the twelve jonins who followed Danzo in the lands of rain, replaced her. Using his flute, he opened the doors with minimal chakra expense. Harumi did not bother to hide her aura either, the Hebikaze's bloodline release and dark red kimono making her mysterious and silent by nature.
Between those two, Danzo marched forward, finding calmness in the widening eyes of the kage present in this summit.