Seven days later.
The unforeseen incident during Sunagakure's military exercises gradually began to ferment throughout the ninja world.
People suddenly discovered that the current ninja world had become somewhat unfamiliar. Since the end of the Third Great Ninja War, it had been an unknown amount of time since any significant major events had occurred.
But this year: Sunagakure launched the Konoha Crush against Konoha; the Dragon Heritage organization coerced four great ninja villages into signing peace statements; an unknown organization, relying on an organized fleet, launched a surprise attack on Sunagakure; the Akatsuki organization, treating Sunagakure's exercise troops as nothing, openly attempted to capture the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
Even three days ago, news had spread that a Five Kage Summit was about to be convened.
This couldn't help but make people wonder: was the Fourth Great Ninja War about to begin?
Within the ninja world, the prices of resources such as grain and weapons all saw varying degrees of increase.
Of course, during this period, the Five Great Hidden Villages also made their own responses to the 'wanton recklessness' of the Dragon Heritage and Akatsuki organizations.
Konoha stated that it had already established an emergency response unit, specifically responsible for potential conflict incidents involving the two organizations within the Land of Fire. This unit brought together a host of jounin, including the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake and the Blue Beast Might Guy, to ensure that the events of the Land of Wind would not be repeated in the Land of Fire.
Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure all issued strong condemnations of the actions of the two organizations.
As for the biggest victim, Sunagakure, they directly issued wanted notices for all members of the Akatsuki organization.
Of course, the occurrence of these events had no immediate impact on Naruto.
Because, only moments ago, had he finally managed to completely eliminate the poison from Gaara's body.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" Naruto asked, holding one finger in front of Gaara's eyes.
Gaara: "…"
"Naruto, stop fooling around."
"I was just worried your brain might have been affected too," Naruto said, retracting his finger with a sheepish smile. "This was something Shukaku specifically asked me to check."
Gaara was puzzled. "Why?"
"Wasn't it because you insisted on chatting with that Sasori of the Red Sand guy even while you were poisoned? How could I not suspect your brain was addled?" Shukaku's voice sounded.
"Naruto said that guy's poison was a neurotoxin. If your brain really got damaged, that would be a huge problem."
"What were you thinking at the time? You weren't actually trying to persuade that guy to return to Sunagakure with words, were you?" Naruto walked over to a nearby sofa, sat down, and asked curiously.
Fortunately, Shukaku had reacted quickly. If the poison had been given a little more time, Naruto might very well have had to attend Gaara's funeral in Sunagakure.
After all, according to Gaara's own description, he had been on the verge of losing consciousness at the time.
A Jinchuriki who had lost consciousness… forget Sasori of the Red Sand, any random ninja could have easily finished him off.
"I wanted to know why he, who had gained everyone's acknowledgment, would choose to defect from Sunagakure…" Gaara said, his expression uncomprehending.
"…" Hearing this, Naruto didn't quite know what to say.
This was perhaps the harshness of reality.
Gaara, who had been ostracized and ignored by Sunagakure since childhood, strove tirelessly to gain everyone's acknowledgment after growing up.
And Sasori, who had grown up amidst everyone's expectations, later regarded that acknowledgment as worthless, abandoning Sunagakure without a care to become a missing-nin.
Of course, even though Naruto understood the reason for Gaara's confusion, he wasn't qualified to offer guidance.
Although their childhood experiences were similar, his own choice was to leave his village, a stark contrast to Gaara's choice.
Without having gone through it, one had no right to speak.
The answer to this could only be found by Gaara himself.
"When you've experienced more, the answer to this question will naturally appear," Naruto said, snapping his fingers to draw Gaara's attention.
"First, let's have a meeting."
Mental Space.
"Kurama, Shukaku," Naruto looked at the two giants. "See how many of the others you can call out."
The nine Tailed Beasts were like nine households in a village, and this communication space was the common 'plaza' for these nine households.
But these nine households were somewhat peculiar. They usually kept their 'doors and windows tightly shut,' indifferent to any communication activities happening in the 'plaza.' They knew things were happening but simply didn't get involved.
The households that did participate in activities didn't bother trying to curry favor with a cold reception either, treating those closed doors and windows with similar indifference.
But since there were 'doors and windows,' one could knock.
What Kurama and Shukaku were doing now was 'knocking,' to see if they could call out their usually aloof 'neighbors.'
The first to respond to the two beasts were the Two-Tails, Matatabi, and the Three-Tails, Isobu, who usually participated in 'activities' frequently.
"What's going on?" The one who asked was Yugito Nii, Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails, Matatabi.
She looked at Uzumaki Naruto sitting on the Nine-Tails' head, then at Gaara standing on Shukaku's head, instinctively sensing something was up.
"Let's wait for the others, then we'll talk all together," Naruto said.
Yugito Nii nodded slightly.
Ten minutes later, looking at the five Tailed Beasts present, Naruto slowly stood up.
The ones who came were all familiar faces; those who hadn't participated in activities before still remained 'oblivious to the happenings outside their windows.'
Present were: the One-Tail Shukaku and his Jinchuriki Gaara; the Two-Tails Matatabi and her Jinchuriki Yugito Nii; the Three-Tails Isobu, without a Jinchuriki; the Six-Tails Saiken, without a Jinchuriki; the Eight-Tails Gyuki and his Jinchuriki Killer Bee; and the Nine-Tails Kurama and his Jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto.
The Three-Tails had no Jinchuriki because he simply didn't have one, while the Six-Tails had no Jinchuriki present because she had not yet reached an understanding with hers.
Truthfully, the arrival of Killer Bee and Gyuki was somewhat surprising to him.
After all, in their last battle, he had been genuinely heavy-handed.
"Everyone…" Naruto slowly informed those present about the Akatsuki organization and the speculations he and Kurama had made.
"Shukaku, you'd better be careful." If one only listened to her voice and didn't see her appearance, the Six-Tails, Saiken, would definitely be mistaken for a gentle and refined young lady.
"Hmph! Don't need your concern!" Shukaku snorted, clearly displeased with her advice, especially in front of that stinky fox.
"Saiken, can you communicate with your Jinchuriki?" Gyuki asked.
"As long as Killer Bee doesn't run around and stays obediently in the village, I won't have any problems. With Uzumaki Naruto's help, the safety of those three is also somewhat guaranteed."
"It's just the few of you…"
The Five-Tails, Kokuo, and the Seven-Tails, Chomei, were still somewhat alright; their Jinchuriki still had the protection of their respective villages.
The problem was more severe for the Four-Tails, Son Goku, and the Six-Tails, Saiken; their Jinchuriki had both had conflicts with their respective villages and were wandering the ninja world alone.
If Akatsuki's leadership wasn't brain-dead, they definitely wouldn't let such a good opportunity slip by.
"Communicate with my Jinchuriki…" Saiken's six tails swayed aimlessly behind her. She instinctively recoiled from the idea of communicating with those who had sealed her.
"If possible, try to tell him about Akatsuki," Kurama interjected. "After all, this concerns both your lives."
"I know…" Saiken replied listlessly.
"Do you know your Jinchuriki's location?" Shukaku asked. "These two might be able to help you out."
He pointed to his own Jinchuriki and Kurama's Jinchuriki.
Naruto looked at Shukaku with surprise. He hadn't expected this sharp-tongued fellow to actually show concern for others. How rare…
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