Yoruha had just finished speaking.
The entire conference room went dead silent once again.
Everyone exchanged glances—each expression carrying a mix of surprise, amusement, and disbelief.
"Tch… who the hell does Yunyin think they are, teaching Konoha how to handle its own affairs?"
Finally, Choza Akimichi crushed the potato chips in his hand into crumbs and then dumped the remains into his mouth, chewing with a loud crunch.
Yamanaka Hiashi gave a slow, thoughtful nod.
Konoha had asked them to take action against the Hidden Rain before, and they all refused.
And now?
The moment their own village got hurt, they wanted to call for a Five Kage Summit?
Who exactly did they think they were?
"Yeah," Hiashi added sharply. "Konoha isn't the same village it was back in the day. Why should we have to follow Raikage's lead?"
His eyes hardened.
If only Yoruha had been born a little earlier…
Maybe then, Hinata wouldn't have been pushed to the brink during the Hyūga affair.
"But still…" Shimura Danzo remained standing, his single visible eye wide with tension.
He hadn't expected Yoruha to be this bold.
"But if we go down this path… aren't you afraid Yunyin will declare war on Konoha?" he said, swallowing hard.
As much as Danzo hated to admit it, deep down, a part of him admired Yoruha's tough stance against Kumogakure.
It felt good.
Damn good.
But even so, someone had to face the bigger picture.
Were they really willing to risk triggering a Fourth Great Ninja War?
"I don't think it'll come to that," Tsunade said, shaking her head with calm confidence. "At the end of the day, we all have a common enemy: the Akatsuki."
Then, glancing meaningfully at Danzo, she added, "In fact, I think we should use this opportunity to put Raikage in his place. Before he gets out of hand."
From Tsunade's perspective, the last thing they needed was for Kumogakure to take charge of the fight against the Akatsuki.
If that happened, and the Akatsuki were defeated, Raikage would start getting ideas—expansionist ones.
Power handed over in peace only bred ambition.
No, it was better to draw the line now.
Tsunade had already made up her mind: Yoruha was right.
"Are you serious?" Danzo snapped. "You're the Hokage! You're just going to let some brat from the Yamanaka clan take over your position and do whatever he wants?!"
Tsunade turned and glared at him.
"Don't forget who saved Konoha last time!" she barked. "Where were you and your elite guards when Pain invaded the village?!"
"I—we were standing by… on alert…"
Danzo's face reddened.
The truth was, he'd told his Root forces to hold back during the invasion.
He'd hoped Tsunade and Pain would take each other out—maybe even take Yoruha with them.
Then he could swoop in, play the savior, and take over as Sixth Hokage.
But none of it had gone according to plan.
Yoruha had completely flipped the script.
Tsunade's voice cut through the room like a kunai.
"Danzo, stop pretending you're acting in the village's best interest. We all know exactly what you were really doing."
No one argued.
Everyone in the room was familiar with Danzo's under-the-table schemes by now.
That he even dreamed of becoming Hokage was laughable.
"You can drop the righteous act," Tsunade said coldly. "If you cared so much about the village, you would've done something when it was burning to the ground."
"Anyway, it's settled. Yoruha will go to the Land of Iron. Let him give Raikage and Ōnoki a taste of their own medicine."
A smirk tugged at her lips.
Just thinking about those two grumpy old men getting chewed out by Yoruha lifted her spirits.
"I wonder what's going on in Kirigakure right now," Hiashi mused, stroking his chin. "Is that old man Elder Genji still running the place?"
Mist Village had always been a strange one.
Like Amegakure, it was closed off and tightly guarded.
Everyone knew the Fourth Mizukage had died years ago—but no one knew who the Fifth was.
That part piqued Yoruha's interest.
The Fifth Mizukage… Terumī Mei.
An absolute beauty, by all accounts.
Too bad the system hadn't issued any sign-in missions in the Land of Water yet.
Otherwise, Yoruha would've taken a trip to Kirigakure already.
"Yoruha," Tsunade said seriously, "you might be incredibly strong, but this is still a mission of national importance. You'll need to bring some guards with you."
She gave him a sharp look.
This kid was too confident for his own good. Someone needed to keep him grounded.
"I was thinking of assigning Kakashi and Might Guy to accompany you."
With those two, at least she could rest easy.
"Let's… not do that," Yoruha said with a sigh.
God-tier Kakashi?
Eight-Gate Might Guy?
If they went all out, there was a real chance they'd scare Sasuke into peeing his pants.
"I'll take Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru," Yoruha said.
The key point of this trip was strategizing around Uchiha Obito and the Fourth Great Ninja War.
So bringing Shikamaru made sense.
As for Hinata and Ino…?
He just wanted to bring them along for some sightseeing and bonding.
"…Just the three of them?" Tsunade hesitated.
Sure, Shikamaru and Hinata were solid.
But the weight of this mission—was she really supposed to leave it in the hands of three teens?
"…Fine," Yoruha said suddenly. "Let's bring Danzo too. He's got experience. Let him come along and spar with the other village elders."
He glanced over at Danzo with a glint in his eye.
Honestly, he still wanted Danzo to toss him some kunai and help him polish his Susano'o.
How else was Sasuke supposed to keep evolving?
"…Danzo?" Tsunade and Hiashi shared a confused look.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Yoruha said, grinning. "The other villages have plenty of old men in power. I always respect my elders. Let Danzo talk some sense into them."
Danzo twitched.
Respect the elderly?
Yoruha had been throwing him under the bus for years.
Still…
This was a high-level summit.
Being included meant a lot.
After the 1,367th high-level council meeting of Konoha Village adjourned…
Yamanaka Hiashi pulled Yoruha aside for a brief one-on-one chat.
"Yoruha, I want you to be extra careful on this trip to the Land of Iron," he said, voice low but firm.
"You may not know this, but Raikage and Tsuchikage are tricky."
Both men were seasoned war-hardened generals.
Yunyin and Iwagakure weren't even close to each other geographically.
In fact, multiple countries sat between them.
And yet…
Those two had actually managed to start a naval battle with each other once.
A naval battle.
Between two landlocked mountain villages.
"Can you believe it?" Hiashi said, rubbing his temples.