444 409. Kage Summit Part-2
Next day in the morning,
The Kage group walks out of their living quarters.
"It's about time!"
Minato stares at the giant pagoda in front of him with narrowed eyes.
Tsunade takes the leading position, followed by Minato and Izumi.
Yesterday, after Mifune's departure, they decided to let Minato and Izumi participate as Hokage's bodyguards.
Kushina and the rest of the group left early to sightsee the landscape of the Land of Iron.
"It's huge!" Izumi stares at the peak of the giant pagoda.
"Not only that, it's tightly secured!" She remarks.
"Yes, I can sense around three hundred samurai's chakras in that building."
"Three hundred! So many." Izumi is surprised.
"Also, around five hundred samurais are patrolling this area." Minato continues.
"Well… the Land of Iron sure is prepared." Tsunade whistles.
"Prepared to deal with us in case things go south!" She chuckles.
"Let's go and meet with others. It has been a while since I last saw their face."
Half an hour later,
The Kages of the five nations gather in the meeting room on the topmost floor of the pagoda.
The Kages take their seat near the respective flag of their nations. Mifune is seated in the middle on an elevated platform with the flag of the land of Iron behind him.
"Please remove your Kage hats."
The Kages remove their hats and place them on the table.
"In response to Lord Raikage's request, the five Kages have assembled here."
One by one, light is shed on the respective Kages and the flag of their nation.
"I am Mifune, your moderator. The Five Kage Summit conference is called into order." Mifune declares the start of the Kage Summit.
"Then I shall speak first. Hear me." Gaara, who is currently Kazekage, proposes.
"Hoh! There is such a difference in Kage these days. To be Kage at your age is quite an accomplishment, Lord Kazekage. It seems your father trained you extremely well…" Onoki turns in the direction of the bodyguards hidden behind the flag.
"… except in the area of etiquette." A mocking smile appears on Onoki's face.
"This geezer…" Temari, who is hidden behind the Land of Wind flag, clenches her fist. Rasa places his hand on her shoulder and shakes his head.
"Dealing with such political trickery is also a part of the position of Kazekage. I am sure Gaara will handle it well. Besides, he isn't alone!"
"You are right! It's the reason why I can here as Kazekage with the same position and power as yours, Lord Tsuchikage." Gaara calmly answers him.
"Hmm… he has grown up pretty well!" Minato remarks.
"Yeah, back then he was quite violent and bloodthirsty," Izumi recalls Gaara's previous behavior.
"Izuna nii-san sure taught him well."
"Ehehe… I am not sure about that." Minato recalls the beating Izuna gave to Gaara and the one-tail whenever any of them went on a rampage.
"Even the one-tail has mellowed out after that humility training."
Minato and Izumi turn their attention to the meeting.
Pfft… Haha…
Onoki burst out in laughter at Gaara's retort.
"You certainly are cocky for a brat!"
"And you are as senile as ever for an old man." Tsunade remarks with a chuckle.
"Princess, looks like you are as foul-mouthed as ever." Onoki turns towards Tsunade.
"Your back must be hurting from carrying all that burden. Why don't you retire from your position as the Tsuchikage? The shinobis of Iwagakure might develop some mental issue after being ruled by a senile geezer for so long." Tsunade continues.
Tch…
Onoki clicks his tongue as Tsunade touched his sore spot. All these years, the quality of shinobi in the Iwagakure has dropped drastically. During the previous shinobi war, lots of their shinobis with great potential met their end. And the killer was none other than the Izuna Uchiha from Konoha.
The prodigies from the younger generation filled the gap, but all these shinobis are too young to bear the responsibility of a Kage. So, as such Iwagakure lacks a generation of talented shinobi with leadership qualities.
"Hoh! Did I touch a nerve?" Tsunade chuckles.
"Lady Hokage, Lord Tsuchikage, there is no need to make fun of each other." Mei interrupts them.
She turns towards Gaara.
"Lord Kazekage, please continue."
Hmph…
Tsunade and Onoki harrumph and turns to Gaara.
"As you all might be already aware, I am a former jinchuruki. One of the former members of Akatsuki, Orochimaru, manipulated the elders of my village and made us attack the leaf village. My father Rasa, the previous Kazekage, almost lost his life to his schemes. Thankfully, we were saved by the shinobis of Konoha.
Not only that, various other powerful individuals in Akatsuki wreaked havoc in the shinobi world in the past few years. In the past two years, Akatsuki has managed to get their hands on eight out of the Nine-tailed beasts. I am sure they are up to something sinister. So, I consider Akatsuki extremely dangerous.
If only the five great nations lent support and co-operated with each other, such a thing might not have happened."
"Huh! You expect me to believe such a lousy story when the three nations of Wind, Fire, and Water are already in a secret alliance. Support and cooperation are such nonsense!" Onoki scoffs.
"Not every nation holds such fickle belief as you, Lord Tsuchikage. Also, I am pretty sure it was your Iwagakure who hired Akatsuki as mercenaries in the past. The example of Konoha is just the rebellious act of a traitor." Tsunade retorts.
"However, having our tailed beast stolen is no cause for immediate fear. Controlling a tailed beast requires skills, knowledge, and time. The jinchuruki and the tailed beast must mature together and adapt to each other. And still, controlling the tailed beast is difficult. It is not a simple task. Isn't that so, Kazekage?" Onoki turns to Gaara.
"I agree with you, Lord Tsuchikage. However, there have been cases of people successful jinchuruki like the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, Lord Raikage's younger brother Killer bee, and Fourth Hokage's son Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara adds.
A clench his fist at the mention of his younger brother.
"No! Your information is half correct, Lord Kazekage. Other than these people, there have been cases of a person with overwhelming powers controlling a tailed beast. For example, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the previous leader of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha, and the…"
Onoki turns towards Mei and Tsunade.
"… the former student and husband of Lady Hokage and Lady Mizukage, who is currently missing at the moment."
Tch…
Tsunade and Mei also clench their fists.
"Enough of this!"
Tsunade and A smash the table in front of them while the table in front of Mei turns to cinders.
Whoosh… whoosh…
The bodyguards of all Kages appear in the hall with their weapons pointed toward each other.
A stalemate occurs as the bodyguard glare at each other. Only Minato and Rasa are calmly sitting in their position.
"I didn't expect Lord Minato and Lord Rasa to be the only level-headed people here." Onoki glances at Minato and Rasa.
AHEMM…
Mifune clears his throat.
"This is a place of discussion. Please refrain from disruptive actions."
The Kages signal their bodyguard to retreat.
Mifune also signals his platoon of almost a hundred samurais, which have surrounded the meeting room at some unknown time to retreat.
A few samurais quickly enter the room and clean up the place.
"Let's continue our discussion."
---------------------
In the Land of Iron village,
"Wow! Look at all these thick clothes made of animal fur." Kushina and the rest of the girls visit the clothing store.
"I am so hungry. Let's eat some ramen, Dattebyo!" Naruto drags Sasuke away.
"I am not sure if there are any ramen shops…"
"Oh, found it!"
Naruto's nose twitches as he dashes in a direction.
"Huh! So quickly. Are you a dog or something?" Sasuke is surprised by Naruto's efficiency.
"My nose can smell the aroma of ramen from miles away." Naruto proudly rubs his neck.
"What a useless skill!" Sasuke retorts.
"Hehe… when I was small, one of my dreams was to explore the shinobi world and eat Ramen from every village and town in the shinobi world. And now I am already halfway there." Naruto proudly puffs his chest.
"That's quite a small dream for someone who wants to be the Hokage."
"This and that are different! As a true Ramen connoisseur, how can I not eat Ramen from every land? It will be a disgrace to the Ramen God." Naruto claps his hands and prays.
"Let me have a delicious ramen meal, Ramen God!"
"Ramen God?!" Sasuke tilts his head in confusion.
"Yes, Ramen God!"
Naruto explains the features of the Ramen god to Sasuke.
"He has powerful eyes called Ramengan which can see through the fine details of every Ramen ingredient with only a glance. Also, he can…"
"Umm… Naruto, who told you about this Ramen God?" Sasuke's mouth twitches.
"It was Izuna Nii-san. When I was small, Izuna Nii-san told me a story about him.
"As expected!" Sasuke sighs.
'Also, why does this description matches the old man Teuchi at Ichiraku Ramen?'
