A Speech

Meanwhile, six people had gathered on a large stage in front of tens of thousands of people. Every single one of them wore something with the kanji for shinobi on their body. Whether headband or armband, the kanji always had the same design. This was the symbol of the Great Shinobi Alliance.

These six people were the squad leaders of the Great shinobi alliance.

Darui, the leader of the first squad, the mid-range fighter division, was a tall man with dark skin, bored-looking black eyes, and shaggy white hair. He was part of Kumogakure's forces.

Kitsuchi was the leader of the second squad, the close-range fighter division. He was a rather brawny-looking shinobi with grey hair, dark eyes, and a beard. Originally, he was a shinobi from Iwagakure.

The leader of the third squad, the close/mid-range fighter division, was none other than Hatake Kakashi. He was currently looking especially bored, and those who knew him could easily see that he would have pulled out a certain book by now if doing so wouldn't have resulted in a lot of pain.

Then, there was the leader of the fourth division, Gaara. He was the squad leader of the long-range fighter division and, in addition to that, the commander-general of the whole army.

Next was Mifune, who was the leader of the fifth division, the special ops division.

Finally, there was the leader of the sixth division: Masato Uzumaki. He was a middle-aged man with short, crimson hair. Previously, he was responsible for the security of the Uzumaki compound, but now he was chosen as the leader of the sixth division, the sealing squad.

Unlike the other squads, this one had its troops spread throughout all other squads, ensuring that there was an even spread of people capable of using sealing arts.

Rather than commanding large groups of people, Masato was responsible for efficiently using the Uzumaki clan's people and their seals. He was not given the squad leader position due to his strength or prestige; he was solely here for his knowledge about seals.

Mifune allowed his gaze to wander over the gathered people, causing his chest to swell in pride. This is what he has wanted to see for a long time now. The shinobi nation united under one colossal banner. The fact that it needed a threat to all of humanity for this to happen was a little depressing, but he could easily push those feelings down.

He gazed over his fellow squad leader, and his gaze lingered on Gaara for a while longer. Moments later, a slight smirk appeared on his face.

'I really wonder what this young man is thinking about this. Unlike the other leaders, he is very young. One might argue that having someone this young in a commanding position would be a bad move, but I think differently. In my opinion, there is no problem with injecting a bit of young blood into the leading echelons. I think he might come up with ideas us older people would have never come up with. I'm rather confident in him, so let's see what he can do.'

"Kazekage-dono, since you are the commander, how about holding a little speech to motivate our troops?"

Gaara pondered Mifune's words for a short moment and nodded his head. Frankly, if he had been asked to hold a motivational speech a few years ago, he would have had no idea where he even was supposed to start, but now things were different. He had ruled as the Kazekage for about a year by now, and he had slowly begun to understand the heart of other people. So, he walked towards the front of the stage and was just about to start speaking when loud footsteps echoed over the gathering. Gaara looked at the source of the sound and saw Yuna approach his current position with a leisurely smile on her face.

As soon as Yuna appeared, a report was sent to A through the Yamanaka clan's communication technique. When he heard the information of Yuna appearing at the gathering, he immediately started glaring at Tsunade, causing her to chuckle in amusement.

"What? I gave her your stupid mission. I told you from the start that this wouldn't work."

A's glare intensified before he snorted in disdain and averted his gaze.

"This will have consequences."

Yet again, Tsunade couldn't help but snicker after hearing A's words.

"I doubt that."

Meanwhile, back at the gathering, Gaara realized that Yuna was very likely walking towards him because she wanted to hold the speech instead of him. So, Gaara did the only sensible thing he could think of: He quickly stepped back and gave Yuna his spot.

Yuna gave him a simple nod and took his place. She let her eyes wander over the crowd, and after a few moments, she was ready to start her speech. However...

"Hey, did you just bump into me, Iwa scum?"

"Haa? Do you wanna go a few rounds, Taki bastard."

... a quarrel started in the crowd. Frankly, it's more surprising that this was the first conflict that happened. After all, there was a lot of tension in the crowd. Before anyone could start anything significant, an ice wall rose between the two arguing people, separating them.

"Mah, could you keep your annoyances bottle up until we are done saving humanity, please."

The remainder of what was currently at stake immediately silenced the crowd, causing Yuna to nod in satisfaction.

"Very well, all of you should realize that currently, you are not Iwa or Kumo shinobi, but just shinobi."

As she said that, she pointed at the new shinobi headband she had tied around her upper arm. A few people that knew that Yuna was sent away on a mission so she would stay out of the war briefly wondered where she got that headband from, but they swiftly dismissed their question. So, without any interruptions, Yuna continued speaking.

We have no time for petty squabbles against each other's nations during this war, as we are here to fight for humanity itself."

[Wow, I'm impressed. That was disgusting.]

'I know, right?'

You saw that a fire started burning in everyone's eyes and nodded in approval.

'Good, raising their spirit was a success. Now, it is time to crush it.'

[I'm not surprised in the slightest.]

"Now that that is out of the way let me ask you another question...'

The crowd started whispering with each other in anticipation of what Yuna might say. When Yuna saw the intrigue on everyone's faces, her face split into a monstrous grin.

"Why do we fight wars?"