[Naruto Uzumaki: Sakura! Of course not! My dad would never talk nonsense.]
[Deidara @ Naruto Uzumaki: If the Fourth Hokage wasn't talking nonsense, then tell me—what exactly was he trying to say to the Fourth Raikage back then, yeah?]
Clearly, Deidara was on the Fourth Raikage's side of the argument.
[Naruto Uzumaki: I don't know if I'm right, but I think what my dad wanted to tell the Fourth Raikage was that Killer Bee is an incredibly important comrade to him. He hoped the Fourth Raikage wouldn't just see Bee as the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, but truly treat him as his best partner and friend!]
Kushina and Minato both froze for a moment, then broke into warm smiles.
As expected of their son.
[Deidara: What kind of nonsense is that? No way, yeah!]
[Hidan: I agree, that can't be it. I'm with Deidara.]
[Hinata Hyuga: I think Naruto-kun is right. I support him.]
[Deidara @ Hinata Hyuga: You're the Nine-Tails brat's future wife, of course you'd take his side, yeah.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: So what? My daughter-in-law supporting my son is a problem now?]
[Sakura Haruno: I support Naruto too.]
[Gaara: Same. At first I didn't get it, but once Naruto said it, I noticed it too.]
[Deidara: Impossible! No way that's it! How could it be about "comrades"? It has to be some big secret about jinchūriki and Tailed Beasts, yeah!]
[Hidan: I'm getting hyped! Maybe they're about to reveal some major secret about jinchūriki in a bit.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: I'll be honest with you—that is the correct answer. Naruto got it right. My husband told me himself.]
[Deidara: Naruto is your kid. Obviously you and the Fourth Hokage are going to back him up, yeah!]
[Fourth Raikage A @ Deidara: No wonder Naruto could save Gaara. What the Fourth Hokage wanted to tell me really was what Naruto said.]
[Deidara: Nani?! How is that possible, yeah?!]
[Fourth Raikage A @ Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Thanks for back then.]
The footage continued.
[As he studied the positions of the kunai, A thought, "He can teleport to any of these marked kunai. I've basically memorized where they all are now. If he appears at one of them next time, I can beat him with sheer speed."]
[With that thought, A charged at Minato again.]
[Minato: "Because I bear a lot on my shoulders as well… I won't lose."]
[In an instant, Minato vanished from where he stood once more.]
[As A watched the kunai and prepared himself, he suddenly noticed that Minato had appeared behind Killer Bee, placing a marked kunai at the back of his head.]
["He… he inscribed the teleportation formula on one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles!"]
[It turned out that in the instant Bee had pulled A away, Minato had casually placed the seal.]
[However, in that same instant, Bee's blade had flipped around and was pressed to Minato's stomach—if either of them moved, it would be mutual destruction. And so… the battle ended.]
...
Group chat.
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki: Looks like the scroll's evaluation was spot on. Your speed really is inferior to the Fourth Hokage's. @ Fourth Raikage A]
[Third Raikage @ Fourth Raikage A: Son, you may have lost, but you did well enough. You're not weak—your opponent was just too strong.]
[Second Raikage: As expected of the Yellow Flash of the Leaf—his reputation is well earned.]
[Eight-Tails: Bee did pretty well too!]
[Nine-Tails: You've got some nerve talking. All you do is lend your power to your jinchūriki and that's it?]
[Eight-Tails: I'm not stooping to your level.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju @ Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi: See that? The Fourth is clearly stronger than you. On what basis did you call yourself the strongest Hokage in history?]
[Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi: Sensei, I know I was wrong. Can we not bring that up anymore?]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: When you called yourself "the strongest Hokage," you embarrassed not only yourself, but all of us, and the entire Leaf.]
[Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi: First Hokage-sama, I truly know I was wrong.]
[Fourth Raikage A: The footage is over. Why hasn't the scroll lit up to give me my reward yet?]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi: Hahaha! Must be because you first looked down on the reward, then got all smug about it and angered the scroll—so it decided not to give it to you.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju: Good job, scroll.]
[Chiyo: That'd be satisfying. He actually wanted a custom spiked club just for me. Makes me furious just thinking about it.]
[Fourth Raikage A: Damn it, I am being targeted!]
[Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi @ Second Hokage Tobirama: Sensei, now that he's lost that jutsu reward, do you still need Danzō and me to take him down?]
[Danzō: Yes, Sensei, can we skip killing him now? He is the Fourth Raikage. If we attack him, that means going to war with the entire Hidden Cloud.]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju: Just having such thoughts is enough to deserve a beating. But since he's already so pitiful and lost his reward, let's spare him for now.]
[Second Raikage @ Second Hokage Tobirama: So Konoha was planning on going to war with our Hidden Cloud?]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: It's your Hidden Cloud that was starting something with us.]
[Second Tsuchikage Mū @ Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki: If Konoha really goes to war with the Cloud, you must fully support Konoha. That guy wanted to use Thousand Years of Death on me and even talked about a custom spiked club.]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi @ Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi: If you move against the Fourth Raikage, please count the Mist in. I'm this young and beautiful, and he wants to use such a disgusting technique on me.]
[Tsunade: Ugh! Childish brat, how narcissistic are you? But… I'll join in too.]
[Chiyo: The Sand Village swears to stand with Konoha.]
[Fourth Raikage A: Everyone, everyone! Don't forget we have a common enemy. I was just joking earlier. No need to take it so seriously!]
[...]
Mabui stared at the Fourth Raikage, speechless.
Mabui: "Lord Raikage, I think you're officially public enemy number one."
Fourth Raikage A: "Damn it. If that reward hadn't suddenly vanished, I wouldn't fear them at all. Even the Sage of Six Paths—I'd make a special giant spiked club just for him and we'd see if he could handle it."
[Sage of Six Paths @ Fourth Raikage A: Excuse me? You want to make a giant spiked club for me?]
[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki: Good. I like your style. Don't be afraid, you have my full support. Remember to coat it with a poison that causes unbearable itching. Before I break free, give that unfilial son a proper beating for me.]
[Fourth Raikage A: As expected of the legendary Sage of Six Paths. I didn't even say that in the chat and you still knew?]
[Sage of Six Paths: Hmph. I know everything that happens in the ninja world.]
[Fourth Raikage A: Then what's the deal with this scroll? Why didn't it give me my reward?]
A bunch of dark lines appeared over the Sage's head.
He didn't answer.
To save face, he could say it was his doing that the scroll withheld the reward—
But he was afraid of offending the scroll.
If it punished him in front of both the living and the Pure Land, he'd be utterly humiliated. And on top of that, he himself might suffer badly.
Kaguya might even be freed early because of it.
So the Sage chose silence.
[Fourth Raikage A @ Sage of Six Paths: Thought you knew everything. Don't tell me you don't know this?]
[Sage of Six Paths: You're out of your lane.]
[...]
While everyone in the chat continued guessing why A hadn't received his reward—
The footage, which had paused, suddenly resumed.
Just like before—
No video appeared immediately.
Instead, a title popped up first:
[Fourth Raikage vs. Fifth Hokage]
Group chat.
[Fourth Raikage A: Hahaha! So it's not that I'm not getting a reward—my footage just isn't over yet!]
Hidden Cloud Village, Raikage's Office.
The Fourth Raikage jumped up, ecstatic.
"Hahaha, then I've got nothing to worry about!"
Mabui: "Lord Raikage… even if you do get your reward, we probably don't need the spiked clubs anymore, right?"
Fourth Raikage A: "You handle it. Make them in secret. Whatever you do, don't let the other villages find out."
A line of dark stress-marks appeared over Mabui's head.
The Raikage was serious.
Fourth Raikage A: "Oh, and as for the legendary mother of the Sage of Six Paths… her case is negotiable."
Another row of black lines popped over Mabui's head.
Pure Land.
The Sage of Six Paths let out a long breath.
"Thank goodness. I almost got exposed."
"I have no idea what this scroll actually is. I can perceive everything happening in the ninja world and the Pure Land—"
"But this scroll came out of nowhere. I tried to probe it, and not only did I fail, it immediately backlashed and hurt me."
"My mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, is an outsider. Looks like this scroll is too."
"I don't know if the two are connected."
"I hope they're not. If they are, that'll be a problem…"
Inside the Moon.
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