The moment Tsunade finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.
After a while, Gaara looked around and saw that the Raikage, Mizukage, and Tsuchikage were all silent with their heads lowered. He was the first to speak.
"I agree with the Hokage-sama's proposal. We should establish a Shinobi Allied Army."
As soon as he said that, the other three Kage lifted their heads to look at him, slight frowns appearing on their faces.
"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, your intelligence has not yet been fully verified. I think it's somewhat inappropriate to begin discussing the Shinobi Allied Army already," Ōnoki said slowly.
Hearing that, Tsunade frowned slightly, but said nothing. She was waiting for the other two to respond.
At that moment, Mifune spoke up.
"This concerns the peace of the entire world. We samurai will also join and lend everyone our strength."
Now it was three against one. Everything depended on the attitudes of the remaining two.
After a long silence, Mei Terumī finally spoke slowly.
"As for the matter of the Shinobi Allied Army, the Village Hidden in the Mist has decided to participate."
A pondered for a moment before speaking as well.
"If this is truly going to be a Shinobi Allied Army, then a leader needs to be chosen."
Mifune nodded.
"Naturally. Determining the leader is indeed important. Since this proposal was brought forward by the Hokage-sama, I suggest that the Hokage-sama serve as the commander of the Shinobi Allied Army. Does anyone object?"
The moment Mifune finished speaking, A abruptly stood up.
"I object!"
"Then who do you think should take the position?" Mifune turned toward A and asked calmly.
"There are no rogue ninja from our Hidden Cloud Village among the Akatsuki. I can't trust the others. In my opinion, this responsibility should fall to me," A declared emotionally.
Mifune slowly shook his head and pointed at the shattered table A had smashed earlier.
"A commander of the strong naturally needs both temperament and power. But someone who acts purely on emotion and impulse will only turn the Allied Army into a disorganized mess."
A gritted his teeth and turned his head away.
Mifune continued calmly,
"As for information regarding the Akatsuki, I believe none of you understand them as thoroughly as the Hokage-sama does. The true purpose behind the Akatsuki capturing the tailed beasts, which the Hokage-sama mentioned earlier, should already be clear to everyone here."
"At present, the only tailed beasts left on our side are the One-Tail of the Hidden Sand Village and the Nine-Tails of Hidden Leaf Village. We should hide them away and protect them with everything we have. That is our primary objective."
Hearing this, Tsunade raised her hand.
"I don't think they should be treated as strategic weapons and hidden away. We should trust them."
Gaara also raised his hand.
"I agree with the Hokage-sama. I am not only a jinchūriki, but also the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village."
"And if you accidentally fall into the Akatsuki's hands and the Eye of the Moon Plan is activated, have you considered what the consequences would be?" Mifune stared at Gaara as he spoke.
"Then all we have to do is become strong enough to defeat the Akatsuki, right?"
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the room.
Sitting atop Kakashi's head, Rorin shook his head helplessly with a bitter smile.
So he still came in after all.
Naruto Uzumaki suddenly appeared in the conference hall, instantly causing all the guards to react again.
The lights in the hall blazed fully on once more.
"Who's there?!" A shouted as he stood up immediately.
The guards of the Land of Iron pointed their weapons at Naruto Uzumaki, watching his every movement carefully.
The moment she saw Naruto, Tsunade froze slightly. Soon after, Jiraiya's figure also appeared in the hall.
"What a headache… sorry, Tsunade. I really couldn't stop him," Jiraiya said while rubbing his head in frustration.
Hearing this, everyone except Gaara turned toward Tsunade, clearly waiting for an explanation.
"I'm the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto announced on his own initiative.
Everyone present was stunned.
"As for what you said earlier about hiding me away… sorry, but I won't agree to that. I'm not going to hide somewhere while my comrades risk their lives fighting powerful enemies just to protect me."
"If you're worried about us falling into the Akatsuki's hands, then all we have to do is become strong enough that we won't lose to them, right, Gaara?"
After saying that, Naruto pointed to his own heart before looking toward Gaara.
Gaara nodded slightly.
"Naruto's right. If we keep fearing failure and refuse to trust our comrades, then this battle is destined to end in defeat."
"That's only if you actually possess the strength to back up those words," A said indifferently.
The next instant, he lunged toward Naruto in a flash, shocking everyone present.
A's thoughts were simple. Since words wouldn't work, he would just knock Naruto unconscious and forcefully keep him protected.
Seeing this, Tsunade and Gaara moved to stop him—
But suddenly, a figure appeared in front of Naruto Uzumaki and casually caught A's punch with one hand.
"Seriously, old man, can't you just sit down and talk things out properly? Why do you have to start throwing punches?" Rorin said with a faint smile.
"Brat, who the hell are you?" A glared furiously, trying to pull his arm back, only to realize he couldn't budge it at all.
Jiraiya used Body Flicker and instantly arrived beside Rorin.
"That's enough, bone kid."
Earlier, when Jiraiya saw A suddenly attacking Naruto, he had activated the Flying Thunder God mark at a critical moment and thrown a bone toward Naruto's position.
Because of that, the Rorin sitting on Kakashi's head naturally appeared in front of Naruto Uzumaki and blocked A's thunderous strike for him.
Rorin then released his grip, allowing A to finally pull his hand back before slowly returning to his seat, though his eyes remained fixed on Rorin.
After A left, Rorin tossed the bone in his hand back to Jiraiya.
"Seriously, can you stop using me like this all the time? If I'm not prepared, I'm the one who gets hurt here."
"Haha, that just means we trust you!" Jiraiya laughed.
"So this one is also a ninja from Hidden Leaf Village?" Ōnoki looked toward Tsunade as he spoke softly.
"Mm, that's right." Tsunade nodded slightly before turning toward A. "Raikage, explain yourself. Why did you attack Naruto just now?"
"I only intended to knock him unconscious. Since he refused to be protected, I had no choice but to use force. Though it's a shame…" A's gaze remained locked onto Rorin.
"Hidden Leaf Village really is overflowing with talent," Ōnoki remarked with a smile.
"But bringing this many people to the Five Kage Summit… what exactly is Hidden Leaf Village planning?" he added immediately afterward.
"Tsuchikage-sama, today we are here to discuss how to deal with the Akatsuki. Please don't overthink unrelated matters. We cannot afford internal conflict," Mifune said calmly.
"Mm, perhaps I spoke too much," Ōnoki replied indifferently.
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