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The next morning.
Kaito, having slept soundly through the night, walked out of his room yawning, just in time to see Sasuke, drenched in sweat, returning from down the corridor, a practice sword in his hand.
"Morning, Sasuke."
Kaito stretched lazily. "Been training?"
Sasuke nodded, then gave him a somewhat disdainful look.
"Tch, only just getting up?"
"Tsk!"
Kaito reached out and roughly ruffled his hair.
"What kind of attitude is that from you, kid?"
Then, he shook his hand with a look of disgust.
"Tch, all sweaty. Go take a bath!"
"Hmph!"
Sasuke shook his head and headed towards his room.
"Oh, right." He turned back, pretending to speak casually. "There's still breakfast in the kitchen."
Having said that, he entered his room and closed the door.
"Heh."
Kaito let out a soft chuckle and shook his head.
He went to the kitchen, brought the breakfast back to his room to eat, then tidied up the documents he had left on his desk the previous night.
Just then, Karin arrived at the door and knocked.
"Uncle, those people from the ninja villages are here."
Kaito, having grown accustomed to her form of address, acknowledged her and walked out of the room carrying the files.
Karin peeked into the room and proactively offered in a well-behaved tone, "Uncle, you go meet with those people. I'll tidy up your room for you."
"Thank you for the trouble."
Kaito nodded with a smile and turned to leave.
'Little girl, if you're trying to win over Sasuke, putting effort into me won't work. After all, in my view, that kid Sasuke doesn't seem to have a clue about such things yet. For that boy, romance is probably not even as interesting as practicing swordsmanship.'
Thinking this, he shook his head.
In the castle's main hall, the leaders of the various factions stationed on the Moon had gathered, yet no one spoke. They simply waited quietly for Kaito to appear.
Minato and Naruto stood together, curiously examining the castle's opulent decorations in its novel architectural style.
Although others weren't as brazen as this father-son pair, they were also observing secretly.
No one had expressed any dissent from the beginning regarding Kaito's group occupying the most luxurious castle on the Moon.
On one hand, it was because Kaito's strength surpassed everyone else's, and the plan for constructing a space defense line on the Moon had been proposed by him, with him providing technical support to everyone.
On the other hand, the land surrounding this castle held no exploitable value.
In everyone's view, it simply wasn't worth potentially offending Kaito over it.
Tap, tap, tap…
The crisp sound of wooden clogs tapping against the floor tiles echoed. Kaito, holding a stack of documents, appeared at the corridor entrance on one side of the hall.
"Good morning, everyone."
He greeted them in a languid tone.
"My apologies. I got up rather late, making you all wait."
Although his apology didn't sound particularly sincere judging by his tone, everyone responded with good grace, greeting him and indicating they didn't mind at all.
"Please follow me."
Kaito led the group to a side chamber, which he had entrusted Karin to arrange into a conference room the previous night.
Kaito glanced at the setup, nodded in satisfaction, and walked directly to the head of the long table to sit down.
"Everyone, please take a seat. Let's discuss matters seated. Feel free to sit wherever."
He placed the documents in his hands on the table, looking at everyone with a smiling expression.
Although he said to sit wherever, the others exchanged glances briefly. Then, the representatives of the Five Great Ninja Villages unhesitatingly took the forward seats.
Minato sat in the first seat to his right.
Kaito looked at Naruto, standing behind Minato, completely unable to stay still like someone with hyperactivity, and chuckled softly. "What is it, Naruto?"
"Ah, Uncle Kaito, why haven't I seen Sasuke-ttebayo?" Naruto asked bluntly and without ceremony.
"What, do you need him for something?" Kaito inquired.
"Not really anything, hahaha."
Naruto, having been glanced back at by Minato, scratched his head awkwardly and laughed dryly.
Kaito withdrew his gaze and looked at the people seated around the long table.
"My apologies for gathering everyone on the Moon previously and then not making a timely appearance due to personal reasons. The reason for gathering everyone together today is to communicate with all of you regarding the construction of the space defense line."
Seeing that no one spoke up, he continued: "I presume everyone is quite aware that merely stationing some ninja on the Moon is utterly insufficient to guard against the Ōtsutsuki clan, whose point of origin in the cosmos is unknown. To ensure this so-called 'space defense line' isn't just a formality, I still propose that everyone unify and cooperate to build a truly effective defensive line to protect our own planet."
The individuals dispatched to the Moon by the various factions were all capable of holding their own. Listening to Kaito's words now, most assumed serious expressions. No one seemed inclined to state their position immediately.
It was the Shrine Maiden of the Land of Demons, Shion, being the youngest, who spoke first. "What do you intend to do, Kaito-san? After all, protecting such a massive planet seems… impractical no matter how one approaches it?"
Kaito offered her a slight smile.
"That's why, in my conception, having only the Moon is insufficient."
He distributed the documents in his hands.
"The specific design can be seen in the documents everyone now holds."
Upon receiving the documents, everyone began examining them carefully. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the rustling of turning pages.
Then, all those looking at the documents widened their eyes, expressions of extreme astonishment appearing on their faces.
This time, it was the Konohagakure jōnin wearing an ANBU mask who went by the name Kawano who spoke first.
"Kaito-sama. This kind of plan… is it truly possible to complete?"
Although he showed due respect, Kaito could hear the doubt in his tone regarding the plan.
However, Kaito didn't feel offended, as people are limited by the boundaries of their own understanding and perspective.
Darui from Kumogakure, true to being the right-hand man of the Fourth Raikage, although appearing as the typical large, dark-skinned man of the Yotsuki clan, was actually more meticulous in disposition compared to the Fourth Raikage himself.
He had clearly studied Kaito's proposal carefully before speaking. "Kaito-sama, you truly think on a grand scale. Creating nine additional satellites orbiting the planet beyond the Moon, forming a super barrier with the Moon to protect the planet… this is indeed an unprecedented feat."
His tone of speech was somewhat languid, but his eyes were serious.
"However, not to make excuses, even though Kumogakure ranks among the Five Great Ninja Villages, we do not possess the means for such an undertaking."
He glanced at the others and asked, "Perhaps other villages are capable of such earth-shattering, monumental work?"
"Apologies, Sunagakure cannot do it."
Maki flatly refused.
"Iwagakure cannot do it either."
Ōnoki's son, Kurotsuchi's father, followed suit in stating their position.
"Konohagakure cannot do something like this either."
Minato spread his hands.
Subsequently, everyone looked at the masked Kirigakure jōnin, Kawano.
"Kirigakure certainly cannot do it either."
Kawano said somewhat irritably.
The representatives of the other factions besides the Five Great Villages, who hadn't spoken earlier, also shook their heads one after another.
"Heh."
Kaito let out a soft laugh and tapped the table with his finger.
"I think there's been a misunderstanding. Creating the satellites is my task. The construction on those satellites is what I wish to request everyone's assistance with."