"Well, well~ Things sure are lively in here."
Just as the mood in the room turned weird, a sarcastic voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned instinctively to look.
That elegant figure, confident smile, and—jokes aside—a truly beautiful face. If we're talking looks, the Fifth Mizukage, Terumi Mei, definitely ranked near the top of the ninja world.
Unfortunately for her, this room already had someone with even more popularity—Tsunade.
In history, no woman had ever become a Kage before. Granted, that "history" was only a few decades long. But now, two women had made it—one as Hokage, one as Mizukage. So naturally, when they met, there was a strange sense of connection between them.
"Mizukage-dono," Tsunade smiled, her expression a bit more natural than when she was dealing with the Raikage earlier. "When did you arrive?"
Terumi Mei had a similar look on her face, maybe even warmer: "Hokage-dono, I actually arrived yesterday. When I heard you were here, I rushed over right away. I just had to see the legendary Sannin for myself."
To be fair, there was nothing really wrong with Terumi Mei. She was quite a bit younger than Tsunade. When Tsunade was making her name known across the world, Mei was still playing ninja during missions.
Tsunade's smile grew brighter. "I hope I didn't let you down. Back when I traveled the ninja world, I often heard stories of your bold actions in the Land of Water."
She meant the coup.
"Oh, you flatter me." Terumi Mei laughed too, clearly enjoying the moment.
The scene looked really harmonious—so much so that Naruto felt like their warm vibes were about to spill out of the screen.
Kurama, with a deadpan look: "Are you serious right now?"
Don't tell me you can't hear all the sarcasm in their compliments?
"Wait, it's not real?" Naruto looked at the two smiling Kage, completely confused. "They're both smiling so much. Doesn't that mean Mizukage-dono is definitely going to support Granny Tsunade at this Five Kage Summit?"
He was sure of it.
Kurama stayed quiet for a moment, then took a deep breath: "…Maybe it's because I wear glasses now."
"Huh? Glasses? What kind of glasses?" Naruto was totally lost.
"Colored glasses," Kurama said with a side-eye, then changed the topic.
"Forget about those two for now. All the Kage are here except for the Tsuchikage, and he's the one you're looking for. Also… I've been feeling something strange for a while. Something big is definitely going to happen at this Five Kage Summit. Stay alert and keep your sensory skills at full power."
Since Kurama was inside the mindscape, even though his sensing ability was better than Naruto's, he couldn't fully use it from there. So it was still up to Naruto.
"I got it," Naruto nodded.
He knew how important the Five Kage Summit was. Quietly, he boosted his sensing ability to the limit—covering not just the entire Land of Iron, but even part of the Land of Thunder.
That way, he didn't have to worry about any surprise attacks.
Clearly, A wasn't in the mood to watch the two Kage trying to show off. As soon as he saw that it was Terumi Mei, he lost interest and turned back to Naruto. "You really don't know anything about the Eight-Tails or Killer Bee?"
Naruto snapped out of his thoughts, scratched the back of his head, and said, "I really have no idea. Kurama said he can't contact Gyuki either. He thinks there are only two possibilities."
"One, Gyuki has already been captured. The Akatsuki are blocking the chakra of the jinchuriki, so Kurama can't reach him. Or two, Gyuki is in a place with a strong sealing barrier that cuts off chakra connections between tailed beasts."
Naruto paused for a second, then quickly added, "He said the Turtle Island in the Land of Thunder fits the second one really well."
To hide Turtle Island, the Land of Thunder had set up a huge barrier around it. That barrier blocks all sensing and chakra signals.
That's exactly why, in the original story, Kisame couldn't use chakra to contact the outside world and had to pass information using scrolls instead. (Note)
Turtle Island's existence was a secret of the Land of Thunder. That's why Naruto hesitated to mention it, but after thinking it through, he figured the Raikage wouldn't mind something like that if he was this worried about the Eight-Tails.
And he was right. The Raikage didn't care about that at all—his frown only deepened. "There's been no word from Turtle Island about Killer Bee. If he had gone there, the people in charge would've contacted me."
"It's not just Turtle Island. All these years, I've been searching across all five countries. But aside from some vague rumors in the Land of Thunder, there hasn't been a single trace of Bee anywhere."
A clenched his fist.
"But Bee always traveled around the Land of Thunder anyway, so that doesn't really tell us anything."
Hearing that, Naruto let out a sigh. "Worst case… Gyuki might already be captured."
At this point, that seemed like the only real possibility.
Thinking about it, A's fist tightened even more, and a powerful aura surged from his whole body. "Killer Bee… he's the perfect jinchuriki of our village. But more than that, he's my brother."
"Gritting his teeth" probably best described how he felt right now.
Seeing A like this made Naruto uncomfortable too. He wanted to say something to comfort the Raikage, but in the end, he didn't know what to say. He just quietly let out another sigh.
Kurama also shook his head, his face full of mixed feelings. Of all the tailed beasts, the one he got along with best was Gyuki. If you don't count Shukaku and his sharp tongue, Gyuki was one of the few who could actually go head-to-head with Kurama.
Even though he had never beaten Kurama because of the power difference, the two of them had built a strong bond through their fights.
And now, A saying Killer Bee wasn't on Turtle Island was basically confirming that Gyuki had been captured.
Kurama hadn't expected this either. With Gyuki's strength and Killer Bee being a perfect jinchuriki, they still couldn't escape the Akatsuki?
Just thinking about that filled Kurama with a sense of helplessness.
Right then, a strange chakra signal—along with a familiar feeling—broke through space and connected with Kurama in Naruto's mind, as well as with Shukaku, who was still recovering inside Gaara.
Naruto was no longer the same kid as before. With his sensory skills fully active and boosted by the power of the Sage of Six Paths, this unusual wave—which normal people couldn't sense at all—clearly appeared in his mind. Instinctively, Naruto let his focus sink into his inner world, following the signal deeper inside.
The next second, everything lit up.
In the place where light and light met, a huge figure suddenly appeared.
"Long time no see, Kurama, Shukaku." Gyuki raised his right hand and waved. Then he looked at Naruto. "You must be the jinchuriki Kurama keeps talking about. If I remember right, your name's Uzumaki Naruto?"
Kurama: "..."
Shukaku: "..."
Naruto: "..."
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