Chapter 261 – Barbarians
The Five Great Ninja Villages had reached an agreement and gathered in the Land of Iron.
"Hokage-sama, it's been a long time," Mifune said as he looked at Tsunade with deep respect in his eyes.
"Indeed, Lord Mifune," Tsunade replied politely as she met his gaze.
"May I ask where Lord Hatake Yusuke is?" Mifune asked.
"Him? He didn't come this time," Tsunade answered. "My apologies, Lord Mifune. Is there something urgent?"
"Many years ago, after receiving guidance from Lord Hatake Yusuke, my swordsmanship improved to an entirely new level," Mifune said. Then he turned his gaze toward Kakashi standing behind her.
"This person is Lord Yusuke's younger brother, correct?" Mifune said while staring at Kakashi, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes.
For people like them, who were sensitive to swords and those who wielded them, the presence of a true swordsman was almost impossible to hide.
Although Kakashi looked lazy and unmotivated, the sharpness hidden within his eyes could not be concealed. Mifune thought to himself, Truly worthy of being Lord Yusuke's younger brother.
At the same time, Kakashi was also observing Mifune.
"So strong." That was Kakashi's assessment of him.
This evaluation was already extremely high. After all, Kakashi's own strength had long surpassed the level of an ordinary Kage.
In his eyes, if one judged purely by swordsmanship, aside from his own family, Mifune was very likely the strongest.
"Lord Mifune knows me?" Kakashi asked in surprise.
He had heard that his older brother once guided Mifune when they were younger, but that had happened many years ago.
"Of course. After all, the sword on your back looks very similar to Lord Yusuke's," Mifune said.
"Oh, I see. So Lord Mifune has seen Nii-san's Enma," Kakashi said.
"That's right. Hokage-sama, please come inside. You've been delayed for quite some time," Mifune said.
"In that case, I'll head in first, Lord Mifune," Tsunade replied with a faint smile.
"Kakashi, what do you think?" Tsunade asked quietly.
"If we're only judging his swordsmanship, he's extremely strong. At the very least, he's not weaker than Father was back then. But there's still a small gap," Kakashi said honestly.
"I never imagined that a mere general of the Land of Iron would possess strength at the peak Kage level," Danzo thought inwardly. "The peak of the Kage level is nothing to scoff at. Hatake Sakumo was at that level back then. Normally, someone with this kind of strength would become a Kage in their own village. Even the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was only at the late Kage stage."
"Tsunade-hime, isn't your attitude a bit arrogant? To think you'd arrive last," Ōnoki sneered.
"Hmph. I didn't expect Tsuchikage-sama, with legs that old, to still be able to travel so fast," Tsunade shot back mockingly.
"Hmph," Ōnoki snorted, choosing not to continue the argument.
"I never expected the Kazekage of Sunagakure to be just a brat," Ōnoki said, turning his sarcasm toward Gaara.
"That question should be directed at Tsuchikage-sama. It's truly impressive that at your age, you still hold the position of Tsuchikage. Has Iwagakure already run out of people?" Gaara replied calmly, his tone cutting.
"I didn't expect the Kazekage to be so sharp-tongued," Ōnoki said darkly.
"That's enough. Everyone, please stop arguing. After all, we are not enemies this time," the Mizukage said, stepping in to mediate.
"I called all of you here because of the Jinchūriki issue. Killer Bee has been captured, so Akatsuki's next target will be the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. We can use this opportunity to completely wipe out Akatsuki," the Raikage said.
"Akatsuki? If I remember correctly, during the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha once cooperated with Akatsuki. Moreover, Konoha's missing-nin, Uchiha Itachi, was also part of that organization, along with his younger brother," Ōnoki said.
"Deidara came from Iwagakure, didn't he? I remember he also joined Akatsuki," Gaara added.
"The Kazekage seems quite friendly toward Konoha," the Tsuchikage said with an unpleasant expression.
"Tsuchikage-sama misunderstands. I'm simply stating the facts," Gaara replied.
"As far as I know, this time Killer Bee was also captured by a Konoha ninja, Uchiha Sasuke," Ōnoki said.
"Tsuchikage, Uchiha Sasuke defected from Konoha a long time ago," Tsunade said coldly.
"Even so, doesn't that still mean Hokage-sama failed to properly guide her subordinate? This matter still requires an explanation," Ōnoki pressed on.
"Speaking of negligence, wasn't Deidara your own disciple, Tsuchikage?" Tsunade retorted with a look of disdain.
"Enough. Let's get straight to the point. Raikage-sama hasn't even expressed his stance yet," the Mizukage said, once again acting as the mediator.
"Killer Bee's capture was indeed my failure. There's no need to dwell on that. What I want to ask now is whether Uchiha Sasuke truly has nothing to do with Konoha anymore," the Raikage said.
"Of course," Tsunade replied without hesitation.
"I hope Tsunade-hime will keep her word. If that's the case, I'll be taking Uchiha Sasuke's head," the Raikage said.
"Do as you please," Tsunade answered. To her, Uchiha Sasuke's life or death had nothing to do with her anymore.
Hearing Tsunade's words, a flash of killing intent passed through the Raikage's eyes.
"Be careful, Hokage-sama!" Ao suddenly shouted.
At the same time, Danzo abruptly covered the eye wrapped in bandages.
"Danzo, what are you doing?" Kakashi instantly drew his sword, murderous intent surging out.
Danzo panicked. He knew that to use Izanagi, he would need to release the seal on his arm, and he could not activate it using Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kakashi moved in a flash. Ryuo-like energy wrapped around his hands as he disrupted Danzo's chakra flow. His other hand immediately grabbed Danzo's eye.
A Sharingan was torn free and appeared in Kakashi's hand. Kakashi kicked Danzo away, sending him flying, then placed the Sharingan into a container.
"Kakashi, what are you doing?" Danzo shouted in shock. That eye contained the strongest genjutsu—Kotoamatsukami.
"What am I doing? What were you just trying to do? Kotoamatsukami?" Kakashi said with a look of pure contempt. "A powerful dōjutsu, sure—but you picked the wrong target."
"Why?" Danzo asked, staring at Tsunade and Kakashi.
"Did you really think Kotoamatsukami was the strongest genjutsu? A long time ago, my older brother placed a barrier on both my eyes and my sister-in-law's eyes," Kakashi said. Just as Kakashi was about to kill Danzo—
"Hello, everyone."
A voice suddenly echoed through the hall. In the center of the Five Kage Summit chamber, something like a seed sprouted from the floor, slowly opening and revealing an extremely strange figure.
"Bastard!" The Raikage instantly appeared in front of White Zetsu and grabbed him by the neck.
"Do you have any idea where you are?!" the Raikage roared furiously.
"Kuh… don't be so tense. I'm just here to inform you that Uchiha Sasuke has arrived," White Zetsu said.
"Where do you think he is right now?" White Zetsu didn't seem worried about his situation at all.
He thought they wouldn't dare kill him. But clearly, he had underestimated the most barbaric of all—the Raikage, A. The Raikage didn't hesitate in the slightest and twisted White Zetsu's neck until it snapped.
"C. Find Uchiha Sasuke's location for me," the Raikage ordered a Kumogakure ninja.
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