"Honorable Third Tsuchikage."
Upon seeing a few figures descend from the sky, Tsunade recognized the short stature of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and together with Mifune, went to greet him.
Supporting his back with one hand, Onoki waved with the other towards Tsunade, saying, "Huff, huff, my back... let me rest a bit first. Has everyone arrived?"
Onoki truly was getting on in years.
The Five Kage Summit was mostly attended by the strong and even the young generation of ninja. The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was the oldest. For this summit, Onoki brought along Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi as his guards.
Originally, Onoki wanted to interrogate about the whereabouts of that criminal, Uehara Naraku, as soon as he saw Tsunade, intending to adopt an accounting stance...
But his chronic back pain acted up...
How embarrassing.
Why hasn't Onoki retired already?
Among the five shadows throughout the history of the Ninja World, Onoki held control of a major village the longest, even longer than the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's tenure.
However, Onoki hoped to retire now at this age, but the one he saw as his successor was currently drinking tea and discussing art at the base of the Akatsuki.
Tsunade watched Onoki thump his back and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, gazing around as she furrowed her brow and said, "It should be just the Fourth Raikage that's left... he shouldn't be late, right?"
"Cloud Village Ninja are never late!"
At that moment, the Fourth Raikage, A, appeared with his guards in front of everyone, speaking in a booming voice: "Tsunade, I'm already here. I shouldn't have missed the time, right?"
After speaking, the Fourth Raikage glanced around.
It seemed the Fourth Raikage didn't see the person he wanted to, and his face immediately drooped, looking gloomily at Tsunade.
This hot-tempered Raikage suddenly clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, "Tsunade, has that bastard, Uehara Naraku, not come? Didn't you say he would attend the Five Kage Summit to face our judgment?"
"..."
Tsunade furrowed her brow, staring at the Fourth Raikage as she said, "Raikage, this isn't a trial, but a peace talk..."
This temper hardly seems suitable for a peace talk!
If the Fourth Raikage came looking for trouble, it's uncertain whether this Five Kage Summit could proceed peacefully. If Uehara Naraku and the Fourth Raikage start fighting later, who should she support?
If she supported Uehara, the Five Kage Summit might never convene again...
If she supported the Raikage, Uehara Naraku and The Hidden Rain Village seem to be Konoha's allies at the moment, wouldn't that be losing an ally for nothing?
If she stood neutral, and Uehara ended up killing the Fourth Raikage, wouldn't that ignite a ninja world war? They haven't even discussed the threat of Orochimaru yet, and they might just start fighting among themselves!
Tsunade's reasoning was quite serious; she truly didn't believe the Fourth Raikage could defeat Uehara Naraku. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been destroyed by Uehara, who captured the Eight-tailed Jinchuriki of The Hidden Cloud Village...
"Whether it's a peace talk or a trial, it doesn't matter!"
The Fourth Raikage didn't see it that way. He clenched his fist tightly, shouting in displeasure, "Let him return Bee and Yugito, then bow in apology to mourn the dead from our village, compensate us for our losses, and I will spare Akatsuki and The Hidden Rain Village!"
Tsunade: "..."
To be honest, the Raikage's demands aren't unreasonable.
At least the Fourth Raikage wasn't rushing to condemn Uehara Naraku; among his few demands, only the first is slightly hard to achieve since both the Two-tailed and Eight-tailed Jinchuriki, Killer Bee, are in Orochimaru's hands.
The other two demands of the Fourth Raikage are quite reasonable.
Whether it's requesting compensation or that Uehara Naraku mourn the dead, these are common practices in the Ninja World, quite normal to ask.
Back when the Second Hokage was killed by Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers' unit during peace talks, the Third Raikage exterminated the traitors, personally returned the corpse to Konoha, and, as the Raikage, mourned the Second Hokage. This led to reconciliation between The Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha.
At that time, both The Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha were equal major ninja villages.
The Fourth Raikage's demands towards The Hidden Rain Village weren't excessive, even surprisingly lenient to Tsunade; he didn't even demand Uehara Naraku's life.
Honestly, Tsunade was quite surprised that the Fourth Raikage proposed such lenient conditions since, in her impression, Fourth Raikage A always took advantage and frequently, as the Raikage, seized secret techniques from smaller villages...
Tsunade glanced at the Fourth Raikage, curling her lips as she said, "Hmph, I thought you'd ask for something difficult, turns out you're pretty generous this time!"
"Hmph, it's only because I'm giving you face!"
The Fourth Raikage, arms crossed, coldly snorted and said, "Your letter mentioned an even greater threat than him, so I'm temporarily letting him off..."
Tsunade nodded and then softly said, "The latter two conditions might be achievable, but the matters regarding the Two-tailed and Eight-tailed Jinchuriki cannot be fulfilled… because all the tailed beasts previously collected by Akatsuki were taken by Orochimaru!"
"..."
The Fourth Raikage A's expression shifted as he continued, "So the primary objective of this Five Kage Summit is to join forces to annihilate Orochimaru!"
"Indeed..."
Tsunade nodded, then looked at everyone present, speaking in a deep voice, "For every village whose Jinchuriki were taken, after we destroy Orochimaru, the Jinchuriki will be returned to each ninja village according to the initial distribution of Tailed Beasts when the nations were founded."
"Okay."
The Fourth Raikage nodded.
"Okay."
Gaara quickly followed suit.
"Okay."
Terumi Mei also agreed to Tsunade's proposal.
"Okay..."
After the Third Tsuchikage agreed to Tsunade's proposal, he added, "However, The Hidden Rock Village also demands compensation from The Hidden Rain Village, a personal apology visit to our village, and the cession of territories originally belonging to the Land of Grass to the Land of Earth..."
This old man sure has a lot of demands...
Moreover, after voicing these requests, Onoki continued, "And Uehara Naraku must return Deidara, the rogue ninja, to us!"
"Let me think..."
Tsunade furrowed her brows and said sternly, "Apart from the lands originally belonging to the Land of Grass, which cannot be ceded to you, the rest can be considered!"
Upon hearing this, Terumi Mei also suddenly spoke up, "The Hidden Mist Village just needs Uehara Naraku to compensate for our losses and hand over the rogue members of the Seven-swords Ninja of the Hidden Mist..."
"The Hidden Sand Village too."
The Fifth Kazekage Gaara immediately chimed in.
Just as the Kage were finalizing their plans, feeling they were being quite generous toward The Hidden Rain Village, they intended to collectively pressure Uehara Naraku once he arrived.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over everyone present, and Uehara Naraku's low laughter descended from above: "Heh heh... Hearing what you have to say, it seems I went too easy on you initially..."
"What?"
Everyone instinctively looked up to see a colossal entity floating in the sky, casting a shadow over the landscape, reminding many present of a terrifying memory.
This beast, and the person controlling it, had ruthlessly destroyed their villages, turning them into seas of fire!
"He's here!"
Gaara's face turned solemn. He quickly turned to Tsunade and said gravely, "Hokage-sama, are you sure he's really here for peace talks?"
"He should… be."
Tsunade's expression also grew tense.
Konoha had never seen the Ancient Giant Dragon because their village was destroyed by Uchiha Obito, and by the time Uehara Naraku arrived at Konoha, Nagato had already reconciled with them...
Whether this was Konoha's fortune or misfortune was unknown...
At least in terms of casualties, Konoha suffered far less than the other great nations.
Upon suddenly seeing such a massive Summoning Beast, Tsunade couldn't help but appear aghast; in terms of Chakra aura and size, this Summoning Beast might be stronger than the ones from the Konoha Sannin...
Mifune, the host from the Land of Iron, was also urgently summoning samurai for defense.
Mifune gazed at the Ancient Giant Dragon in the sky, his gaze slightly darkened, "The man who killed Hanzo... the much-talked-about... Sin of Hidden Rain..."
Compared to those obscure titles, "Sin of Hidden Rain" seemed to be a more widespread and somewhat sinister moniker among these nations.
Sin of Hidden Rain, the origin of Hidden Rain Village's sins!
Gaara gritted his teeth, a shadow clouding his face, "Back then, Uehara Naraku rode this beast to destroy The Hidden Sand Village, causing severe casualties... Hokage-sama, he's not here for peace talks; he's here to intimidate us!"
"I'll ask him!"
Tsunade raised her hand to stop Gaara's Chakra from flaring up, looked up at the sky, and said, "Uehara Naraku, if you are here to participate in the Five Kage Summit with a belief in peace, then show your attitude!"
On the back of the Ancient Giant Dragon.
Konan tightly gripped Uehara Naraku's fingers, leaning closer to him, she softly urged, "Naraku... Tsunade-senpai... is trying to help us... don't be overly aggressive..."
"Yes, sensei."
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead.
Seeing Konan's worried expression, Uehara Naraku sighed, took her into his arms, and gently patted her head, signaling her to relax.
The next moment, the massive Ancient Giant Dragon descended from the sky!
This terrifying, colossal being landed heavily on the ground, shaking its head violently, and roared skyward!
Uehara Naraku stepped onto the Ancient Giant Dragon's head, his gaze sweeping over those present, slowly curling his lips into a smile: "How about this, I don't want any compensation; just kowtow and apologize, and our matter will be over..."