Chapter 42: The Kage Summit
"The Land of Iron; it's as cold as I remember it." muttered Kankuro as he, Temari, Izuka, and Gaara flew on Ryu's back to the Kage Summit being held in the land of the samurais.
"It's definitely a lot different from Suna." said Temari in agreement as she blew air onto her hands to warm them up. She looked up to see Gaara with a blank look on his expression as he sat next to Izuka, who was conveniently meditating at his side. "Gaara, you okay?"
"I'm fine Temari," answered Gaara as he linked his vision into focus. "I was just thinking about the attacked villages in Western Suna."
At this answer, Temari and Kankuro each nodded their heads in understanding. In just a few short nights, the Rain nin had attacked four small towns and one trade outpost in the Wind Country, despite the added security. The Rain nin worked fast, and with their advanced weapons, they were practically an unstoppable force.
"It's definitely troubling." said Temari as she crossed her arms. "They work so damn fast that it's hard to stop them with the tools we already have."
"We need a plan to stop them." said Kankuro as he pounded his fist into Ryu's scales. "Or else we'll just be sitting ducks for them."
"Hey Kankuro, quit it with the punches! I actually felt it!" called Ryu as the dragon let out a low growl.
"Sorry! Just expressing my frustration, that's all!" said Kankuro in apology.
"Well, you better get rid of all that frustration now because I see The Three Wolves just up ahead." called Ryu as she nodded her head forward. The three mountains, which all looked like a wolf's jaw, was coming into view; getting larger and larger as they flew closer to their intended destination.
"That was quick." mumbled Temari as she fixed the ninja pack on her shin.
"Should we tell Izuka that we will be landing soon?" asked Kankuro as he pointed to the meditating Sage. "She's been meditating like this ever since we flew out of Wind territory."
"She'll stop when she wants to stop. For now, let's just prepare for landing." said Gaara as he snuck a quick glance at the meditating Sage at his side. The trip continued in silence as the group continued to fly deeper into Iron territory. Once they reached the courtyard of the building which was holding the meeting, Kankuro and Temari instantly disembarked from Ryu's back, leaving Gaara and Izuka still on the dragon.
"Izzy," muttered Gaara as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Izuka?"
Izuka's eyes fluttered open and she looked up to see Gaara standing at his full height as he stared down at her.
"Wait . . . are we already here?" asked Izuka as she stood up on her feet.
"Yes, it's time we get off Ryu." said Gaara as he gestured to the snowy ground before them. Izuka nodded her head and leapt down to the snow. Gaara followed suit and Ryu shrunk herself down to her miniature form; flying onto Izuka's shoulders as the four made their way to the main entrance.
"Hello Lady Sage, Lord Kazekage, you are expected inside. Please follow me." said a samurai, his voice muffled by his armored mask as he gestured to the building. The group nodded their heads and followed the samurai into the building. They walked through a series of hallways and up a few flights of stairs to a lounge room filled with a table and a few comfortable couches. A closed door on the far side of the room led to the actual meeting room.
"Are we the first ones here?" asked Temari in slight disbelief as she looked around the room.
"Indeed you are." was all the samurai said as he walked out the room, leaving the four to their thoughts.
"Well . . . now what?" asked Izuka as she took off her hood and sat down on the couch.
"We wait." answered Gaara as he took off his gourd and sat it next to the couch Izuka was sitting on as he took his seat. He unhooked his Kazekage hat and put it on his lap, the green and white head ornament shining in the dim light. Kankuro and Temari shrugged their shoulders and took their seats on a second couch. An hour and a half passed before, they heard footsteps. They all looked up to see a samurai lead the Mizukage and her bodyguards into the room.
"Huh, I was wondering if we were the first here or not. Guess second place will have to do." said Lady Mei as she took a seat on a third couch. Her bodyguards, Chojuro and Ao, stood right behind the couch silently watching out for their Lady. "How long have you been waiting you guys?"
"About a good 90 minutes." answered Izuka as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You have it easy in my opinion. You have a flying dragon." said Mei as she pointed to Izuka's shoulders, which Ryu was currently sleeping on.
"That's true too." mumbled Izuka as she looked at Ryu. "How many towns have been attacked by the Rain nin in your territory?"
"4; the most recent one was on a trade outpost east of Kiri." answered Mei as she crossed her arms. "You?"
"4 . . . and one trade outpost." mumbled Gaara as he looked out the window to see the snow fall freely from the sky.
"I see we all are having problems with the Rain nin huh?"
Everyone's eyes turned toward the entrance to see Lord Onoki and his bodyguards, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi walk into the room as the same samurai that led them there earlier stood by the doorway.
"Lord Onoki, you made it." said Mei in a joking tone as she smiled at the Tsuchikage.
"Yes I have . . . it's a Kage Summit after all." said Onoki as he crossed his arms. His eyes instantly went to Izuka who was absentmindedly staring at her nails. "Or . . . I thought it was."
"What . . . you haven't heard?" asked Mei as she stared at Onoki with an eyebrow raised. "The Raikage himself has asked for her presence here at the Kage Summit himself."
"WHAT?" asks Onoki as his eyes widened in surprise. He then turned to Gaara. "Did you know about this Kazekage-sama?"
"I did. Lord A's bodyguard Darui told us himself." answered Gaara as he crossed his arms. "I thought all the Kages knew this."
"I did" answered Mei with a shrug. "Learned it from his bodyguard C."
"Me too" called Tsunade as she walked into the room with her bodyguards, Kakashi and Shikamaru, the latter taking Temari by surprise. "I learned about it from the letter he sent me."
"So I'm the only one who was left out . . . I never liked that Raikage anyway." muttered Onoki as he crossed his arms.
"The feeling is mutual Onoki." said A as he walked in with Darui and C at his side. "Where's Mifune?"
"Right here." said the samurai as he walked into the room with some of his warriors in tow. "Let's get the meeting started shall we? We have much to discuss."
The Kages all nodded their heads and followed the leader of the Land of Iron over to the door at the far wall; Gaara, Izuka, Temari, and Kankuro taking up the rear. The meeting room was the same room used for the previous Kage Summit before the attack made by Tobi and his minions. It has since been renovated to look the same as it was before the attack. The only change in the room was a small desk right next to Mifune's that was meant for Izuka herself. All the bodyguards, except for the samurais, went over to their hiding spots behind the curtains inscribed with their respective villages' symbol as the samurai general, the five Kages, and the Lady Sage took their respective seats. The Five Kages all placed their respective hats on the table in front of them as they sat.
"I call this Kage Summit into session. Raikage-sama, since you called for the Summit, you may speak first." said Mifune as he placed his hands on his table.
"Gladly," said A as he looked at Mifune and Izuka. He then turned his attention to his fellow Kages. "I think we all know why we're here. The Rain nin has been attacking towns and outposts in our respective countries. They even have gone out of their way to attack places here in the Land of Iron. All of these attacks not only have that in common, but they also share the fact that these ninjas have very peculiar weapons only known to them."
"If you don't mind me butting in Lord A, but I actually have something to share when it comes to those peculiar weapons." said Mifune as he turned to scan the table in front of him with his eyes. "My samurais were able to get a hold on one of those weapons. After further examination, we were able to find out that the weapon was made with a chakra crystal that has the ability to siphon away chakra from anyone it touches and integrate it with the wielder's own."
"How in the world is that possible?" asked Tsunade in disbelief as she let a slight hint of anger show in her eyes.
"That's the beauty of the ninja lands for you, Lady Tsunade." said Onoki with a small smirk. "It can give you gifts, and it can give you curses. You just have to play your cards right, which is so unlike you since you're such a bad gambler."
Tsunade gritted her teeth when she heard that commit and shot the Tsuchikage a sharp look before turning back to face the others.
"Anyway . . .," muttered Mei as she looked around the table. "Those weapons the Rain nin possess are very much a great problem that must be solved quickly."
"I agree Lady Mei. This problem must be solved quickly or else it will get out of hand." said Tsunade in agreement.
"Actually, a few of us have actually had a bad run in with the Rain nin in the past half year. Wouldn't you agree Kazekage-sama?" asked A as he turned his stare to Gaara. Gaara was unnerved by his stare as he continued to stare straight ahead stoically.
"Wait . . . what are you getting at?" asked Mei as she raised an eyebrow at the Raikage.
"I learned from a very valuable source that the Kazekage and the Lady Sage went to Amegakure for a peace keeping mission for the Wind Daimyo five months ago. They must have seen these weapons before am I right?" asked A as he turned his attention to the Lady Sage and the Kazekage.
"We've actually only seen one example of those weapons, and it belonged to the country's former dictator." answered Gaara as he crossed his arms.
"Former dictator? What happened to him?" asked Tsunade as she raised an eyebrow.
"Amegakure wanted to wage war with the Five Great Shinobi Nations to show how far Amegakure has grown since the last war, and they targeted Suna first. We then learned that the dictator, Seiriyu Kotowashi, wanted to attack Suna to avenge the loss of his clan." answered Izuka as she let out a small sigh.
"Loss of his clan you say?" asked Onoki as he leaned forward in his chair, wincing when he felt his back pain starting to act up. "What happened?"
"The Yondaime Kazekage ordered my village's ANBU to eliminate the clan because he found they were planning a preemptive strike themselves in retaliation for being exiled during the time of the Nidaime Kazekage." answered Gaara as he stared at the group.
"He must have a very good reason for doing it too," said Onoki in nonchalance "I've heard about the Kotowashi Clan. Very uncivilized and very bloodthirsty at best; they actually modeled their ways after the One Tailed Beast Shukaku."
"I've heard about that too, but getting back to the original question that was brought up. Lord Gaara, you said that the only example of these mysterious weapons you've seen was wielded by the former dictator of Amegakure. Did you engage in him in battle?" asked Mifune as he turned to Gaara.
"I did; Seiriyu wasn't going to be convinced by words, so he challenged me to a duel . . ." said Gaara as he trailed off.
"And you lost that duel didn't you?" asked A as a smug look came across his face.
"I was at a distinct disadvantage," countered Gaara as he stared at A. "The Kotowashi Clan had a kekkei genkai that gave them the ability to absorb chakra just by touching another person's skin . . . or chakra infused weapons."
"I see. I'm guessing that you weren't going to take the loss lying down right?" asked Tsunade as she crossed her arms.
"With the threat of an invasion coming toward Suna; no I wasn't going to take the loss lying down," said Gaara as he turned to the Hokage. "I engaged in battle with Seiriyu again and was successful on my second attempt. The Amegakure Council ended their invasion plans after that."
"Apparently, they thought better of it." said Mei as she crossed her arms. "These attacks on our towns may be serving as a warning. They're probably just showing us a hint of their power before unleashing all of it."
"Amegakure is a pretty small nation," said Onoki as he put a hand under his chin. "So it's very unlikely they'll try to attack all of us all at once. If my hunch is correct, they'll come after Suna first in retaliation for killing their leader Lord Gaara."
"And we won't stop there."
Everyone looked around the room in alarm as their bodyguards jumped out of from their respective hiding spots; going to the sides of their respective Kages.
"Who said that?" asked Izuka as Ryu flew around her in alarm. Suddenly, the lights went out.
"Well," muttered Tsunade as she crossed her arms in the darkness. "I guess we're about to find out."
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