Let's start this from the beginning
Grand Assembly
- Part 3 -
"The Summit"
III
Two kage meeting each other outside of the Chūnin Exams was rare, the times for three of them to meet even more so, and never have four kage met outside the perceived safety provided by the exams.
And exams or no exams, there were only two cases in the entire history of the Shinobi Organisational System with its hidden villages in which all five kage met at once. Hiruzen had heard first-hand reports of the first such meeting from his predecessors, with it having taken place shortly after the formation of the five major villages, and he had even taken part in the second such summit himself during his youth shortly after the Second Great Ninja War had just ended.
He had never expected to live long enough to experience a third variation of an event as rare as this, however, much less take part in it himself once more. And yet, here he was, sitting at a round table that hosted the five most powerful individuals on the continent–if not in terms of their fighting power, then at the very least in terms of their influence.
Their meeting was technically still just a part of the Chūnin Exams rather than an actual, official summit; something that happened by chance as a mere by-product of teams from all their villages just so happening to both participate at the same time and manage to pass to the finals. However, everyone present knew all too well that this was anything but coincidental. No, this summit had been a long time in the making and the product of much planning and scheming and negotiating.
Hiruzen should know. After all, much of it had been done by his own hands, although it had admittedly been Itachi who first brought up the idea of holding a great summit.
That had been several years ago. The matter of how to deal with Akatsuki and, more importantly, Madara was a complicated one, but there was no doubt that all the major powers would eventually have to do their part if they wanted to be successful. It was the matter of timing that was the real crux, though–both in terms of when to best take action and when to get the other villages involved.
Hiruzen had been the one to decide to use the Chūnin Exams as an excuse in the end. From Itachi's foreknowledge, they knew that Akatsuki wouldn't be ready to hunt Jinchūriki for another eighteen months from then, give or take a month or two, while at the same time, the organization would have already gathered all of its members. Madara might have proven that he was willing to exploit his apparent immortality to wait patiently for entire decades before springing another one of his plans, but Itachi, who had watched him for years and thus knew him the best, was confident he wouldn't abandon his current plan at this point unless they took very drastic measures.
Willing to be patient he might be, but Madara didn't seem quite willing to give up on an already ongoing plan once he had invested significant time and energy into it.
Therefore, holding the summit at this point was simultaneously soon enough to give the other villages time to prepare and late enough to not scare Madara back into hiding.
The fact that this meeting wasn't officially advertised as a kage summit also helped in concealing its true purpose. After all, while it was unlikely a meeting about the danger of Akatsuki would cower Madara at this point, there was no reason to risk it.
To a lesser degree, it would also keep the lesser villages from getting too nervous as well.
The simple fact that all five kage would meet up was still cause for both interest and concern, of course, especially considering there had never been a case of all major villages participating in the Chūnin Exams and thus setting a precedent. Even if people didn't suspect this to be intentional, it was still certain to raise some eyebrows.
There was no avoiding that entirely, but the Mizukage had agreed to them spreading the rumour that it was due to Kirigakure wanting to show off during their first participation in the exams after its civil war that all major villages had been invited to participate, which would hopefully misdirect most parties.
The fact that the last two Chūnin Exams just so happened to involve an above-average rate of three major villages coincidentally helped them in that regard, too, as some might assume the number of participants this time around was simply the result of an ongoing trend as well.
Actually getting all five kage to agree to come in person hadn't been easy, though.
The Mizukage had probably been the easiest to convince. Their alliance meant no further concessions had to be made, and since she had planned to attend anyway to return Kiri to the limelight and reestablish its rightful place as one of the five major powers on the continent, the opportunity to speak with their peers hadn't been an unwelcome one.
Convincing the Kazekage had been manageable as well. The relationship between Suna and Konoha was stable enough, and the man held no particular grudge against Kiri either. Sending an envoy under the cover of a regular caravan protection mission to inform the Kazekage of the unofficial plans for the exams was easy enough, too, whereas working out the finer details was a tad more difficult.
Fortunately, none of Suna's relationships with the other nations was so bad as to warrant a lot of conviction for him to join, and just as with the Mizukage, the chance to negotiate with all their fellow kage was a tempting one in and of itself, so in the end, the promise of picking one team of his choosing for which Konoha guaranteed a pass to the finals was enough for him to come around.
Making sure the Raikage attended had surprisingly been more difficult than expected.
Kumogakure's foreign relationships were, in a single word, complicated. It never had any long-term alliances even by the admittedly shaky standards of the shinobi world, but neither did it have any particularly deep-running rivalries like the one between Konoha and Iwa. The closest thing to the latter was its relationship with Konoha due to the Raikage's past with the Yondaime, but even that was closer to being a mere competitive rivalry than anything involving bad blood between them.
The problem in making the man agree was that he had opinions of the other hidden villages and their kage, few of which were flattering.
Making him agree to send a team to participate, which should have been easy enough given the promise of a guaranteed pass to the finals, had been complicated enough, with the Raikage growing only more and more suspicious the more favourable the deal sounded. But even after they managed to come to an agreement about that, the matter of the man journeying to Konoha in person for the third exam instead of sending a representative set them back to zero.
It was a good thing Hiruzen had approached Kumo through an intermediary nearly a year before the Chūnin Exams even took place, for it took several months of arranging for trustworthy diplomats to have missions in the area to discuss the matter without attracting too much attention until an agreement could be found.
Ultimately, all Hiruzen had to pledge to make the man come around was permission for Kumo to carry out a certain amount of missions a year in the Konoha 'protected' Land of Hot Water as well as some reduced taxes on certain goods for traders from the Land of Lightning, the latter being of only a small concern and the former being acceptable due to the agreement that no missions higher than B-Rank were to be carried out.
It were tame terms, all things considered, and if he weren't already used to it, the fact that so much time had been spent–or wasted, as others would call it–on so little would have frustrated him. As it was, he was simply glad that they had come to terms at all.
The Tsuchikage had been the real problem.
Due to the bad relationship between their villages, no shinobi of either nation could cross the border and approach the other's village under the pretence of a mission as such missions simply didn't occur. Thus, Hiruzen had no other choice than to arrange for an actual diplomatic envoy to publicly make the journey.
Even with the other major powers already knowing about the plan to hold a summit during the Chūnin Exams at that point, he was more than aware that they watched this move with great interest. It wouldn't be unthinkable that he might use the ostensible reason as an excuse to plan something underhand with a supposed enemy, after all.
Shinobi were just that paranoid, unfortunately.
Hiruzen took some solace in the fact that at least Madara and Akatsuki would not be too suspicious of what was openly announced as a peace mission. Trying to mend the relationship between Konoha and Iwa was something they would think fit his perceived persona.
The negotiations had been long and hard, and they hadn't been made any easier by Hiruzen's inability to be too forthcoming in his promises. Not only did he himself find that unacceptable given Ōnoki's aggressive foreign policies these last few years, but the Tsuchikage would also likely view such an attitude as a weakness. This would make his cooperation even less likely and might even encourage him to do something foolish.
In the end, it was mostly the threat of holding a summit with every kage other than him that made Ōnoki agree to participate, but Hiruzen held no doubt in his mind that his fellow kage would remember this and patiently wait for the opportunity to pay him back for forcing his hand.
Hiruzen also knew better than to expect the half-dozen agreements to promote peace between their villages that they had agreed upon to maintain the supposed reason for their negotiations to the public to be honoured.
"I thank you all for making the journey," he began once everyone had sat down and put their kage hats down in front of them. "With this being the first summit of its kind in decades, I'm confident we can come together and use this rare opportunity to do the best for our respective villages."
As the one hosting the others, the task of presiding over the meeting naturally fell to him, not only allowing them to skip the bothersome discussion of who deserved this honour that always came up when more than two kage met on neutral grounds but also making it easier for him to lead the discussion where he wanted it to.
"Heh, rare indeed," Ōnoki agreed with a snort, having evidentially forgone whatever irritation he might feel in favour of indulgent amusement for the time being. "I suppose the opportunity to see how much the faces of the five kage have changed since the last time I had the pleasure to meet them made some of the trouble worth it." Then, with a derisive look at the Mizukage, he added, "Or rather, how little they have changed, that it."
Not even a minute in and he's already putting her down for her supposed lack of experience just because she's the only kage who hasn't served during the last war, Hiruzen inwardly sighed, disappointed but not surprised in the slightest. It was to be expected that someone would bring it up, but was it truly necessary to start things off this way?
Terumi Mei, for her part, took the comment without flinching, and her warm smile was obviously exaggerated as she replied, "Why, I quite agree with the sentiment! It's a stroke of good luck that I would have the chance to meet all my peers so early into my reign. However, I like to think the fact that every one of us will have the chance to show off our youths' prowess without having to worry about them reaching the finals is good enough a reason to make the journey in and of itself. The next generation is important, after all!"
The second half of her statement was accompanied by a pointed look at one of the two guards standing behind the Tsuchikage. Namely, his granddaughter–one of the Genin participating in the Chūnin Exams. The implication of her having solely come this far because of the agreement with Konoha was loud and clear.
The girl in question might as well have screamed her displeasure out loud for all that the brief frown that marred her face before she got her expression back under control projected her feelings to the capable shinobi present. Ōnoki had better self-control, though.
"Oh, I can certainly understand that sentiment if someone's village had to rely on such deals to succeed."
"It's fortunate that none of us are pressed enough to depend on things like this or other underhand, desperate measures, then, don't you agree?"
"Indeed I do, Mizukage-sama."
Despite the honorific, there was no respect to be found in his address.
Hiruzen politely cleared his throat to bring everyone's attention back to him. "Very well said, Tsuchikage-sama, Mizukage-sama. However, for all that the showcase of the next generation's abilities is an important matter to consider, it's not the topic I was hoping to discuss with you today."
He saw several of the guards in the room subtly relax as his words cut through the tension and forcefully put a (temporary) stop to the hostilities.
Each of the four kage was allowed to bring two guards to the meeting, with only Hiruzen voluntarily relinquishing this right as it was in the heart of his village that they were holding the summit, limiting himself to only one guard. It was quite interesting to see whom the others had chosen to accompany them:
The Mizukage had brought Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, and another accomplished Jōnin with her as a clear demonstration of power, likely to counteract any perceived weakness of Kiri in the wake of its civil war.
The Raikage, too, clearly meant to demonstrate strength, having gone so far as to bring a Jinchūriki with him–Yugito Nii, the Jōnin instructors of one of Kumo's teams that had passed the last exam. In fact, rather than a mere show of strength, her presence could almost be taken as a direct threat, which didn't bode well for the negotiations ahead.
Ōnoki had chosen a different approach, saving one of his two spots for his granddaughter. As a Genin, she was naturally not expected to serve as a legitimate protector. Instead, Hiruzen thought bringing the girl was probably something he had done for her sake, serving as a learning experience to the one the Tsuchikage likely saw as his preferable successor.
After all, it wasn't exactly rare that either direct family members or at least a student of kage took on their predecessor's mantle.
Hiruzen deliberately didn't look at his own lone guard as that thought crossed his mind.
The Kazekage bringing his youngest son was somewhat of a mix between the strategies of Kumo and Iwa, allowing him to put on a strong front while simultaneously giving the potential Gondaime Kazekage insight into state diplomacy of the highest calibre.
"Yes," the Raikage drawled, leaning back into his seat even further while crossing his arms across his broad chest. "The topic so important that you went out of your way to invest more than a year and who knows how much diplomatic capital to make us come all the way here without actually telling us what it's all about in advance. This better be good."
"I second the Raikage's sentiment," Rasa spoke up, his bland words sounding almost polite compared to his contemporaries' more boisterous or outright hostile voices. "Hokage-sama, while I appreciate the opportunities you bestowed upon us with this meeting and value the chance to talk with all the kage at once like this, keeping the reason for wanting to call a summit a secret for this long is rather unusual. Is there a reasonable excuse for that?"
An excuse rather than a reason, huh? Hiruzen mused. Deciding to let that dig stride, he said, "The content and purpose of this meeting is very sensitive, I'm afraid. Had I mentioned it to you previously, you would have looked into the matter yourself, and while I would neither judge nor fault you for it, for I would do the same were our roles reversed, the potential consequences of even a single misstep would be catastrophic."
"You think us that incompetent?" Ōnoki asked, his eyes narrowed and tone challenging, and while he was the most obvious about it other than perhaps the Raikage, Hiruzen could see that the general sentiment was shared among all four of his counterparts to varying degrees.
"Not incompetent," he rejected mildly. "Merely restricted by a lack of time to carry out an investigation with the necessary diligence and caution in the short timeframe preceding this summit."
Ay let out a loud scoff that echoed through the underground meeting hall. "Enough with the delays and out with it already! What is this supposed sensitive matter you want us to discuss so badly?"
Hiruzen let out a low, intentionally nonchalant hum before silently looking at the Raikage for several seconds. Were he one of his subordinates, he would have kept his silence for longer to gently rebuke him for speaking out of turn, but seeing as this was a fellow kage, he kept his silence for just long enough to make clear he didn't appreciate the attitude without actually being condescending lest he offended the man more than necessary.
"Are you familiar with the organisation called Akatsuki?"
The other four shared questioning glances at that question, and when the Mizukage eventually opened her mouth, it was clear she was speaking for them all as she said, "I'm afraid I can't say I'm exceedingly familiar with that name, though if I'm not mistaken, I believe to remember that there was some nuke-nin group using it. One of many plaguing the countryside."
Ōnoki nodded. "Yes, yes, that sounds about right. It's hard to remember every single group out there unless they gained notable infamy, but I think I heard that name before. A small group with only a couple of assassinations under their belt and no noteworthy accomplishes to speak of, no?"
The Kazekage remained silent, evidently having nothing to add.
Their acts would almost have been impressive if they weren't first-class shinobi of which such skills were to be expected. Had Hiruzen not already known through Itachi that Terumi Mei and the Tsuchikage had to know more than that about Akatsuki, with the former holding at least deep suspicions considering its role in her nation's civil war and the latter having actively hired them several times by now, he wouldn't have been able to recognize their lies at all.
He wished he could confront them with his knowledge, but seeing as that would lead to only more arguments and fights, he kept it to himself.
"Well?" the Raikage asked, growing audibly impatient. "Go on, then! Unless the one hailed as God of Shinobi has grown weak and feeble in his old age, you wouldn't have made all this effort for some small-fry group of no-names."
Hiruzen inclined his head in assent. "That's right, I wouldn't. The fact that I called this summit for what appears to be such an unimportant organisation is the fact that they're not, in fact, insignificant, weak, or consisting of no-name members. It's quite the opposite, unfortunately." He took a moment to look each kage in the eye before taking a deep breath and beginning to list a series of names:
"Orochimaru of Konohagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand, Deidara of Iwagakure, the Monster of the Hidden Mist Kisame Hoshigaki, Hidan of Yugakure, and Kakuzu of Takigakure; six shinobi that I know of who are classified as S-Rank nuke-nins in every single bingo book on the continent, and all of them united in a single organisation of mostly unknown purpose. That is surely concerning enough to warrant both this meeting and my secrecy, is it not?"
The brief few seconds of stunned silence–and it was a stunned silence, for all that the other four kage pretended to thoughtfully consider his words–after his declaration felt more satisfying than they probably should have. But then, it wasn't often that he could baffle a bunch of otherwise aloof shinobi, so why shouldn't he enjoy it for as long as he could?
Then…
"Kisame Hoshigaki, you say? That is–"
"Sasori, you say? Are you sure?"
"That brat Deidara? How dare he–"
Naturally, everyone's first reaction was to focus on the shinobi from their own village. That still left out the Raikage, however, who just so happened to be the leader of the only of their five villages that never produced any Akatsuki members.
"Six S-Rank nuke-nins?" Ay exclaimed, his voice easily overpowering everyone else's as he jumped to his feet and slammed his hands on the table with enough force to make cracks form in it. "Six? That's up to par with what even the major villages can bring to bear! Dammit, more than half of their numbers even stem from your villages!"
"Peace, Raikage-sama," Hiruzen said, deliberately not as much as glancing at the more visible reactions from several of the guards. "Such outburst will get us nowhere. We should instead focus on deciding how to best deal with this threat."
He liked to think that Ay held some respect for him and that this was the reason he reluctantly fell back into his seat with an aggravated huff instead of continuing to rage. However, that didn't mean he was also done speaking. "A threat that only exists because your villages can't even control your own shinobi!"
"Do not pretend Kumogakure never had to deal with traitors," Ōnoki scoffed. "Do I have to remind you of the Gold and Silver brothers? I had to deal with their antics several times because your village failed to apprehend them for decades!"
The Raikage's face distorted in anger, but before he could retort, Terumi Mei said, "Throwing around blame won't help us solve this situation. While this organisation's strength is still inferior to any of our villages, it's not to be underestimated or something we can just leave alone."
"The Mizukage is correct," Rasa added, his brows furrowed just so slightly. "Sasori once brought an entire nation to its heals all by himself, and while the Land of Birds is hardly equal to the Five Great Nations, the fact remains that any group outside our control that boasts six individuals of comparable strength cannot be allowed to exist."
The Tsuchikage let out a humourless laugh. "Pah, of course they can't! If what Sarutobi says is true, Akatsuki's members have caused too much havoc already!" With a scornful look towards the Mizukage, he added, "Like, for example, Kisame Hoshigaki killing the daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls."
"How amusing that you would use this particular example after having taken advantage of the situation so thoroughly," Terumi Mei ridiculed with a faux-warm smile before Hiruzen could interfere.
"Iwa helping out its neighbour during turbulent times hardly takes away from all the chaos the daimyo's death and subsequent succession crises has caused!"
"Yes, I'm sure you 'helped out' solely out of the good of your heart."
"Enough!" Ay boomed, barely restraining himself enough to at least remain sitting. "I haven't come here to listen to you throw around accusations as if every single one of you wouldn't gladly pretend none of this is your fault despite your shinobi being the cause of it all." Slightly calming his voice, he focused on Hiruzen as he continued, "This is indeed important news, and definitely something that has to be taken care of, but if that's all, it didn't warrant me having to come here in person. A mere delegate would have done as well. So, is there anything more or was that all?"
This time, Hiruzen didn't bother suppressing his somewhat reprimanding look as he replied, "There is, and now that everyone has calmed down, perhaps I might even get to share it."
There were various reactions to his statement, and none of them were too pleased by his demeanour. However, considering their preceding unruly behaviour could be interpreted as a slight towards him as their host, he didn't think he was in the wrong. If anything, some would probably consider his reaction as too tame, even.
"Apologies, Hokage-dono," the Mizukage said with a slight nod, having regained her composure. "Please, continue."
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Ōnoki and Rasa roll their eyes and huff respectively, but he ignored that for the moment.
"As I said, the members I mentioned earlier are only the ones whose identity I know for certain. That does not mean they're the only members."
"There are more?!"
"Indeed," he confirmed the Raikage's exclamation. "There are at least three more individuals who are part of Akatsuki."
Rasa, Ōnoki, and Terumi Mei restrained themselves to more appropriate, mildly concerned expressions whereas the Raikage let out a stream of rather colourful curses under his breath while his fingers dug into the flesh of his biceps.
Hiruzen ignored them all as he continued, "One is an average-sized man wearing an orange mask, another is a man with orange hair and face piercings, and the other is a woman with short, blue hair. Their abilities are as of yet still unknown.
"Furthermore, my intel seems to confirm that Akatsuki works in permanent pairs of two whenever possible. In the cases of the masked man, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Deidara, we weren't yet able to confirm any cooperation with other known members of the organisation, so it would be wise for the time being to assume that there are up to three more unknown members as well, bringing Akatsuki's total number up to twelve."
This part of the information was obviously somewhat censored. He, Itachi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade had long talked about how much information they should share, exactly, and while there were several points where their opinions differed, this was something they had been able to quickly agree upon. The risk of Iwa or Suna starting a large-scale attack on Amegakure should they find out Akatsuki's official leader and the organisation's headquarters were located there was simply too big.
Aside from not addressing the problem of Pain–or rather, Nagato–not being Akatsuki's actual leader, such an attack might just be enough to caution Madara back into hiding.
It was for similar reasons that he had no intentions of revealing the existence of the Rinnegan. Doing so would result in the other kage either outright not believing him and consequently making it less likely for them to cooperate or them becoming overly eager to get their hands on those eyes, leading to the same problem as before.
As for Zetzu, well, it wasn't as if they had much information on them to begin with beyond them being excellent spies who could circumvent most safety measures and travel at high speed through solid matter. There was, in fact, no guarantee that he wasn't listening to their conversation right now without anyone being any the wiser. According to Itachi, the Byakugan should be able to spot him, which was why Hiruzen had posted several Hyuga around the building, but it wasn't as if he had ever had the chance to actually test that assumption.
No, in their case, it was better to bring up the matter of security in a more roundabout manner than to try and explain that there might be some kind of freak of nature that ignored common sense.
Konan's abilities were less dramatic and something he could have theoretically shared, but considering she rarely left Pain's side, Hiruzen had ultimately decided to keep her skills a secret for the time being as well; not only would it probably cause Madara to become suspicious if one of his subordinate's abilities were leaked despite there being no good explanation for how it happened, but her comparative lack of actions meant it was unlikely anyone would run into her for quite a while yet, anyway.
"To add to that," he spoke up again, "while these members are naturally the most concerning due to their strength, there are several signs that Akatsuki has begun building wide and far-stretching information and spy networks all across the continent. The extent of it is hard to gauge, but I believe the very fact that it's so difficult to find traces of it is more a sign of their competence than a sign towards it not being very large."
As was to be expected, this news immediately sparked an entirely new heated discussion.
The beauty of his explanation was that his statement wasn't even a lie.
While it was undoubtedly true that Zetzu was a uniquely valuable spy, they were, at the end of the day just two entities who couldn't be in more than two places at once. It thus made sense that Akatsuki would employ more spies and informants than just them, and aside from the manpower Nagato had available to him as the leader of Amegakure, Itachi had known that at the very least Sasori employed an extensive spy network of his own whose information he shared with the organisation.
Beyond that, Kakuzu had definitely a wide range of acquaintances all over the continent, too. His interest might be focused mainly on bounty hunting and the likes, but people in that profession hardly lasted long without having a finger on the pulse of current events. Furthermore, a shinobi as experienced as Kakuzu would be wise enough to recognize the importance of good intel, meaning he would use his network for more than just finding his next target–out of self-preservation, if nothing else.
"Sarutobi," the Tsuchikage said earnestly, pulling Hiruzen back into the present. "I will admit that this information are important. Nuke-nin organisations have their uses, but only for as long as they can be used. Once they become too powerful, on the other hand, they are more trouble than they're worth. However, I know how you operate–there's something else you're working up to! Feeding us breadcrumb after breadcrumb…" He shook his head with an annoyed scoff. "We're not your subordinates, to be dazzled and impressed with your knowledge. Out with it already! What is the real problem you need our help for?"
Ay let out a mirthless chuckle. "Oh, there's more still? Just perfect. I was just starting to wonder whether you all couldn't become even more incompetent."
It spoke volumes about the seriousness of the situation that nobody rose in offence at the words. Hiruzen himself was more interested in the fact that for all his bluster, the Raikage's eyes were no longer heated, but instead gleamed with sharp attention as he watched him closely.
I suppose I really should stop beating around the bush, then.
"It appears that Akatsuki's goal is to collect all nine of the Bijūu, seven of which are currently in possession of our five nations, which makes them a direct threat to the balance of power and thus the continued peace on the continent."
Yugito Nii and the Kazekage's son, Gaara, both of which had remained impressively professional where many of the other guards had overreacted, had visible reactions to that revelation, and considering their status as Jinchūriki, Hiruzen could hardly blame them.
"Are you sure, Hokage-dono?" the Mizukage managed to speak up before chaos could erupt. "Not that I doubt your intel, but something like this…"
"Something like this can't be said lightly," Rasa finished for her. "Nor can it be taken that way. If there's even the slightest doubt–"
"If there's even the slightest doubt or chance of mistake, you better tell us now before we find out ourselves," Ōnoki interrupted brusquely, his eyes narrowed in something between thoughtfulness and anger.
Only the Raikage seemed surprisingly unfazed by the information.
"Heh, they want to steal our Bijū? Let 'em come, I say! Let them try and see what happens. S-Rank or not, there's no shinobi alive today who can take a Bijū by themselves–or a Jinchūriki capable of controlling their power!" Then, with a smug look at him, he added, "Not even your Yondaime could do it in the end. Saved your village, he did, but he still died in the act, eh?"
Hiruzen didn't take the bait, nor did he react to Ōnoki's muttered comment about wanting to see how a Bijū would like to be hit by his Dust Release.
Ay's remark was understandable. After all, at this point, Akatsuki hadn't yet begun their hunt, meaning it had indeed been a long time since a single person faced a Bijū and emerged both victorious and alive. The fact that Ay's father was a person who had done so probably didn't help in curbing the man's ego, either.
Nor did the fact that Kumogakure was currently the only village whose Jinchūriki had perfect control over his tenant, for that matter, with even their second Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii, having at least partially mastered her Bijū's power to the same degree as much older, experienced Jinchūriki like Han and Rōshi from Iwagakure.
"Hokage-dono just said that Akatsuki travels in pairs, Raikage-sama," the Mizukage pointed out. "Even if a single one of them may be incapable of fighting a trained Jinchūriki head-on, which at least in the case of Kisame Hoshigaki is something I find doubtful, there's always their partner to consider as well."
He shot her a derisive look as he replied, "My Jinchūriki hardly travel alone, Mizukage. If Akatsuki is foolish enough to attack them, their partners will do just fine, either killing them outright or buying time for my brother or Nii to take care of their opponents."
Perhaps growing tired of being repetitively talked down to since the beginning of the meeting, the Mizukage's voice lacked every pretence of politeness and warmth as she said, "Oh, is that so? Unless I'm very mistaken, the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki standing over there is a Jōnin instructor, isn't she?" Turning directly towards Yugito Nii, she asked, "Is it the case that your students are actually there to protect you, then? Or perhaps you have to take guards with you wherever you go? How curious, seeing as I thought the instructors for Genin teams are always chosen in parts due to their strength, to guarantee they can both fulfil their missions and protect the students under their care all by themselves even under unpredictable circumstances. Are things different in Kumo, perhaps?"
"I'm more than capable of looking after myself, Mizukage-sama."
Despite using the honorific her kage had let out and keeping her voice perfectly polite, no one would mistake the look in Yugito's eyes as respectful.
"Be that as it may be, it's rather unlikely that Akatsuki would choose a direct confrontation over an ambush, and I'm sure even the Raikage would agree that being caught by surprise by such powerful enemies would be lethal to even a Jinchūriki," the Kazekage thankfully redirected the conversation back on track, making the Ay scoff and Ōnoki nod.
"Agreed. Deidara's bombs are not to be underestimated, and the brat has served in the Explosion Corps for years. Jinchūriki or not, if you walk into one of his traps, the fight is as good as over!"
Seizing the opportunity, Hiruzen spoke up before anyone else could derail the conversation once more:
"I had my people pursue Orochimaru ever since he left Konoha. It's through this hunt that I became first aware of Akatsuki, and if there's anything I have learned since then, it's that they never attack blindly or without a plan. Even though their targets so far may have been comparatively harmless, they always seem to wait for the perfect timing to strike, not giving away their hand until it's far too late or underestimating their enemies even when they're clearly superior. Underestimating them will be our downfall."
That was yet another half-lie.
In truth, Akatsuki had several members that could be outright careless. Not because they were stupid, oh no, but simply because they knew they could afford to be more often than not.
Hiruzen had to give Nagato credit, though. After all, according to Itachi, the man put together teams with the individuals' characters in mind, always making sure that at least one of the two was sensible enough to know when to retreat. Itachi's own team was a prime example:
While Kisame Hoshigaki was by no means stupid or simple-minded, and for all that he most definitely possessed both the skills and means to be subtle, patient, and discreet if he wanted to, the simple fact of the matter was that he didn't like any of these things. He very much preferred to fight straight up, the stronger his opponent the better. It thus usually fell to Itachi to create appropriate circumstances for Kisame to fight for his heart's content without endangering their mission.
Apparently, that had not only endeared himself to the swordsman but also gave them a perfect success rate for their missions as well as the added benefit of Itachi rarely ever having to fight himself.
The Raikage merely huffed and rolled his eyes at his explanation, however. "My shinobi wouldn't just walk blindly into a trap and get blown up."
"Doubting the skills of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps despite having lost so many of your men against them? Heh, you must be all brawn and no brain after all!"
In an instant, Ay's demeanour made a complete one-eighty, switching from nonchalant amusement to burning anger in an almost comedic manner.
However, Rasa once again managed to be faster as he loudly spoke up, "You still haven't mentioned the goal you want to achieve with this summit, Hokage-sama."
That seemed to be enough to make even Ay and Ōnoki stop their glaring contest in favour of focusing on him.
Hiruzen didn't answer immediately, however. Instead, he first carefully looked each of his four counterparts directly in the eyes and took a deep breath.
The meeting had been just as heated and chaotic as he had expected so far, but he supposed as long as no punches were thrown and no feelings hurt too badly, he could count it as a success.
It would have to be enough.
"It is my hope for the five of us to cooperate on this issue, create a communication pipeline through which we can share intel related to Akatsuki quickly and effectively, and ultimately, form a special task force consisting of shinobi of all our five villages to track down and eliminate its members one by one."