At the Namikaze Residence.
"...My adoptive father has worked hard his whole life, and now he's finally achieved his goal. I'm really happy for him," Minato said with emotion as he picked up some dishes for Kaze.
However, for some reason, there was a hollow feeling in his heart, as if he had missed something.
Kaze put down his chopsticks and bowl, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly, "Come on, it's just an empty title. No big deal."
Minato doted on Kaze, but Kushina didn't indulge him. She curled her lips and said, "Tsk tsk, someone was so full of themselves a few days ago. Now they're being all humble."
Kushina and Kaori are good girlfriends.
After learning about Kaze's ambiguous relationship with Yukiko, she, naturally indignant on behalf of her friend, often taunted Kaze.
Kaze smiled and changed the topic. "Let's not talk about this. I heard from Minato a few days ago that you two are planning to get married?"
Kushina gave a soft snort and said indifferently, "Yes, we're planning to hold the wedding during the Chinese New Year. Well, are you coming to the wedding?"
Kaze massaged Kushina's shoulders and said with an awkward smile, "You and Minato are my best friends. Of course, I'll come to your wedding."
"Oh, you're right," Kushina nodded her head, seemingly agreeing with Kaze.
Seeing this, Kaze secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Kushina suddenly changed the subject. "Minato wants you to be the groomsman. But who do you think would be a good choice for the bridesmaid?"
Hearing this, Kaori, who had been eating silently beside them, put down her chopsticks and bowl and looked at Kaze faintly.
Cold sweat broke out on Kaze's forehead instantly.
"By the way, Kaze, why did your adoptive father leave in such a hurry yesterday?"
Fortunately, Minato stepped in in time and forcibly changed the topic, saving Kaze from the embarrassing situation.
"Databane!"
Under the table, Kushina pinched Minato hard, making him grimace in pain.
"Good bro, I'm so lucky to have you. Thanks for taking the heat for me," Kaze said gratefully, glancing at Minato. After coughing twice, he said mysteriously, "Have you ever heard of the Five Kage Conference?"
In a solitary tower standing in the snow - covered ice of the Land of Iron.
Five extraordinary men were sitting at a table. The different - colored Kage hats in front of them showed their identities.
The Five Kage!
Since the first generation of Kage concluded the first agreement in the ninja world decades ago, this was the first time the Five Kage had gathered together.
To hold the second Five Kage Conference.
The witness of the meeting was Mifune, a general of the Land of Iron who had fought against Hanzō.
It is said that his sword is incredibly fast, so fast that ninjas don't have time to form Hand Seals.
Fortunately, apart from honest guys like Kisame, many powerful ninjas didn't follow the rules anymore and could summon things directly by shouting.
Otherwise, wouldn't this part of the story be renamed The Hokage Samurai?
At the beginning of the meeting, a young man with brownish-red hair and extremely heavy dark circles under his eyes took the lead to challenge.
"Konoha has blatantly violated the agreement set by the first generation of the Five Kages and has been capturing Jinchūriki on a large scale. Hokage, don't you think you should give us an explanation for this?"
The man was Rasa, the newly elected Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, which was currently leaderless.
After the important strategic weapon of his village was taken away, he immediately contacted the Kages who had the same experience and jointly called this Five Kage Summit.
"Capturing Jinchūriki on a large scale?" Tanzō frowned slightly. "Where did this claim come from?"
Rasa sneered and loudly demanded, "Why are you playing dumb, Lord Hokage?"
"Isn't it your Konoha that took the One-Tailed Jinchūriki of my Sunagakure, the Two-Tailed Jinchūriki of Kumogakure, the Three-Tailed and Six-Tailed Jinchūriki of Kiri, and the Seven-Tailed Jinchūriki of Taki Hidden Village?"
Tanzō frowned even deeper. Then he let out a cold snort and said indifferently.
"The One-Tailed Jinchūriki was indeed captured by my Konoha, but we have no idea about the situation of the other Jinchūriki."
Rasa slapped the table hard, stood up, and said loudly.
"Lord Hokage, are you afraid to admit what you've done?"
"Five Jinchūriki from four villages have disappeared one after another. It's obvious that someone had premeditated this."
"Besides Konoha, which other force in the ninja world has such power?"
The other three Kages silently looked at Tanzō.
Although they didn't say a word, it was obvious that they shared the same thought as Rasa.
"So many Jinchūriki have...!"
To be honest, Tanzō was also secretly shocked at this moment.
He had thought that he and his son were invincible in the ninja world, but he didn't expect that there was someone more audacious than their father - son pair.
To be able to capture four Jinchūriki at once without leaving a single trace...
This must be a force that could pose a threat to Konoha!
"This matter was not done by my Konoha," Tanzō said slowly. "Bluntly speaking, given Konoha's current strength, if we really wanted to take back all the tailed beasts, we wouldn't need to be sneaky."
As he said, he glanced at Rasa disdainfully, with almost all his contempt written on his face.
"My Konoha could have just taken the One-Tailed openly, just like we did to Sunagakure. Why would we need to be so furtive?"
"You...! Come on!"
Rasa was so angry that he kept slapping the table. However, he didn't dare to say anything too extreme and could only fume impotently there.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Amidst the sound of Rasa slapping the table, the other three Kages glanced at each other and nodded secretly.
Although it was a bit humiliating, they had to admit that Tanzō's words did make some sense.
They could have just taken the Jinchūriki openly. There was really no need to beat around the bush.
Ōnoki stroked his purplish - red nose and asked thoughtfully,
"Do you mean that someone is deliberately doing this to confuse us?"
"Exactly," Tanzō nodded slightly and said seriously.
"Perhaps the quarrels we're having right now are precisely what those lurking in the shadows are hoping for."
"They're simply waiting for us to start fighting again so they can fish in troubled waters and snatch the remaining tailed beasts."
The other four Kage were startled and began to consider the possibility in Tanzō's words.
"Speaking of which, there's an embarrassing incident in my Kiri that I've never told you all."
At this moment, the Mizukage beside them suddenly spoke up and told everyone about the incident in which the village's high - level officials were controlled a few years back.
"Mizukage, how come you didn't mention such important intelligence just now!" the straightforward A roared angrily.
"I only thought of it after hearing what the Hokage said," the Mizukage said calmly.
He looked at Tanzō, who was deep in thought beside him, and voiced his speculation.
"I'm afraid this matter has something to do with the Uchiha clan. What do you think, Hokage?"
The Uchiha clan?
Ōnoki and A looked at Tanzō, waiting for him to give an explanation.
"The Mizukage's speculation is highly likely. In fact, this isn't the first time these Uchiha remnants have stirred up trouble."
After pondering for a moment, Tanzō told them what Yau and the others had done at that time, along with some of his own thoughts.
The five Kage fell silent again.
If there really is such a force in the dark, not only Konoha, but all the ninja villages may be harmed by it.
[Maoqiu wishes everyone a happy National Day!]
『Still in serialization...』
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