XX-level Hokage

But before he could continue, Onoki interrupted him, saying, "The Five Kage have really changed a lot. To become Kage at such a young age is truly remarkable."

"The younger generation is truly formidable, Lord Kazekage, and also, Lord Hokage."

Ōnoki looked at Gaara, then turned to look at Mashiro.

He then turned to Gaara, smiling, and said, "It seems your father taught you quite well, but unfortunately, he lacks manners." Upon hearing this, Kankuro was instantly furious, and Matsuri also tensed up.

“Yes, that’s why I’m sitting here as the Kazekage,” Gaara said calmly. “Hahaha, what an arrogant fellow,” Onoki laughed, saying. “Tsuchikage-sama, please don’t interrupt. Kazekage-sama, please continue,” Terumi said.

"I was originally a Jinchūriki and was imprisoned by Akatsuki," Gaara began to slowly recount his experiences.

"What's with that Tsuchikage?!" Kankuro said angrily. "Exactly, exactly," Matsuri nodded repeatedly.

Chapter 157: The Five Kage Summit (Part 3)

"Therefore, I believe that Akatsuki's existence is extremely dangerous. I have repeatedly made requests to the other four Kage, but they have all been ignored. Apart from the former Hokage, it's too late to join forces after all the Jinchuriki from various countries have been taken away," Gaara said calmly.

"Ha, after the five great ninja villages have all taken away the Jinchuriki, they can't set an example for other countries. It's a disgrace. It's only natural to take them back secretly. It's impossible for them to seek help from other countries right after they've been taken away," Onoki said.

“Discipline, prestige, utterly boring and corrupt ideas,” Gaara replied softly to Onoki’s words. “Young man,” Onoki thought to himself, looking at Gaara.

"Putting aside whether this is corrupt or not, as the Mizukage, I admit we were indeed too passive. But even if our tailed beasts are taken away, we can't immediately see it as a threat. Controlling tailed beasts requires technology, knowledge, and time," Terumi said after listening to Gaara and Onoki's conversation.

"Jinchūriki need to grow and adapt to the Tailed Beast, but even so, they are still difficult to control. They talk too much, huh, isn't that right, Lord Kazekage?" Onoki glanced at Gaara and said.

"Speaking of which, the only ones who can truly control the Tailed Beasts are Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju (the First Hokage), Yagura (the Fourth Mizukage), and Killer Bee (the Raikage's younger brother)," Onoki continued.

Upon hearing Killer Bee's name, A clenched his fist. Instantly, all the Shadow Guards tensed up. "Chojuro!" Ao reminded him.

"Here!" Chojuro instantly drew his twin swords, Hiramekarei.

Kankuro sprang into action instantly. Jiraiya also stepped in front of Mashiro.

"Stop rambling on." Ai Yizhang slammed his hand on the table in front of him, smoke billowing out. All the guards sprang into action.

Kankuro drew his sword, but Darui blocked it with his own.

Matsuri stood before Gaara. Chojuro pointed his twin swords, Hiramekarei, at Gaara. Ao also formed hand seals in front of Mei Terumi. Kakashi activated his Sharingan.

Jiraiya used his hair to form a barrier in front of Mashiro. Akatsuchi had already thrown a punch, facing Nozomi.

Kurotsuchi stood behind Akatsuchi in a fighting stance.

Mifune sighed helplessly and said, "This is a place for discussion. Be careful not to act impolitely." "Don't worry, Kakashi, Jiraiya, step back," Mashiro said softly.

“You too, Matsuri, Kankuro,” Gaara said. “Ao, Chojuro, it’s alright,” Terumi said. Onoki also turned his head, and Akatsuchi nodded slightly upon seeing this.

Raikage pulled his hand out from under the table, snorted coldly, and sat back down in his chair.

Seeing this, all the guards jumped back to the stands. "Let's continue the discussion," Mifune said.

"Leaving aside Konoha, Iwa, Suna, Kirigakure, and Akatsuki were all formed by rogue ninja from your village. Not only that, I've also discovered that some of you, including the former village chief, have used Akatsuki."

"Used?" Upon hearing this, Gaara's expression immediately turned ugly.

"Therefore, I do not trust you and do not want to negotiate with you. However, the reason I summoned the Five Kage here is to hold you accountable." Ai glanced at Mashiro and, seeing that Mashiro had no reaction, continued with relief.

"What do you mean by 'used before'?" Gaara asked.

"As the Kazekage, how could you not have been informed? Go ask the old folks in your own village; you used Akatsuki in the past during wartime," Ai said. "Now that the major powers have settled down, they've shifted from military expansion to reduction, as tensions between nations have eased, so..."

"What threat of war? For a nation, the ninja villages that control military power become a heavy financial burden. Even so, arbitrarily reducing the size of ninja villages also carries certain risks. Once war breaks out, relying solely on ninjas with no combat experience will also cause problems, and defeat will result," Onoki said softly.

Gaara seemed to understand Onoki's meaning and interjected, "One way to avoid risks is to hire the Akatsuki, a group of combat mercenaries, right?" "Training excellent ninjas in your own village requires effort and money. Akatsuki, who live by war, is a top-tier expert group that can hire them at a low price..."

"That would allow them to take on the war and achieve satisfactory results," Ohno continued.

"Stop saying nice things, Tsuchikage," Ai interrupted Onoki.

"The Sand Village once used Akatsuki to try and destroy Konoha, and the person they used was Orochimaru. At that time, it wasn't certain whether he had left Akatsuki, but because of him, your father, the Fourth Kazekage, lost his life. Besides, the most suspicious are the Mist Village. You Mist Village don't do diplomacy, and it's rumored that your area is the birthplace of Akatsuki."

"The Akatsuki leader destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village. They are no longer tools of war; they are creating war," A said.

“Since that’s the case, then I’ll tell you the truth,” Mei Terumi said, her eyes filled with sadness. Behind her in the stands, Ao was very nervous, muttering to himself, “Could it be that the Fifth Generation is going to…”

“We suspect that the previous Mizukage, the Fourth Mizukage Yagura, was manipulated, most likely by Akatsuki, so we don’t want to cause a big fuss,” Terumi said, bowing her head.

"They're all cut from the same cloth," Ai said calmly.

"Watch your words, Raikage." Onoki was very dissatisfied with A's attitude.

"What, do you want me to reveal your shameful secrets? There's a guy in Akatsuki who's your apprentice, isn't there? The one who kidnapped the Kazekage." Ai said.

Ōnoki remained silent, then turned his attention to Mashiro, saying, "I've heard that Konoha is currently undergoing expansion. How did the Daimyo of the Land of Fire allow this?"

How did Ye manage to keep his finances afloat?

Everyone turned their attention to Mashiro in response to Onoki's question.

"Speaking of which, the new Hokage is quite young. It's said that Konoha's expansion began after the new Hokage took office. So, Hokage, do you know anything about this?" Mei Terumi asked, looking at Mashiro.

Mashiro still didn't say anything.

Mysterious and beautiful—that was Mashiro's first impression of Mei Terumi.

"When the Raikage was criticizing us just now, it seemed that he excluded Konoha. As far as I know, there should be people from Konoha in Akatsuki. Have you formed an alliance?" Onoki continued to ask.

"You old bastard, what do you mean?" Ai instantly flew into a rage.

"Judging from the Raikage's reaction, it seems I was right," Onoki said, glancing at A. A stood up, and wisps of electricity began to gather around him.

Immediately, all the guards were deployed again. Mifune could only sigh helplessly.

"Can we talk this out? Don't always be so tense." Mashiro finally spoke up. Hearing this, Ai silently sat back down, and Darui and hope also retreated.

Gaara's expression also turned serious, and he told Kankuro and Matsuri to retreat.

Onoki and Terumi noticed the changes in Ai and Gaara, and thus withdrew their guards.

“I originally thought Lord Kazekage was already quite outstanding, but it turns out there’s someone even more outstanding,” Onoki said.

"Before we argue from our respective perspectives, I'd like to share something with you all: the true founder of Akatsuki is probably Uchiha Madara," Mashiro said softly.

Everyone was shocked to hear Mashiro's words, including Kakashi and Jiraiya, who were also from Konoha. "Are you sure?" Terumi asked.

"Is he alive? Didn't he die decades ago?" Gaara asked as well.

“That’s right, that guy should be dead by now.” Amano said, sweating profusely. He had witnessed Madara Uchiha’s power firsthand.

Chapter 158: The Five Shadows Summit (Part 4)

“Although I don’t know the specifics, this information is reliable. I captured an Akatsuki member alive, and this is the information I got from him,” Mashiro said softly.

"Could he really be a monster?" Onoki broke out in a cold sweat.

“As a neutral country, let me say a few words. The leader of Akatsuki has grasped the trend of the times and expanded his strength by taking advantage of the suspicions hidden beneath the surface of stability in various countries,” Mifune said.

"What are you trying to say?" Ai turned to look at Mifune and asked.

"Don't rush, every cloud has a silver lining. It's extremely rare for the five Kage to gather together. So, while we're dealing with Akatsuki, how about we form an unprecedented allied army of the five great ninja villages?" Mifune revealed his purpose.

"The Allied Forces?" Ai asked, glancing at Mashiro and then at Mifune.

“That’s a very good suggestion. These are critical times, and we need to work together,” Gaara said. “This way, we can have unified command and avoid a more chaotic situation.” Mifune continued.

"Then the question is, who should be given command of the allied forces?" Onoki asked, as he was more concerned about this point.

"Letting you decide will only lead to endless arguments. Therefore, I hope you can respect the position of neutral countries and let me propose who among the Five Kage is the most suitable," Mifune said.

“Currently, only Konoha’s Nine-Tails Jinchuriki hasn’t been captured by Akatsuki. How to control him has become crucial. So how about handing over the power of the Allied Shinobi Forces to the Hokage?” Mifune said.

Upon hearing this, the other four Kage all looked at Mashiro, who smiled gently.

Mashiro was not surprised by this result. After all, to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, she had brought Jiraiya and Kakashi to the Land of Iron a day early to meet Mifune.

Then, under the pretext of business communication, she went to Mifune's office and then used her charm on him.

Mashiro left two thoughts in Mifune's mind. Akatsuki is extremely powerful, and a coalition of thieves needs to be formed to counter them.

The Hokage is of excellent character and possesses great strength, making him suitable to serve as the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

“Isn’t this decision a bit too frivolous? After all, the Hokage is quite young, and we don’t know her very well or trust her much,” Onoki said. Clearly, he did not agree with Mashiro serving as the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"I think so too. I think the Raikage is the most suitable among the five Kage. After all, there are no rogue ninja from Kumogakure in the Akatsuki organization, and Kumogakure was just destroyed, which is enough to prove that the Raikage has no connection with Akatsuki." Terumi Momo also spoke up. For some reason, she couldn't see through this new Hokage at all.

"The Raikage is not convincing."

As he spoke, Mifune pointed to the shattered table in front of the Raikage and said, "To lead the strong, one naturally needs a bit of temperament and strength, and I am well aware of that. But those who let emotions drive them and act by brute force will only cause the allied forces to fall apart, just like this table. This is a proposal that I, as a neutral country, came up with after calm consideration."

The Kazekage has a history with Akatsuki, and he himself was once captured by Akatsuki, so other countries probably won't give him any face.

The Tsuchikage is advanced in years and gives the impression of lacking ability. Furthermore, he once used the Akatsuki organization, making him the least trustworthy candidate. The Mizukage's Kirigakure is the birthplace of Akatsuki, so there are concerns about intelligence leaks and the possibility of spies.

While we don't yet know for sure why Akatsuki is collecting the Tailed Beasts, we can't just hand over the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails belongs to Konoha, and the Hokage...

The adults even captured members of Akatsuki and extracted information from them.

Therefore, I think it's most appropriate for the Hokage to be the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

"Anyway, I will never acknowledge any Allied Shinobi Forces. I'm not that senile to hand over the village's trump cards to a little girl," Onoki said nonchalantly.

“Since everyone has objections to Lord Mifune’s proposal, how about we hold a vote?” Mashiro said with a light laugh. “Oh, a vote? How do we vote?” Onoki asked.

“It’s simple, the minority obeys the majority. Those Kage who agree that I should be the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, please raise your hands,” Mashiro said softly.

"That little girl is just a little girl. She doesn't really think that Youying would raise her hand, does she? This isn't a small position," Onoki sneered inwardly. But soon, his smile vanished.

Raikage A and Kazekage Gaara both raised their hands.

Darui and Hii both thought it was normal for the Raikage to raise his hand in approval, after all, the Hidden Cloud Village owed Mashiro a huge favor. Kankuro didn't understand why the Kazekage raised his hand at first, but he understood in a moment.

"Kankuro-sensei, why did Master agree to this?" Matsuri asked with some doubt. In her memory, her master did not want the new Hokage to take over.

"There are some things you won't understand. You just need to remember that Gaara agreed not for the sake of becoming Hokage, but for his own sake," Kankuro said. Upon hearing this, the priest nodded as if he understood.

Faced with this bizarre situation, Onoki and Terumi Mei exchanged a glance.

They couldn't understand why the Raikage and Kazekage would agree. Had the three of them formed an alliance?

"It seems I'm quite popular. How about the Tsuchikage gives it a try?" Mashiro said with a smile. Onoki didn't speak; he wasn't foolish enough to humiliate himself.

Just then, White Zetsu suddenly burst forth from the ground. "Hello!"

Instantly, all the guards sprang into action, protecting the shadows within their village.

"Yes, Akatsuki, it seems we'll have to discuss the voting later," Mashiro said with obvious "regret." So, it's finally here.

"A member of Akatsuki has already infiltrated the Land of Iron," White Zetsu said with a smile. Ai teleported forward and grabbed White Zetsu by the neck.