General Mifune of the Land of Iron patted the table. "Alright, Kage, stop arguing. I know you all have your own grudges, but now is not the time to continue this emotional squabbling."
Choosing Konoha as the location for the Five Kage Summit this time was somewhat against tradition, as the Shinobi World had always used the Land of Iron as the meeting place.
The Land of Iron has been a neutral nation since ancient times, never intervening in the wars of the Shinobi World. Its samurai also strictly adhere to their Bushido, never invading any country.
The Shinobi also shared a mutual understanding not to attack the Land of Iron.
The Third Hokage chose his own Village as the meeting place this time because Madara was a matter of great importance, far exceeding any previous conflict.
If it were held in the Land of Iron, the samurai's strength would not be enough to withstand Madara, so it was better to hold it in Konoha.
However, to compensate the Land of Iron, the Third Hokage handed over the leadership of the Five Kage Summit to Mifune.
Everyone respected the upright samurai Mifune and stopped their arguing.
Mifune then presided, "Everyone, we are all gathered here because of Uchiha Madara."
"Neither we nor the nobles behind us want to see the execution of the Eye of the Moon Plan. Regardless of our stance, we must stop Uchiha Madara from completing the Eye of the Moon Plan."
Everyone nodded.
The Third Mizukage of Kirigakure wanted to watch from the sidelines, but the high-ranking officials of Kirigakure disagreed. The Land of Water's Feudal Lords directly ordered Kirigakure to stop its war with Konoha and form the Shinobi Allied Forces.
During the Warring States Period, Shinobi were mercenaries for nobles and lords, fighting specifically for them; they would help whoever paid the most.
Now, the Shinobi Villages cooperate with their nations, receiving a basic allowance while also taking on the responsibility of protecting the interests of the noble class.
Since they take the money, they must do the work; it's impossible for them not to contribute any effort.
Furthermore, Shinobi are an elite class based on strength; it's impossible for them to enter a world of genjutsu and become just like commoners.
I have worked so hard to practice Ninjutsu just to escape mediocrity.
After Mifune spoke, everyone began to talk, and they all agreed to form the Shinobi Allied Forces.
But the question was, how to fight? Could they even win?
Mentioning Madara's strength, Ōnoki stopped flying. He sat in his seat and said solemnly, "In the past, only the First Hokage could deal with Uchiha Madara."
"Now he possesses Wood Release and the Rinnegan. To be honest, such a person cannot be defeated simply by numbers."
Everyone fell silent for a moment, frowning deeply at the thought of the Rinnegan, Mangekyo Sharingan, and Wood Release.
Those from Konoha agreed the most. The intelligence provided by Shisui said that the Rinnegan had a Ninjutsu called Tengai Shinsei, which could summon giant meteors from the sky to strike the earth.
Its range could affect several kilometers.
This kind of Ninjutsu is a large-scale area-of-effect Forbidden Jutsu. Madara's power is not something that can be overcome by sheer numbers.
The Third Hokage proposed, "I suggest that Uchiha Madara be handled by Elite Jonin. Once Uchiha Madara's figure is spotted, everyone in the Shinobi Allied Forces must stay at least ten kilometers away from him."
Ōnoki disagreed, "Ten kilometers is still too close. It should be at least a hundred kilometers."
Jiraiya complained, "At that distance, you'd almost be out of the Land of Rain. The alliance might as well just beat drums and cheer from outside the Land of Rain's borders!"
Danzo scolded Jiraiya, "Jiraiya, why are you interrupting? Go stay somewhere else where it's cooler!"
Jiraiya immediately went to stay in a corner nearby.
Danzo then distributed the intelligence regarding Madara and Ryou to the other four Villages.
"Everyone, this is the intelligence on the abilities of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Ryou, including information on Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan."
Everyone looked at the intelligence provided by Danzo in surprise. They hadn't expected the people of Konoha to be so capable as to obtain information on the Rinnegan.
Truly worthy of being the number one great Shinobi Village in the Shinobi World.
Danzo even gave a copy of the intelligence to Mifune.
As everyone looked at Madara's intelligence, the information Danzo provided was not complete.
For example, abilities like Madara's Limbo and Rinne Rebirth were not included, for fear that Limbo would frighten the Kage of the Four Great Shinobi Villages so much they wouldn't dare to resist Madara at all.
He also feared that the Four Great Shinobi Villages would become greedy because of Rinne Rebirth.
Such a taboo Ninjutsu could resurrect many people. If Madara were defeated, everyone would likely start fighting over the Rinnegan.
Furthermore, Danzo didn't actually trust the people of the Four Great Shinobi Villages very much.
The fact that the Third Mizukage of Kirigakure did not attend and only sent a young brat spoke volumes.
However, the intelligence on Limbo couldn't be withheld forever; it would have to be revealed during the final decisive battle with Madara.
In any case, in Danzo's eyes, the Four Great Shinobi Villages were just cannon fodder to invade Amegakure and wear down Madara.
The final war would still depend on the combined efforts of the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and Konoha's various Edo Tensei masters.
The people from the Four Great Shinobi Villages frowned as they read the intelligence on Madara.
It contained not only information on the Rinnegan but also on Madara's Mangekyo Sharingan, Wood Release, and the Gedo Statue.
Even without Limbo, Madara was not someone they could deal with.
Pakura and Chiyo looked at Madara's intelligence in shock. They finally understood why Ryou, despite having such great power, still worked for Madara.
Because—Madara was invincible; he was even more powerful than Ryou.
On Kirigakure side, Yagura was relatively calm, but Mei Terumī and Kisame's eyes were nearly popping out of their heads.
A Susanoo that could split a mountain range with a single strike, Wood Release that could change the terrain of the earth, and the powers of the Rinnegan's Six Paths...
Was he even human?!
Hidden Rain Village.
Nono received a secret letter from Root in her room.
She opened it to find only a photograph. It was a picture of her adopted son, Kabuto. At this moment, Kabuto was unconscious, surrounded by many cold pieces of equipment related to human experimentation.
Standing next to him was a person wearing a Rakshasa mask; this was someone from Root.
Nonō's pupils constricted. She didn't know what was happening.
Why was her adopted son at a Root base, and looking as if he were about to be sacrificed for human experimentation?
Nonō looked at the back of the photo; it was a Root code. After Nonō decoded it, she found it was an order from Danzo.
Danzo ordered her to find a way to assassinate Ryou, or else he would kill her adopted son.
"Kabuto..."
Nonō knelt on the ground in despair, burying her head in the darkness as she sobbed.
She had done so much, risking her life to come to this devil's den of Amegakure to gather intelligence, all for the sake of the children in the orphanage.
And now her adopted son was in Danzo's hands.
Nonō knew how cold-blooded Danzo was. If she failed, he would likely kill Kabuto.
Not just Kabuto, but all those children in the orphanage would become sacrifices for Root's human experiments.
Now, Nonō's only way out was to kill Ryou.
But kill Ryou?
She had always been a high-level spy for gathering intelligence on enemy Villages; her own combat strength could not compare to a combat-specialized Jonin.
She couldn't even defeat Ryou when he had just defected from the Village, let alone the Ryou who was now growing increasingly closer to Madara.
She would likely be torn to pieces by the cats under his command before she even got close to Ryou.
But there was no other way; assassinating Ryou was Nonō's final choice.
She had no way to resist Danzo.
But how should she carry out the assassination?
A direct confrontation was suicide; she had to rely on underhanded methods—poison.
However, Nonō couldn't get close to Ryou. Her beauty couldn't compare to Konan and Tsunade, and he was already surrounded by stunning women.
Nonō thought quietly for a moment.
High-end hunters often appear in the form of prey. She had to shed all her disguises and aggression; only then could she get close to Ryou and deliver the killing blow.
She made some preparations, prepared some pastries, and headed toward where Tsunade was.