After finishing their meal, they tidied up the table.
Shizuka spread a sheet of paper across the desk and pointed to a location on it.
"Captain, this area is near Nagi's house. I've already bought this residence. Which one do you want to buy?"
"Hmm…"
Samui rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment before pointing to another house.
"This one. It's right next to yours."
Shizuka nodded, then circled another house on the other side of Samui's.
"Alright, this one will be for Raino. Then the three of us can live together."
"Nagi, the captain and I are heading out for a bit. We'll be back later."
From the kitchen, where he was preparing dessert, Nagi replied,
"Got it."
After that, Shizuka and Samui left to meet with a land broker.
Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village)
Gaara looked at the letter sent from the Hidden Cloud Village.
"The Five Kage Summit… and the Akatsuki organization…"
"I understand. Sister, send a reply to Kumogakure. I'll attend this Five Kage Summit as the representative of Sunagakure."
"Understood."
With that, Temari left the Kazekage's office.
Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village)
Mei Terumi read the letter in her hand.
"This Five Kage Summit is a good opportunity for Kirigakure to step forward again. Ao, send our reply."
"Yes, Mizukage-sama."
Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village)
Ōnoki looked at the letter before him and fell silent for a moment.
"Akatsuki, huh? Heh… Deidara is probably with them, isn't he?"
"They've already captured the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails… And…"
"Hmph! Not long ago, the troops I sent to the Land of Lightning to 'assist' them all lost contact. This time, I'll make sure to question that brat properly."
In Ōnoki's view, the "reinforcement" forces he had sent were most likely being detained by the Land of Lightning.
Some Time Later — Kumogakure
Mabui reviewed the letters sent from the other four great villages and finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Raikage-sama, the other four Kage have all agreed to attend the Five Kage Summit."
A nodded and said,
"What about the alliance with Konoha?"
"Yes. The Hokage has already agreed to the alliance. The conditions remain the same."
A exhaled.
"I understand. After the Five Kage Summit, I will personally apologize to the Hyuga Clan."
After witnessing Nagi's battle with the Jashin Jashin—especially Nagi's final form—even someone as brash as A understood that Nagi was someone who absolutely must not be provoked.
He also knew that once Konoha realized it possessed such tremendous power, it would never sit idle—Tsunade was not like Hiruzen Sarutobi.
For the future of Kumogakure, he had to show goodwill toward Konoha.
A said to Mabui,
"Mabui, since that's settled, schedule the Five Kage Summit for next month. The location… right, what was Mifune's reply?"
"Lord Mifune has agreed to host the meeting there."
"Good. Then send them our response."
"Oh, right. How are things on Samui's side?"
"She has successfully obtained permanent residency in Konoha."
"That's good."
Sunagakure
Gaara was waiting for the Raikage's reply.
"Hmm?"
His brows furrowed slightly—he sensed something unusual.
At that moment, inside a restaurant in Sunagakure.
Two people wearing straw hats sat leisurely drinking tea, seemingly waiting for some kind of news.
On the other side of the restaurant—
Chiyo raised her cup and said,
"To celebrate Raino's promotion to jōnin—cheers!"
"Cheers!" ×N
Raino's friends gathered around to congratulate her.
"Thank you, everyone," Raino replied with a smile.
Not long ago, due to her outstanding Medical Ninjutsu and her status as Nagi's girlfriend, Gaara had personally arranged a jōnin evaluation for her.
However, Raino was assessed primarily in the medical field.
As expected, she achieved perfect scores in every test and officially became a Medical Jōnin.
But at that moment, part of Raino's attention was focused on the two straw-hat wearers inside the restaurant.
For some reason, the chakra of one of them felt strangely familiar.
Just then—
"Hmm?"
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted.
As ninjas, several of them immediately rushed out of the restaurant.
From a distance, they saw smoke rising from the direction of the Kazekage Building.
"What happened?!"
"Did someone attack Lord Kazekage?!"
"This is bad—hurry!"
The Sand ninja quickly rushed toward the Kazekage Building.
Meanwhile—
Both Gaara and Kankurō had suffered minor injuries, but they were staring intently at the man before them.
"The One-Tail Jinchūriki… Gaara."
"As the Kazekage, you're indeed formidable. But this ends here."
Gaara said calmly,
"You must be the one behind the Akatsuki… the mysterious masked man."
"That's right," the man replied.
"But I prefer that you call me Uchiha Madara."
Gaara ignored the remark.
From the Raikage's letter, he had already learned that the masked man also had a humanoid accomplice capable of using Wood Release.
He dared not be careless.
Using the Eye of Sand, Gaara continuously monitored his surroundings.
At the same time, he secretly took out the Flying Thunder God kunai that Nagi had given him.
Even the perfect Jinchūriki Killer B had suffered a major defeat at the hands of this man.
Gaara did not believe he would fare any better.
Just as he was about to activate the kunai—
Suddenly he heard a shout.
"Ha!"
Obito instantly sensed danger. In the next moment, he activated Kamui, turning intangible.
At the same time—
A massive explosion erupted around him.
Hearing the familiar voice, Gaara froze for a moment.
Not far away, two straw-hat figures were slowly walking toward the battlefield.
"A-Fei… you shouldn't have died that easily, right? Hmm."
Deidara's voice carried its usual tone.
"Hmph. Someone who hides himself so deeply wouldn't be taken down that easily."
The smoke cleared.
Obito stood there completely unharmed.
He scratched his head and spoke in a deliberately goofy tone.
"Well, well! Isn't this Deidara-senpai and Sasori-senpai? Long time no see!"
"So you two didn't die after all? Then the other members of the Akatsuki—"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish speaking, several chakra threads shot toward him.
Obito instantly phased through them.
Sasori said coldly,
"That's enough. Now isn't the time for your nonsense. Just surrender quietly."
"Oh my, why are you two seniors being so cold?"
Deidara snorted.
"Hmph. You and Zetsu ambushed the Leader and Sister Konan. Old Man Sasori and I don't trust you at all, hmm."
"Is that so?"
Obito's tone suddenly turned cold.
"In that case… I'll take my leave."
As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished using Kamui.
Obito was still somewhat wary of Deidara's explosive techniques and Gaara's Magnet Release.
Both of them could unleash wide-range, sustained attacks—and with Sasori present as well, dealing with them would be troublesome.
Besides…
He had already obtained a substitute.
That would suffice for now.
When the time came, he could capture the One-Tail Shukaku properly.
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