Naruto: From Ninja Academy to an Early Grave

Of course, the ones who got chairs were the leaders of each faction. The escort teams were expected to look like escort teams and stand obediently behind their respective leaders.

Only Konohagakure's side was an exception—they had two chairs.

No one dared object to Higashino Makoto receiving special treatment. It was a show of respect for the current strongest shinobi in the world—the second God of Shinobi.

Makoto himself didn't actually care, but Minato insisted, and the other Kage all felt it was only natural.

A person's treatment should match their strength and status.

Makoto wasn't a Kage, but his standing in the shinobi world now surpassed that of the Five Kage themselves.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Mifune spoke.

"I believe everyone here understands the current situation. If war breaks out, none of us can bear the consequences."

"I think we should all remain calm. There has to be some misunderstanding here. It's better if we clear things up first, wouldn't you agree?"

Ōnoki immediately shot back.

"There's no misunderstanding. Everyone in the shinobi world knows that only Higashino Makoto and his younger brother possess Wood Release."

"And during the Five Kage Summit several years ago, Konohagakure already revealed its ambition to unify the shinobi world. We all know that."

"Now it's obvious they've finished preparing and have begun putting that plan into action. Capturing the Tailed Beasts and weakening our villages is only the first step."

The Raikage nodded.

"I agree."

The Mizukage added, "Kirigakure has no desire to become Konohagakure's enemy, but for the survival of our village and our nation, we had no choice but to come here and hear Konoha's explanation."

Seeing that neither the Hokage nor Makoto said a word, Ōnoki turned toward Rasa.

"Kazekage-sama, doesn't Sunagakure want to reclaim the One-Tail? Or has Konohagakure promised you something?"

Rasa calmly replied, "Konoha promised us nothing. After our investigation, we've concluded that Konoha wasn't responsible."

"Who Sunagakure's jinchūriki is isn't exactly a secret."

"The jinchūriki is my son, Gaara. He's standing right behind me. He only survived losing his Tailed Beast thanks to Konoha's help."

The Raikage frowned.

"So you've been blinded by a small favor? If Konoha wasn't behind the jinchūriki's kidnapping, then who was?"

Rasa suddenly pointed angrily at Ōnoki.

"Then perhaps Tsuchikage-sama should answer that question. One of the people who attacked Gaara was none other than your prized student, Deidara."

"He joined a mysterious organization called the Akatsuki. As far as I know, the Akatsuki and Iwagakure have worked together quite closely over the years."

"So I suspect this whole affair is actually Tsuchikage-sama's conspiracy. He's the true mastermind behind the Akatsuki."

The Raikage slammed the table.

"Damn it, old man! Is what the Kazekage says true?"

Terumī Mei also looked surprised.

"Oh? So Iwagakure has been playing the thief while crying 'Thief!'?"

The temporary alliance between the three villages wasn't any sturdier than a potato chip.

Especially since Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure already shared deep grudges with one another.

None of them had the courage to start a war against Konoha right now, which was why they had agreed to negotiate.

But if the target was Iwagakure instead...

Not only did they have the courage—they had plenty of it.

As the moderator, Mifune also spoke.

"Tsuchikage-sama, please provide a reasonable explanation for Kazekage-sama's accusations."

Ōnoki suddenly found the situation strangely familiar.

Hadn't he been through something like this before?

How had things somehow turned into Iwagakure becoming the target again?

Konoha hadn't even given its explanation yet, and somehow he'd become the mastermind behind everything?

The Akatsuki was under his control?

Why was this the first he'd heard of it?

"Ridiculous! Deidara defected long ago. How should I know where he went afterward?"

"It's true that the Akatsuki cooperated with us a few times, but that was the extent of our relationship."

"I originally thought they were nothing more than a fairly capable mercenary shinobi organization. How was I supposed to know they were so ambitious that they'd dare target the Tailed Beasts of every village?"

The Raikage snorted.

"Your student defects and just happens to join the Akatsuki. Iwagakure just happens to have worked with the Akatsuki."

"What a coincidence, old man. Do you take us for fools?"

The Mizukage nodded.

"I have to agree. Tsuchikage-sama, your explanation isn't very convincing."

Makoto and Minato simply smiled calmly.

Sometimes, letting others explain your case was far more convincing than trying to defend yourself.

Besides, Sunagakure's deduction was perfectly reasonable.

Realizing the situation was turning against him, Ōnoki simply decided to reveal more information.

"Heh... As far as I know, the Akatsuki doesn't just have Deidara. It also includes Sunagakure's former puppet prodigy, Sasori of the Red Sand; one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru; Kirigakure's monster, Hoshigaki Kisame; and even one shinobi who defected from Takigakure."

"Then by the Kazekage's logic, wouldn't that make all four of your villages the ones controlling the Akatsuki? How do you explain that?"

No one wanted to answer.

Only the Mizukage and the Raikage were left stunned.

Wasn't this Akatsuki organization a little too powerful?

Why had they only learned about it today?

Compared to their rivals, wasn't their own village's intelligence network embarrassingly incompetent?

The Fourth Raikage even felt like he was the only one with clean hands.

This mysterious and powerful Akatsuki had gathered S-rank missing-nin from every village—except Kumogakure.

Which made the conclusion obvious.

Every last one of these bastards had skeletons in their closet.

None of them could be trusted.

Shibuki was equally dumbfounded.

He had thought he was only there to make up the numbers, yet somehow Takigakure had a missing-nin mixed up in all of this too?

A missing-nin?

How could tiny Takigakure possibly have produced someone capable of standing alongside all those infamous S-rank monsters?

"Tsuchikage-sama, are you sure you aren't mistaken? Is there really someone from Takigakure in that organization? What does he look like?"

Ōnoki replied, "That guy keeps his face covered with a mask all the time, so who knows what he looks like? But his forehead protector is definitely from Takigakure, and he has a pair of emerald-green eyes."

After thinking for a moment, Shibuki nodded.

"Based on your description, then yes... that person does indeed come from my village."

The Raikage folded his arms.

"So this Akatsuki has ties to all of you. That means Kumogakure is the only village that's truly innocent."

Mifune thought to himself:

Thank goodness the Land of Iron doesn't have shinobi.

What had begun as a Five Kage Summit meant to interrogate Konohagakure had suddenly turned into a blame-shifting contest.

By the end of it, everyone except Kumogakure was under suspicion.

No matter what, Konoha had at least managed to free itself from being the sole target.

Everyone had dirt on their hands, so nobody had any right to complain about someone else's.

Only then did Minato, as the Hokage, finally speak.

"Everyone, I think the truth is already quite clear."

"This is all the Akatsuki's scheme."

"Besides Konoha, there's also someone within the Akatsuki who can use Wood Release. The Nine-Tails Incident years ago was orchestrated entirely by that person."

"And now they're using Wood Release while capturing the Tailed Beasts to frame Konoha, hoping to trigger another great shinobi war and wear down the strength of the Five Great Shinobi Villages."

Makoto added, "And another thing—you should really think this through. If I wanted to unify the shinobi world by force, I wouldn't need the Tailed Beasts at all.

"Do you honestly think those little cuties are anything more than pets in front of me?"

Everyone else: "..."

Killer B thought:

Yeah, yeah, you're right. Gyūki really is just a pet in front of you.

As the moderator, Mifune stepped in at just the right moment.

"Based on the information everyone has provided, this Akatsuki organization is clearly the true threat."

"Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I believe our top priority should be exchanging intelligence on the Akatsuki."

"Their members, how many Tailed Beasts they currently possess, and what their ultimate objective is. Only then can we deal with the trouble ahead together. Wouldn't you agree?"

Rasa nodded.

"Mifune-dono is right. I'll begin."

"Sunagakure only had the One-Tail, and it has already been taken."

"There were three people who attacked Gaara. All of them wore black cloaks patterned with red clouds, which appears to be the organization's standard uniform."

"The three were Deidara, Sasori, and a Wood Release shinobi wearing a strange mask."

"Everyone here is familiar with Wood Release, while Deidara uses Iwagakure's Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai."

"As for Sasori, besides the puppet technique that earned him the legend of conquering an entire nation single-handedly, he also possesses the Human Puppet Technique, which preserves the ninjutsu of the deceased."

"And the strongest human puppet in his collection..."

"...is none other than the body of our Third Kazekage."

Everyone except Konoha: "..."

Now that was a bombshell.

The spark that ignited the last great shinobi war had been the disappearance of the Third Kazekage.

So in the end...

He had been killed by one of his own.

Poor Danzō.

After carrying the blame for so many years, he had only managed to shake it off after his death.

Young Kurotsuchi protested, "Deidara-niisan is a genius! He doesn't need something like a Kekkei Genkai."

Ōnoki shot his granddaughter a glare.

My precious little cotton jacket... this is not the time to sound so affectionate! You'll paint Iwagakure as the biggest target.

But since Kurotsuchi had already spoken, he had no choice but to explain.

"Deidara really doesn't possess a Kekkei Genkai."

"He uses a special explosive clay. He's a genius who pushed explosive ninjutsu to its absolute limit. Sigh..."

"As for our Four-Tails and Five-Tails jinchūriki, those two never lived in the village, so I don't know exactly what happened."

"All we found at the scene was a forest created by Wood Release."

"But there was one strange detail."

"The two jinchūriki never got along very well, yet for some reason they happened to meet that day..."

"...and ended up being captured together."