Chapter 623: Uchiha Madara – While They Hold a Five Kage Summit, We’ll Hunt the Tailed Beasts

Takuya and Minato exchanged a glance.

There was no doubt about it.

This was definitely his real grandfather—because only a real grandfather would hit his grandson this hard.

The various villages' reinforcements arrived quickly.

At the same time, new invitations were sent out to Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure.

"It seems that this attack caused significant damage to the Hidden Cloud Village. Otherwise, with the Third Raikage's stubborn nature, there's no way he'd initiate a Five Kage Summit so easily," Onoki remarked, tossing the invitation onto his desk with a hint of schadenfreude.

After all, they had always been rivals. Even if he wasn't planning to kick them while they were down, he certainly wasn't going to miss the chance to gloat.

Onoki was sure that back when Iwagakure had been attacked, the Third Raikage had secretly been laughing to himself.

Now, it was his turn.

"Father, are you planning to attend the Five Kage Summit hosted by the Hidden Cloud Village?"

"Call me Tsuchikage-sama," Onoki corrected his son sharply before hopping off his chair and pacing around the office with his hands behind his back.

"Of course, I'll be attending. As much as I enjoy seeing the Cloud Village suffer, Uchiha Madara is our common enemy."

Onoki knew how to separate personal grudges from serious threats.

"But what about your health…?"

Kitsuchi hesitated, concerned about his father's physical condition.

Lately, Onoki's old back problems had been flaring up again, making it difficult for him to move around.

"Hmph! Are you saying I'm too old to represent Iwagakure?"

Onoki glared at his son.

Kitsuchi broke into a cold sweat and quickly clarified, "No, that's not what I meant—"

"Then quit your nonsense and start packing. We leave in two hours."

"Yes, Father—"

"You brat! I told you to call me Tsuchikage-sama in public!!!"

Meanwhile, in Kirigakure, Yagura had just finished leading a team to capture the Five-Tails. They hadn't even had time to seal it when he received the invitation.

Without hesitation, he set his task aside and immediately led a team toward the Hidden Cloud Village.

In Sunagakure, Rasa entrusted the village to Chiyo and departed for the summit with his guards.

Everything proceeded smoothly—no one opposed the gathering.

With Uchiha Madara looming as a major threat and the Hidden Cloud Village serving as a grim example, neither Iwagakure, Sunagakure, nor Kirigakure wanted to see their own villages suffer the same fate.

When facing such a cunning and powerful enemy, the only option was to unite.

Even Iwagakure wasn't foolish enough to take advantage of the situation, let alone Sunagakure and Kirigakure.

The two weakest villages had no say in the matter.

And this was without the Hidden Cloud Village revealing the presence of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. If that information were made public, Sunagakure and Kirigakure would have even less of a choice.

Neither the Third Raikage nor Onoki were forces they could afford to provoke.

Thus, the three Kage left their strongholds and set off for the Hidden Cloud Village.

In the Land of Lightning, within a concealed cave, Black Zetsu stepped inside.

"Lord Madara, the White Zetsu scouts have confirmed that Rasa of Sunagakure and Yagura of Kirigakure have both left their villages and are heading toward the Hidden Cloud Village. It appears that the Five Great Shinobi Villages will be holding another Five Kage Summit, with the Cloud as the host."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing the words Five Kage Summit, Uchiha Madara's interest was finally piqued.

He recalled the first-ever Five Kage Summit that Senju Hashirama had organized.

The so-called God of Shinobi had actually bowed to the other Kage.

It was disgraceful. A complete humiliation for Konoha.

Just thinking about it made Madara seethe with rage.

On this matter, he and Senju Tobirama had always seen eye to eye.

Konoha was strong. Why should they have to cater to the other villages?

Everything Konoha had, it had won through sheer strength.

And yet, these other villages had the audacity to keep trying to take advantage of Konoha.

Even worse, that fool Hashirama actually let them. And after giving them concessions, he even had the nerve to thank them.

"So, they're planning to unite against me?"

A Five Kage Summit?

What a joke.

Madara had never once considered any of them a true threat.

"You want to start targeting the Tailed Beasts?"

Black Zetsu didn't say it outright, but his words were a clear suggestion.

Madara tilted his head slightly and gave him an indifferent glance. Without waiting for a response, he spoke to himself.

"Not a bad idea. Since they're busy gathering for their little summit, we might as well strike their villages first."

"We'll start collecting the Tailed Beasts."

"As expected of Lord Madara."

Black Zetsu grinned, shamelessly flattering him.

Not that it mattered. Empty words of praise meant nothing to Uchiha Madara.

However, he did acknowledge that Black Zetsu's proposal made sense.

Retrieving the Rinnegan was important, but so was capturing the Tailed Beasts.

At the very least, he needed to gather most of them before making his move against Konoha.

"Yagami Takuya… an interesting little brat."

Madara returned to his usual composed demeanor. Black Zetsu knew this meant his plan had been approved.

Without another word, he slipped out of the cave, leaving the Land of Lightning and heading straight for the Land of Wind.

Since the Cloud Village was hosting the summit, it was the perfect opportunity to act.

While the Five Kage were busy with their talks, Madara would seize the chance to capture as many Tailed Beasts as possible.

No need to run around later when he could do it now.

And his first target?

Sunagakure.

After all, it was always easier to crush the weakest first.

Sunagakure and Kirigakure were the prime choices.

Poor Sunagakure—too weak to resist, it had immediately caught Black Zetsu's eye as the ideal starting point.

Meanwhile, Rasa remained completely oblivious.

At that moment, he was still en route to the Hidden Cloud Village, leaving the village's affairs in the hands of Chiyo.

Would Chiyo be able to withstand an attack from Black Zetsu?

Of course not.

Back in the temporary residence, Takuya and the others were feasting.

"Beef really does taste the best in the Land of Lightning. Too bad that once this stuff gets transported to Konoha, the price skyrockets."

It had to be said—the Cloud Village had treated them extremely well.

They knew that Takuya and Kushina were both food lovers (though in different ways—one was a glutton, the other an avid shopper), so the Third Raikage had gone out of his way to accommodate them.

The very next day, Kushina had received a massive haul of expensive gifts.

As for Takuya? A constant stream of gourmet dishes was delivered to him, even including late-night snacks.

They had taken care of every little detail.

Even the Little Sun himself—Minato—was happily enjoying the feast.

"A specialty barbecue like this in Konoha would cost at least two C-rank mission rewards," Minato mused.

"Which is why we should eat as much as we can now. It's not like the Cloud Village is running low on supplies."

Nawaki chuckled.

Sure, ninjas earned a lot of money—but they also had a lot of expenses.

People might think ninja work was lucrative, but in reality, most shinobi were broke.

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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read the rest of the Chapter at Patreon com/ Emik01. 

DO NOT FORGET POWER STONE AND CHATTING