Chapter 90: Arriving in Droves

'And there should be a chaos event, right? Why hasn't this chaos event shown any signs of starting yet? Uchiha Madara's was announced a year in advance.'

[Triggered Chaos Event: Konoha Village hosts Five Kage Summit.]

Alright, has this darn system reached the point where it won't speak unless prompted? It's probably going to break down in a few years, isn't it? Still, this mission should be pretty simple. Teacher will handle the main meeting, and all I need to do is win the sparring matches. That way, the other villages will see Konoha's strength.

'I wonder how many Peace Points this will give me.'

Torifū currently had 89,000 Peace Points. He originally had over 30,000, but he exchanged for another puppet a few days ago. He got a small bottle of blood from his Teacher's wife and successfully activated the blood puppet. It seems that the characteristics of the bloodline owner always turn golden on the puppet. For example, the Sharingan was golden on the puppet activated with Uchiha Kai's eyeball. This time, the puppet's hair turned golden, and red hair is the mark of the Uzumaki clan.

Actually, it was quite presumptuous and rude for Torifū to ask Mito for a small bottle of blood, especially since she was his elder. But Mito didn't seem to mind much and didn't ask what it was for, as she understood Torifū's character well. She also didn't mention this to Hashirama. Regardless of the process, Torifū now had puppets from both the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans. With these two trump cards, he could almost walk without any scruples in the Ninja World.

Torifū was also almost done with Hyuga Shishin; in a little while, he planned to bring up the subject of needing blood. The Hyuga clan prized their Byakugan greatly, but a mere drop of blood shouldn't be an issue. In short, if all went well, Torifū would have a Byakugan puppet. However, Torifū wasn't particularly focused on this; it was mainly a matter of fate. If he encountered a suitable bloodline, he would see if he could acquire it, but if not, he wouldn't actively seek it out.

There was still some time before the summit began. Mizukage Byakuren had arrived relatively early. It was only after Byakuren had entered the village and rested for a while that the other Kage began to arrive consecutively.

A fierce sandstorm suddenly formed. The entrance to Konoha Village was instantly filled with flying sand and stones. After a short while, the storm subsided, and a team of figures emerged from it.

"Hokage-sama, a pleasure."

Reto extended his hand to greet Hashirama. It was his first time meeting the Hokage, and he hadn't expected him to be so young. He looked about the same age as himself, yet he already commanded respect throughout the Ninja World. Meanwhile, Reto felt he hadn't accomplished much.

Hashirama smiled as he took Reto's hand. "Kazekage-sama, a pleasure."

"My apprentices didn't cause you any trouble during their mission to deliver the letter, did they?"

Reto was stunned. He truly hadn't known that the young ninja who came to deliver the letter that day were actually the Hokage's apprentices. "Not at all. The young ones were very polite, though Sunagakure might not have been very hospitable."

Indeed, these were people who had built entire villages; their conversations left no opening for exploitation and revealed no emotions, making it impossible to discern their true thoughts.

Torifū, listening to the two Kage's polite exchange, found it uninteresting and began to discreetly observe. The Kazekage seemed to have come alone this time, without his wife Chiyo. Instead, he brought a burly, muscular man with a dragon-like tattoo on his face. If Torifū wasn't mistaken, this should be the Second Kazekage, Shamon, the progenitor of Puppet Jutsu and Sand Control Ninjutsu.

These two ninjutsu had undoubtedly elevated Sunagakure's strength significantly; otherwise, Sunagakure might not even be worthy of being called one of the Five Great Ninja Villages. And Sand Control Ninjutsu seemed to have become a standard skill for every Kazekage; whether it was Iron Sand, Gold Dust, or ordinary sand, you had to master at least one to become Kazekage.

Torifū naturally didn't care much for Puppet Jutsu or the like; even the best puppet couldn't compare to the ones he held. Torifū was only concerned with how many Peace Points Shamon was worth.

Just as Hashirama and Reto were engaged in a lively conversation, a giant made of stacked earth suddenly rose from the ground! But this giant was far inferior to Hashirama's Wood Golem, being only half its size. It could practically be torn apart with bare hands. Atop the earth giant's head, a small old man floated in mid-air, short in stature, looking like a little potato. He wore the Tsuchikage hat, making it clear that this was the First Tsuchikage, Ishikawa. He was also Onoki's grandfather.

Ishikawa floated from the top of the earth giant to stand before Hashirama and Retto, slowly descending. He then shook hands with Hashirama and Reto one by one, greeting them.

"Hokage-sama, Kazekage-sama, are you both in good health?"

"Haha, Tsuchikage-sama, you are just like Mizukage-sama, so concerned about your health."

Ishikawa chuckled at the remark, "For old men like me and Mizukage-sama, every extra day of life is precious, so naturally, we must pay more attention."

Hashirama waved his hand, "I don't place much importance on that aspect; I just let fate decide."

Reto didn't pick up on that topic. He considered discussing life and death to be very inauspicious. So he decided to change the subject, "Tsuchikage-sama, why have you come alone? Where are your guards?"

Ishikawa looked behind him and realized that there was indeed no one there. He was a little bewildered. Good heavens, where had everyone gone? Then he clapped his palm, remembering!

"Haha, I must have walked too fast. They got left behind."

"I saw the dust raised by Kazekage-sama from a long distance away and wanted to meet him quickly. I didn't expect to lose my guards." Ishikawa laughed heartily, stroking his beard like an old mischievous child. He seemed to find it amusing that his guards had been left far behind.

Hashirama and Reto, seeing Ishikawa's personality, didn't find it strange. After all, when people grew old and gained perspective on many things, they would become like this; being like an old mischievous child wasn't bad.

Indeed, after about ten minutes, the Tsuchikage's guards finally arrived, albeit late. The leader was a slender man wrapped entirely in bandages, wearing a gray vest with a long black sleeve on his left arm. He wore the very standard Iwagakure attire, and two katanas were strapped to his back. But to Torifū, they seemed to be merely decorative, as someone with Dust Release would surely not engage in close-quarters combat.

Upon seeing Mū, Torifū's inner calculator began to click away. How could he get a piece of flesh or a bottle of blood from Mū? Opportunities like this were rare; this would likely be his only chance to see Mū for many years to come. If he didn't get Dust Release this time, he would have to find Onoki, and who knew when that would be? However, he couldn't be reckless about this; he would have to find an opportunity during the sparring matches.