Land of Iron.
Inside a room, five banners were hung in order—Water, Wind, Fire, Earth, and Lightning. Beneath them, all the Kage were already present except for the Hokage. Behind each of them stood two guards they had brought along.
The Raikage, A, looked visibly impatient. He slammed the table and barked,
"How long are we going to sit here? Let's just start already!"
Mizukage Terumi Mei said softly,
"The Hokage isn't here yet. Starting like this wouldn't be proper."
A snorted coldly.
"We've already waited long enough! He's the one who's late!"
Because of Naruto, the Kazekage Gaara still held some goodwill toward Konoha. He glanced at the empty seat and said,
"The new Hokage must be busy with work. Let's try to be understanding."
A curled his lips, clicked his tongue, and looked away. He had never thought much of Sunagakure in the first place, and with Gaara being so young, his attitude toward him was even worse.
Gaara knew this well. But as the Kazekage, he endured it. Sunagakure was indeed weaker than Kumogakure, and for the sake of his village, he couldn't afford to act on pride.
The Tsuchikage Ōnoki had kept his head lowered in silence. At his side, Kurotsuchi leaned in and whispered,
"Grandpa, something feels off with the atmosphere. Why aren't you saying anything?"
Ōnoki shot her a glance and murmured,
"Don't talk nonsense. Let's wait until that Uchiha Kaito arrives."
As the oldest of the Kage, Ōnoki was no fool. He knew it wasn't wise to take sides just yet. Better to wait for the Hokage to arrive and then judge the situation before choosing a stance.
At the mention of the name "Uchiha," the wrinkles on Ōnoki's face deepened even further. His heart tightened as he thought,
"Please, don't let there be another Uchiha Madara..."
Just then, a samurai of the Land of Iron announced,
"The Hokage has arrived!"
The sound instantly silenced the hall. Even A, who had been the loudest, now fixed his gaze on the door, eager to see what the new Hokage looked like.
Amid the echo of approaching footsteps, Kaito appeared at the entrance. Behind him followed four figures: Itachi, Sasuke, Minato, and Naruto.
Minato wore an ANBU mask. Since this meeting was Kaito's stage, he felt that as someone resurrected from death, he shouldn't draw too much attention to himself.
When A saw Kaito's face—looking even younger than Gaara's—disappointment flickered in his eyes. He thought to himself,
"Has Konoha really run out of people?"
Mei's eyes, however, lit up. Her gaze darted between Kaito, Itachi, and Sasuke.
No surprise there. Uchihas were already rare, and now three had appeared at once. For a single woman of her age, that was quite a sight to take in.
Even Kurotsuchi stared wide-eyed. The men of Iwagakure were mostly rough, rugged types. Refined beauties like the Uchiha were a rare breed indeed.
Gaara's eyes turned to Naruto. He gave Naruto a faint smile, and Naruto responded with a thumbs-up.
Seeing this, Sasuke instinctively turned away with a soft,
"Tch."
Ōnoki's attention, however, locked on Kaito's white hair. Ever since being humbled by Madara, he had delved deeply into researching the Uchiha clan. He knew more than most in Konoha themselves.
And he remembered well: all Uchiha had black hair. There shouldn't be any other color.
Ōnoki frowned inwardly.
"Could he not be a pureblood Uchiha?"
Kaito glanced at the four Kage before him, smiled lightly, and nodded. Then he walked to his seat and sat down.
A immediately snapped,
"You don't think you're a little late?"
Kaito chuckled casually.
"Late? I'd say I'm right on time."
That set A off. Kumogakure had just suffered a major loss, and his mood was already foul. Provoked like this, he slammed the table and rose to his feet.
"Damn it! Are you treating this meeting like a joke?!"
Kaito tapped a finger lightly on the table and replied in a calm voice,
"And what if I am?"
Crackle!
Lightning erupted over A's body as he glared at Kaito with blazing eyes.
Kaito lifted his head, revealing his eyes—the Mangekyō Sharingan. Under that gaze, sweat instantly beaded on A's forehead, and he unconsciously stepped back.
Kaito's smile never wavered. He asked,
"You want to fight me?"
"Gulp..."
A swallowed hard. To his horror, under those eyes, his body felt like it was slipping out of his control.
Even when facing the Rinnegan, he had never felt this way.
Ōnoki's face had frozen stiff. Staring at Kaito, he seemed to see Madara of old. Even after all these years, that voice still echoed in his ears—
"Konohagakure would remain the dominant power, and other villages were expected to obey its requests!"
Naruto leaned close to Sasuke and whispered,
"Sasuke, Kaito-senpai is seriously intimidating!"
Sasuke's eyes shone with excitement as he looked at Kaito with open admiration.
"This is what an Uchiha should be—powerful and confident!"
Behind his mask, Minato sighed inwardly.
"There he goes again... couldn't he leave the man a shred of dignity?"
Itachi stood at Kaito's side, ever watchful. His eyes were locked on Darui and C, ready to unleash his Sharingan the moment they dared to move.
Before the eyes of all, A could no longer back down without losing face. He roared,
"Fine! Let's see the power of the Sixth Hokage!"
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from where he stood and reappeared before Kaito, driving a fist forward.
But Kaito simply raised one gleaming finger to meet the lightning-clad punch.
Boom!
A dull thud echoed. A's punch had been stopped cold by Kaito's single finger.
Everyone's jaws nearly hit the floor—especially the other three Kage.
Everyone knew the Fourth Raikage's forte was taijutsu. In all the shinobi world, only a handful could withstand a single punch from him. Yet Kaito had blocked it effortlessly—with just one finger.
No one was more shocked than A himself. He had imagined Kaito dodging, or perhaps countering with some Mangekyō ability. But stopping his fist with one finger? He hadn't even considered it—because in his mind, that was nothing short of suicide.
While he was frozen in disbelief, Kaito turned his finger into a palm, clamped down on A's fist, and with a casual swing, hurled him across the room. A crashed into the wall with a thunderous crack.
Darui and C immediately took fighting stances, but Itachi narrowed his eyes, Mangekyō blazing.
"Don't move."