Right from the start, Shikamaru was tense. The mood in the room was different from usual. Standing behind Naruto, who was seated at the center of the round table, he stared hard at the cause of this strange aura.
Kurotsuchi…
A young ninja, she had inherited the position of Tsuchikage, the leader of the Iwagakure ninja, from her grandfather Ohnoki. Peeking out from beneath her short hair, her eyes had had a hard edge to them since the start of the summit, and now they were turned squarely on Naruto.
As Naruto pretended not to notice this piercing gaze, he explained what had happened when the chunin exams had been interrupted and the aftermath of the attack on Konoha by Otsutsuki Momoshiki and his gang. Naruto had been abducted in that attack, and the Kages from the other great villages had banded together to rescue him. Naturally, the Tsuchikage Kurotsuchi had also been part of that mission. Gaara of Sunagakure, Chojuro of Kirigakure, and Darui of Kumogakure had joined Kurotsuchi and Naruto in the group known as the Five Kages, the shinobi who were the pinnacle of the ninja world in every part of the continent.
When the Fourth Great Ninja War broke out, it wasn’t only ninja who were dragged into the conflict, but all the people living on the continent. The villages the Five Kages ruled over had joined forces and fought together. The friendship they had built during that time continued even after the great war ended. This was a first in the long history of ninja—the great nations, once split into fighting factions, had managed to forge a relationship based on peace.
The linchpin in this was without a doubt Naruto, the hero who brought about the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His enormous power and optimistic, upbeat personality had brought together the other Kages and the ninja of the villages they controlled.
“So that’s basically it. Sorry for all the hassle. Real piece of work this time. We’re gonna do everything we can to make sure nothing like this happens again. Believe it.” Naruto scratched the back of his head and bowed to the four Kages.
Naruto’s good friend Kazekage Gaara, eyes rimmed with dark circles, nodded his acceptance of this apology.
“Coulda been a lot worse. And we’re all fine. No need to bow your head like that,” Raikage Darui said languidly, pushing back against his seat.
Mizukage Chojuro shrugged. “At any rate, if you detect any other strange happenings, please report them to us right away.”
“Got it,” Naruto said. “I’ll let you know straight away if anything else comes up. I’m really sorry about all the trouble.”
“If ‘sorry’ was enough, we wouldn’t need ninja.” Kurotsuchi’s cold voice sliced through the air as though to wipe Naruto’s grin off of his face.
“I-I said I was sorry.” Naruto bowed his head again under Kurotsuchi’s glare.
“These things always, always happen with the village of Konohagakure at the center. We only ever learn of the situation once things have gotten so bad that we have no choice but to get involved.”
“This kind of thing doesn’t happen that often—”
“How long do you intend to placate us like this?! When will you stop toying with us, Konoha?!” Kurotsuchi slammed a hand down on the white table.
“Hey, aren’t you a little too hot under the collar today, Kurotsuchi?” Darui glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and clasped his hands behind his head. Alongside Chojuro and Shikamaru, they had come up together as comrades, a group that comprised ninja working toward the next generation of the five great nations. Shikamaru’s wife, Temari, had also been one of their members back then.
Ignoring Darui, Kurotsuchi continued to glare at Naruto. “I simply cannot overlook the incident at the chunin exams.”
“I said I was sorry about the trouble,” the Hokage insisted again.
“This isn’t about Otsutsuki,” she snapped.
Naruto froze, a stiff smile still on his lips. Beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Shikamaru couldn’t remember anyone getting this heated at a meeting of the Five Kages since he’d started attending them. Kurotsuchi’s blood was boiling on this particular day.
“The tool your son used.” Her glare grew even icier. “You mind telling us about that?”
The scientific ninja tools…
Jutsu was printed on small scrolls and that ejected from a band wrapped around the wrist, which allowed anyone to use all kinds of extremely difficult techniques. Katasuke, the leader of the scientific ninja tool team, had developed this new technology. In order to appeal to the wider community for its use in actual battle, he had persuaded Naruto’s son, Boruto, to use it during the chunin exam. With this tool anyone could use Naruto’s Rasengan, Sasuke’s Chidori, or Shikamaru’s Kageshibari—which meant the skill and value of the individual ninja’s potency would be diminished if not lost completely. After all, it was only after constant training that a ninja was able to discover their own personal jutsu. This was precisely why each ninja was extremely particular about their own techniques. It was only natural; the crystallization of their personal ninja path was this very jutsu. It wasn’t something for just anyone to go and use.
Shikamaru remained silent and stared at Kurotsuchi.
The Tsuchikage stood up and glared at Naruto, her hands still on the table. “What exactly was Konoha thinking developing something like that in secret?”
“O-oh, the scientific ninja team was just—”
“Why do you intend to pacify us with excuses?!”
Most likely, Kurotsuchi had come to the meeting planning to attack Naruto. She clearly intended to destroy him this time. Her firm resolve was the cause the strange tension in the room, the unpleasant aura that had been assaulting Shikamaru’s senses.
Every word she was saying had likely been carefully scripted, which meant they were still in the early stages of this game. Kurotsuchi moved her pieces deftly, but her attack was too single-minded, harping on a single note. She was coming at them with every piece she had straight out of the gate, not waiting for them to make a single move. If they kept listening without speaking, Kurotsuchi would reveal what she was really after soon enough.
Crossing his arms to hide his black-gloved fists, Shikamaru watched the meeting unfold.
“If that guy with the glasses hadn’t stepped in, we would never have found out about these ninja tools. The other villages only learned of them because of his vanity. So who’s to say that Konoha isn’t developing other techniques in secret?”
“E-every village is working out ways to make life better,” Naruto protested desperately.
“We’re not talking about a useful tool here. This is a weapon. I can’t just sit here and say nothing like the rest of you when I think about a tool like that being perfected and given to all the ninja in Konoha.” Kurotsuchi glanced at the other Kages. “After all, this thing could make a genin into a Naruto. With that technology strapped to their wrist, pretty much anyone could lash out with jutsu on par with Kekkei Genkai.”
Normally, ninja possessed a chakra of only a single nature, but the chakras of people with Kekkei Genkai contained two or more natures. Thus, they were able to use jutsu the average person could not, even after laborious training. Kekkei Genkai were the wall that separated the average from the extraordinary.
“Why would you need to develop a ninja tool like that?” The corners of Kurotsuchi’s lips curled up slightly.
Faced with this ruthless smile, Naruto gulped audibly.
“Konoha is—” Kurotsuchi began.
“You mind if I say something?” Shikamaru interrupted. Raising a hand, he looked at the Five Kages.