Shikamaru and Naruto kept their focus on the five men on the screen. They were the masters of the powerful countries known as the five great nations. Some were dignified, some looked so seedy it called into question whether or not they were really masters at all. Each was of different age and appearance. But there was no mistake that these men on the cold, clear screen held the power to change the fate of the continent.
“I thought this would be the issue,” said a fat man in his fifties sitting on the right edge of the screen, his dissatisfaction clear on his face. He spread his hands out toward the ceiling and shook his head from side to side in an obvious bit of theater.
The daimyo of the Land of Earth, Danjo.
The flesh on Danjo’s chin shook, and he glared at Ikkyu as he argued vehemently, “Just because the ninja proclaim their harmony and the five hidden villages have joined hands, why does that mean that we too must march in step with each other? At times, the five great nations fight, at others, we work together—this has been the state of affairs for some time now, has it not? I would appreciate it very much if you could stop meddling in the governments of other countries.”
“That attitude of yours right there is a problem,” said the man sitting on the left edge of the screen.
The daimyo of the Land of Lightning, Tekkan.
He had been glaring at Danjo since the start of the meeting, his thick arms crossed tightly. Given that he was the daimyo most opposed to the invasion of the Land of Flowers, this was only to be expected. “Our country has had an alliance with the Land of Flowers for generations. I can’t sit by quietly and listen to you tell me you knew that and made the decision to invade anyway.”
“Now, now!” Danjo cooed. “Your alliance with the Land of Flowers is nothing more than a habit, a connection your ancient ancestors made, is it not? Why must you go to all the trouble of protecting such a relationship? At any rate, I hear that the Raikage is extremely angry about this matter. If you tell him not to oppose us, I believe we could offer some kind of appropriate token of our appreciation. Naturally, our appreciation would be a much better bit of business than your alliance with the Land of Flowers. That’s what I came here to discuss today.”
“I’m not interested in your games!” Tekkan roared, slamming his fist onto the table.
Danjo’s bulk shuddered, and a menial smile rose up on his face.
“The current Raikage is a formidable man,” Tekkan snarled. “He’s even more hard-headed than his predecessor. He wouldn’t listen if I told him to hold back. And there’s no reason I would tell him to hold back in the first place.”
“That is unfortunate.” Danjo started to stand up.
“We’re not done talking,” Ikkyu rebuked him.
“I believe there’s nothing left to talk about,” Danjo replied, halfway to his feet.
“So you’re still determined to carry out your attack?”
Danjo snorted in laughter.
“Sit down. We’re here to talk, aren’t we?” Ikkyu said. There was an unshakeable light in his eyes. This man stood at the top of the Land of Fire, the strongest of the five great nations, and he had a majestic gravity that was remarkable even among these five men.
Heaving a dramatic sigh, Danjo sat down.
“This is just…” Naruto muttered, staring at the screen from beside Shikamaru. “It was the same at the meeting of the Five Kages. His greed’s all over his face. I feel bad for Kurotsuchi having to go along with a man like that.”
Shikamaru was of the same opinion. The layers of Danjo’s fat body oozed with selfish ego. Most likely, his greed was the driving force behind the planned invasion of the Land of Flowers.
“I’m absolutely not going to let this guy smash our peace. Believe it,” Naruto said, slamming clenched fists against his knees.
“Madara and Tobio had ambition, at least,” Shikamaru said calmly to his raging friend. “The last great war was the tragedy that came out of their individual ambitions clashing. That war had a just cause. But the really scary thing here is that we’ve got this guy standing at the top. He doesn’t care how many people have to die to satisfy his own greed. A man like that would gladly destroy this peace built on that previous great ambition.”
“We totally can’t let him do that.”
“That’s why we talked about this before we came.”
“Right.”
They kept their eyes glued to the screen.
This daimyo summit was a fight on top of a fight. The Land of Earth had no intention of abandoning its plan to invade, the Land of Lightning was driven by emotion, and the Land of Fire was earnestly seeking a way to get them both to calm down somehow. Water and Wind maintained their neutrality. Their positions slightly different from those of the Five Kages, the daimyo pushed forward with their heated debate.
“We’re not getting anywhere. Let’s take a brief break,” Ikkyu said, suspending the meeting. When the three of them had strategized beforehand, he had agreed to the ninja’s request to put things on pause at just the right moment.
Ikkyu came back to the dressing room where Naruto and Shikamaru were waiting.
“It’s no use. Danjo’s not budging,” he said. He sat down on the sofa and cradled his head in his hands.
“If you give up now, it’s all over.” Naruto leaned across the table toward the daimyo, as if to give the other man strength. “We have to keep pushing ahead here.”
“I know that, but I’ve got no plan for what to do next.”
“We have a strategy.” Naruto glanced at Shikamaru. When he nodded, the Hokage nodded back. Now was the only chance they’d have to bring up something they’d been discussing for a while. Their thoughts were one. “I’ll agree to the Tsuchikage’s demand to disclose Konoha’s secrets. We use that to standardize the power of each village, make us all equal. If all the villages are on the same level, the others won’t fear Konoha anymore.”
“It’s not enough,” Ikkyu muttered, head still in his hands. And then he lifted his face and looked at the speechless Naruto. “That might be plenty if this were a summit of the Five Kages. But the daimyo won’t accept it. I can say we’ll level our military might by disclosing Konoha secrets, but Danjo just wants the Land of Flowers.”
A pawn that can move the daimyo…