"Hmph, for the sake of the ninja world's stability, I will not bother with you. The important thing right now is to discuss the Akatsuki organization!"
With Mifune's reminder, Onoki ended his verbal sparring with a seemingly tough remark and then shifted the topic back to the Akatsuki organization.
"You're good with words, but whether you have real skills to show on the battlefield is another matter!"
"Let's discuss the Akatsuki first. Sooner or later, I'll show you what women are capable of!"
"Take care of Akatsuki first. Sooner or later, you'll be trembling before Konoha's power!"
With Onoki seemingly backing down, Darui and the others could only angrily utter a remark to end their verbal sparring.
"Let's discuss how to resolve the threat posed by the Akatsuki!"
Once he calmed down, Onoki still exuded the aura of a senior. He floated in the air with a serious expression and went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Aside from the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails, the rest of the Tailed Beasts should have been captured by the Akatsuki. If they really have the ability to use the power of the Tailed Beasts, it would be a huge threat to the entire ninja world."
While a single tailed beast, aside from its wide-area destructive power, isn't particularly formidable in high-level combat, we don't know if the Akatsuki organization possesses any special methods to harness its power. Furthermore, whether a tailed beast is controlled by someone is a completely different matter!
"That's because you weren't able to keep an eye on your Jinchūriki, which caused such a big problem!"
Danzo first stood arrogantly on his moral high ground and made a sarcastic remark, then began to sing his own praises.
"The leader of Akatsuki has been eliminated by Konoha. Although Konoha paid a heavy price, this is the responsibility of Konoha as the number one ninja village in the ninja world!"
"Did you really eliminate him? Not long ago, Sasuke Uchiha, a member of the Akatsuki and a rogue ninja from Konoha, attacked our village again, trying to steal the Eight-Tails! We were about to capture him when a masked Uchiha came out and rescued him."
Darui stared intently at Danzo, demanding an answer from him.
"That's right. It's still uncertain whether Konoha Village actually killed any Akatsuki members. Besides, even if an Akatsuki member did die, would he really be the leader of Akatsuki?"
Mei Terumi also harbored deep skepticism about Konoha's claim of killing the Akatsuki leader. The Fourth Mizukage had been silently controlled by genjutsu for years; were it not for a coincidence, they might not have discovered it even now. According to previous intelligence, the so-called Akatsuki leader who attacked Konoha had not demonstrated any such ability.
"Furthermore, if the Akatsuki is truly on the verge of destruction, what will happen to the Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts that were captured?"
Years of internal strife in Kirigakure have severely weakened the village's fighting strength, with several powerful fighters defecting. Mei Terumi now desperately wants to retrieve the Three-Tails and Six-Tails to bolster the village's overall power.
The series of questions from the group immediately silenced Danzo, who was unable to answer them and could only remain silent with a gloomy face.
"According to intelligence, the headquarters of the Akatsuki should be in the Land of Rain, so those Jinchuriki or Tailed Beasts are very likely also in the Land of Rain."
At Danzo's most embarrassing moment, his ally, Granny Chiyo, remained silent, while it was the initially aggressive Onoki who eased the tension. Of course, Onoki had his own calculations in helping Danzo out of this predicament; he planned to first focus the major ninja villages' attention on the Land of Rain, rallying them to attack. As the village with the best overall strength among the five great ninja villages, Iwagakure could reap the benefits of the battle and ultimately gain the greatest advantage.
Amidst the surprised and suspicious gazes of the crowd, Onoki continued, "I believe you have all sent intelligence agents to the Land of Rain to investigate. I wonder what the results were?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Terumi and the others stopped what they were about to say and looked at each other, trying to find out the details of the other ninja villages.
An awkward silence fell over the room as everyone remained silent in tacit agreement.
Perhaps to ease the awkward atmosphere, Grandma Chiyo, who hadn't said much until now, slowly opened her mouth.
"There were no results. The Sand Village sent out six elite intelligence agents. Some went in with a caravan, some disguised themselves as refugees, and some infiltrated directly. But there has been no news at all. They all disappeared after entering the Rain Village."
Although it wasn't explicitly stated, everyone knew in their hearts that an intelligence agent's long-term disappearance was basically a presumption of death.
Darui then turned his attention to Danzo and pressed him further: "So, was the one who died in Konoha really the leader of Akatsuki, or is there some information that Konoha is hiding?"
"It can't be fake. You must all know about the losses Konoha suffered. Someone with that kind of strength must be the leader of Akatsuki!"
Danzo found it extremely difficult to tolerate the fact that his achievement in eliminating the leader of Akatsuki was being erased. If this was denied, wouldn't Konoha have been destroyed in vain?
"Whether that person is the leader of Akatsuki is not the key point. The key point is how we should deal with Akatsuki and how we should deal with Amegakure."
Seeing that the focus of the conversation had shifted back to whether Konoha had eliminated the leader of Akatsuki, Onoki quickly steered the conversation back to Amegakure.
"In any case, it seems that Amegakure is most likely the headquarters of Akatsuki, and the tailed beasts that were stolen from each of our families are most likely in Amegakure."
Mentioning the Tailed Beasts, Mei Terumi chimed in, "Indeed, although there's no concrete information, the current intelligence from Kirigakure points to the Land of Rain as the likely culprit. Everyone knows how difficult it is to control the power of the Tailed Beasts. With the time still short, I think we should hurry and send troops to reclaim them!"
Then Onoki and the others seriously discussed how to increase intelligence gathering efforts and launch a simultaneous attack from all sides to destroy Amegakure and reclaim their own tailed beasts.
Darui was getting restless. "Hmph, is your attention only focused on Amegakure and Akatsuki?!"
I believe that the Snow Village, composed of Konoha Village rogue ninja, is the target we should be focusing on more!
Without being ashamed to say it, when the Fourth Raikage A led over a thousand elite ninjas from the village to attack Yukigami Village, they were completely defeated in less than half a day. Even the Raikage himself died while covering the retreat of the Cloud Ninja.
There wasn't a single survivor from the Cloud Ninja Village in this battle! This information was hastily relayed back by a Cloud Ninja using a summoning beast.
More importantly, their leader, Hyuga Kaze, wasn't among the Snow Ninja who attacked!
When talking about Hinata Kaze, Darui practically gritted his teeth, looking like he wanted to devour him whole.
Darui's words shocked everyone present except Danzo. When did the ninja world become so dangerous, with so many powerful forces emerging?
"The strength of the Snow Village is indeed not to be underestimated. I think we should join forces to eliminate the Hyuga Village before we destroy the Rain Village..."
Before he could finish speaking, Danzo looked up and saw a sharp blade of light slashing down like a meteor.
"Danzo, you old scoundrel, prepare to die!"
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