Fleeing from Konoha

With Chiyo’s words falling, the atmosphere in the conference hall undoubtedly became extremely heavy.

But everyone knows that this is just Chiyo using the power of the Five Great Nations to pressure the illegitimate Renegade Ninja.

Avoiding the topic of the Land of Wind war deliberately, and instead pointing at the renegade identity of the opposition, indeed allows the Hidden Sand Village to take the moral high ground instantly and quickly gain the support of the other Five Kage.

Mifune’s brow furrowed tighter. Honestly, before the Five Kage Summit began, he did not want the Five Kage Summit to be held within the Land of Iron.

But constrained by the power of the Five Great Nations and the compromise of the Daimyo of the Land of Iron, even he has to adhere to such rules, serving as the order maintainer for this Five Kage Summit.

This so-called ’order’, how difficult it is to maintain.

This is ultimately no longer the samurai age but the ninja age, just facing one Kazekage is somewhat strenuous, if the other Five Kage are involved, he is afraid he also has to compromise to some extent.

With Chiyo’s proposition falling, among the remaining Five Kage present, whether sneering or indifferent, some feel troubled, they naturally understand Chiyo’s intentions. Although aware of being leveraged, in the stance against Renegade Ninja, their interests undeniably align with Chiyo’s.

Just as Mifune was about to speak to prevent such chaos from occurring, Hakushi, sitting next to Mifune, suddenly opened his eyes, glanced at the face of Hiruzen Sarutobi opposite him, then turned his head to Chiyo’s expressionless face and spoke calmly:

"Let those of us involved handle this matter, Lord Mifune and the Land of Iron don’t need to get entangled."

"Hmm?"

Mifune was slightly surprised, looked at Hakushi, then exhaled and nodded, choosing not to speak.

Hakushi glanced sideways at Ayane behind him, who, understanding the signal, immediately took out a piece of paper from her bosom and displayed it lightly.

"What the acting Kazekage said just now, in my view, was somewhat out of line. Before being invited to participate in this Five Kage Summit, the wanted notices for us renegade ninjas, as verified officially by Konoha and the Land of Fire, were formally revoked about an hour before the summit."

Hakushi explained leisurely, calm and composed, without any trace of panic, seemingly just stating a trivial matter.

But to the uninformed Five Kage, this is another matter.

"What?"

Not only the uninformed Five Kage but even the Jonin guards behind them were shocked at first glance, staring at the document in Ayane’s hand.

Unbelievable that Konoha and the Land of Fire would cancel the renegade status of Hakushi and others entirely.

Hence, they all directed their gaze towards where the Third Hokage was, along with the trio behind him, even Shikaku, feeling immense pressure.

But at this moment, all they can do is helplessly force a smile and remain silent.

Hokage Hiruzen also lowered his eyes, holding his pipe calmly, seemingly indifferent to the converging gazes.

In Hiruzen’s ears came sounds of disdain and sneers, but he ignored them. He also knew that after Hakushi’s revelation, Konoha essentially lost all its face.

But there was no choice.

If Konoha insists on maintaining its face this time, it will lose even more.

He only hopes that after the Five Kage Summit, Hakushi would keep his promise and safely send Jiraiya back to Konoha without harm.

Signing a ’contract’ with a group of renegade ninjas, Hiruzen felt bitterness, realizing he indeed grew muddled with age.

The Uchiha incident left him utterly confused, also aware that the rise of the Land of Demons cannot be allowed; otherwise, Konoha’s situation will become more awkward.

Yet the matter evolved to such an extent, the Land of Wind was defeated, the elite Konoha squad that went to aid the Land of Wind suffered heavy casualties, the result could not be worse, Konoha cannot bear more losses at this moment.

Compared to recovering Konoha’s losses, this old face’s dignity does not seem as significant.

Ignoring the cold sneer or disdain on the faces of the other Five Kage, Hakushi just focused his gaze on Chiyo, whose complexion grew more somber, calmly smiling and speaking:

"All of you here are ignorant of this matter; I can pardon it to some extent. But uttering absurdities at a solemn Five Kage Summit is truly skewed, don’t you think, acting Kazekage? Or are you trying to let Hidden Sand battle with our Land of Demons once more? Then please prepare for the succession ceremony of the Fifth Kazekage."

Better called advice rather than a threat.

Sure enough, after Hakushi expressed these words, Chiyo’s eye corners twitched harshly, and her wrinkled skin shook a bit, evidently Hakushi’s threat had the desired effect.

"Haha, Puppet Granny, got taught a harsh lesson, huh? Today’s young ones are truly remarkable."

Onoki’s unabashed laughter echoed, seemingly pleased to see his former opponent being ridiculed by a junior like this.

Chiyo ignored Onoki’s mockery, she won’t lose her poise over such a simple threat, nor sink into others’ rhythm.

However, Konoha canceled the wanted notices against Hakushi and others, which was unexpected for her.

Konoha not notifying her of this matter in advance might have deeper reasons.