Five Great Countries Summit

A Five Great Countries Summit ( 五大国会談 , Godaikoku Kaidan ) is a formal gathering of the daimyō of the Five Great Shinobi Countries . Although the daimyō have different ways of contacting each other that they use when necessary, an actual Summit is incredibly rare; prior to Shikamaru Shinden , there hadn't been a Summit since the time of Shikamaru Nara 's great-grandfather.

In Shikamaru Shinden , a Five Great Countries Summit is convened at the request of Ikkyū Madoka , the Land of Fire 's daimyō, in response to the Land of Earth 's plans to invade the Land of Flowers . Such an invasion would end the peace of the Shinobi Union that their respective country's hidden villages have established through years of hard work. The Earth's daimyō, Danjō , doesn't feel this should matter and that, if anything, the hidden villages should be grateful for the opportunity to rediscover what it means to be shinobi : death in battle. The Land of Lightning 's daimyō, Tekkan - whose country is allied with the Land of Flowers - feels this is poor justification for war, but he and Danjō are unable to reach a compromise.

Because Danjō desires the Land of Flowers' fertile lands, Ikkyū proposes turning over some of the Land of Fire's territory to the Land of Earth as a compromise; the offered lands previously belonged to the Land of Earth, so its inhabitants would not protest. Danjō dislikes the idea because he's already invested a great deal of money in the invasion and doesn't want it to go to waste. Such a transfer of lands would require the approval of the surrounding countries anyway, so Ikkyū suggests letting the Land of Flowers' fate be decided at the first ever Continental Summit . Tekkan, the Wind daimyō, and Water daimyō approve of this. When Danjō continues to dither, Ikkyū raises another option: war between the Lands of Fire and Earth. Danjō finally agrees.