The group comprised of Howoku – the Fourth Hokage and his two Sannin: Tanshu and Misu advanced through the countless large halls. Howoku occasionally turned and commanded some of his men to guard the halls, it appeared like this decision was by no means a unique one as many more ninja were standing around watching the halls as well as the samurai of the Iron Country. "What are the samurai doing here?" Misu asked silently so that only the trio from Konoha would hear it. "I asked Haoru-san to moderate the Kage Summit" Howoku replied, Misu's eyes shot wide open in surprise, then he adjusted his shocked expression so that he didn't appear caught out of his comfort zone to the ninja around.
"I guess there is no better man than one of the legendary samurai wielding one of the God Sword techniques to observe the order and protect us…" he added his conclusion when Howoku gently shook his head. "No. That is not why I invited Haoru-san, I am well aware that he and his insane kenjutsu prowess can best any ninja on the battlefield but I am more interested in his personality. He hates all ninja and thinks them arrogant of their own power and irrelevant, he believes that they are a sick mutation of noble warriors like the samurai and that they not only have outlived their purpose, they never had one in his eyes to begin with." Tanshu scratched his wild brown hair and looked at Howoku questioningly, "I haven't seen that guy but… Is he really that strong? He doesn't really sound like the guy that'd be fitting to moderate ninja villages' petty squabbles." Howoku smiled, "Exactly, he won't tolerate Mizukage's dragging political bullshit, he'll force us to go straight to the point, he won't be afraid to ask the tough questions and offend us on a deeply personal level and people like the Mizukage cannot stand that, they'll be exposed, they'll be stripped and if we're lucky… Removed from their post…" Both Sannin following the Hokage looked at each other, none of them really thought it was a good idea to invite such a man to see over this event.
As the group entered to the second hall leading up to the hall surrounding the main meeting hall Tanshu looked around. Something looked very suspicious to him and he just couldn't understand it. "What's with all those men in hoods? Those steel masks on their faces, who are they?" he grunted as he felt a bit on edge around people concealing their bodies and faces. He wouldn't have minded if they pulled something funny, that'd have given him the excuse to take them out. "They're Kirigakure Barrier Corps, they serve a similar function to Konoha's Barrier Corps – they're the protection team whose main purpose is to create and observe the village protection system, notice barrier breaches, close the threat inside and take it out." Misu replied. "You know a lot about Kirigakure to identify those guys from their uniforms…" Tanshu looked at his comrade with surprise. Misu smiled "I've been to Kirigakure many times on missions, so has Hanasaku, you're the only one who avoids missions there." Howoku scratched his chin, the fact that there were so many Barrier corps ninja in here alerted him.
"I feel you, Howoku, it's unusual for Barrier ninja to even leave their own village. Once they complete their exams they stay inside their village and protect it from threats, their presence in such numbers is something to bring up during the Summit, huh?" Tanshu spoke out nervously reacting to nervousness of Howoku. The Hokage ordered all of his remaining men to stay in that hall, a secretary bowed and gestured that the men entered the main hall and took their seats. As Howoku and Misu entered Tanshu looked back and observed all the ninja he could identify before turning back and following Howoku and Misu inside. "I don't like this, I would have thought that Mizukage would bring his dogs but… I see none of them." Howoku nodded as he moved his large chair and sat down, Tanshu and Misu followed sitting down on smaller chairs from both sides of Hokage. "Yeah, the fact that the one being blamed does not bring the men whose actions he is blamed for… It's either very arrogant or very ignorant, either way it's suspicious…" Howoku closed his eyes and looked at the other end of the long oval table.
Door at the other end of the hall opened and a bunch of samurai clanged inside running in a slow jog, a bulky but short figure entered, a man with messy dark hair and a ponytail, face covered with scars and several small patches of burns and wearing a rugged brown coat. The coated man removed his cloak revealing his muscular build, wearing a white kimono that had its sleeves removed just to expose the man's incredibly thick and strong arms, this was not just any samurai, someone with this muscular structure could cut just about anything given a proper blade. The man opened his eyes and stared at the Hokage sitting at the other end of the table, Howoku slightly nodded his head, "Hello, Haoru-san" he dropped with a small smile. The man's eyes shot open and his grin turned sideways, "Yo, Howoku-ninja!" he replied with a strange manner of speech for a samurai, especially as respected as the famed God Sword user Haoru.
"The others appear to be late then?" Howoku asked cutting it right to the point, Haoru didn't drop his smile, he stared down at the doors and empty seats and squinted a bit. "I thought they'd be late too, they all arrived at the same time which seemed odd to me, Howoku-ninja, I swear to God if those disgraceful ninja plan something I'll cut all of them down!" the man grunted while still not shaking his smile off, the prospect of killing all of the Kage as they gathered in the same room must've really appealed to him. Howoku just laughed it off and looked at each of the doors, "Indeed, all of the Kage arriving at the same time appears to be odd… I don't believe that has happened in the history of Kage Summits." All of those signs being present just rubbed Tanshu off in the wrong way, something was bound to go wrong but to do something stupid in such a place was to court war with all of the other countries.
One may have assumed that peace worked well with all the Great Ninja Countries that was not entirely right. They were all just acting according to the deals they've made in many conflicts in the past. Some countries hated war, Tsuchigakure and Sunagakure wanted nothing more but to prove to the other countries that they've recovered from the conflicts that have almost eradicated them in the past, they wanted to prove that they were now an economic and political and military force to be reckoned with and deserved to be dealt with under equal terms with the other villages. Now the big three that have signed the peace treaty of the Second Great Ninja War: Kumogakure, Kirigakure and Konoha were the "Great Ninja Villages" that got more liberties and overall better rep in all the relationship with the other villages. That was something the smaller villages couldn't have despised more.
That being said, some if not most villages actually wanted war, they were living in peaceful times when in reality they were all breeding soldiers. Soldiers all needed action. Most villages lived on a standby mode, ready to charge at the first village that broke the international treaties. To do something stupid in such an event would've justified all military action to be taken against the village and with the bloodthirst of about twenty years in the stomachs of each village a conflict would very unlikely stop at just beating a village. The scapegoat would be decimated like numerous others. Third Great Ninja War would be the most devastating and claiming most lives of them all, everyone knew it and for that reason even the most tyrannical Kage upheld the international law. As powerful as the greater villages were, none were strong enough to withstand even a single battle against the rest of the world. It was act civilized or be destroyed – a world that Howoku the Star of Hope helped create, he was a coauthor of many of the treaties in question and always strived to create such status quo.
The door busted open, then another, all of them opened within a short period of time from each other and four people walked inside, surrounded by several guards. As the participants of this Kage Summit looked at each other they noticed something wrong with Kirigakure party. Instead of the Mizukage some strange blonde woman in a black dress entered, surrounded by Barrier Corps ninja that Tanshu saw before. All of the Kage sat down and stared down at each other, as the awkward pause continued Haoru slammed his palm into the oval table. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS BULLSHIT!" he yelled angrily grasping the sheath of his sword with one hand while his other one was shaking on the table. "Where is Mizukage-ninja!? Is he too important to attend the Kage Summit!? Shall I tell the other Kage-ninja to just march into Kirigakure and burn it down! They'd have the full support of the Iron Country samurai, that I can assure you!"
The woman opened her seductive eyes and placed her finger up on her blood red lips, silencing the samurai and then she placed the hand on her chest, making a very sorry face. "I apologize, everybody, it appears that the news didn't reach every corner of the world yet… I assumed that your intelligence was better than this and that your spies would whisper all about this situation so I didn't even bother to send a proper declaration…" the woman spoke in a very strange, almost acted apologetic tone. She was incredibly attractive and her voice just added to that image. Haoru was still shaking in rage as the woman spoke, "Will you get to the point, woman-ninja! Where is Mizukage-ninja!?" he yelled as the woman smiled and moved her finger shyly to her lips. "I am the new Mizukage, we've removed Daikon-san from the big chair. I believe you are all well familiar with my predecessor and do not need any reasons as to why a coup was necessary? As the leader of the Barrier Corps and the woman who has protected the village many times while our leader sat in his room munching his steaks while his people were slaughtered, often observing said slaughter from his balcony, I Namikaze Shirona have been elected by the council to succeed my incapable predecessor."
"Namikaze?" Tanshu whispered at his party when Misu replied, "Yeah, a branch family of the Senju, they don't really possess the Senju bloodline or any other exceptional abilities, except of their elite heritage they aren't really that interesting…" Howoku jumped up from his seat. "How could the other Kage sit so calm!?" Howoku shouted. "What is this game, Mizukage? The purpose of this Summit is to punish the Mizukage for his deeds and questionable decisions, his continuous abuse of both his own people and his power and complete disregard of other villages. I have plenty of proof against Daikon, the previous Mizukage. It is clear that this move is just a cheap shot at avoiding responsibility. The other Kage, that were still wearing their signature cloaks and hats just nodded and mumbled something inconclusively making Tanshu even more suspicious of what was going on. Haoru slammed his sheathed sword on the table and relaxed into his chair, breathing out and sighing, trying to calm down. "Fine, it is decided, I am not a man who likes to have his time wasted. Let us carry on with the Summit and if the charges brought by Hokage-ninja are sufficient we can make Mizukage-ninja responsible for her predecessor's actions. Her irresponsible behavior and failure to inform us of these developments in the already extremely secretive village serve as a weighty stone on the scale supporting my decision."
Haoru then angrily glared at the other Kage and grunted, "What kind of man sits near a table and discusses business with a hat!? Remove your hats, Kage-ninja!" he instructed angrily as the three reached for their hats. A young woman, in her early forties removed her hat revealing bright murky cerulean hair, she had peculiar eyelashes that matched her hair, also her skin was of much darker shade than that of the rest, even darker than Mana's by many shades to the point where Mana looked like she had a permanent tan where this woman looked like she was from an exotic faraway land. Her strange looks had some mystic charm to it. This woman was Samaya Imasu – the Fifth Raikage.
A tall man in his middle forties removed his hat and placed it on the oval table as well. He sighed shaking his wild long white hair. His face made the man instantly identifiable as one of the Kaguya clan as he had all the traits of the typical Kaguya: his flowing white hair, the red line below his eyes and the typical Kaguya marking on his forehead. After placing his hat on the table the man did not utter a word, just like his fellow Kage to the right, it was quite strange as the Tsuchikage – Kaguya Yaban was not one to stay silent for too long. Another man, by far the tallest out of all in the room as he may have been more than two meters tall removed his hat putting it onto the table. He had relatively casual dark red hair that had two extremely long braids going down his shoulders almost reaching his belt. The Kazekage was a strange looking fellow, no one who has ever seen Akasuna Mugao would have thought he looked any odder than the time they have seen him.
Haoru sighed and then sat straight, gesturing at Howoku, "Now that Kirigakure's pathetic attempt to hinder or postpone this meeting is dealt with, please, Howoku-ninja, bring up your accusations and state your facts and proof. The council of Five Kage will decide how to deal with the Mizukage, having in mind that she is merely a successor of the man responsible. Just for clarity sake… I'll assume you've disposed of Daikon-ninja, as is the Bloody Mist's way?" Shirona – the Mizukage smiled with a pleasant but having the context in mind somewhat scary smile. "But of course, it was fitting to allow the villagers that he had oppressed and tortured with his bloody ways for so long to finally have their justice with the man…" Judging from the smile of the attractive blonde it remained completely clear that she did not regret anything that had transpired that day. Perhaps it was for the better that Konoha and the other villages did not know of this for the details may have been too shocking and disgusting even for those who've seen their fair share of revolutions to hear. What was even more troubling to hear was that the woman did not even react to her village being called "Bloody Mist", which was an ancient nickname given to it. Even more, judging from the crimson crescent of her smile – she took pride in it…
Howoku stood up and cleaned his throat. "I need no proof for the first accusation – it is something that every of you know about – Kirigakure had ninja acting in Konohagakure soil, ninja that interrupted a mission transpiring in Konohagakure's jurisdiction and took over a scroll from the team sent to take the scroll over by a client that asked Konohagakure to have the scroll taken. By interrupting with this mission and slaughtering the squad sent to take the scroll you have brought shame to the Fire Lord in the name of Water Lord, also, you have killed Konohagakure ninja on neutral soil, not only that, it was the soil in which the climactic battle of Second Great Ninja War occurred over twenty years ago, one that signaled the nations to end the war. That land was sacred and no village had the right to move military force comprising of more than five individuals inside of it. It is a land that reminds us all of how greedy and bloodthirsty we can get during times of war, it reminds us of the worst in us all. It appears that your predecessor had not learned his lesson and broke multiple treaties he himself has signed. He is responsible for breaking multiple peace treaties and deaths of many Konoha ninja, also his orders cost the career of some very prized and important ninja to the village like Konoha's Great Trapster - Tsukumo Nakotsumi who assisted all of the villages by dismantling the wandering showman ninja clan early in his career. Such losses are not the kind of accusation just switching the person in charge fixes, Konohagakure will need some serious satisfaction for the damage caused and the lives lost, needless to say, our diplomatic ties will suffer either way, no amount of money or other political settlement can replace the value of human lives."
Howoku sat down, Misu remained cold and static, staring at the blonde woman who has remained completely still and cool throughout the entire speech. Haoru grinned and pointed at the Mizukage, "Those are some serious claims and accusations. The incident brought up is indeed public enough to need no further proof and its details are well known even to a politically neutral country like the Iron Country. What will you have to say for yourself, Mizukage-ninja?" Haoru asked looking curiously at the woman. Misu couldn't help but whisper to Howoku, "Something about her strikes me as odd… I'm gonna return in a moment" he said as he lifted his hand "I'm going to excuse myself for a moment, I need to issue orders for some ninja waiting outside, Hokage-sama forgot to tell them to take relaxed positions and they may be taking it the wrong way. May I temporarily leave to clear it out for the ninja outside?" Misu made up a ridiculous excuse, Haoru lifted his arm and waved it ignorantly, "Your presence here isn't needed unless you are a witness, Sannin-ninja, you can come and go as you please if your Hokage is not inconvenienced." he replied. Howoku looked confused but Misu rushed out of the room.
"Now, let us return to the matters at hand, Mizukage-ninja, may you address Hokage-ninja's accusations or do you admit having broken the mentioned treaties?" Haoru asked looking at the still calm and scarily smiling Mizukage.
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