Origins Of Legends: Rise Of A Predominant Empire
Kirigakure Story Arc:
Chapter 2: Origins Of Yin-Yangs, Demons And Evil Spirits… Tragedy Of The Bloody Mist!
Formation Of The Royal Shichibukai… A Consummate Plan!
"And what, pray tell, is this dangerous info, huh?" The swordswoman asked with a hoarse voice, irritated that her nap was interrupted.
"The revolutionaries, they…." The hunter trailed off, looking quite uncomfortable. Ameyuri raised a skeptical eyebrow and said….
"They…..?"
"They are moving towards us right now, our scouts have spotted their troops heading towards Kiri. Their attack is today!" The hunter nin spoke up in a fast pace, finally acquiring the courage to speak. The red-haired woman stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth slightly opened in surprise. She stood up abruptly and clutched the front of his vest, pulling his face to her eye level.
"What are you babbling about? Didn't you say that they will be attacking next week?!" The poor shinobi quivered like a leaf in front of her enraged face, her eyes were blazing with fury, her chest rose and fell with deep huffs, like she was struggling to breath , and sweat poured down her face. She was angry and in pain, he realized.
"Th-the information regarding that, t-turned out to be false, Ameyuri-sama." He stuttered, she narrowed her eyes at him and hissed…
"How dare you bring me untrue information? You should have checked!"
"I'm sorry!" He almost squeaked in fright. She glared at him for a few moments, veins started to bulged on her forhead and more sweat dripped down her chin. The hand holding his vest shook slightly, the hunter nin shut his eyes tightly, resigning to his fate and waiting for the killing blow to come.
When nothing happened after a few seconds, he chanced to open an eye, only to witness the sudden shift in his superior's attitude, she seemed more tired than angry right now. With a slight push, she shoved him away from her and put her palm on her head, wincing ever so slightly and taking deep breaths.
"Next time, check the validity and trustworthiness of your sources, I do not want this mistake to repeat itself. Because, if it happened again….." She started with a faint voice, slowly lowering her hand to hold the left side of her face, and the hunter nin froze in fear from her chilling glare.
".… your life will be the compromise for such a grave error." She finished darkly, even when she was visibly in pain, the bloodthirsty smile which bloomed on her face terrified the Kiri shinobi to his core.
"It-it will not happen again, Ameyuri-sama. B-but I believe that this was all part of the revolutionaries plans." The hunter gulped and took a few steps back, fearing the worst. The swords wielding woman sighed and folded her hands over her chest, closing her eyes and dropping her head as she did so.
"Whatever the case maybe, what matters is that now we now the correct timing of the attack. Inform the rest of your subordinates and have them on standby, tell them to mobilize and wait for my order to move out and intercept these dammed rogues."
"Hai, Ameyuri-sama!" The shiniboi bellowed with a salute, thanking Kami and whatever other Gods that allowed him to live through this.
"Now get out of my sight before I lose what little sympathy I felt for you." Ameyuri replied coldly. He immediately noticed her threatening tone and used a Shunshin to flee before she changed her mind about forgiving him, leaving the woman alone.
"As temperamental as ever, huh, Ameyuri-sama?" Asked a voice as three individuals landed on the branch, right in front of the tired Ameyuri.
The red-haired woman glanced at them and grinned weakly, and unbeknownst to the three shinobi, she was having difficulty in making out their appearances, her vision was starting to get blurry, whether if it was from her illness or from the amount of sweat covering her face and eyes, she was not sure, neither did she care.
"Well, well… If it isn't the newbies!" she greeted them in a 'friendly' manner, but all of them heard the mocking undertone of her voice, which caused two of them to scowl slightly, while the third one just grinned and replied….
"This will be hard on you, right? I heard that you were childhood friends with the leader of the revolutionaries, Mei Terumi." He said with a grin that perfectly hid his suspicions. Ameyuri blinked twice before she started chuckling….
"Fufufu…. You don't have to worry about my mental state so much, Kisame. Mei chose her path and I chose mine, she's the one who betrayed my trust, betrayed her village and her Kage. I think of her as my friend no more." She retorted while smiling menacingly, having detected the undertone of suspicion in his seemingly innocent question.
"How can we be sure that we can trust your words?" Asked the second shinobi. He was a teenage boy of sixteen years old. He had shoulder-length, white-coloured hair and pointed, shark-like teeth. He wore an outfit which consisted of a black, sleeveless shirt, light-purple-coloured pants and striped leg-warmers typical of his village, a normal Ninjato was strapped to his back, and he carried a water bottle attached to a belt around his waist.
Ameyuri glanced at the boy who was only three years younger than her and chuckled quietly to herself again….
"You can't. The question now is, how are you going to make sure of whether if I'm lying or not, Mangetsu ?" She asked her question, staring at him with a challenging grin
Mangetsu's scowl deepened and he opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by Kisame…
"You're sick…." The shark-like man stated confidently, bluntly mocking and pointing out Ameyuri's weakened stated, while threateningly reaching his hand for his own Ninjato.
But, before he can grasp the blade, a pair of uniquely designed swords made a cross-shape around his neck, trapping it like a paper in the middle of a pair of scissors.
"Careful there, buddy…." Ameyuri smirked at Kisame's shocked expression, and drew her sweat-covered face closer to his, standing on her tiptoes to reach his height.
".… even when I'm ill, I can still kill you quite easily, rookie." She whispered in his ear, and even though he would never openly admit it, he shivered slightly from the amount of menace in her voice.
The smirk of the seasoned member of the seven swordsmen only widened from his reaction, she slowly drew back her formidable Kiba swords from around his neck and stepped away from him.
"I'm not like that coward, Zabuza. He bit on more than can chew, and was left with the disgrace of running away with his tail between his legs, probably licking wounds pathetically somewhere right now. His arrogance and stupidity were his downfall. If I wanted to turn on the Mizukage, I would have done so a long time ago, and even more cleverly and efficiently." She assured the young shinobi. Turning her frosty stare towards the other two boys, who were still stupefied from her swift retaliation to Kisame's threat earlier, she let her eyes wander to the last boy and she raised a delicate brow.
"Why did you bring this kid along with you, Mangetsu? He wouldn't be of much help against the opposition."
The nine years old child seemed to take offense to her words, so he stepped forward and stared up at her since she was much taller than he was. He had straight white hair with a light-blue tint to it, almond shaped purple eyes, and pointed teeth. He wears a purple, sleeveless shirt with blue pants, sandals and a belt around his waist with water bottles attached to it, and Ninjato strapped on his back.
"I'm not a kid, you take that back!. Me and Mangetsu nii-sama are going be members of the seven swordsmen in the future, you will see! So, show us some respect!" The child yelled out loud, his apparent older brother, Mangetsu, felt his heart stop and the blood froze in his veins.
'He did not just yell in the face of a member of the seven swordsmen. Kami, please tell me he didn't?!'He thought in legitimate horror. And before his younger brother could utter anything else and make the situation worse, Mangetsu covered his mouth with both of his hands before could say something that would in him losing his head.
"Suigetsu, stop it!. Don't you who you're talking to?!" Mangetsu scolded his younger brother, who only made a muffled 'humph!' sound against his palms.
"I'm sorry for his rudeness, Ameyuri-sama. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive his indolence." Mangetsu quickly into a hasty apology, now knowing full well that the woman is more that capable of carving them all up even if she is severely weakened by her sickness, hoping against hope that she would just let go. He was shocked, however, when Ameyuri threw her head back and laughed loudly.
"Fufufu…. Hahaha! Well, color me impressed!. That little brother of yours has plenty of bravery stored inside that little body of his, I like that!" She said in glee, visibly pleased by the actions of Suigetsu.
Suigetsu just continued glaring at her from behind his brother's hands, while Mangetsu heaved a sigh in relief. Ameyuri, however, ignored all of that and turned her gaze back to Kisame who was looking at the scene with an empty stare, lost in his own thoughts.
"Anyways, whatever brought you here in the first place, Kisame? Weren't you chosen to be the bodyguard of the Angobu division?" She curiously, snapping Kisame out of his thoughts.
"Umm… Well, Fuguki-sama is taking my place for today. Mizukage-sama thought it necessary to have me be with the forces that will fight the revolutionaries." He answered with slight nervousness, having not forgotten that the short woman in front of him had almost cut off his head not too long ago. The red-haired woman shook her head and grinned slightly in response., her breathing was getting erratic once again
"So its going to be only me, huh? Whatever, it doesn't matter. You three should go and wait for me on the ground with the rest of our forces, we are heading out right now." She ordered, the three young shinobis nodded and swiftly went away.
"We shouldn't have done that! We came this close to death because of your stupidity, Kisame-san!. apparently, she can still fight and kill us all of us, even if she's sick. It was stupid to challenge one of the seven swordsmen, they're Kirigakure's strongest force after the Mizukage himself!" Mangetsu whispered angirly to Kisame as they were leaving to regroup with their unit.
"Its all Raiga's fault, he's the one who told me that she has been weakened by her illness. That liar!" Kisame growled in response, swearing that he will give Raiga a piece of his mind when he sees him again, if there is one thing KIsame had no tolerance for, its being told lies.
A Few Minutes Later….
Ameyuri grinned a bloodthirsty grin as she and the rest of her subordinates hopped on the trees towards the revolutionaries forces, who were also heading their way.
'Misleading information, huh, ginger? You seem to finally understood that underhanded methods and dirty tactics are required sometimes. Fufufu….' She thought to herself, using the nickname she used to call her former best friend by, her grin getting bigger as her blurry vision managed to spot several figures moving towards them from the opposite direction through the fog.
'The world isn't black and white, Mei, you have to learn that.' She started to chuckle hysterically as she made out the figure who was leading the opposing forces, a womanly body with flowing long hair.
'Our world has no place for heroes, Mei!'
Around The Same Time, Haku's Old House, Living Room….
"Wow, the years really did take their toll on this place." Anko said as she traced her fingers on the dusty couch.
"Its still better than nothing, I suppose." Karin replied, sitting on an armchair.
"At least the furniture hasn't been stolen, that's a relief." Yugao added, she and Tayuya preferred to stand than sit on the dirty chairs.
Naruto plopped down the couch without even cleaning it first, causing a cloud of dust to burst out from the couch, which made his companions cough and glare at him or shoot him annoyed stares in Anko's case.
"Oh, well. We wouldn't stay here for long anyway." He grinned back at them, pretending that he didn't notice their glares. Taking out a small bottle from his pocket, he opened it and started gulping whatever was inside.
Tayuya frowned and walked over to him. Snatching the bottle from his hand, making him stare up her in with surprise.
"This is no time for you to get drunk, we still haven't discussed what we are going to do to complete this mission yet. You're the one who dragged us here with you, so act more like our leader." She scolded him harshly, pensively staring at his face.
"Come on, Tayuya-chan. This isn't a strong brand of sake, it wouldn't get me drunk, so its safe for me to have a few chugs. Give it back." He whined, reaching for the bottle.
Tayuya glared at him with a skeptical gaze, doubting his words. She raised the bottle to her eye level and stared at it for a few seconds, before lowering it to her mouth and taking a testing sip. After gulping it down, she nodded slightly in approval and gave the sake bottle back to Naruto.
"You were right, it isn't that strong." She admitted with a dissatisfied grumble, annoyed that she has been proven wrong, Naruto just smiled at her gratefully and continued drinking his favorite beverage.
"You know, I have been thinking…." Naruto started suddenly, gaining the attention of the four girls. He put the bottle on the table in front of him and put his intertwined hands under his chin, looking at his friends with a thoughtful gaze.
".… this idea has been floating in my mind for awhile now. I want to instate a new branch in the marines."
The girls raised an eyebrow in interest, looking quite intrigued.
"A new branch? What is it going to be?" Anko asked excitedly.
"It's name is going to be… The Shishibukai (Seven Warlords Of The Sea)." Naruto answered her while smirking, the purple haired girl blinked and echoed in confusion….
"The Shishibukai?"
"I admit, that's a nice name." Yugao commented with a quite chuckle.
"The name does not matter, what matters is the purpose. Now, what will the job of those so-called Shishibukai be?" Tayuya asked monotonously, folding her hands over chest.
"That is correct. How will the empire benefit from this new branch, Naruto?" Karin asked her own question. Naruto smiled and relaxed his back on the couch, putting his legs on the table and answering confidently….
"Fairness and stability."
"How so?" Tayuya challenged, walking to stand in front of him, frowning.
"The Shishibukai will be a special branch in the navy. You know that Uzushiogakure has eight districts which are full of civilians, excluding Wano."
"Yeah, so?" Anko replied, looking just as confused as the rest of the girls. Naruto glanced at her and said….
"So I cant keep track of the circumstances of all the civilians in these states. The Shishibukai will act both as navy officers, and as ambassadors of each of these states, they will be the representatives of the people of each state, bringing me monthly reports of their economical state, complains, construction requests and things of that nature."
The four girls widened their eyes in shock, not because the idea wasn't good, but because of its components.
"But that will give these seven individuals a political standing, marines have never and should never get involved in politics, regardless of whether it was internal or external!" Tayuya stated angrily, raising her right foot and slamming it down on the same table which Naruto was resting his feet on.
"Tayuya is right. Giving the Shichibukai that much political pull wouldn't be wise, they will get rights to participate in the Reverie with the Kages and royals who are leading the states of the empire. The marines are the military arm of the empire, the shishibukais cannot be part of the marines if they are going to be apart of the political order as well, neither Marineford or Enies Lobby have such rights, that's absurd!" Karin added her criticism, looking quite scandalized.
"They're necessary. I can't rule this vast empire without making sure that my followers and subjects are content, what kind of an emperor would I be if I catered to the capital and gave little attention to the other districts. They should have someone who speaks for them, as much as they should have a powerful force who would protect them if they were attacked. The distance between Uzu and the rest of the districts is quite long, what if the marine reinforcement were late while one of these districts was under attack? What if I wasn't present in Uzushiogakure at the time? These people will surely die, and they're my responsibility, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that the people who accepted my rule and gave me their trust died because I didn't give them as much attention." Naruto stated firmly, looking both Tayuya and Karin right in the eyes. The admiral and head scientist bit their lips in frustration and thought about his words. After a few moments of intense silence, Karin gave a solemn nod and closed her eyes, smiling gently, while Tayuya sighed and put her foot down on the ground.
"Those are the words of a true emperor. You do care after all, guess I was wrong in thinking that you were just trying to earn people by sweet talks and kind taps on the back. You never fail to defy my expectations, Naruto Namikaze." Tayuya said in a surprisingly soft voice, smiling slightly, and if one looked closer, they would see the faint blush on her cheeks.
'Maybe you will be the one who will manage to steal my heart, Naruto.'
"Ok, now that we have agreed on this proposition, who do you have in mind to be members of this branch, Naruto?" Yugao asked, looking like she's bored, she didn't really mind his idea all that much, and to be honest, she didn't care.
Naruto grinned and raised his index finger towards the four girls.
"For starters, I was thinking about you three…" He announced as he pointed at Karin, Anko and Yugao. The three girls blinked a couple of times before his words finally sank in, causing them to exclaim comically…..
"What?!….."
"But I'm an active Cp-9 agent! I can't have three jobs at the same time!" Anko protested, the other two also looked like they were about to voice their own protests, but Naruto held out his hand and said….
"Don't worry, I've already thought of will be working part-time as a Cipher Pol agent, Anko." Naruto said.
"What do you mean by part-time? Please enlighten me." The purple-haired girl demanded for an explanation, folding her hands.
"I mean that you will act as a Shichibukai for the most part, but you can still be summoned by Tsume Oba-san on the more difficult assassination missions, you are one of the best assassins Cipher Pol has, I'm aware of that." He answered.
"That still doesn't change the fact that the CP-9 unit would lose a valuable member in Anko." Tayuya pointed out. Naruto glanced at her and replied….
"Then Sora will take her place."
His statement was met with four astonished stares, Anko scowled and stomped towards him.
"The kid!? You would replace me with a kid!?" She yelled in his face, slightly blowing back his hair with the strength of her yell.
"You can't be serious, Naruto! Cipher Pol number 9 is one of the strongest units in Enies Lobby, only the best and the most cold of heart are allowed to be members of it, and you're going to enlist a nine years old child into such a thing!? Tenten is the Naga (Chief) of CP-9, I doubt that she would agree to that!." Karin shouted.
"Cipher Pol isn't like Marineford, Naruto, you know that perfectly well. It is not a place for children, the agents are trained to become the best of assassins, they're taught not to feel, not to have morals, just complete the mission without leaving a trace, no strings attached, how can a child like Sora handle such things?" Yugao asked calmly.
Naruto shrugged and replied casually….
"Well, the kids who are allowed to enter Cipher Pol are those who are naturally more aggressive than the rest. Sora fits that description, as does Sakura, I haven't seen any of you complaining when Sakura joined Cipher Pol."
"That's only because Sakura cannot be a marine, she is much too aggressive and unhinged, she's prone to making hasty and extreme decisions that would jeopardize the assignment of a team. We in the marines cannot take the risk of appointing her as a protector of the civilians, because she could very well hurt them herself." Tayuya rebuked his statements. The young emperor turned his gaze towards her.
"Isn't that exactly what Sora is like? Didn't he almost break one of his classmate's hands because of a simple squabble? Hostile individuals are the ones eligible for Cipher Pol, but its also made for those who can't function in a team. Both Sakura and Sora cannot work in teams, both of them are better suited to work solo, and both of them have that natural cruelty and callousness which Cipher Pol requires in spades. Admit it, even if he is just a kid, Sora is made to become an assassin, a heartless cold-blooded killer." He stated seriously.
"I can't argue with that, nor can I deny it. Sakura and Sora are Cipher Pol material indeed. Your logic is sound, Naruto." Karin stated, nodding in agreement and showing that she supported his decision.
"But still-" Anko started but Naruto interrupted her.
"This proposition has already been presented to Tsume Ba-san and Tenten-chan, both of them agreed on recruiting Sora as your replacement. So, it's no longer in your hands, no matter what you think about it." He said with finality. Anko frowned slightly, but then shrugged carelessly and replied…
"Well, If Chusa-sama (Commander) agreed to it, then I guess that its really not up for discussion anymore." She said, sitting beside Naruto on the couch and lifting his sake bottle from the table to drink from it.
"What about me? I already have my job as the head scientist, and I do like this job by the way, not to mention that I'm this close to reaching a breakthrough on my most important projects. Sure, I can fight and I'm pretty strong even among the monsters of the empire, but neither I nor Anko and Yugao have that much knowledge on politics." Karin said while folding her hands over her chest, gazing at Naruto with a dissatisfied look.
"And I have my own job as a Kenjutsu instructor, I still haven't finished training Mito, Sezumebachi and the other young marines and Cipher Pol agents who aspire to use a sword masterfully and gracefully in battle instead of swinging it around like an iron bar." Yugao added her own concerns about losing her job.
"You don't have to lose your jobs, you will get to do them as part-time jobs just like Anko would, remember that you will only have to give me reports on a monthly bases as Shichibukai, and about being marine officers, due to your positions as district governors, you wouldn't get called unless if its for the toughest of assignments, the ones that will need the interference of a Shichibukai. You will have your own new lab built in your district, Karin, and you will have a reserved space for training your students, Yugao. Tsunade Baa-san will teach you about politics, just like she taught me before you, she is an expert on the field, and I'm quite confident that she will make skillful politicians out of you in no time." Naruto explained to them with a smile, the girls were silent for a while, carefully weighting their options and judging his plan for this Shichibukai system.
"So, do you accept your new positions as the first three members of the royal Shichibukai?" Naruto inquired after a while, the three girls looked at each other and nodded once, accepting his offer.
"Well, when you put it like that, I don't mind this Shichibukai thing that much anymore, it could be fun!" Anko grinned at him and snaked her hand to wrap around his neck and over his shoulders, raising the sake bottle to her mouth and taking noisy gulps.
"As long as I wouldn't have to abandon my ambitions as a scientist, I don't see a reason to refuse." Karin said with a soft smile, adjusting her glasses and standing up from her chair to shake Naruto's hand in a business-like fashion.
"Whatever, my students will still get to learn the fine art of using a blade from the best sword user in the empire, so I do not have anymore complains about being an ambassador." Yugao said with a shrug, leaning her back on the wall behind her. "But, have you asked Tsunade Baa-chan for her opinion on this decision?"
"Yes, she already knows about this new system and she supports my proposition." Naruto answered hurriedly as he wrestled with Anko for the sake bottle which she was gulping down while keeping him at arms length from reaching it. The other girls simply sweat-dropped at the scene until Tayuya had enough and grabbed the bottle from Anko's outstretched hand, drinking all of the sake in it and throwing the now empty bottle through the window and outside of the house.
"What the hell, Oni girl!?/Oh, for Kami's sake, Tayuya-chan!?" Both Anko and Naruto shouted in surprise and scrambled for the window, staring longingly at the empty bottle on the ground below while anime tears rolled down their faces.
"It was the best sake I ever had, and that was the last of it!" They lamented dramatically, comically bowling their eyes out.
"Yeah, yeah, what a harsh reality we live in, right?" Tayuya asked them sarcastically as Yugao and Karin giggled in amusement. "Now can we please go on with our plan?" She added impatiently.
Both Naruto and Anko dragged their feet back the couch and sat down, Anko pouting and Naruto grumbling to himself about somethings like 'Tayuya-chan's cruelty' and things like that.
"Now that I've got your attention, what's the plan, Namikaze?" Tayuya asked, straight to the point as usual, Naruto and the others grew serious at her question.
"Well, as far as we know, this country is on the brink of a full on civil war between the Mizukage and the revolutionaries. We can use that to our advantage." Naruto said with a small smirk.
"And how will we be able to do that?" Karin asked while the rest stayed silent to hear his answer.
"Yugao-chan will be our trump card." He said vaguely, the girls shared confused glances before it finally clicked in their minds, and Naruto smirked even wider when he saw the realization in their eyes.
"Yugao is a skilled and powerful Kenjustsu user, arguably the best in the entire world." Tayuya said with a smirk.
"She didn't make that much of a recognizable reputation when she was in Konoha as a simple small-time Shinobi….." Karin added, smiling that bright smile which she only gets when she successfully makes a new invention or solve a puzzle that has gained her interest.
".… Meaning that neither the Mizukage or the revolutionaries will suspect that she is not from Mizu no Kuni, since they have little to no real information about our empire." Anko finished Karin's words, grinning in excitement from this plan.
"Which means that I'm the perfect spy." Yugao said calmly with a small smirk, her head was facing the ground and her hands folded over her chest, her eyes were closed as she continued to lean on the wall.
"Exactly…" Naruto started while smiling at them, pleased that they were able to rival him in terms of intelligence.
He stood up from the couch and walked over to where Yugao was standing, causing her to open her eyes and stare up at him since he was a few inches taller than her, his close proximity made her blush slightly and avert her eyes from his face, he smiled at her and pushed a few locks of fascinating purple hair which were covering her face to the back of her ear, and he continued…
"Our beautiful Yugao-chan will go to Kirigakure by herself. She will claim that she was born in a small rural village near the borders of Mizu no Kuni, then she will demand to have a meeting with the Mizukage and 'pledge'her allegiance to him if he showed up, and then…. She will ask him to enlist her as a member of the seven swordsmen."
To Be Continued…
Guess I don't have anything else to say other than see you in the next chapter!
Sorry for any spelling or grammatical mistakes.
Please wait for the next update and I hope that it will be soon, thank you for taking the time to read this!
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Kudo Shiho Out!