The Empire Of Uzushiogakure: The Tale Of The Bringer Of Happiness
Chapter 7: The Storm Begins
"who?" Kabuto asked with a confused face, he pointed at the girl and looked at Naruto with an accusing stare. "You never told me about her before."
"Her existence was a secret. I didn't want her name to be leaked out to Konoha, since they would have interrogated us or tried to force us to reveal her location. You know they lust after bloodlines and Haku's clan name would have garnered their attention to locate and kidnap her." Naruto explained to his annoyed brother. Kabuto thought about it for a second then nodded, accepting Naruto's reason. He too would have kept it a secret if there was even a small chance of a slip up that could endanger their plan or Haku's safety.
"And when did the two of you meet exactly?" Tenten asked with a frown, her hands folded over her chest.
Naruto was about to answer but Haku beat him to it...
"We met two years ago. I was about to be killed by my own father after he killed my mother because of her bloodline." Haku said with a sorrowful expression. Naruto put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her and she gazed at him for a moment before smiling gratefully. Tenten and Hana's frowns slowly became softer after hearing that.
"Naruto-kun and his team were on a mission to Kiri at that time. They heard my cries and came to rescue me, they smuggled me out of Kiri after killing my father and brought me to live here since Konoha wasn't a safe place for me." She continued softly and smiled at Naruto who just scartched his cheek with a closed eyed grin.
"So, you are a survivor of the Yuki clan. Its a good thing that Naruto found you before you became just another victim of the bloody mist." Tsunade stated with a kind smile. Haku just nodded slightly.
"Yes. I'm actually the last of my clan, all of the others were killed by the loyalists of the Mizukage." She said softly as her smile faltered a little. The Namikazes frowned upon hearing that, feeling sorry for her.
"Well, you can always start over with us. We don't hate bloodline users as you can see." Shizune said as pointed at Hanabi. "You are always welcome to stay with us for as long as you want, we are very accepting by our nature. The more the merrier, ne?" She asked jokingly as Haku giggled demurely.
"Thank you." She replied before she was pulled to a bone shattering hug by Anko.
"I missed you so much, girl!." Anko basically shouted as she practicaly squeezed the life out of the poor girl. Haku started flailing her hands around as a call for help, she was saved by an annoyed Yugao who lightly smacked the back of Anko's head, promoting the sprightly girl to release the ice user and glance at her with annoyance while rubbing her head.
"What was that for?" Anko whined, Yugao stared at her with half lidded eyes.
"You were killing her with your hug." She said bluntly, causing Anko to pout and grumble...
"Why are you always so serious Yugao-chan? Cheer up a little will ya? Jeez." The others sweat dropped at their typical banter, while Yugao grew a tick mark and smacked Anko's head again, this time making her friend childishly stick her tongue at her, which only served to annoy her even more. Haku finally catched her breath before she smiled and hugged both Anko and Yugao by wrapping her hands around their necks, surprising them before they too smiled and hugged her back.
"I missed you too Anko-chan, Yugao-chan. I'm glad you have been successful in your escape from Konoha." Anko patted her back before she broke the hug and puffed out her chest in pride, her breasts jiggling with the motion.
"It was a piece of cake. Those idiots didn't even know what happened until it was too late." She bragged, causing them to sweat drop a second time.
"Nii-san..." Mito called, Naruto turned his head to look at her questionably "You haven't introduced us yet." She pointed out that important fact. Naruto just blinked owlishly before laughing nervously.
"Ah! I forgot about that! Hahaha!." The others just looked at him with deadpan strares, totally used to him forgetting things like this.
Tsunade shook her head in exasperation as she thought... 'He really is your son, Minato. Always forgetting simple things and focusing on more complicated matters.'
After a quick introduction, the family entered the simple house. The first phase of their plan was done, now is the time to lay low and train before planning the return of Uzushiogakure.
Nine Years Later (Two Years Before Canon), Konoha's Council...
Nine years have passed, nine of relentless searching and they still couldn't find the location of the the Namikaze family. Konohagakure was having one of it's hardest times. The loss of their precious Jinchuuriki along with their strongest ninja, Naruto, Tsunade and Itachi impacted the village in more ways than one. For the first time since they can remember... They felt unsafe. Their place as the strongest hidden village became nothing but words on paper, the other five great villages started to get bolder in their animosity towards them, ever since they knew about what happened. It didn't help that those villages have lost their Jinchuurikis too, and they are accusing Konoha of kidnapping them, it maybe an excuse to attack Konoha for all they knew. On top of that, an empire of sorts suddenly popped up in the eastern part of the elemental continent. They didn't give it much importance when they heard about that so called empire even when its name is Uzushiogakure's empire, they thought that it was just some Uzumaki refugees who thought that they could restore Uzushiogakure to its former glory. They laughed about it and made a mockery out of it, believing those no-name, delusional Uzumaki's will never be able to rise Uzushiogakure back to a proper village and that they will just come to Konoha and beg for refuge like the dogs they are.
But it all came back to bite them in the end. The same empire they made fun of is now basically controlling the balance of power in the entirety of the elemental continent. When Konoha and the other villages started to notice the slow shift in power, they tried to send spies to get information about this empire, but they found it to be impossible. The original island of Uzushiogakure has completely disappeared from the face of the earth. They were convinced that the empire was there only to find the entire island mysteriously disappeared. At the same time, four new islands came into existence just above the island of Tsuki No Kuni ( Land Of The Moon). Four vast islands which now represent the empire's capital, Uzushio. For an entire village to be taken from its place near Kiri to all the way in the eastern coast just like that? It was unheard of.
But how that happened is the least of their worries. Reaching Uzushio in its current location proved to be a near impossible challenge. The area of the original Uzushiogakure has many violent storms and whirlpools. The merchants who were actually allowed passage to enter Uzushio had given this area a befitting nickname... The Wave Belt. Spying on Uzushiogakure is a feat that no hidden village has accomplished.
Not only that but in the past eight years, Uzushiogakure has impacted the entire Shinobi world, not Konoha alone. Mrchants and traders have forsaken the five elemental nations and made deals and trading routes with the Empire instead. Clients were slowly but surely abandoning the services of the five villages, preferring Uzushiogakure to do their missions. The thing that baffled the western side of the continent is the Empire's policies regarding the missions, they don't even call them missions to begin with. They call them requests, and the thing that the Kages couldn't fathom is... They do those requests for free. They do not take requests like espionage, assassinations, genocide, fabrication, impersonation and seduction, no matter how much money they were promised to get if they did it. The only types of requests that Uzushiogakure will gladly accept are the likes of protection, escorting, getting rid of tyrants and bandit camps and the like. Those policies are something that the elemental nations have never heard of before. Their systems are those of mercenaries who don't care about the nature of the mission as long as it pays well. Uzushiogakure's system seemed to be a non-profit system, a system with codes and conscience, a genius and unique mixture between Samurai and Shinobi policies. A system that was rumoured to be invented by the Kōtei (Emperor) of Uzushiogakure himself... The Kaiyō shisutemu (Marine System).
Even though the Empire didn't make any moves against any village of the western side, it's existence is indirectly destroying the economical structure of the Shinobi nations. Their ideologies are also impacting the Shinobi world, evident by the gradual decrease in students in the Shinobi academies across the continent. Even though the Empire seems to prefer neutrality and isolation, all of the five nations consider them a threat that has to be dealt with, whether if its by the easy way or the hard way. And that is one of the main reasons for this meeting.
"Please take your seats." The Hokage stated. The Shinobi council nodded and sat down, the civilian council was not present since the meeting was about matters that only concern the Shinobi. The only people who didn't sit down were Danzo and Jiraiya who came to this meeting because he had important information regarding Uzushiogakure.
"Any new information on the Namikazes location, Jiraiya?" Hiruzen asked. Jiraiya frowned and shook his head, causing the council member to either sigh or curse under their breath.
"Unfortunately not..." His frown deepened suddenly. "However from the information I got, I have a hunch where they are."
The Shinobi brightened when they heard that, but Jiraiya held his hand to quiet them down and stared at them with a serious and worried expression.
"But if my hunch turned out to be true... Then we have a serious problem." He finished his statement, making the councilors stiffen as they felt uneasy.
"What is that supposed to mean, Jiraiya-sama? Please explain." Inoichi requested with a hint of worry in his tone. Jiraiya shook his head in response, confusing and worrying them even more.
"Before I get to that, I should tell you the information my spies have gathered about the Empire first." The others raised their eyebrows, their expressions nothing but doubtful. It was Danzo who voiced their scepticism...
"Information? No one was able to gain access to Uzushiogakure, even my root Anbu couldn't infelirate that island. How did your spies even manage to avoid the wave belt, let alone pass their barriers and security?" The old war hawk inquired calmly.
"Its not exactly valid information. Its more like rumours that the civilians who went to Uzushiogakure said. You know that the Empire allows only civilians with authorised passage to enter, after they get checked by their border officers." The rest of the councilors scowled and regarded him with scandalised faces.
"You want us to believe rumours? The Shinobi village with the greatest spy network relying on rumours as a source of information? Don't be ridiculous now Jiraiya." The Hokage's advisor Hamura said with a disapproving tone. Jiraiya scowled and replied in an annoyed tone of voice...
"Do you have anything better to provide us with?" He asked as Hamura frowned and didn't retort.
"I thought so, look this is the best that I can get. Those civilians went to Uzushio, even though they are not from Konoha, their words are classified as testimonies since they are like eye witnesses." The Hokage and the elders understood the logic behind that, while the clan heads still couldn't get over the fact that they are relying on rumours of all things. It was embarrassing and showed a sign of deficit in their ability to gather information.
"Please go on, Jiraiya." The Hokage said softly. His last loyal student nodded and continued...
"As I was saying, my spies gathered whatever useful things they heard from those civilians and gave it to me. The civilians weren't spies mind you, but they were so amazed by what they saw in Uzushio to the point that they couldn't keep their mouths shut in bars and meetings." He stood up from his seat and walked to stand in front of them, like a teacher who was about to give a lecture. He raised three fingers and he started his report...
"I have classified the rumours to two categories... Space and military. Let's start with space, according to eye witnesses, the name Uzushiogakure which was reserved only for four islands, is now applied to the entire eastern half of the elemental continent." He dropped the figurative bomb on them, some almost fell off their seats, while others felt cold all of a sudden, sweat slowly sliding down their foreheads.
"That is ridiculous! I refuse to believe such gibberish!" Hiashi stated coldly. The Hokage worriedly glanced at Jiraiya, silently asking him if its true. The Sannin just nodded his head solemnly, causing Hiruzen to feel like he just got ten years older.
"Its the truth. All of them have stated this fact. In the past eight years, Uzushiogakure has expanded and took over the eastern region in its entirety. But it was not through invasions." Looks of disbelief were the only reaction to that statement.
"How did they get so many countries under their rule then?" The Hokage asked sceptically. Jiraiya sighed and replied...
"You wouldn't believe me when I say this but... All of the countries and nations of the eastern part have joined Uzushiogakure willingly." True to his words, the clan heads and the elders didn't look like they believed a single word.
"How?" Asked Hamura with great confusion.
"Why?" Added Danzo with a criticising stare.
"They joined the Empire because they believed in the Kōtei. They wanted to be a part of the Empire because they liked the Kōtei's ideologies, his kindness and willingness to defend their countries without taking anything from them, all of those things have encouraged them to swear their loyalty to him and ask him to accept them to be a part of Uzushiogakure. Another reason is that their leaders don't have to forsake their positions, the Kōtei allowed them to rule their own people and act as ministers over their countries. But they are all under the the Kōtei's rule since he is the supreme leader of the Empire. That also explains why those countries are called the states of Uzushiogakure."
Before anyone can say a word, he raised his hand and started counting...
"Oni no kuni (Land Of Demons), Tsuki no kuni (Land Of The Moon). Takumi no Sato (Village Of Artisans) which provide the Empire with the best of their hand-made weapons." The Hokage and the elders frowned, not forgetting the alliance that the village of artisans nullified a couple of years ago.
"Na no kuni (Land Of Vegetables), Kagi no kuni (Land Of Keys) which Shinobis are famous for their expertise in espionage. Ishi no kuni(Land Of Stone), Umi no kuni (Land Of Sea), Nami no kuni (Land Of Waves), Tsume no kuni (Land Of Claws), Kiba no kuni (Land Of Fangs), Kuma no kuni (Land Of Bears) which is famous for its hidden village Hoshigakure (Village Hidden Under The Stars). Yuki no kuni (Land Of Snow) which is renowned for its advanced technology. Sora no kuni (Land Of Sky), Naito no kuni (Land Of Nights) . They even have a state in our side... Takigakure (Village Hidden by Waterfall). These are the 15 states of Uzushiogakure, excluding the capital." Jiraiya finished his list with a grim expression, the council members felt their hearts sinking with every name. Each one of those small countries and villages harbours either neutral or hostile feelings towards Konoha and the other four great villages. Jiraiya himself was feeling terrified of the prospect of going to war against all of those united villages, but he held back his fear to complete his report.
"Now we move on to the capital, Uzushio. Uzushio is composed of four large islands, the capital is in the middle and the other three islands are surrounding it in a triangle formation. The island to the north of Uzushio is called Marineford, which represents the headquarters of the Empire's military forces. The island to the east side is called Impel Down, a prison that is somehow built underwater with such disreputable and gruesome reputation that it was said to be much worse than the Blood Prison in Kusagakure (Village Hidden by Grass). The final island which is located to the west is called Enies Lobby, the headquarters of Uzushiogakure's intelligence gathering unit, Cipher Pole." He paused for a second before continuing...
"The island of Uzushio itself is probably nine or ten times larger than Konoha. Its divided into nine regions that are called districts. The first district is Uzushio which is located in the heart of the other eight districts. The remaining districts surround Uzushio from all directions. I don't know how they are positioned but I know there names... Cocoyashi, Thriller Bark, Logutown, Dressrosa, Alabasta, Amazon Lilly, Goa District and Wano region which is basically a large piece of land consisting of nothing but training grounds for the Marines. Each one of the districts except Wano has a governor, those seven governors are a part of the marines. They are a special branch of extremely strong fighters called the Shichibukai (Seven Warlords of The Sea)."
"Fucking troublesome." Shikaku summed up the thoughts running through the minds of everyone in the room, for the first time in ages, the Nara clan head has cursed, a clear sign of disaster.
'troublesome indeed.' The others agreed in their minds. Jiraiya decided to continue before they bombard him with questions he himself doesn't know the answers to...
"That was the space category. As for the military, Uzushiogakure's military order is pyramidal in structure. They call themselves Marines instead of Shinobi, their ideology and belief is written on the walls of the marineford building... 'justice+ peace+ knowledge', that is their motto. They have a standard uniform which consists of blue and white colours, although the higher ups are allowed to wear anything they like. High positions usually wear coats to be easily recognised. The symbol of the marines is Uzushiogakure's spiral with a seagull flying under it." The Sannin stopped for a moment to fill his lungs with air, noticing how the room became very quiet, everyone listening with all of their attention.
"The Kotōei is obviously at the top of the administration system, his orders are absolute and must be obeyed by all. Under him, there are three positions... The Chūsa (Commander) of Cipher Pole, The Yonkunshu (Four Overlords) who's jobs are solely militaristic as they are assigned to protect the states of the Empire from both outside or inside attacks, each one of them has a number of states which they are supposed to protect, they have no right to interfere in the internal and political affairs of the states. Finally, the Gensui (Fleet Admiral) who's job is similar to a Jounin commander, being the head of the marines. Those three ranks answer only to the Kōtei, each of their orders must be approved of by him before it gets done. It was also rumoured that this same order applies in terms of power levels"
The Hokage swallowed a lump in his throat, Uzushiogakure was proving to be a major threat. Not only for Konoha but for the entire Shinobi world, the balanced scales of power are in jeopardy because of this Empire. The same thoughts were going through the mind of Danzo, looks like the Uzumaki's should be wiped out for good, no survivors should be left this time.
"The marines also have their own order. Under the Gensui comes the San- Taishō (Three Admirals). Nothing is known about them except their genders which are two females and one male, the two female Admirals are actually married to the Kōtei, making them queens or empresses of Uzushiogakure." The council was shocked by that baffling information. Chusa raised his hand and asked with a lost expression...
"Come again?" Jiraiya sweat dropped and coughed in his hand, trying to stay serious and not make a fool out of himself by acting like a pervert in such a serious meeting.
"I said they are married to the Kōtei. Apparently the Kōtei is the last male Uzumaki and therefore he is in CRA. He is married to 21 women, the marriage was two months ago according to the information. For almost a whole month, in each one of the 21 days there was a wedding between the Kōtei and one of his fiancees. The people of the Empire called those days the 21 days of bless, since they were filled with festivals and joy. Another information is that the Kōtei has four adopted children that he has adopted in his early teens, that proves that his intelligence and sense of responsibility is not ordinary. A month before the wedding, the civilians decided to show their love and appreciation for the Kōtei, so they built a large castle and gifted it to him, the castle's name is... Seichi Marījoa (The Holy Land Mariejois). A castle that was said to be a miracle in beauty and prestige." The Hokage and were awed by the people of Uzushiogakure and what they did for their leader. Danzo scowled and hit the ground with his stick.
"Can you please continue with the important stuff." He hissed as Jiraiya shot him an annoyed look before sighing...
"Alright, alright. Where was I? Oh! Yeah. Under the Admirals there are the after mentioned Shichibukai, behind them there is the twelve Chūjō (Vice Admirals). The Chūjō are more commonly referred to as the Chōshinsei (Supernovas), based on the fact that their power levels are close to the Shichinbukai. That is all the information I acquired about Uzushiogakure's Empire. Even with all of this,there are still many things that we don't know about it, these are not even all of their military positions." Jiraiya finished his report with a dead serious expression. There was silence, nobody knew what to say, nobody knew what to think. The information was blurry and unclear, but they can still see the danger of the Empire.
"You said that you might know where the Jinchuuriki is earlier." The Hokage reminded his student. If Uzushiogakure is as organised and powerful as the report says, then they will need to find their Jinchuuriki immediately. Jiraiya remembered and his face turned grim.
"I will tell the description of the Kōtei and you will understand..." He stated and nodded.
"Silky mixed coloured hair, blonde with red streaks. Violet eyes, angular face structure and lean muscular body. Now you should know where our Jinchuuriki is." His tone was filled with hopelessness. The others just blinked and tried to remember someone with those attributes. Their eyes shot opened and widened in shock and horror as they finally figured it out.
"Don't tell me...!" Shouted Kagura.
"It can't be!" Exclaimed Danzo.
"Impossible!" The Hokage yelled as he got from his seat and held Jiraiya's front with his fists, bringing him to his eye level, his eyes were burning with rage and disbelief.
"Jiraiya! Tell me this not fucking happening!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Calm down Sensie. Lets think rationally about what we're going to do." Jiraiya said in a placating manner as he lowered Hiruzen's shaking hands from his clothes.
"I have a propsition that can help us." Danzo's calm voice broke through the chaos, a cruel smirk on his face.
Three Days Later, Uzushio, Mariejois...
A number of shadowed figures were sitting around a massive table in what appeared to be a room reserved for meetings, a lone person sat in front of them in the main chair.
"I have received this invitation from Konoha. They are inviting or actually ordering, demanding me to attend a Kage summit." The figure stated, his voice calm and collected, a smirk can be spotted on his face. The other people in the room either grunted or 'hummed' in response.
He raised his head as his violet eyes seemed to glow in the dark, the smirk on his face only getting broader.
"What do you think my answer should be? Eh?"
To be continued...
Finally! This was one tiring chapter. This is the prologue to the story's timeline, its timeline starts two years before canon. Since its a prologue, you sure have lots of questions, don't worry all of your questions will be answered throughout the course of the story. Everything that happened in the time skip will be revealed in the form of multiple flashbacks through the story or in the form of side stories.
Looks like Naruto has brought a whole new system to the elemental nations.
I decided to explain how the devil fruit works in the next chapter, and yes it can transfer powers but that will be fully explained in the next chapter. The harem is 21 not 20. I made a mistake in chapter two (sweat drop).
I know that this time skip(Which I warned you that it will happen) left you with many questions. "What? When? How? Why? The fuck!?" All of those questions will be answered in due time. A Prologue is supposed to leave people with question marks after all.. lol!.
The special author's note that has the explanations will be in the next chapter. I hope you liked how I mixed up the two animes.
Stsy tuned for the next chapter, a lot for characters will be of them are from the Naruo universe except two OC characters that will appear next chapter, although both of them are based on characters from another anime but they will be a part of the Naruto universe.
And by the way... Amazon Lilly is not an all man hating women island like the one piece version.
Please wait for the next update and I hope that it will be soon. Thank you for taking the time to read this!.
Thank you for your reviews, both the positive ones and the negative!.
Please FF&R, which means follow, favourite and review. You know all those good stuff?
Kudo-Shiho out!.
