Standing in the observatory, Toneri looked out to the beautiful blue planet that had grown to double its original size through the addition of natural energy and asteroids from space.
Around this beautiful planet, invisible space lasers and barrier satellites were present along with the Orbital Watch Towers. All of these were the first responders to any outside and inside threats along with the space force on the moon, Venus, Mars and Neptune.
Nothing was left to chance and every step that could be taken was being taken, and advancement was being pushed to the extremes for the survival of the planet.
Everything was related to the Otsutsuki threat and Naruto's plan for the people, all innovation was led by this drive and it hadn't stopped since it started almost twenty years ago.
"Do you know the power hierarchy of the Otsutsuki?"
Asura looked at the back of his uncle who was giving off a heavy aura, he could tell that this was something very serious and what he might hear might not be nice.
It caused him to hesitate a little bit. It awakened a fear, fear that his curiosity might awaken a dark path for him.
He might fall like his older brother.
Shaking his head, "I am not aware of the levels, though I feel it."
"It is expected…knowing the hierarchy will make you realize the terrible situation. Guess where your father stands in the Otsutsuki hierarchy." Toneri muttered calmly but his hands were tightened into a fist and there was fear in his heart, fear of loss. He was afraid what the future held for them.
They were coming and they will never let them have peace.
His wife was in danger. His people were in danger and his life had no guaranty either.
It was the life he was living. Sometimes he wondered if it would have better to have declined Naruto's command to search for information on the Otsutsuki and never sit down in the council when this terrible knowledge had been shared.
It was a thing of nightmare that pushed him to work hard every day to avoid the death sentence written for them.
There were times he wondered if he could just run away and let it all go, run away with his wife and make a family on a desolate planet without any intelligent life.
But, he shook it all away. He owed it to Naruto. He owed to his people. He owed to his ancestors. He owed it to his dignity. How long will he run? The Otsutsuki would appear someday even if he ran to the furthest part of the Universe as they roamed without much planning most of the times.
They could use him as a way to cultivate a new planet and then devour it.
He knew there was no escape, unless he was ready to cripple himself and become a normal person.
Toneri closed his eyes and knew Asura's likely answer before he even uttered those words.
"Hmm, Father is very strong and has been working on new ways to improve. So, I think he should be comfortably midway in the rankings."
"….I wish that was true." Toneri muttered as he opened his eyes and looked at him with a heavy gaze.
"Asura, your father is in the middle of the sixth and seventh ranking of the hierarchy. There six ranks above him and each rank has big difference between them. Just one member from the fifth rank could end this, do you understand." Toneri hid away his misgivings and told him the truth in a calm manner.
It was a truth that he had not expected. It was worse than he could have ever imagined and now he could see why the atmosphere felt so empty.
Their life depended on the whims of their enemies. They literally had no chance of survival if the enemy decided that they needed to go.
His overactive imagination filled in the horrifying details of their demise if a strong enemy appeared and he had to manually shut down his thoughts to stop straying in such a direction.
His body shook and his heart beat increased. He felt cold and weak suddenly, and almost fell to the floor as he understood the implications.
"Is this true?"
"Yes"
"How can you walk forward knowing this? Is our effort worth anything? How can we fill up such a giant gap of power when we barely moved up three ranks in two decades?" Asura asked, no, demanded for the answer in a desperate tone as he felt all their work for worthless. Everything was for naught in the face of such adversity.
Toneri could understand his reaction as he was just a child that had yet to go through harsh conditions and even then most people would collapse when hearing this truth.
It was something that would make people give up and waste away. He couldn't lie and say that he didn't have a similar expression. He also reacted similarly, just never put into words.
Naruto was the one who pulled them all up and stopped the paranoia from over taking their minds.
"Believe in the good future and remember the things that are important to you. The future might be bleak but we have always overcome the odds, and in these two decades we have moved more than the thousand years before us. Believe in the arrogance and laziness of the Otsutsuki and continue moving forward, because one day we will be too strong for them to terrorize us.
They have thousands, we will make it millions. Just grow and grow without stopping because stopping means our death is near. Work hard for your people and for your dignity, do you wish to die like a coward that couldn't even put up a resistance? Or do we wish to die with a smile, knowing that you left behind something to continue the fight?
Let the darkness recede because this is the age of the light, and the light shall always conquer the darkness.
These are the words of your father, I am sorry that they have less impact coming from me." Just repeating those lines made the fear and dark thoughts recede as courage took their place and smile came to his face.
"No, thank you uncle it was nice. I was the one to ask about the secret and acted weak, I apologize for my behavior." Asura smiled hearing those words and even without Toneri saying the name, he could tell it was from his father because Toneri didn't speak like that.
It was just typical of his father to give such speeches to light fire in the hearts of the listener.
The impact of hearing it directly was very strong as Naruto also utilized his powers with it and it actually gave a buff to the people. It cleared their minds and increased the bravery factor along with pain resistance and focus.
Every morning, people heard the voice of Naruto Uzumaki when they woke up for the morning workout. Naruto didn't hold back from making a change even if it felt like he was getting so busy, it didn't matter.
His schedule was always full and if not for the clones, there was no way he could do everything and even the clones couldn't do everything.
Many times his physical body had to be present like the research facility visits, training drills, meetings with the leaders and when his mind needed some rest from clones.
There was also risk of clones getting popped or getting stolen by someone, meaning data getting stolen so he had to be careful about such problems and couldn't make weak clones to handle these issues. Making strong clones meant that he couldn't make too many, he was limited to less than hundred.
"Don't feel bad about it, because even adults felt hapless against such a threat. Only his words kept us anchored and reminded us of why we should fight. Not everyone can stare into the abyss and not drown into the darkness. This was first for everyone where it felt like there was no chance of survival, not even the forth war made them feel like this. You are young, just take it as one of your experiences with the harsh reality and grow from it." Toneri put his hands on Asura's shoulders and said in a gentle tone before turning him around.
"Uncle, thank you for your advice but could I have some time alone."
"Of course, but don't forget that you are never alone. Our way is to move together and fight together, if you think of yourself as alone then the weight will crush you."
Asura nodded and saw Toneri walk away, leaving him in the observatory where he stared at the planet below him while the book shone with light.
The Crawling Darkness
"No" Asura rebuked harshly and scattered the book before it started taking form. He didn't want such a story to take shape as it represented his fears.
Taking out the side books, he let the story take shape. As a strong writer, Asura could utilize six stories in total.
At the moment his core story was missing while he had three stories now: The Crawling Darkness, Legend of the Legendary Hero and Tale of Immortals and Monsters.
'Father, do you really believe in us?' Asura asked and he wished to hear the answer from his lips. He couldn't tell how they could make any difference unless time was provided for them.
They were not even at the top of this world and would take some years to arrive at that stage.
'Please show me the way, Father.' Asura sat down while the story took shape about the crawling darkness that drove men insane and devoured reality.
It was a tale of horror with no hope in sight.
"Dear, you really shouldn't have told him." Robin shook her head at him as he exited the room. She was standing outside with some pastries and tea.
"I believe that he is strong enough to handle this truth, Robin. And, he needed it. Look at him, he has yet to even start the story while his side stories have developed and are growing in power and fame.
It is unusual for writers to not have part of their core written before the other stories develop. It shows that he is lost and doesn't know his path.
Master Naruto has given me the permission to do anything that I deem necessary to help Asura, even he is worried about this issue.
Someone that can form stories on a whim and gave Asura many ideas, was unable to help him start is definitely problematic." Toneri replied as he picked up a pastry and fed it to Robin.
Robin took a bite and Toneri ate the remaining piece, as she looked at him.
"Dear, sometimes you forget that he is a child. No one writes their core story seriously at this age, most of them will destroy their books at a later date since the story won't look good enough anymore. You are putting him on a pedestal because he is Lord Seventh's son.
Please, remember the reality of the person."
"I wish we could. Robin, these children can't be treated normally. They are the carriers of hope for us, so we have to treat them like adults. They are mature, more than most adults already so you shouldn't compare them to normal children.
Master will likely start integrating them into the resistance group once they reach sixteen years of age. They only have three years at most before they become active outside the planet." Toneri explained as they walked away from the place.
The hall way was huge and from the glass walls, the beautiful scenery of the colony was visible.
"Did Lord Seventh, really say that?" Robin was surprised as she knew how much he cared for the children, they were like his heart.
"Yes, he said that the children will be an addition to the planetary defense force. He is planning to accelerate their awakening and improve their potential.
We don't have many people on the baronet level and fewer on the Baron level and higher. The new generation is the one that could go to the higher rankings now with natural talent while the old needs supplements." Toneri replied as she wasn't part of the council like him, so she wasn't aware of such details. He decided to share them because he didn't want her to think less of him and he was authorized to share with his wife this much.
"Will you do the same to our kids?"
Toneri looked down before looking into her eyes as she stopped moving, "Yes, it is the only chance for their survival."
"Is it really right for us to bring them into this cruel world? I am scared that they will blame us for the tragedy they will have to bear." Robin muttered in a heavy tone and expressed her worries.
"We will handle it together, so don't speak such harsh words. Our children will not blame us and they will live through it all. They are the proof of our love, and I am kind of jealous of others already so allow me this selfishness." Toneri hugged Robin and kissed lips to calm her down while taking away the tray from her hand.
In this harsh world, they had to get used to such episodes of despair and doom until a stable hope can form in their hearts. Unfortunately, even their Lord wasn't strong enough to become that stable hope to keep them anchored all the time.
A.N All these things are to build up the background and set up some plot points. Remember that I am not directly using the canon setting since I have issues with it. I am using what is present in canon and building it to the max without forgetting about it, and throwing it away because it is inconvenient to the plot.
