Chapter 1: The Summit
It was an evening of heavy rain in the Hidden Rain Village, so heavy that it's unusual even for the Hidden Rain, thunder was roaring in the sky, and the wind was screaming in the air. Amidst the rainstorm, a summit was held inside a great hall of the Hidden Rain. Inside the building, there were shinobi numbering in hundreds, including leaders from all of the small shinobi villages, at the centre of the hall, sits the four Kage from the four major shinobi villages. Gaara of the Hidden Sand, Terumi Mei of the Hidden Mist, Ohnoki of the Hidden Stone and A of the Hidden Cloud.
The purpose for the four Kage gathering in this place: To put the Hokage on trial for ordering a massacre on a joint Jonin squad of 50 men from Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone village in the Land of Wind.
Two weeks ago, 49 Cloud and Stone ninjas were found dead, brutally killed just beside the border between the Land of Wind and Land of Fire, with only one Hidden Cloud Jonin was found to be alive, but severely injured. The Jonin was found and rescued by a Hidden Sand merchant passing by. Just before the Jonin passed out and entered into a coma due to his injuries in the Hidden Sand hospital, he only uttered one word:"Ko...no...ha.". According to Sakura, who is now working in the Hidden Sand hospital, after investigating the crime scene, she guessed that the surviving shinobi's was deliberately kept alive, because from her observation, the killers held nothing back and had no mercy whatsoever. The fatal blows were cruel and cold blooded, it is highly unlikely for the shinobi to survive if he was to be treated the same as his comrades, it seems as if the killers wanted everyone to know who did it. In this seemingly peaceful era, this large scale murder case shook the Shinobi world, and the savage and arrogant display of the Hidden Leaf has enraged the four other major Shinobi villages, especially the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone. Konan, the current leader of the Hidden Rain, now an ally to Uzumaki Naruto, has agreed to lend her village as a gathering point for the summit.
"Why isn't he here yet?!", shouted the Raikage. The Raikage's eyes were brimming with rage. "I understand your anger, Lord Raikage, but we're in front of the public's eyes now, so as a leading figure of the Shinobi world, I'd advice you to keep your composure.", says Gaara. "It seems that your advice would fall into deaf ears now, Lord Kazekage. It is bad enough for the Hidden Leaf to commit such crimes, now their leader has no sign of arriving to such an important event, this level of disrespect has offended me too.'' says Ohnoki. "Well, it's not like the time is up now, Lord Tsuchikage, there's still some time left before he was supposed to show up." says Mei. "Hmmph! He can act arrogantly all he wants while he still can, once he gets here, he'll be exposed for his sins in front of the entire Shinobi world." says Ohnoki. "Gotta say I kinda looking forward to this meeting, I mean I can't be the only one that's curious of how does our current Hokage actually looks, we don't even know it's a he or she, nor his/her name." says Mei. "Hmmph! Whoever this guy is, I'm going to crush his head right after whatever pathetic explanation came out from his mouth!" said angrily the Raikage.
The camera then turns to the sprawling cityscape of the Hidden Leaf.
It's been two years and a half since the destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village by the hands of Pain. The village was completely flattened, people of the Hidden Leaf was struggling to rebuild themselves and without a leader, as Tsunade the fifth Hokage was in a coma. Danzo, the leader of Root, attempted an assassination on Tsunade in order to eliminate the possibility of her threatening his reign as Hokage, but this plot was found out and foiled by the Konoha 12. In a hard fought battle, the Konoha 12 successfully escorted Tsunade out of the Hidden Leaf and was exiled by Danzo, fortunately for them, they found refugee from their allies in the Hidden Sand, and resided in the village since then. Danzo, who was ready to take the office of the Hokage, was found dead due to a flu two weeks after his election success. Word has gotten out that one man mysteriously appears out of nowhere after Danzo's death and took the office as the sixth Hokage. Around the same time, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was found dead, alongside the Konoha Elders. Cause of Death: Suicide; Reason: Unknown. After the death of the previous Fire Daimyo, the Land of Fire now has a new leader, a new Daimyo, a man of his early thirties named Ashina Ieyasu. In contrast to his predecessor, Ieyasu is an ambitious man, he has a firm mindset and a clear vision on achieving his goal, to make the Land of Fire a powerful country. Unlike his Daimyo counterpart, there's even less information can be found on the newly appointed Hokage. The Hidden Leaf has practically shut themselves out from the outside world since the time of the new Hokage, no one knows what exactly is the inner workings of the government body of the Hidden Leaf. Spies from other villages were sent into the village for information, but they all disappeared without a trace, scout teams were sent to observe the village from afar, and they noticed that the Hokage statue doesn't have a new face, so they can't even get the image of the Hokage. All the rest of the world knows is, after the sixth Hokage has been appointed, the Hidden Leaf has rebuild itself from nothing, to a sprawling metropolis in just the span of two years. It has became the world's largest and most powerful shinobi village, surpassing the other four major villages and even its old days. What follows is, the Land of Fire also became the world's top superpower, surpassing the other four countries in economy, military power, industries, trading, etc. It's been speculated by the intelligence department of the Hidden Mist, that the former Daimyo's and the Konoha Elders' death were not of suicide, instead it's an assassination orchestrated by the Hokage in order to allow Ashina Ieyasu to rise to power. Some even speculated that Danzo's death were not because of a flu, but of something far more sinister. Recently, the Hidden Leaf has opened up to outsiders to visit, all of the visitors were at awe of the rapid growth of the city, and quality of life of the average civilians. But somehow, the visitors still couldn't get any information out regarding to the leader of the Hidden Leaf, and they've noticed something strange, that despite being the largest Shinobi village in the world, not a single shinobi can be seen on the streets of Konoha.
Our story continues on the rooftop house of the building of the reopened and renovated Ichiraku Ramen. Below the rooftop, Ichiraku Ramen were busy with customers going in and out, above the rooftop however, inside the house, there's four person sitting around a table, two man and two women, playing Mahjong. One of the woman has blonde curly short hair, emerald eyes, wearing round glasses, looks about 20 years old. Another older woman has a straight long jet black hair, skin flawless as a glowing pearl, silver eyes, wearing a white and red yukata like silk robes, looks about her mid-late 20's. Sitting opposite of the older woman, is Teuchi a.k.a, the Ramen Guy. And opposite of the younger woman, is a man that looks about his mid 20's, he wears a simple carbon black T-shirt, with a grey black pants and sandals and bandaged ankles( He literally dressed like Itachi without his Akatsuki cloak in the upper body, and Kakashi in the lower body.). "Hatsu(Green Dragon tile)", says Ramen Guy as he put the tile on the centre table after he made a Tsumo and took a look at it. "Pon.", says the girl with glasses, as she took the tile that Ramen Guy had just put on the centre of the table and added into her own set of tiles. Then, she put out another tile from her own set on the table centre, "Sanman(300K)" says the glasses woman. "Kan (Quad)", says the older woman, as she takes the Sanman from the table and added into her own set, she then opens up 4 of her tiles revealing 4 tiles of the same image. The younger man took a look at the woman, he then made a Tsumo, added the tile he took into his own set and put out another of his unto the table centre, and says "Don(East tile)", the older woman's face instantly glowed up, "Kan again!", she quickly took the Don tile and added to her own tiles and did the same thing as before, revealing another set of 4 identical tiles. The man smiles when he saw the woman's happy expression. It was the Ramen Guy's turn again, he made another Tsumo, this time he gets a suso(4 bamboo) since he doesn't want this tile, he discarded it as usual to the table centre. "Pon", says the younger man. He took the suso from the table centre, added into his own set, then he opened up all of them, revealing a triplet of each type of the Dragon tiles and a pair of suso,
"Daisangen(Big Three Dragons), pay up guys", says the man. "Not you Yomiko, you have 8 han(value/point), in addition to the 2 quads you have, you have won enough to not pay me anything." says the man as he looks at the older woman. "Yuna, however, will have to pay me 50 bucks, and Teuchi, you gotta pay double so it's a 100 bucks." says the man as he looks at the younger woman and the Ramen Guy. "Not so fast, I got 6 han, and I just got a pon from Teuchi earlier, in addition to 2 chun(Red Dragons), Teuchi owes me 50 bucks, so Teuchi...you gotta pay him 150 bucks.", says Yuna as she looks at the Ramen Guy with a smug.
"(Sigh)...I should've known playing Mahjong with you guys is a mistake." says Ramen Guy as he pays the man. "Yet you just can't stay away from us huh? haha" says Yuna. "Yeah yeah, whatever, I gotta go and take a look at what's happening downstairs, got a Ramen shop to run, I'll see you downstairs" says Ramen Guy. "Speaking of running things, don't you have an appointment this evening?" says Yuna to the man. "I am going back home and cook something to eat, will you be back for dinner, dear?" says Yomiko to the man. "Yeah, I'll be back in an hour, just gotta go take care of this thing first." says the man before he stands up and step out of the house and go outside to the rooftop and sits down and meditate. After Yuna and Yomiko left the building, the man starts doing a series of hand signs. "Raigen. Raikochu(Lightning illusion: Thunder Light Pillar)", says the man.
The camera turns back to the great hall of the Hidden Rain. "I've had enough of this! If he doesn't show up earlier I'm going straight to Konoha and wreck his turf!" says Raikage as he slammed his table. Right after he finished his sentence, a lightning strike occurs right outside the hall, its light illuminates the entire room. "It seems that our Hokage here really is trying to be disrespectful with his elders, what a pity, looks like we'll to have pay a visit to Konoha ourselves." says Ohnoki.
"Ohnoki speaks about disrespect, what an irony..." a voice came out of the blue. Everyone including four Kage was distracted by this voice. "Who said it!?" The Raikage asked angrily. "Me." the one who says this is a masked Hidden Grass ninja from the crowd. "Did I said something wrong? Young man?" asked Ohnoki. "Maybe you should take a look on yourself with a mirror before you speak about disrespect." The masked man mocks. "I would think twice before I speak another word if I were you, Lord Tsuchikage here isn't best known for his temper." says Mei. "A mere Shinobi from the Hidden Grass dares to talk back to a Kage? I think you are looking for a beating kid." says the Raikage with full of killing intent. "Wait, Lord Raikage, I want to hear what this young man has to say. Explain yourself." says Ohnoki.
"It is completely legal for the Hokage to exert lethal force towards the 50 shinobi.", says the masked ninja. This caused a massive reaction among the crowd, until they were ordered to keep silent. "It has been clearly stated in the laws of the Land of Fire, that lethal force is allowed if any threat were present against the profit of the people of the Land of Fire, which the deceased squad of the Hidden Cloud and Stone, is." says the masked man. The man then turns to the crowd and says "You only noticed that 50 men were killed, but you never asked, why they were there? What is a 50 men elite Jonin squad consist of two different village ninjas doing right in front of the border of the Land of Fire?" The crowd then begins their own discussion on the topic. "It could be anything, it could be a training mission, a surveillance mission, why is it have to be an act of terrorism?" Someone from the crowd raised a question. "Well, they never told you all what the Leaf found on their site huh? Guess what? They found military grade weapons, fast acting poisons, and a map of the terrain surrounding Hacho Village. Months ago, the Leaf has received reports from the Land of Fire government that Hacho village has gone into a trade dispute with the Clay village in the Land of Earth. That Hacho village would no longer supply oil palm to the Clay village for a cheap price, and oil palm is one of the driving force for the Clay village's economy. Since Hacho village sells oil palms with a relatively cheap price compared to other places, there has been a long standing relationship between the two villages. Now the Clay village doesn't want to spend more than usual, so instead of properly negotiating like honest businessmen would, they turn to the Hidden Stone for aid, shinobi, trained killers for help." The man further elaborates. "What about the Hidden Cloud?" asked another ninja from the crowd. "Did I ever told you that besides oil palm, Hacho village was rich with mineral resources? The government of Land of Lightning have offered a deal for Hacho Village to give up their mines, the representatives from the village simply thinks the deal wasn't a good one, so they declined. And what did the Land of Lightning did? They put an embargo on Hacho village. Now an embargo wasn't enough, they decided to take village by force. With the weapons, the map, the motives, it is highly possible that they are plotting an invasion on Hacho village." says the masked man. "You...you...you" it's as if the Raikage's throat were stuck. "I'm not done yet, for the past two years, the Leaf has arrested countless spies from other villages, many of these spies attempted to steal crucial information that is essential for the village and even the country's survival, losing it could've result in the death of our nation, or even start a war between nations! I ask you this Kage, is this the result that you want?! The ruining of the lives of the good people?!" says the masked man with a slightly raised voiced. "Even if it is true, this case happened in the Land of Wind, so it technically is under the jurisdiction of the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire has no rights in enforcing its own laws on foreign ground." Gaara finally broke his silence. "Oh no, that just makes matters worse for you Lord Kazekage, you're now basically saying you're allowing this to happen under your supervision. This extends to meaning the Land of Wind being a part of this invasion. You could spark a war between the two nations, do you want to go to war, Kazekage?" asked the masked man with a threatening tone.
Gaara stayed silent for a few moments. Then, he stared and asked the masked man a question. "Who. Are. You?" The masked man stay silent. "Yes, I've been watching you for sometime now, you can't be a mere Hidden Grass ninja, you seem to know everything about the Leaf's operations and the inner workings of the Land of Fire. Who are you?" asked Mei. "It's the eyes, I can feel it just by looking at your eyes, the way you carried yourself, you are no ordinary being, show yourself." Gaara raised his voice. The masked continues to stare at the four Kage with silence. "What is your name?" says Ohnoki.
Everyone around the masked man starts to back away from him in fear. The masked man slowly unmask himself. Revealing the face of a young man, a few years older than Kankuro. His face was emotionless as the corpse puppets of Pain, his eyes were a cold and distant void, his gaze so sharp that it seems that it can pierces a man's soul.
The young man introduces himself
"Tokugawa Isshin, the sixth Hokage."
Everyone in the hall gasped, the mysterious leader of Konoha has finally revealed himself in front of everyone. "Isshin, you made a scene by massacring mine and Lord Raikage's men, deliberately let everyone know who is the culprit, you want us to organise this meeting, you expected us to gather every figures from the Shinobi world in this room, you were ready to reveal yourself. What is it that you actually want.?" ask Ohnoki.
"To send a message. The Land of Fire welcomes all manner of cooperation from all around the world, if you wish to do business with us, you're most welcomed. However, to those who poses a threat to the Land of Fire, or wished to start a war. The Land of Fire will not hesitate to burn you to ashes, and when it burns, expect that it will be burning with the full wrath of the Hidden Leaf." says Isshin.
"Enough of this! I will end you myself!" shouted the Raikage, as he delivers a killing blow towards Isshin with his full speed and power. The lightning punch sends out a shockwave that knocks down shinobi nearby. To the Raikage's surprise, it hits nothing but air, and Isshin was nowhere to be found, it's as if he's never been there. The hall fell into complete silence. Isshin never left the rooftop of Ichiraku.
"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted the Raikage. "Forgive me Lord Raikage!" says C, bodyguard of Raikage, as he kneels down. "It seems that...we have been under his genjutsu all this time...Now that I think of it, the lightning strike before, it's strikingly similar to my own genjutsu, Flash Pillar. It appears that he did some modification to this jutsu. I can sense there's an invisible ripple of chakra, but it's far too subtle, it is extremely difficult to identify as a genjutsu attack." says C with a shameful tone. "Grrrrrgh..." the Raikage grunts angrily. "Isshin was supposed to stand in trial in front of the world tonight, instead he has turned this into a stage for him to assert his dominance. This level of strategy, eloquence, this man is dangerous." says Ohnoki. "I like a dangerous man, but he's a little too dangerous for my taste. We're lucky that he's here for warning only. If he intended to attack, he could've manipulated us into killing everyone in this room before we realise that it's too late, especially Raikage." says Mei, as she glanced at Raikage and the injured shinobi that were knocked down by his shockwave. "I don't care what kind of tricks he plays, I am going to rally an army and attack Konoha tomorrow!" says the Raikage. "Calm down Lord Raikage, we don't know the extent of the capabilities of this Isshin. The genjutsu that he displayed tonight already told us that he's not someone to be taken lightly. Recklessly attacking the Hidden Leaf, might bring great danger upon yourself." says Gaara.
The trial of the Hokage has ended in failure.
additional notes:
Name inspiration. I wanted my characters to have a powerful name, because they are powerful people so I picked some of my favourite Japanese name by characters that I liked in fiction and non fiction and mix them up.
The First Shogun of Japan: Tokugawa Ieyasu
The Sword Saint of Sekiro : Ashina Isshin
The Fire Daimyo: Ashina Ieyasu(苇名家康）
The Hokage: Tokugawa Isshin(德川一心）
Kyukiku Yomiko(九菊黄泉子）Why I name this female character. Later I'll dive deeper into this character, about her backstory and her abilities. First I'll give a little hint on why she named Yomiko.
Yomi;黄泉, underworld. Ko;子, child
The reason on why I write that Mahjong scene is because I want to bring out that they are a group of highly intelligent people, Mahjong is a complicated game that required a lot of observations, thinking, analysis, calculations and quick reflexes. Since Shikamaru already has chess, I wanna use a different game to highlight Isshin and the people he surrounds himself with. If that scene is too confusing or boring then my bad lol, I'm just gonna write it anyway.