VI - Written Word
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Summary:
They say there is no real truth, only what you perceive it to be.
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The era of the Cold War brought a curious collection of rules and traditions on the conduct of war. These rules were born in part by the longer stretches of peace that the land began to experience after the end of the Warring States era, but it was also in part by the efforts of the Shodaima Senju Hashirama and his successor Nidaima Senju(1) that such rules were codified in the first place. These long stretches of peace also ushered a sense of nostalgia and a craving to imitate the manners of the once great Empire of Go, the Imperial state that ruled over the known world before it fractured into squabbling nations of warlords and brought in the Warring States.
One of the best known rules was that a formal proposal of surrender and acquiescence must be served to the enemy nation three times and must be rejected every time by the recipient before the contesting nations can begin mobilise their troops and march for battle.
The formal proposal of surrender and acquiescence was informally known as a declaration of war, but both names is incomplete in itself and it is thru the use of both that we begin to understand this document. The nation with a grievance to an enemy must first craft a letter detailing all their grievances and how the said enemy nation was the cause of it. The letter not only must list the grievance but also list the remuneration that they are demanding for the grief that was caused. The letter of course will end that if such a remuneration was not given to their satisfaction, the accuser has the right to raise the call for war and take what they deem fit. The accused must respond. It is thru the first and second response as well as the second accusation that the nations will know whether or not diplomacy will prevail thru negotiations or that war will happen.
This back and forth response is a complicated dance that have a dozen of permutations. But at its most basic form, it has been codified into three as it assists in determining the sincerity and resolve of the two contesting powers. It also gives both nations time to cool simmering tensions and avert a war. This set of rules have been well known to have prevented many skirmishes and issues from becoming a full scale war that would have easily erupted during the previous era.
It would be best though to clarify two things. The first point of clarification is that this rule only applies to issues between two nations or powers. It does not apply to issues between individuals or individuals and ruling powers. Many mistake the Suna and Oto invasion of Konoha as a breach of these codified rules, but many forget that the invasion at its core was a formal challenge by Orochimaru, Hokage-to-be, to the Sandaima Hiruzen, who Orochimaru claimed was an usurper. Suna was called to be the neutral party who was to prevent any interference. It was also a right of honour and vengeance of Orochimaru as he was the candidate for Yondaima, though he lost to Minato Namikaze. The death of the Yondaima should have brought him forward as the Godaima unless another candidate was elected. Instead, Minato's death became the means for Hiruzen to once again declare himself Hokage and seize power, bypassing all rules and traditions in the election of a leader of the Hidden Village. Such actions allowed Orochimaru to attack Konoha and request for assistance with any great nation to act as a neutral enforcer.
The second point is that although these rules had been codified and taught to all from cradle to grave, there have been specific points in history were nations played fast and loose with such rules. As anyone could easily guess, these many cases erupted in large scale violence. The most famous example was the start of the Third Great Shinobi World War wherein Iwa and its allies treated the two separate formal proposal of surrender and acquiescence given to Konaha and Kusagakure as first and second declaration of war served to one accused. It allowed Iwa to conduct a Blitzkrieg or Lightning war against Kusa once the so-called third declaration was rejected by the Konoha.
(1) Scholars agree that though the Hokages of Konoha introduced and supported the codification of the rules of war, it was thru the efforts of Konoha's premier diplomats, Hikaku Uchiha and his successor, Kenshin Uchiha, that those rules came to pass. Though it was herald as the pinnacle of cooperation between the founding families, this also increased tensions between the two families. Certain sections of the codification were bitterly contested by the ruling powers within the Land of Fire. It lend to threats of expulsion and suspension of the two men until the famous declaration of the Nidaima that assigned the whole Uchiha clan to the military police. It effectively ended all careers of the Uchiha diplomats and set the clan primarily within Konoha borders.
The Current History of the Lands within Go
Chief Scholar Matsumoto to the Court of Lord Shigeru of the Wind
Inscribed in the 28th year of his reign
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Gaara felt his brows rose as the words sank into his mind. Uncertain, he gently closed the book he was tasked to present to the Izumo Taisha shrine at the annual court ceremony, the Offering to the Temple of Heaven. A holdover during imperial times when the Emperor and the nobles would offer the gods a summary of important events and decisions within their jurisdiction. It was a way to ask for heaven's judgement, their blessing and forgiveness. Even with the waning of the Izumo Taisha shrine's temporal powers, it was still considered an important task. A way for nations to posture and gauge each other's strength. A way for alliances to be forged or to fail.
It was strange to him to read the events he partook in written that way. It felt like a lie to him. These events may have happened in such a fashion, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. The justification for the invasion may be Orochimaru's right as Hokage-to-be, but Gaara perfectly knew the reason for such an alliance was his father's foolhardy yet desperate plan to acquire the medicine fields of Fire. The former Kazekage was determined to break the medicine trade monopoly of Fire that had been robbing the gold off Wind's coffers.
"You make us sound so honorable," Gaara spoke bluntly at Lord Shigeru's curious stare. He could hear Temari's horrified sputter, followed by the indignant scoffs by the various scribes and retainers.
The Daimyo's smile widened into a smirk. Gaara felt no insult to the seemingly condescending look. He knew to everyone he was young. They probably saw him as idealistically foolish to dare question such an important document ordered by the Daimyo. The document that all of the nations would see and judge them for.
"You do know," Lord Shigeru spoke. "That history is written by the victors. Fire may have won the first round, but I will not simply bare my throat for them to slit. If we have this one small opening to holler, then I will do my outmost to drown them out."
Gaara bowed his head in acquiesce. They were at war and they must fight to defend. Even if he was more comfortable in the open field of battle, Gaara remembered his lessons well. Wars were never won with just physical battles. You must learn to take the heart and soul of the enemy and twist it to your advantage, lest you be crushed yourselves.
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Shock rippled thru him before Itachi ruthlessly clamped down any notion of reaction. The Godaima had been oddly intent on him when she read them their mission. But perhaps it should not come to a surprise. The mission had been strange from the onset, when he was called to the capital to receive the details. A frantic rush that had never happened in his memory, he mussed, ignoring the hissing scoff of his unwanted tenant. But Konoha had been jittery as well with the sudden uptick in production, so perhaps it was best he was out and about before the tension tied him in knots.
Itachi did admit, the details of the mission have been to unexpected. In a break of tradition, Itachi and Kakashi were assigned to the Offering to the Temple of Heaven. Ever since the creation of the Uchiha Military Police, no Sharingan bearer has every been assigned to the offering. Now, Konoha was sending two.
"Elder Danzo with his ANBU guards will be accompanying you partway," Tsunade continued to explain. "but they will have to leave on a separate mission. We normally send members of the Konoha council with a contingent of guards, but since we cannot spare anyone, sending the Uchiha clan head and a sharingan weirder would prevent any insult from being taken."
At the corner of his eye, Itachi watched as Kakashi slouched even further. Careless and carefree, a persona Itachi never saw with his captain in their days at ANBU. He wondered when he'll ever learn that indifference. He envied it, even though the Godaima did not approve. Seen by the cautious steely-eyed glare she easily dispensed the lackadaisical Jounin.
"You will also bring the second formal proposal of surrender and acquiescence His Eminence Sorata," Tsunade continued grimly. "You will not leave until you get their reply."
"How long do we wait?" Kakashi hummed out the question that niggled in Itachi mind. Konoha had been a-buzzed when the declarations have been sent out to Ame and the shrine. The former had issued a swift rejection, but the latter had been silent. Everyone knew that the shrine has not even replied to the first declaration. But it had been less than a week, and history has always spoken of nations would had taken weeks to respond.
'Such foolish haste,' he could almost hear his father, no Fugaku the clan head, snort.
'It's almost as they want it to fail,' the words were hissed into the raspy tones of Orochimaru.
Itachi gritted his teeth, refusing to let memories of his former life or his unwanted guest distract him.
"A month."
Snickers erupted in his mind.
'Well, well, well,' Orochimaru crowed. 'Just enough time for the harvest to be stored. For the meat to be preserved. For the forges to heat and bellow. Just enough time to finish…'
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Let me entreat you, your Eminence, to stop this madness. You have been thoroughly fooled by that faithless spawn. A criminal known as Sasuke who has lost the right to his name and all the protection it entails. Such a noble clan should not be smeared with such filth. He has caused so much lives lost in the Land of Lightning. An unproved and unsanctioned attack that we, the Land of Fire, will not bear the shame of. For the Land of Lightning bray for his blood, and We who represent both Amaterasu and Susanoo, may their Glory be praised, must give judgement, together with Tsukiyomi, may his Glory be praised, represented by the Land of Water.
The innocent blood, the clanless bastard has spilled should be answered with his suffering and death.
Do not be dazzled by his silver tongue nor his summons. They are simply illusions no matter how convincing it may be. The summon sage has spoken and has promised to bless us with his presence. He has assured us that the criminal is nothing more than a destroyer, a wily one who has taken advantage of your venerable age.
Your Eminence, you have long been seated enrobed with the authority of the Kotoamatsukami, you who have taken the name of Yamamoto as is your right, but surely you have felt the ache of the seasons passing. Let us ease your burden. The Land of Water offers you a holy priest to ease your burdens. A fitting offering from Tsukiyomi, Lord of Illusions, may He guide us to see the real from the unreal. We bow to their foresight.
Please, Your Eminence, the young priest Tobi will serve well in your stead. Do not force the Hands of the Gods, for the three shrines have spoken. Do remember the name you were born in, Namikaze - serf to the Uzumaki.
Written on the 1888th year of the Sundering of Go.
Signed
Lord Minoru Arakawa-Senju, Daimyo of the Land of Fire
Lord Hamaru Zetsu, Daimyo of the Land of Water
Lady Tsunade Senju-Arakawa, Godaima Hokage
Yagura Karatachi, Yondaima Mizukage
Holiness Lord Kira Senju, High Priest of Ise Shrine
Holiness Mashahiro Abe, High Priest of Atsuta Shrine
Holiness Hagoromo Zetsu, High Priest of the Kashiko-dokoro shrine
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Sasuke closed his eyes as he slowly rolled the silken scroll shut. The corrosive power of the Land of the Summons tickled his senses. It should have been soothing, the unmovable certainty it held, but now it could give him none. In front of him, His Eminence Sorata sat in a seiza, so still and unmoving. His gaze intent.
'Is this what it means to be clan head,' Sasuke wondered. Nothing seemed to surprise him anymore. The history of the world lay bare in his mind. Is this why his father was perpetually weary? The history of man as an unending cycle of cruelty and violence.
Sasuke looked back as just shy of four generations before the founding of Konoha, the Land of Whirlpool found peace when the Uzumaki routed the Namikaze. All that was left of that great clan was a handful of serfs sealed into the service of the Uzumaki. Forever and ever.
Now look, it was the very same thing that happened in Fire. Two powerful warring clans may have produced a peace for generations, but in the end, one clan had to be decimated into nothingness. The survivors: one a dog in a leash, and the other, trapped in a prison of his own making.
The peace Uzushio created when only clan remained powerful to rule Whirlpool,was the same Konoha created in time. And the destruction of Whirlpool? Possibly a bigger cycle with all nations fighting until only one remained standing.
'Am I not the same,' Sasuke thought. 'Jimmu Tennou forged Go by defeating all the other powers, the Onis, the Youkais, the Bijus. Why are we any different?'
Sasuke opened his eyes with a sigh, meeting Sorata's.
"I forgot," Sasuke murmured. "That you were a Namikaze. Before I set you on this holy path."
"For that I am grateful, Lord Kenshin," Sorata answered before he burst into a quick chuckle at Sasuke's startled glance. "You had that same look, this moment." A pause, before he continued, "Though you have my loyalty, I am still bound to my clan and its chains. The Senjus have inherited our oaths when Lady Mito married Hashirama Senju and Uzushio was destroyed. The only thing I can do is to ask the Gods take my body and mind so they can rend the oaths that chain me."
"Can they?" Sasuke smiled a bitter smile. He remembered as Jimmu wherein he was powerless to lift the cursed desert of Suna. He remembered Gammamaru's desperate attempts to fight a bitter fate, and his just as desperate attempts to cleave the Imperial line to a fated victory. He was Indra who turned his back at the oaths and curses hurled at him. In the end, what did these desperate grasping struggles do but create even more misery?
"Sorata," Sasuke chided, as in his mind, the aged man turned into a young boy. He could still see the blazing blue eyes that fought and scrabbled, and he mourned as to where all that fire had gone. "Fulfill your oaths. Do what you must. You have my blessing."
'Hypocrite. Who are you to give false hope when you have no hope yourself?'
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Notes:
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I'm not sure if I like this or not. I actually had another that I made initially, but I threw it all away because I felt it was just an info dump. This one feels less like an info-dump. Hopefully.
The core idea of Written Word is that everyone is a hypocrite, whether passively or actively. I would really love to know if people got the idea or if this was all over the place.
I'm sure you all noticed I added a Namikaze and Uzumaki thread here. I was inspired by a naruto fanfic in AO3 "I've chained my dreams (to the blue, blue sky)" by Silly Thing. It's a wonderful story and is in my bookmarks if you want to read it. I ran with this idea because I wanted to further explain why Naruto was named Uzumaki instead of Namikaze, especially since both parents are very famous and the family, Uzumaki even more well-know.
I would love to hear everyone's comments. Please do let me know what you think. And stay safe everyone if you're in the COVID19 affected areas. Thanks