Hiya everyone haven't abandoned this story life just became extremely hectic for me. Besides I will finish this story if only for the reason of I hate leaving things unfinished so don't worry about it being abandoned. Also the application I use to write in was being weird with its autocorrect and grammar checks so if you see mistakes it was likely that or me being an idiot.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the story!
Chapter 5: Fates are chosen
"Lord hokage the emergency council is assembled." The secretary called out time to decide the fate of the hidden leaf. Taking in a long breath one thought crossed my mind. These meetings are never easy.
Getting up from behind my desk I created a shadow clone to stay behind and do the paperwork. Might as well be a little productive. Moving through the hokage tower to the meeting room I saw and sensed anbu and regular shinobi salute me.
Reaching the door of the room I didn't need to open it as the two anbu guards standing outside did it for me. Looking in I saw all I summoned. The entire shinobi council, Kushina, the civilian council and lord third plus the advisors.
What I didn't expect was for Jiraiya and Danzo to be here. Jiraiya because he was out of the village and Danzo since I specifically asked for him not to be here. Hiding my annoyance at being ignored I moved around the large u shaped table and sat at its head. The moment I did everyone else minus Danzo and Jiraiya who stood at the other side of the table sat down.
"This emergency meeting is now called to order. Does anyone not know why we are here?" I asked, knowing there would be a few. Emergency meetings were rarely called under my reign afterall. Several raised their hands, mostly on the civilian side since the shinobi councilmen were there to greet the reason.
"Understood and thank you for your honesty. We are here to discuss a new threat to the hidden leaf and the land of fire." I spoke with as much authority as I could muster. "The threat I speak of is the newly discovered sith dominion. The shinobi council met its emperor already at the gate."
"No offense, lord hokage but how is this a threat? Surely they could become a valuable economic asset whether through trade or through shinobi missions." The trader and the largest of konoha's civilian traders made a very valid point.
"Because they work differently to how we shinobi work." Shikaku said earning everyones attention, noticing he had it he continued. "The sith are their equivalent to shinobi but unlike shinobi who serve the hokage and in turn the fire lord. They are the leaders of their empire."
The civilians looked surprised by this revelation and even some of the shinobi. Not hard to guess why the idea that a whole nation was ruled by shinobi effectively when all we have ever known is shinobi being the soldiers.
This is why they are a threat. They promise more for those who have our abilities. The likelyhood that we have an increase in desertions is high.
Luckily we likely won't lose business but we won't gain any and these sith will likely set a fatal precedent that you don't need shinobi for the future.
That alone risks crippling konoha and without a shinobi village or at least a strong one then the land of fire is weakened significantly.
"So what is it that they want and why is it that they are a threat?" Danzo asked, clearly annoyed that shikaku didn't give a direct answer.
"What they want is unknown; they claim to only want to be left alone. But an uchiha that was with us stated they lied. Something they didn't lie about is their production capability. They stated that with a single factory they could out produce the manufactorium." I answered whilst showing that I wasn't fond of Danzo's attitude. This got reactions from everyone.
"What? No one can out produce the manufactorium!"
"They must produce at worse quality" And another dozen assents about this production efficiency. Holding back a sigh I knew I had to keep this meeting going.
"However strong their production and in turn economic power is. There is something I do believe they are far stronger than they appear." Danzo stepped in. Whilst they are a threat I don't think they are hiding their strength.
"Explain" I ordered with steel. Danzo didn't appreciate the glare or tone but if there was a way for this to become a bigger threat then I had to stop it.
"Lord hokage, from what you have stated they have lied about everything except economic benefits which they can use to enter a very profitable alliance. They shared little about their culture and even less about their military might. They also stated one factory meaning they have more so why wouldn't this secret economic juggernaut have a powerful military."
Whilst I hate to admit it, the 'darkness of konoha' made several good points.
"Should we launch a preemptive strike?" The elderly advisor koharu asked. The question sent everyone into silence it was a valid response but there was a simple issue.
"Where do we strike?" Fugaku asked, he didn't seem to care for the answer and likely just wanted to point out how little information we have. The answer was simple we knew nothing about them.
"Then why don't we ask?" Jiraiya asked matter of factly, everyone looked at my sensei incredulously before realising the sense it made.
"Fine we will call them in and have them answer questions." Giving the order we all began waiting in silence.
40 minutes later…
So they have decided to summon me to a meeting. Since I have the information I need I no longer have to play the weak emperor. They will realise that the sith are never weak.
Following the shinobi to the meeting room moving purposely through the streets where I got many odd looks from the citizens. Many of them shooed children away or took a few steps back. Good, they're scared, this is just what I want. It did help that I wasn't holding back the darkside at all.
Finally reaching our destination I was a little disappointed by how bland the room was. Even the galactic senate was more interesting than this. It had a small basic wooden table for the notes. There wasn't even a plant or rug seriously this is where they chose to summon me.
They actually expect me to think they are wealthy with this display?
"Lord Hokage, it is a pleasure to meet you again." I said as soon as I got through the door.
The hokage returned my greeting and then introduced everyone. A process I didn't feel needed to be done but I didn't wish to stop. But I did have a sneaking feeling that this wasn't any normal introduction.
"We would like you to answer some questions for us. If you wouldn't mind emperor nox?" The question was added as an afterthought that much was obvious. So much for the thrills of subtlety I suppose.
"I do mind, so if you will excuse me I believe I will head back to my eradicators." Turning around I just about caught the glimpse of surprise from Minato's face.
"Emperor Nox doing this will end any chance you have of allying with the land of fire." Hmm a decent threat but one that is ultimately meaningless since I now know the politics of this world and where to take first.
"Is this how a 'conquer of the galaxy' is supposed to act!" Kushina shouted. Her words caused a string of gasps and surprise from everyone in the room. Stopping mid step I turned my head to just about face her.
"Oh and what would a little primitive know about conquering the galaxy. As far as I'm concerned in this room I am the only one to subjugate worlds and bring them into the glorious empire." Kushina was obviously furious with my primitive comment but Minato came to the rescue, for her at least, and calmed her down.
"Emperor nox I would appreciate it if you didn't provoke my wife." Shame it failed would have made this meeting a little more interesting. Turning to face everyone once again I gave a simple nod to acknowledge the request.
"So what are these questions?" I drawled out making it clear that I have little intention to actually cooperate.
"What is it you want with our planet?" The one named Jiraiya asked.
"Simple to do the same as all of you. To live out my remaining days here." I stated as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet. No one seemed to believe me except the civilians and the third hokage.
"So you don't intend to conquer the rest of the planet?" What a stupid question I'm not about to answer. Yes, am I?
" Would it be really a bad thing if I did, I mean I would be giving this backwater world prosperity it has never seen before." I noted how none of them seemed to like this but Jiraiya was the only one worried. Strange. " But to actually answer your question, I don't intend to involve the sith in politics too much since we have a lot of rebuilding to do."
This didn't seem to remove any of the doubt the council was feeling nor was it meant to. "You act as if it would be easy for you to take the planet." The hyuga said.
"Because it would be. You seem to think your people are the pinnacle of power. I am here to remind you that you're not." It feels good to not have to play that force forsaken mirage of a weakling.
"You dare insult us. I believe, lord hokage, we should send this fool's head back to his oh so precious empire to show them the might of the hidden leaf." The hyuga shouted whilst rising to his feet. Arrogant and ignorant truly a failure of a leader and certainly not worth my time of day.
"Despite how it would be lord hokage I have no intentions to wage war when my people just barely came out of its previous conflict alive." Ignoring the pompous fool.
"The second sith genocide. What happened if you don't mind me asking?" Kushina asked, she actually seemed sympathetic to how close we came to destruction. Ah right we settled in the ruins of her home. Best keep that quiet.
"To explain that I would have to divulge our history would you care to hear that?" I honestly hoped they would refuse. They didn't. Might as well make them sympathetic then.
"The birth of the sith was forged from conflict with the jedi. The founders of our order were members of the jedi order that dared to study the darkside. The jedi being warriors of light saw this and decided to destroy the heretics. They failed and in doing so led these dark jedi to the sith species where they used their power to become lords of the sith."
"The jedi eventually found the sith and launched a war against the naturally dark side attuned species. They pushed the sith back to their homeworld and decided to launch a genocide campaign against them. A few survived and were taken control of by our last emperor who rebuilt the empire over a thousand years. When we returned we waged a war of survival against the jedi. The emperor betrayed us and we lost. Leading us here fleeing the genocidal jedi as billions if not trillions burn."
Kushina seemed to be almost broken by the news that she must be making connections to the whirlpool fall. Jiraiya seemed perturbed by this news but otherwise seemed surprised by everyone else's reaction.
"We are sorry for your loss and your peoples loss." The third stated meaninglessly. Nodding my response I turned to the rest of the council.
"Any more questions?"
"We have a few more. What are your relations to the tailed beasts?" Kushina responded before anyone could even hope to talk.
"I don't have any, as far as I see it they are enslaved sentient force creatures. I do not know their relations to the jedi or the sith since they are newly discovered for how people." My wording caused a stir but this was one of the few times I was willing to be honest to them. Although my curiosity has been piqued by them.
"Where is your nation situated so that we may trade with it?" One of the civilians asked. Doesn't he think I'm going to open up my economy to foreign powers so soon when I haven't even finished rebuilding.
"I have no intentions to reveal that detail just yet."
"The hokage states that your people use a different power to us. What is it?" The bandaged corpse known as danzo ordered. Clearly he believes highly of himself.
"We use the same power as your shinobi. But unlike ours which we can draw continuously, yours come from a finite physical source." Wasn't technically untrue but they didn't need to know that.
Danzo seemed to be salivating at this information. Likely wanting it for himself.
"If they is to be an alliance then you would be required to share this knowledge with us." His statement got a few narrowing eyes and a few gasps but he didn't care. How greedy.
"That is fine but you must also share the secrets of your powers and all that entails." There were a few moments of silence before Minato spoke up.
"We will no longer keep you emperor nox you have given us much to think about." Nodding my acknowledgement I turned and went to find my eradicators.
A few moments after nox left…
"Lord hokage do you think we can trust him?" Was the first of many questions. Honestly I didn't know a part of me wanted to remove this threat but that would be impossible. But his answers were largely genuine if the uchiha anbu was to be believed. Which means he would actually be a more valuable ally than enemy atleast until we get their technology.
"We have no choice. They hold the technological advantage to such a degree that it would be better to be their allies then undermine them when we can rather than fight them." No one liked that sentence to admit that we were beaten before even being able to fight. But everyone knew it for what it was, the truth.
"Lady Kushina, how did you know about the fact that these sith are not from this world?" Danzo asked, clearly curious.
"When we collapsed it was because the emperor was forcibly pulled into my mind their he shared some details about his people." It was obvious to everyone that was not the full truth. And to those in the know it was obvious why, the nine tails talked to him.
Before it can be questioned further and possibly outing the villages largest secret I decided the meeting needed to end.
"I will inform the fire lord that this is an alliance we must make. Council dismissed." Nodding everyone but me, Kushina and Jiraiya left.
"Sensei I wasn't expecting you back in Konoha anytime soon." Jiraiya turned from the serious expression he had to a more friendly one.
"What, you didn't want to see your legendary sensei." Jiraiya said whilst doing one of his extravagant poses. His face suddenly turned grim and he went into a rigid parade rest.
"I came back to inform you about a new prophecy from the great toad. One where a man containing the greatest of all evil marches his legions over the forces of the light. A jailor that brings prosperity through control and advancement through conflict. Those were the exact words told to me."
"Thats troubling and have you found the person you believe to match this prophecy?"
"We just interrogated him."
With nox…
"Report."
"My lord emperor, we have discovered that this village works solely on a mercenary contract basis. We have also discovered their greatest healer recently fled the village. It's worth noting also that healing those with chakra and those without is different, only slightly but there's a chance kolto could kill chakra users." Interesting then it would serve us well to recruit this healer if only to set up a medical system something they should be willing to do.
"Furthermore another of the legendary sannin, a very very prestigious and powerful trio, fled Konoha and has been branded as a traitor for unethical experimentation." Interesting information these both could prove useful.
Just as I go to open my mouth I sense a presence I fought before. They have anbu shadowing me. Smart. "Sadly we can't do too much with this information but it is good to know. Go to the library and scan as many of the books you legally can." With my order given I turned and left knowing my will will be completed.
Walking through the village I had to admit it was beautiful not in the sense of what it showed in terms of art or impressive architecture but instead its simplicity. Its buildings reminded me a lot of the buildings on makeb. Colourful and simple.
Walking through the village although from the imperial classifications this barely countered as a settlement. I admired all I could whilst keeping track of people's emotions. Most were curious, some were scared, fewer saw opportunity. Shinobi was frequent, which I didn't pay any mind to until the same shinobi passed me three times.
They want to know more.
Tch Tch
Tch Tch
Snapping out of my thoughts I immediately scanned the area for threats, finding none. I turned my attention to the source of the noise.
Two teenagers were duelling in front of a bunch of children and a singular adult. Analysing the situation I noticed the layout of the building and training ground as being similar to a military academy.
Turning my attention back to the two boys duelling I noticed only one was using a sword. A dirty white straight haired boy. Whilst the other A brown haired boy with his hair in a bun and a scar across his nose was using a small dagger. The white hair boy wasn't using the length advantage of his sword instead using it more as a blunt object.
Sure enough the dagger won the closer range battle and the white haired man was on the ground. "As you see children this is why kunai are still favoured in melee combat. Not only can they be thrown but they can also be used to deal with longer ranged weapons by forcing an up close and personal fight."
The explanation was technically correct but doesn't even inform these children of the way to counter it. Even though any experienced swordsman would do it.
"So kunai are better than swords sensei?" A little girl asked.
"No but to be proficient with a sword you must spend far more time learning it than a kunai. As such most shinobi use a kunai or something similar rather than rely on kenjutsu."
Seriously that's his response, still nothing about the strength of the sword, only this kunai. Pathetic. My inner swordsman was getting irritated by this so I decided to teach these children the benefits of the sword.
"You ignore the benefits of the sword and how even a slightly experienced swordsman would deal with it." My speaking up caused the whole assembly to turn to me. In an instant the children began to back up upon seeing my helm and the shinobi entered more guarded postures.
"Oh and may I ask who you are?" The teacher asked. Insolent fall.
"I am the emperor of the sith Darth Nox."
"Well Emperor Nox, would you be willing to help teach these students the advantages of the sword?" The teacher asked respectfully but with an undertone of annoyance.
"As you wish. Who here are fully trained ninja?" The two duelling and the teacher pointed to themselves. "Very well you three versus me." The teacher looked sceptical but bone more so than the white haired teen.
"No offence Emperor Nox, but that would be unfair."
"Correct it won't be, your side would need a few thousand more to make it fair. But if you're worried about political ramifications, there won't be any if I get myself killed." Not actually sure about that little tidbit but oh well.
To prove my point I phantom strided (A/N swtor ability that allows Inquistor to teleport) next to the white haired teen earning appropriate exquisite fear.
"Now then I recommend you come at me with the intent to kill because you will need it." They charged at me with too much hesitation to even be a risk. I won't even need my lightsaber for this. Sidestepping the white haired teen's swings I looked to see if he was making any hand signs. He was not.
The scarred teen then came, throwing a kunai at my head, whilst the teacher threw several towards where I would be forced to move to. Whilst I wasn't sure if the kunai would pierce my helm I wasn't willing to risk it. In one fluid motion I grabbed the teens kunai out the hair and quickly rushed forward narrowly dodging the teachers kunai.
The shinobi backed up giving me plenty of breathing room. Quickly surveying the field I realised that none of them wanted to go on the offensive. Well since this was supposed to be a lesson on the sword might as well get one.
Phantom Striding straight into the white haired teen. The teen face contorted with fear but was far too slow to move. So the force doesn't tell them in advance of dangers they only know on instinct. Heightened instincts to be sure but still only instinct. How disappointing.
Grabbing his arm and giving it a rapid twist his grip on the sword was lost allowing me to pick it up mid air. Sensing the other two coming towards me I jumped away giving myself space whilst they checked up on their comrade. "Time to begin the lesson."
Kakashi's Pov
At first I thought my order to shadow the sith emperor would lead to nothing of interest to report afterall why would he make moves in an enemy village where it would be natural to follow him.
But how wrong was I? Something becoming annoyingly common with these sith. Immediately he has had his followers blatantly sent out to gather information which could put the village at risk. Especially if he makes contact with Orochimaru. Or that he has his followers currently learning what they can about our power from within our own libraries, in order to decrease his dependencies on us.
Now he is duelling two barely chunin and one full fledged chunin instructor in front of our next generation. I can think of the hundreds of reasons he is doing this, none of which are good for the hidden leaf.
The duel was one sided to say the least the moment the emperor got a sword he used it's reach to the fullest keeping each of the shinobi at range before striking when they overextended. The emperor obviously avoided doing any real damage but had all the shinobi on their asses fast.
One noticeable difference from before the fight to after it was the kids. The kids looked absolutely terrified of the emperor before the fight but now they crowded around him ,ignoring the shinobi on the floor, looking in awe at him.
This could be troublesome. Damn naras.
Few hours later…
Time to meet up with my eradicators. Heading to the meeting spot that was outside the hokage tower. I took a final look around the village as its street stands were beginning to close. Today was a good day of information gathering. Soon it will be time to depart this land and return to the dominion.
Finally reaching the hokage tower I noticed that none of my sith were here although I did arrive early. "Ah emperor nox, is there something I can help you with?" Came the voice of the hokage. He looked perfectly calm but I could sense the fear within him.
"Other than a place to eat that isn't overly fancy I don't think you can lord hokage." The hokage didn't react to the possible insult but did fall into deep consideration. Before he could respond Kushina and my eradicators arrived from separate directions.
"Oh dear, am I disturbing an important meeting?" Kushina asked quickly upon seeing the gathering which Minato quickly denied and explained the situation.
"Since we are going to eat at Ichiraku's you should join us!" Kushina said. Seeing no reason not to, I accepted much to the obvious regret of the hokage.
Walking with them was odd at first it was silent but eventually Kushina got annoyed and spoke up. "Kami you both are allowed to have some fun outside of work you know." I actually missed a step at that comment. For a sith there was no rest, no relaxation you pushed forward through friend and foe alike. Or you died trying.
Apparently I said my thoughts out loud earning a look from both shinobi. One criticising look from Minato and one concerned look from Kushina. "That sounds incredibly lonely emperor nox. Do you not have anyone you can turn to?" Why is this woman so concerned about me? No, she knows what it's like to lose your nation but unlike me I have no one I can turn to.
No that's wrong I do have Ashara and Khem but one I cannot openly speak with and the other I have to appear strong to. In that regard I have no one even if I love Ashara more than anything. We have to hide our relationship constantly even more so now that I'm emperor.
"I do but out of concern for their safety I cannot spend much time with them. And even then the things we can do are limited at best, non-existent at worst." Both of the shinobi looked saddened by this.
But to me this was just the story of my life. The more power I gained the more restricted I became. Sure Zash wanted to control me but under her tutetalage I was free to do whatever I wanted as long as I followed her instructions. Then she betrayed me leading to my feud with Thanaton where my life of exploration and study, the life I truly enjoyed above all else, ended and this trend continued when I was on the dark council where I waged battle after battle to keep a crumbling empire standing.
We fell back into silence until we reached the small food stand. I noticed that the two people I saved from the bandits were the cooks. "Ah emperor nox thank you for saving us from those bandits the other day." I wondered briefly whether or not they actually needed me since they had shinobi training, but put the thought to the back of my mind as I noticed the small child playing with blocks in the other room.
"That's our daughter Ayame. She was recently born. Luckiest people on earth to have her." The parent exclaimed proudly but my thoughts were anything but happy jealous yes. This was denied to me as emperor but insignificant cooks have the ability to do this.
"Do you have a child emperor nox?" The mother asked curiously.
"No. We would like one but have had no success yet." Everyone seemed to nod in understanding at that. Before Kushina and Minato ordered their food. Turning to me the chefs awaited my answer.
"Six miso ramen please." The chefs looked at my eradicators but got polite refusals. Turning to start cooking. Me, Kushina and minato began to have a lighthearted conversation about their future child.
"Me and Kushina are lucky to be having a child in the next few months so I for one am ecstatic and terrified." Minato started.
"Still think his Uzumaki genes will come through Minato."
"Sorry to say but no one has ever overpowered namikaze genes."
"We Uzumaki tend to prove everyone wrong dattebayo!" At that I started laughing since my translation software likely mistranslated that.
"Heres your ramen hope you enjoy." Turning to my eradicators I passed each of them a bowl of ramen and dismissed them. Turning back I saw everyone looking back at me.
"What? Their not allowed to take their masks off in front of others nor would they eat until they were dismissed and I knew they were hungry." The two shinobi lighten up upon hearing this and returned to their previous discussion. I listened and was glad my mask hid my smile.
Hope you enjoyed the story. Will be switching to monthly updates as a minimal but will always try to get it out sooner.