Pre-Chapter AN: Here we go. New chapter. The JJK manga is basically over, and fuck me that was such a shitty ending. I hope I manage to end this with slightly more grace, but that's going to be a tall order.
After reading this, you can either wait until next week for the next chapter or read the next two on Pa Treon right now and keep reading as I write. For Pa Treon, you can remove the hyphen between Pa and Treon and Google it, then search for my username—Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting it in your address bar.
Have fun with this. Also, in case you haven't checked out my other story (One Thousand Hands), please do so. It's also set in the Naruto Universe and is an SI into an OC Grandson of Hashirama with a Hyuga mother. I guarantee you'll love it.
I soared in the air, using my sand as a platform as Mebuki and Dragon remained behind me as silent sentinels. We'd had a charming moment that was very shonen-esque with the whole village showing up to see me off as I journeyed to the Land of Iron for a summit with the potential to determine all their fates and that of their descendants- or even if they'd ever get to have any. Even the 'Daimyo' had come all the way to the village to see me off. He'd also made the decision to enter into a special sealed chamber that would isolate him from the rest of the world. Obviously, the plan there was to genjutsu the attendants and then dispel the clone immediately. Spontaneously having the Daimyo disappear whenever I needed the extra chakra was harder than it had any right to be, and was definitely something that would get caught on eventually, so this was a useful workaround.
Even better, it fit in with the personality of a paranoid, spoilt noble. Have the skilled head of the shinobi village you allow to exist in your lands spend his time building you a place with complete safety to keep you isolated from the dangers that could show up suddenly, instead of getting read for the mission itself. It was a masterstroke. We'd even managed to get rid of the guards. All I had to do was sell them some bullshit about the seal not being able to function in the face of chakra signatures stronger than a certain level. No one with any sense wanted to mess with fuinjutsu beyond their ken, and the Daimyo was obstinate enough that the Guardian Ninja had no choice but to allow it, howbeit begrudgingly.
But that was only one thing I'd spent my time on. The rest of it was spent trying to get my left eye to the required level to be a game changer. I'd fought myself regarding implanting the sharingan, but so many things told me that it would be a terrible idea to do it right before a summit like this one. First of all, Kabuto could see it as a threat. If he decided to take me out right there and then, then there was still little I could do. I'd fight like all hell, but I'd lose. It galled me to admit it. After all my efforts, there was still someone out there too dangerous for me to face. And the most annoying part was that it was not even his power.
Edo Tensei. Leaning on the strength of those who ought to enjoy their rest as a crutch to survive ones own mediocrity was just so pitiful to me. Too pitiful for me to even consider with any measure of seriousness. The fact that Kabuto had done nothing to deserve his power beyond some grave robbing was annoying as all hell. But he would not find me easy prey, I vowed. I'd take him with me if I could, and if I couldn't, I'd find a way to make the rest of his life a pain.
But that was only if the worst happened. This meeting could easily be as much an opportunity as it was a danger, and that was what I had to work with. I had to work with the hope that this could turn into the best-case scenario. Peace in my time. I could not deny the temptation that came with a prospect like that. So much had been wasted in war. So much more would be wasted if things continued as they had. Sure, Konoha was basically tapped out with most of their village in ruins, but Kiri had a strong-ish army. The same was true for both Kumo and Iwa. There were threats to the North, South, East, and West. This summit gave me the chance to rebuild a lot of the bridges that I'd personally torn down. If I could go back in time, I'd do well to slap my younger self over the head a few times. I had no idea if it was Gamer's mind at work, but he really had the belief that every problem could only be solved with indiscriminate amounts of violence and escalation. There was no reason to actively order my shinobi to seek out shinobi of the other nations whenever they could and either kill or capture them for my study.
Sure, it had given me information on the training practices of the other nations. Information that I'd used to take Suna's academy to the very next level. We had the same nutrition schedules that Kumo used to make their shinobi so physically powerful, the training secrets Kiri used to increase lung capacity, Iwa's peerless endurance training, and the cocktail of drugs that Danzo used to make his root shinobi so bloody dangerous. All of it brought together and enhanced by my fuinjutsu, wet tinkering, and Chiyo's nearly peerless genius when it came to the human body. Hopefully, in a year or two, we'd be pumping out Chunin level shinobi with consistency after only three years at the academy. And then we'd go even further with time.
Time. That was what I needed and didn't have. I could take on the world in a decade and win. I just needed everyone to wait a fucking decade. We cut through the air with virtually no resistance. Something as simple as shaping the air in front of me to reduce our wind resistance, drag, and still allow us to keep warm throughout the flight was easy to me. Peerless chakra control matched with a shit ton of chakra.
When we entered the Land of Iron, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. The ground that sped in front of us was white instead of green. I'd chosen to set off on the day off the summit because we could make the travel so quickly. The downside of that was that as we zoomed towards the Three Lions, I could spot signs that all the other Kage had arrived. Not a problem since we still had an hour or two until the meeting proper was supposed to start, but I could only hope that the others hadn't made any deals to cut me out of things, since I was basically a common enemy. The only ones I'd done nothing to piss off were Kumo, and Iron. And chances were that my shinobi had done a good enough job in my stead.
When we arrived at the building that had been set aside for the meeting, I did my best to set us down on an out-of-the-way spot before we stood and made our way to the entrance itself. It was an impressive structure, carved into the sides of the mountain itself. Made even more impressive once one considered the fact that the Samurai of the Land of Iron did not use ninjutsu. They could work chakra for sure, but the fact that this was not the product of earth release, but man made ingenuity, made it all the more impressive. It would have been par for the course in my own world, but something about this world seemed to reduce my standards.
"Kazekage-dono. Welcome. The other Kage are waiting in the waiting room. You can join them or move to the rooms set aside for your use", A reedy man with long black hair hastened to greet me once I arrived and began reeling out options as his companions made to collect identification from my 'guards'.
"Please escort me to my fellow Kage…" I let the statement hang, asking for his name.
"Hiroshi, Kazekage-dono"
"Then escort me to my fellows, Hiroshi-san"
"It is this one's pleasure" He replied as he began to walk into the giant hall. From there, we took a multitude of turns until we came to a set of double doors.
The mountain's stone did a good job of muting the signatures of those within the building, but now in front of the door, I could feel them clear as day. Strong, powerful signatures. Not as strong as they should have been, as I expected. This was probably going to go down in history as one of the weakest crop of Kage in history, but that was fine by me.
I commanded a gust of wind to push the doors to the side as I strolled in. My presence cut through the conversation as there was a rush of silence that went through the gathering. I took note of all of them. Tsunade in the red robes of Konoha, Orochimaru and Jiraiya by her side with glasses in their hands as they stood in a circle; Mei in her blue, looking resplendent as ever with a familiar swordsman at her side, and another that I could not quite recognise; For Iwa, there was Kurotsuchi who met my gaze with eyes that looked like burning coals-the rage was strong in that one- and she had two Iwa jounin I didn't recognise by her sides; Kumo was the real surprise, was that Darui? Seeing him in the room made me freeze in my steps.
"Kazekage-dono" The Mizukage was the first to say anything to even acknowledge my presence. The rest were content to stand and watch us as we began to speak.
"Mizukage-dono. How have you been? I apologise for that mess all those years ago, a complete misunderstanding, I'm sure. And by the way, please call me Gaara." I plastered a false smile on my face and allowed my charisma to kick into full gear as I approached her with arms spread to show I wasn't a threat.
She matched my approach as we met in the middle and clasped hands.
"Oh, never mind that. The island ended up gaining from that. Our fight got rid of a lot of the problematic topsoil, exposing a more nutritious subsoil. Sure, we lost hundreds, and are devastated about that, but that land now feeds thousands", She said to me, making my smile become just a little more genuine.
"That is good to hear. But you yourself? How was the transition? I had a hard enough time adapting to taking the mantle up, and I was doing that without a civil war to consider. I can't imagine how much harder it must have been".
"In the beginning, yes. I had to deal with some of those who had been loyal to Yagura above all else, but now everyone in the village agrees with my rule and the Mist prospers. In fact, this is one of the former loyalists" She said, waving her hand towards one of the men at her side. Not Chojuro, the White-haired one.
"Gaara, meet Mangetsu Hozuki" She said as she waved the young man forward. The man nodded at me, as opposed to the bow that would normally be expected from one in his position. Mei was smiling all the way, acting like she wasn't noticing the disrespect, but there was a gleam in her eyes. A test. Of all the boring things, a bloody test.
"Lovely to meet you, Hozuki. Hozuki. Same clan as Gengetsu Hozuki, I assume" I said, removing my hands from Mei's grip to stretch one out to him for a handshake. He reached out with his own hand, but before we could touch, he suddenly dropped to one knee. He was shivering, as the entire room stared at us with shock. I could feel Mebuki's consternation from behind me, but I knew this was the right thing to do in this case. My Charisma skill gave me some hints on how to navigate the situation, and that was telling me to lean in and not shy away.
"Oh, I appreciate the gesture, but the proper bow to a foreign Kage isn't nearly so deep. Stand" I said to the man, even as I pressed down on him with the full might of the Ichibi's bloodlust. It was actually a testament to his skill that he had not fallen unconscious, even if he looked like he was already well on his way there. I could understand it, with the exception of the Nine Tails, Shukaku probably had the most nasty killing Intent of any of the tailed beasts. His insanity gave his a flavour that none of the others could quite emulate.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Chojuro reach towards his blade, but Mei placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. I was right then.
"Please stand, Hozuki-san" I said again, reiterating the words, while still pressing down on him. His second knee gave way, and he was now in a full bow.
"Oh dear. Whatever is the matter, Hozuki-san?" I asked, enjoying the way I could hear his bones creak under the pressure. I patted myself on the back for the decision I'd made to spend the last two months working on my control instead of trying to add new abilities to my arsenal. I was stronger than Nagato when we fought. Going over the fight multiple times in my head made me sure of that. I was just terrible at bringing that strength to bear, and that was what I needed to work on with the time I had.
"I think he's gotten the message, Kazekage-dono" Mei finally said, getting the message that I would not be releasing him until she intervened, and realising that the longer she went without stepping in, the more face she lost in front of the others.
"Oh I agree." I said, alleviating the pressure and allowing the man to finally rise to his feet. He practically scurried away from me to stand next to Chojuro. All the while, he was still shaking.
"A lot has changed, then. In the time since we last fought" She probed.
"Quite a lot, I assure you" I said, making my left eye spin with my words. I didn't bother placing her under genjutsu. She was a Kage. If she had the guts to meet my gaze, then she definitely had the skill to break whatever genjutsu I could place — with this stage of the Sharingan, at least.
"I can see that. I have changed as well" I internally scoffed at her words but made sure to allow none of the disregard I felt for her show on my face as I nodded to her. In canon, she'd been the weakest of the five by some margin, and while I had the feeling Darui was the one that would take that title in this group, it was only because of his weakness and not his strength.
"Well, that was certainly a fiery start to things" A voice spoke out, and all our heads snapped to the balcony. I felt a cold sweat form on my neck. I hadn't sensed his presence at all.
"Please let us proceed to the meeting hall. Our host already awaits us and since we're all here, there's no need top delay further and risk even more excitement" Kabuto said before a hand appeared from thin air and grabbed on to his shoulder. He disappeared in a vortex of displaced air almost instantly.
They ended up taking seats along a long table, a seat reserved for Kabuto at the table's head, something that caused no small amount of grumbling. The fact that the man had been the one to call them in but still wasn't present made it clear that he wanted to arrive last as some sort of power play. How pitiful. Gaara noted his seat, with the Mizukage on his right, and the Raikage next to her. He was as far away from Kabuto as the tables allowed, and he smiled at the fact. Clearly, the man was wise enough to know that having a fuinjutsu master in close proximity would be stupid. He sat opposite the Head of the Land of Iron, who had Tsunade next to her, and then Kurotsuchi was the last one to round off that end of the table.
He took his hat off his head as he noticed the others had down and placed it down on the table right in front of him. In a blur of movement, Kabuto occupied the seat at the head of the table, and by his side were two men. Two familiar men. Madara Uchiha was to be expected, but Nagato Uzumaki was not. He stared down the room with a blank gaze. The kind of blank gaze that showed that he had his will thoroughly suppressed by the edo tensei. The fact that Madara was much the same made something clear. Any attempts to kill Kabuto would not be tolerated. Without him, we'd have to deal with Edo Madara, and Edo Nagato, and who knows what else. Edo Obito was already confirmed, as was Deidara. It was simply too dangerous. In a second, he'd made it clear beyond doubts that he had us all in check.
"Good to see we're all here. Now we can begin." He said, placing his own hat down on the table. The fact that the hat was a plain white with no sigil in much the same way his robes were was a statement of some sort. I was not nearly hopeful enough to believe that it was a statement of surrender. If only the Gods could have made us so lucky.
"First of all, a question. How?" I asked, interrupting whatever he had planned. It was a valid question, and the curiosity was burning.
"How what, Kazekage-dono?"
"First of all, how did you get Nagato reanimated? I destroyed that body with my own two hands when I killed him" I started.
"That was easy. He left enough DNA in his partner's body and I had an easy enough time splicing his own genetic material from the foetus" There were audible gasps around the room at that. Tsunade looked disgusted, Orochimaru intrigued, and Jiraiya took a step forward before his partner placed a hand on his shoulder. Mifune looked like he had heard nothing as he just closed his eyes, and the other Kage looked noticeably sickened.
"You're a monster," Kurotsuchi said.
"I know. I agree with you. I am a monster. A monster without equal. I have done terrible things. I have stared into the abyss for so long that it became a mirror. I have journeyed to the pure lands to pluck souls from the Shinigami's grasp and place them under my will, I have improved upon the Second Hokage's jutsu to the extreme level, I am a god amongst men. And it was all for one goal. Peace."
"Peace?"
"You call this peace?"
"Is it not? Tell me, Tsuchikage-dono, would you all have come to the same table without my threats? Kazekage-dono, tell me- would you have ever stopped until the world raised your banner? Would your shinobi? No. I know the nature of this world. It was to kill, steal, and pillage, until nothing remains. We shinobi would have done that for eternity."
"And you can solve this?" Darui looked doubtful.
"I can. I can change you. That is why you're here."
"All this yapping sickens me. Lay down your terms, boy, and we will decide whether to kill you or not" Tsunade's threat was matched by her placing her hand on the desk and squeezing. The mighty wood creaked in her grasp as the men behind her joined her in staring down Kabuto. Well, this got interesting quickly.
"Oh, I doubt you'd succeed with that. I give these two men behind me good odds in a fight with all of you, and trust me when I say I have a lot more where that came from."
"Your terms, Kabuto"
"I prefer Ichikage, Kazekage-dono. But I do get your point. The terms are simple. All five of you will submit. Here and now. You will pledge your villages to a new federation. An empire, so to speak. I will be the head of the Empire, and I will rule from Amegakure as the One Shadow."
"What do we gain out of this?"
"Peace and prosperity. The Akatsuki had funds aplenty, and so do I. I will invest in each and every one of your villages. I have the best seal masters from Uzushiogakure under my aegis, I will have all your villages brought into a bright future powered by sealing scripts that put what you have to shame. Imagine being able to communicate across millions of miles in seconds. Imagine being able to travel from Kumo to Suna in less than a day with high-speed rail lines. All this and more, I offer."
"At the low low cost of our way of life", I snarked.
"Don't pretend like you were all that attached to the shinobi way of life, Kazekage-dono" He riposted, and I took the point with a shrug.
"What d'you get out of this, uhh?" Darui asked.
"I get to achieve my dream of bringing peace to this world. And after I invest in all your villages and get everyone up and running at maximum efficiency, I'll expect a Return on Investment. Let's say a 10% profit kickback annually".
"10% Might as well ask me to blow you while you're at it" Kurotsuchi muttered, and I struggled to swallow my laughter at the comment.
"I can see how that might seem extreme, but I promise a minimum of a 50% profit increase in every village if you follow the measures I suggest," He said next.
"Bold words"
"Yes, but I can back them up, I promise. Think about it this way. Right now, you have to charge a price high enough to ensure you make profits, but low enough that your clients don't go running to other villages. If you all work together to harmonise and raise prices while implementing my efficiency measures, then your profitability will be amplified".
"You want to form a cartel of hidden villages"
"Precisely, Mizukage-dono"
"And all of it under you"
"Equal partnerships don't work for the five, Kazekage-dono. You need me for this to succeed. You need someone with the big stick to ensure that anyone who deviates from the plan gets put back in the line. I can promise you real, long-lasting peace." He said.
"No" Tsunade said.
"What?"
"We've heard your offer. No."
"Well, I like to believe you do not speak for everyone here. Let's put it to a vote, shall we?"
"Sure, the answer remains the same" She looked confident.
"Mifune-dono, if you would?" Kabuto said, turning to the Samurai lord.
"Yes. I will call the titles, and the bearer can choose to either vote yes, no, or abstain." He said with a cough before looking up at each of us in turn.
"What happens if you lose this?" I asked, turning to Kabuto before Mifune could begin.
"Then I will rain down death and destruction upon whatever remains of your villages and when I finish, you will all fly my flag. This is nothing more than Plan A. Please begin the vote."
"I will proceed in the order in which you arrived at the Summit. Hokage-dono" Mifune called.
"I vote no," She said instantly.
"Raikage-dono"
"I vote no. Akatsuki has caused Kumogakure immense pain, it is only because of the threat of facing the tailed beasts alone that I even bothered attending this," Darui replied, turning to Kabuto with hard eyes.
"Mizukage-dono?"
"I vote yes" Mei said almost instantly, making the entire room turn to her with narrowed eyes. Mifune coughed before proceeding.
"Tsuchikage-dono?" Kurotsuchi was silent for a second, her hair covering her coal dark eyes.
"You said you'd rebuild our villages? Pay for it?" She asked instead of voting, turning to Kabuto after the silence stretched for a few seconds.
"Yes. Yes, I will. I'd restore the Hidden Stone Village to better than it was before the Kazekage got to have his way with it."
"Then I vote yes" The shock in the room was palpable, but Tsunade was still smiling smugly. I had the last vote, and she was probably certain that she knew how I'd vote.
I thought I knew how I'd vote as well. No. Let Kabuto bring the best he had. I would have both Leaf and Cloud on my side. The Sannin, Gai, Darui, that was a powerful team. But Kabuto had so much more. Without Stone and Mist to help, what were the chances. With both Nagato and Madara by his side, there was no chance he didn't have the other tailed beasts under control already. Seven tailed beasts, Madara Uchiha, Nagato, Obito, Deidara, probably most of the Akatsuki as well. And who knows who else? Assuming he had the same roster as he did in canon, then that meant legends like Hanzo the Salamander, the Gold and Silver brothers, the previous Kage, and much more. In canon, they'd only won because they got lucky. What were the chances I'd manage to hit this Kabuto with the Izanami? What were the chances I'd even get the chance to fight him one-on-one in the first place.
He was careful about avoiding being alone from what I could see. And with the arsenal he had, the risk was just too great. We were already here. He had access to the Kamui to bring his army here. Obito being under his thrall also lost me one of my greatest trump cards. Kamui. Could I win? I wanted to say yes. I really fucking wanted to say yes.
"Kazekage-dono?" Mifune called, and I realised that it was the second time. The entire room was looking at me.
Two choices. Risk it, or bide my time.
Five years. In five years, Suna would be able to take on the world and win with me at her head.
"I have some conditions" I said, turning to Kabuto. The room suddenly heated up.
"I'll hear them, Kazekage-dono"
"Suna is the strongest of the Five right now. We don't need your help. I don't want you sniffing around or poking your nose in my shit. I'll kick you your 10% with no complaint, and abide by whatever pricing rules you dish out, but you. Don't. Touch. My. Shit. Ever." I said to him then, enunciating the words slowly to drive the point home.
"That works for me, but don't be surprised if you find yourself begging for my help when your village gets left behind by the others" I scoffed in reply.
"I vote yes"
A/N; Saw that coming?As I said earlier, the next chapter comes up next week or skip the wait and read the next two along with daily uploads on pa-treon. For the pa-treon, you can remove the hyphen between pa and treon and google it then search for my username- Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting in your address bar.