Obito-Sensei Chapter 92
Faces Their Destiny Head On
Being a Kage is a difficult job.
Put aside the traditional worries of leadership: the defense of their village, the paperwork, the work-life balance, everything that comes with any position with important responsibilities. Those aren't what make the position of any Kage uniquely difficult. Each Kage is someone who carries the weight of the entire world on their shoulders in a very literal way. Even their minor decisions can affect the course of history, and all of them are aware of it.
Today, all of the Kage will be coming together to create a new history, as each Kage Summit before them has. There have only been two before: the first resulted in the distribution of the Bijuu and the true codification of the system of Hidden Villages, and the second transformed the Second World War into the Third, ensuring that its dreadful toll would be felt even in generations too young to fight, those that the Villages had been founded in the first place to protect.
Here now are each of the Kage, who set out early in the day to come together in the Land of Iron, one of the last countries in the world that abhors shinobi. Here now is what they carry there.
First, the Nation of Rain, those who have set this final event into motion. Iconoclasts at heart, but they have been humbled and embittered by a world that has rejected their message and attempts at peace, even if some were less sincere than others, and old friends that have betrayed them. Unusual among all the other villages in that two Amekage are attending: Konan and Nagato Uzumaki. The world sees Nagato as the leading Kage with Konan as his attendant; the true relationship is more complicated.
Konan is tired. She has taken the burden of being Amegakure's face onto herself, leaving what she considers the more important work to Nagato. Their relationship has always been in flux, with Nagato at many times seeming the junior partner in the Triumvirate despite his godly might. But today, Nagato is the vanguard, and Konan is grateful for it. Exhausted by betrayal and death, she is for now content to follow his lead, to trust in his vision, and to defend him with her life. She is simultaneously leader, bodyguard, and conscience, because Konan knows better than anyone that Nagato still hasn't been pushed to the end of his rope, that he is still holding on to some reserve of hesitation; a reserve that has allowed the Summit to be called at all.
She considers her purpose right now to defend that hesitation, to keep Nagato Nagato no matter how determined he's become to shed what he considers weakness and be born anew.
Nagato is determined. Determined to thread the needle, determined to walk the path of least malice, determined to destroy and create in the same breath. He cannot consider failure because the number of avenues for it are overwhelming; he must prevent the atrocities of this war from being repeated, even if he must commit atrocities himself. The paradox, the hypocrisy of the determination is well apparent to him, but he has accepted it.
Better to act and regret than to be paralyzed by fear, he has determined. Do not let perfect be the enemy of good: accomplish something, and from that base build something better. He's not sure how far that resolve will be pushed; secretly, he hopes it is not.
The Amekage have selected two of the less experienced but more powerful shinobi of Amegakure as their Honor Guard: Karin Uzumaki, and a young boy, Jūgo. Karin is a practical choice in every respect. She is a powerful sensor that can pinpoint ninja from miles away. With her watching over the Summit, there will be no surprises. In addition, her recent mastery of the Adamantine Chains means that any Jinchuriki that attempts to escape will be met by a natural enemy.
Jūgo is a more sympathetic choice. The boy is from a cursed bloodline, one that can naturally absorb Natural Energy to undergo all manner of grotesque transformations. Jūgo is immature, and his chakra is tremendously difficult for him to control without a calming influence nearby.
For much of his life, that has been Kimimaro Kaguya, but Kimimaro is dead. Right now, Nagato is the only person in the world that can prevent Jūgo from falling into a bloody rage.
All four of the Rain ninja believe in the justice of their cause, even if each also harbors private doubts. The Jinchuriki will be seen as heroes whose sacrifice helped create an era of peace, they think. Nine lives against what Rain has suffered, what the Leaf has suffered, what Frost has suffered, is nothing. Even if one of the nine is Naruto's mother, three of them believe it's a price that everyone will accept.
The Amekage and their escort carry four Jinchuriki with them; Fuu, Gaara of the Desert, Yugito Nii, and Killer Bee. They also carry the Cannon, which floats high above in the grip of Nagato's will. Gaara of the Desert, Yugito Nii, and Killer Bee are in a deep trance, the geas of the Rinnegan laid over them; they walk purposefully, their Bijuu equally helpless before their father's eyes.
Fuu goes of her own accord. Her heart is tormented. She doesn't want to die; she hasn't had a chance to say goodbye to her friends. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are a torch within her, telling her that she deserves to live. But Fuu can't believe it, not even with Chomei agreeing with them, and the idea of anything like the Calamity In Frost happening again is too terrible for her to comprehend. It hadn't been any of their intention, but she was still partially responsible for it nonetheless: consequences mattered, not intentions.
If she has to die to prevent that from happening again, well, that sounds about right to Fuu. That Chomei has to die too is something she is still grappling with, but she's running out time.
Better think fast.
Second, the Hidden Sand, a village that has stumbled along without much voice of its own. Yondaime Kazekage Rasa of the Desert is coming, filled with rage and a sense that he is owed more than he deserves. He has long accepted losing Gaara; at this point, he is almost glad for it. Immersed in hatred, he blames his youngest son for his wife's death, for every misfortune the Hidden Sand has suffered for the last decade, despite so many of them being self inflicted wounds. Had Rasa not torn away those he loved in pursuit of power, he might be a kinder and more worthy man, but he has isolated himself, and his village knows it.
He has selected Kankuro and Temari as his Honor Guard for two reasons: he does not trust many of his higher ranked Jonin, who have begun grumbling treasonous thoughts when they think no one is listening after all the humiliations Sand has suffered in the last year, and he wants his children to watch Gaara die. When Gaara is dead, Rasa thinks his surviving children will understand the world better.
Death will make them superior shinobi. That's how it has been for centuries.
Temari and Kankuro aren't so sure about that. They aren't sure of anything anymore. They will follow their father until they are able to decide where they truly want to be.
There is a tagalong to the Sand contingent, not invited but too troublesome to chase off. She is an ancient shinobi named Chiyo, endearingly referred to by the Village as Suna's Honored Grandmother. Chiyo is an old woman with many regrets, the finest puppet master in the world now that Sasori is dead (the news of which shocked her to her core), and as all old shinobi must be, is in possession of many secret and forbidden techniques.
One of them is the Kishō Tensei, a Reanimation jutsu with a fundamental purpose: a life for a life. Chiyo intends to play a terrific prank on the world, a last laugh that will also serve to salve her most fundamental regret. It was her who sealed the dreadful Tailed Beast into Gaara before he was even born, dooming him to a lonely life as a weapon; even if he probably doesn't have the capacity to be grateful, Chiyo sees it as her duty to undo that mistake.
Third, the Hidden Mist, who have fought so hard for what has resolved into a stinging, bittersweet detente. Yondaime Mizukage Mei Terumi has chosen two of her finest shinobi, Chojuro and Ao, to be her Honor Guard, and all three are subdued, aware they're walking into unknown and deadly territory.
They carry two Bijuu with them: the Rokubi in a restrained Utakata, who is bound in sacred sealing clothes, and the Sanbi, which still remains in what was meant to be a temporary seal: a large clay molding of a weeping baby. Mei is loath to give up either of them. The Sanbi, just recaptured, has proven itself a terrific weapon of war, and Utakate is a talented and earnest shinobi that has always put the Village first, mastering his Bijuu despite its particularly dangerous chakra. And yet, their primary rival in the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud has been decimated and destroyed. The internecine wars in the Land of Lightning will provide Mist with missions, income, and experience for a decade and some to come, and the losses sustained against Cloud, even in the Calamity, were acceptable.
So even if Mei scorns the terms set by the Amekage and the purpose of the Summit, she must admit that the destruction of the Bijuu and their hosts will level the playing field. The Amekage is clearly not interested in conquest, which means there will be time for Mist to rest and recover, to build up the security it direly needs, and to remain amongst the foremost powers of the world.
Trading the Sanbi, lost until recently, and Utakate, loyal but ultimately disposable as all shinobi are, is worth it.
Fourth, the Hidden Cloud, the ultimate loser in all of this. They have lost everything; their Village, their Daimyo, their standing, and already their Tailed Beasts. Their attendance to the Summit is informal; unlike the rest of the Villages, they have not received a true invitation.
The Raikage is dead, but the Raikage has died before, so there is now a Fifth. Darui, Godaime Raikage, is accompanied by his Honor Guard Karui and Omoi as they head west. A disciple of the Third Raikage and the only inheritor of the forbidden Black Lightning, Darui has been chosen by the survivors of Kumogakure almost by default as the most experienced and prestigious shinobi left.
He sees the Summit as an opportunity, despite the horrific violence his Village and country have both inflicted and received. Cloud overstepped. That was obvious to him at the time, even if it's taken hindsight for many of his peers to agree. The Hidden Cloud still exists, even if it's taken a savage beating, and so must chart a new path for itself. Apologies must be made, and guarantees earned.
Even if it's a mixed legacy, Darui is determined to make sure that the line of Raikage must not end with him.
Karui and Omoi are not quite as ambitious as their new Kage. Killer Bee is their master, having trained them in his unique style of swordsmanship for many years, and they insisted to Darui on having an opportunity to say goodbye to him, since he fled without a word in the wake of the Calamity. They also wish to take the measure of the man who obliterated the Hidden Cloud and nearly killed their team leader, Samui. It's a practical consideration tinged with revenge: they need to know if taking it is even possible.
Fifth, the Hidden Stone, the ultimate winner in all of this.
The Sandaime Tsuchikage, an old and spiteful man named Onoki, is feeling quite smug about a lot of things. Where to start? He's the only Sandaime left, that's a good place. He's outlived five Kage, mighty peers all, and he did it by learning to sit back and be patient where everyone else rushed to their death. His Village is untouched by the recent troubles; its genetic manipulation and artificial bloodline projects have continued apace; the Earth Daimyo adores him, recognizing his wisdom and patience for what it is. He delights in the insulting nickname the Sandaime Hokage gave him, "Fence Sitter."
Where better to sit than the fence, when the field is drowning in the blood of people who've tried to claim it?
Onoki is filled with a childish glee at the Summit, that the rest of the world is so scarred that they're willingly throwing down their ultimate weapons, destroying that troublesome Cannon, consigning the Bijuu to oblivion. It's such a coup he wished he could claim all the credit for it, but he's not arrogant enough to do so. And it is not so clean that the world will be left helpless and harmless once things are done. Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha and Nagato Uzumaki will still be out there; dangers abound, as ever.
But still, giving up two ninja and their Bijuu in exchange for leaving Stone the unmistaken victor through inaction? Could there be any other decision?
Both of his Honor Guard are women, breaking the coincidental balance of men and women among the other Kage. The first is his treasured granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. Strong as she is headstrong, Onoki has been grooming Kurotsuchi as his replacement for nearly a decade, and meeting all of the Kage will be an important lesson for her. She makes jokes and jabs at him and her companion as they travel, carrying the Jinchuriki Rōshi and Han behind them in prisons of hardened lava as they weightlessly soar through the sky.
Her companion takes the jokes rather humorlessly and frequently bickers back, which Onoki derives amusement from as only an old man can. She is Yui Tono, an elite Jonin trusted with one of Stone's experimental Swords, the children blessed with artificial Bloodlines. Yui was not Onoki's first choice, but when she approached him, he found he couldn't turn her down.
I want to be there when the Hokage's wife dies, she'd said. Onoki had nearly thrown out his back laughing; how could he refuse something like that? If anyone deserved to see Minato Namikaze in the depths of despair, it was certainly one of the only survivors of his curse, and so in a fit of whimsy Onoki had given her permission to come.
To tell the truth, he's looking forward to seeing the Hokage humbled as well. So young and cocky, with so much blood staining his hands: it will be good to see Minato tumble down to earth as he's forced to put his wife on the chopping block. The height of idiocy from such an intelligent man, really, to marry a Jinchuriki.
Fence sitting, Onoki thinks, has never been so profitable.
Sixth and final among the Villages, the Hidden Leaf. The Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze, and his honor guard: his beloved student Rin Nohara, and the infamous Green Beast Might Gai. Kushina Uzumaki is carried by the two of them in a mockery of a palanquin, a box covered in powerful seals devised by Minato himself. Within, she is wrapped in even more. With her own seal shattered, the containment of the Kyuubi has been taken with utmost seriousness.
Katasuke Tono is being dragged along too, sedated and carried by Might Gai. The genius was too panicked to travel by his own power.
Every member of the Leaf contingent is wracked by doubt. Rin, not sure where she has been left with Obito, if he will accept her role in all this. Gai, feeling just the same, though neither of them see another option.
Minato doesn't have those doubts. He knows that Obito and Naruto will never forgive him. Nevertheless, he's trapped by the circumstances. The logic of everything is clear; worse yet, Kushina's heart is unburdened. She's let go and is ready to sacrifice herself for the Village, like she always was supposed to.
Minato cannot focus on that.
The Village comes first, always: a single life, even his wife's life, cannot be traded against the weight of the Cannon, of the threat of Nagato Uzuamki and it combined. Maybe even after all this pain and the hatred it will create common ground can be found again. That's not impossible.
Minato cannot focus on that.
Because would he even want to?
He doesn't think he's that man anymore.
Minato is pretty sure that he's fed up. That he's out of patience. He was a divergent mind in search of peace, and everyone else has proved it a waste of time.
On his journey to the Summit, Minato Namikaze is followed by a spiteful ghost that whispers in his ear with every step.
All things come to ruin, it says.
That was too dreadful for him.
But you're out of options, Minato.
So what's left to do? Sacrifice, as a Shinobi must, or incarnate destruction. Forsake responsibility. Choose love over sanity. Tear everything down.
Become Ruin, Yondaime.
In addition to the major villages, the leaders of the minor villages have been invited as well. However, only four minor villages and their leaders have been bold enough to take up that invitation. The rest fear the eyes of the world being drawn to them, especially with the chaos that was unleashed in Frost, and so intend to watch and wait and align with whatever new power arises in the Summit's wake.
Those minor villages attending are the Hidden Waterfall, led by Elder Eiji, the Hidden Grass, led by Lord Hirate, the Hidden Springs, led by Mistress Jinmeiyō, and the Hidden Rivers, led by Namazu. Each of the leaders are attended to by a single bodyguard, not having enough elite shinobi to spare for two. All of them are coming to the Summit for their own reasons: to gloat, to observe, to seize power, to judge. They are singular in their ambition, willingly placing themselves amongst the strongest in the world to see if they measure up. For the majority, it will end in disappointment.
Lastly, there are the Samurai. The Land of Iron is their country, their oaths of loyalty to its government forged in, well, iron. The samurai are landed, local lords bound to the country far more tightly than any shinobi. Until the Nation of Rain was created, anyway. Their famed Mountain Fortress has been chosen as the meeting ground for the Summit and they dare not refuse, seeing what has happened to the Land of Lightning. Two-hundred samurai have been assigned to the Fortress' security, committed to defending it and the most powerful shinobi in the world.
They are led by Mifune, the Steel General, a veteran of two world wars famed around the globe for his cool head, even temper, and unstoppable Iaijutsu skills. It's been said that Mifune could draw on any shinobi before they could make a sign in response, but he's never tested that against a shinobi of Minato Namikaze or Nagato Uzumaki's caliber.
He's dearly hoping that won't change. The last thing the samurai desire is for their home to become a battlefield.
Now, there are still more beyond the Kage, the minor leaders, and the Samurai. There are those who have not been invited, but intend to attend nonetheless.
The first and most important of these trespassers is Team Seven, accompanied by Mikoto Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga. True to Obito's intuition, Itachi Uchiha has indeed received the message that Sasuke needs to speak with him, and he joins Team Seven in the midst of their journey with hardly a word for anyone but his little brother. It's the preternatural timing expected of Itachi, so hardly anyone notes it; they're all strangely grateful for his help, and too focused on what the day may bring to have any doubts left.
Team Seven, Mikoto and Itachi Uchiha, and Hinata Hyuuga are coming as revolutionaries intending to overthrow the old order out of love and loyalty, but there is a shadow trailing them. Its aims are far more sinister. It is ready to reach the conclusion of a millenia old struggle, and quite eager to be done with the charade it has played all that time.
The shadow has been patient. The shadow has been generous. The shadow has seen setbacks, but it has never lost. It is strong beyond strength, and has turned the mightiest shinobi to its purpose time and time again.
At the heart of that strength lies its weakness.
The lesser of these trespassers is Jiraiya of the Sannin, the Toad Sage himself. He tried to convince the other remaining Sannin to accompany him, but Tsunade has no interest in seeing the next age of shinobi being born: she's sick enough of this one.
Jiraiya has little hope of a productive outcome. Too much has gone wrong, but if being a shinobi means enduring, then he can't afford to give up no matter how hopeless things seem. He believes that, like ninja, a story is defined by its ending.
If the story stops here, it won't have a happy ending. So he has to keep going, to see if it can at least be made bittersweet.
The least of these trespassers is Yahiko, First Vanguard, left behind to rot in the Nation of Rain. It only takes him an hour to break free from Amegakure, with assistance.
Yahiko is not happy. Nagato has stooped to false measures unbefitting of someone with his power, and so Yahiko intends to force the issue as only shinobi can. It is necessary that Nagato and Konan fully accept the responsibilities of godhood and lay fresh ground for a novel history; that they leave nothing of the old world that can be used to undermine the new.
Yahiko is bringing friends. Quite a few of them, certainly more than the traditional two a Kage is permitted. They are fanatics, coming to do what fanatics do best: refuse and undermine compromise.
This is the sum of the Summit. Without much exaggeration, sixty-five of the most powerful and driven shinobi in the world are all coming to the same place at the same time, including the 9 Jinchuriki and their Beasts, and two-hundred samurai are bound to guard them.
Under banners of every kind of loyalty, it's time for them all to collide.