Ruling by the Book

by crossedge

A guy is reincarnated in the world of Naruto but not in any shinobi villages. How will one man change the world for better or... for worse.

14. Chapter 14

Ruling by the Book

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 14: Rising Undercurrents

- Kazuya -

"That's it. An odd number seal on top of an even number sealed or vice versa will stop the functioning of the seal which is locked inside whereas an even number on top of an even number or an odd on top of odd, strengthens the seal when working together. So if we want an Eight Symbols Seal, we overlap one Four Symbol Seal on top of another. This is called the Uzumaki Style Eight Trigrams Sealing. Do you understand?" Hiromi-san asked.

"Yes."

"Good. A Four Symbols Seal is used to seal a large enemy or an evil spirit into a target, such as an object or a human's body. A stronger seal is created if two Four Symbols Seal are used; this is called the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style. If the Four Symbols Seals do not completely overlap with each other, this allows the enemy or spirit's chakra to merge with whoever they've been sealed into. This kind of seal is what is used to seal a Tailed Beast inside a Jinchuriki. The gap leaves more space for the beast's chakra to flow into the user. On the downside, the more chakra that can escape, the more the beast can affect the mind of the user and the more chance they have of freeing themselves. Understood?"

I nodded. "But doesn't that mean one can completely lock the entire beast's chakra inside tight and have no chance of it escaping?"

"There is no seal which is perfect, Kazuya-chan. Every seal has its weaknesses. What you are saying is done too. In fact, it's mainly done by those Miko and Priestesses who seal an evil entity in their bodies. They do not do so for power but rather to keep the world safe from those entities and in those cases, this type of sealing is the most apt one. But even then, there are times when the seal can loosen, like…"

"Times of pregnancy of the user when they are giving birth."

"Exactly. Our chakra is stored slightly below our abdomen. In the four symbol seal, the seal is powered by the chakra of the user which is used to keep the beast's chakra in control. When a woman is giving birth however, their circulation of chakra is disturbed. This can lead to a brief window of time when the beast inside can overpower their chakra and break the seal. This is why, at times of birth, a female jinchuriki's chakra is reinforced by others to provide a steady stream of chakra to balance the seal. This is obviously easier said than done as seals are made in a way that they are not affected by outside chakra. So to do this, the one doing the procedure needs a very detailed knowledge of Fuinjutsu."

"So how do they do it? I mean how do they push their chakra inside?" I asked.

"Try to guess it." She asked me with a smile.

"I… the only way I can think of is if they loosened the seal to make space. Otherwise, such seals would be too tight to do so from the outside."

"Exactly. That's exactly what they do." She answered.

"But why?"

"Obviously so that the user or the child doesn't die. The pain from childbirth is already high enough. Add the pain of a rampaging beast inside you and your chakra being in a mess to help you. The user would most likely die before the beast can break through if the seal is too strong. This is done for the safety of the mother and the baby."

"Is that why most of the jinchuriki are men?" I asked.

"Yes. The only exception is the Kyubi but that's because its chakra is so vast that the only ones with strong enough chakra reserves to contain it are Uzumaki. Be it Mito or the new jinchuriki of Kyuubi."

"Kushina." I added.

"... your ability is really something. Yes, Kushina. Both of them possess a special type of chakra which can be used to restrain the Kyubi."

"What is special about their chakra?"

"Hmm, do you know the special qualities of the Uzumaki Bloodline?" She asked.

"Large Chakra Reserves, high vitality, longevity and healing powers."

"More or less. But what you said is a very basic explanation. The Uzumaki Clan possess large chakra reserves, their chakra is also denser than normal ninjas. Due to this, sometimes, special abilities develop in a select few Uzumaki. The most common one is the Kagura Shingan, a very powerful Sensing Technique. In some very rare cases, their chakra carry their vitality and could even heal people who consume this chakra from very grievous injuries. Finally, there are some extremely rare cases in which their chakra is so dense and stable that they can form solid chains called the Adamantine Sealing Chains with it. These chains can restrain the chakra of the tailed beasts and people alike and are almost unbreakable."

"Can other members not use Chakra Chains?" I asked, curious.

"Hmm, the Adamantine Sealing Chains… no but they are not the only type of Chains we have developed. People who have dense chakra, while not to Mito or Kushina's levels can still use Chains, although an incomplete version of the Adamantine Sealing Chains. These chains are however weaker and are instead used for attacking and are thus called Adamantine Attacking Chains. Rina and Mina were thought to be able to learn this jutsu but they couldn't reach this level by just a bit. Such a pity."

"Oh… what exactly do they lack?" I asked.

"Hmm, I guess life force. Their life force is just not at that level. Some people are just born different. Mito, Kushina, Hashirama… even that pink eyed bastard Madara…"

…

…

…

…

I had no words about this.

Hiromi-san doesn't hold many good feelings for Madara. There was more than one reason for this.

Him betraying Hashirama is the second. The first was because that guy had rejected the marriage proposal from the Uzumaki Clan…

When Mito Uzumaki was married to Hashirama, Madara was also offered a wife from the Uzumaki Clan as a means to form a friendship between the two clans… He however rejected. The girl who was suggested for the marriage was… Hiromi-san.

I shudder to imagine what a kid between an Uzumaki and Madara would have been like. The chakra reserves and physique of the Uzumaki and the Sharingan of the Uchiha…

"You don't have to be disappointed. Those two are two of our most talented jōnin and are expected to grow even more as they grow. Both of them are only twenty, having gained their promotion a year ago." She added when she saw that I was silent. Ah, did she think I was disappointed? No way.

"I am not worried about those silly things. I appreciated their character and loyalty the first time I saw them protecting Tamami and have only grown to feel better about them, the more I got the chance to see and know those two… and that's what matters to me. Power… while I won't be a hypocrite and say it doesn't matter. It does… but I have the confidence to make them strong as long as they are willing to work hard for it."

I wasn't lying either.

Both Rina and Mina were really good girls.

I had spent some time with them, mostly going out on dates to get to know them before our marriage. They were both quite mischievous behind that stoic facade.

They often switched places with each other and it was almost impossible to recognise who was who. Even their chakra signatures were identical.

It was always an unsaid game for us to guess their identity and after a few times I could differentiate between the two girls.

"Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes but I could see that she was happy with my answer. "Let's stop here today."

"Alright then."

"By the way, I have heard that Suna has started a war with Konoha too."

"Things are moving then. Any news about the Tsuchikage?" I asked.

"No. Iwa is keeping a tight lid on his whereabouts. We don't even know if he is alive. Currently, their two jinchuriki and the Explosion Squad are shouldering all the load from their side. They have also dispatched more ninjas to pick up the slack, only keeping a very small percentage back in their village to defend."

"Oh… that's… good news."

It indeed was.

Since our lessons were done for the day, I sat there, talking to her.

"How is your training?" She asked.

"Good. I lack experience and I am making up for it with training. Everyday I train with my retainers, trying to get better." My Water Breathing and Water Nature Chakra training was really good.

All I lacked was experience which I got by constant spars with my retainers. Even fighting Kuroka sometimes to get a feel of fighting against stronger opponents. My physical strength has increased dramatically since getting the bloodlines, especially with the weight training I have been following.

Seriously, bloodlines are such utter cheats.

"You should fight with Rina and Mina." She suggested. She then continued. "I am not saying your subordinates are not good. I have heard they are very talented and strong… but at the end of the day, they are not shinobi. Most of your enemies will be shinobi so you need to get used to them. Even Gen-kun could be a vicious fighter when he gets down to it. Too bad we are in a difficult time or I could have taken you to Uzushio and got you trained with our best… sigh…"

It made sense and I agreed. "We can always do that after the Uzumaki establish themselves again."

"True. And what about the matter with the demons?"

"My subordinates have verified the presence of the demons. I haven't been able to go there because we have been busy collecting resources for the Uzumaki Clan. I will be doing it soon, probably this month or next."

"Thank you again for all your hard work."

"It's what I should do. After all, we are family now."

"Yes… yes we are."

x_

"Ralts!" I pinched the cheeks of our adorable Eu who had come here to watch my practice fight.

Eucliwood or Eu as everyone had taken to call her was very well liked by the girls. Kasumi always took care of her when she wasn't training. When she was busy, it was either of the girls who took care of her. We never left her alone.

Not many questioned about her. It was understandable too as this world had several different and weird summoning creatures.

Spirits like Baku and even Demons were present so an adorable summon like Ralts… yeah, no one even doubted.

In this time, she had grown considerably.

Around a month more will be needed for her to grow old enough to start training.

But even now, we give her toys and encourage her to use telekinesis to move them.

I generally spend time with her when eating or at night when I go back to sleep in our room but even then she was growing to recognise us better.

Today I was going to try sparring with Rina and Mina, first alone and then together to learn how to fight against shinobi of this world.

Hiromi-san had told them to help me train as it would also give us some time together and the two sisters had agreed readily.

We soon got in position.

Standing in front of me was Rina, her chokutō drawn, ready to fight.

I too drew my sword and took the stance while our judge, Genshiro-san gave the signal to start the fight.

- Genshiro Uzumaki -

He looked as both Kazuya and Rina took their positions on two sides of the field.

It had been months since he had started living in the Land of Flowers but he had never once seen Kazuya fight personally.

All he knew was about his chakra and his prowess with Fuinjutsu which could make him a respected jōnin as long as he worked hard.

From the few talks he had, he knew that he was a proficient swordsman, having learned the same swordsmanship style as the one taught in the academy he runs.

Other than that, everything about him was unknown.

He wanted to help the boy, the husband of her grandniece, train and protect himself better and yet he didn't know how to do so. That's why when Hiromi-sama offered him a chance, he jumped at it.

Today was the first he would see him fight.

All the Uzumaki Clan members and a few of Kazuya's own subordinates had gathered. Kasumi was watching the fight with her summoning beast too.

With everyone ready in their place, he gave the signal to start the match.

"Start."

The moment he gave the signal, Rina weaved hand signs to prepare for her jutsu… or at least tried to do so as Kazuya reached in front of her in what could only be called a blinding show of speed, his sword drawn. She was forced to drop her jutsu and parry with her sword, but what none of them expected was the force of the attack sending her flying back.

She stabilised herself but by then Kazuya had appeared near her again, and was already bringing his sword down on her. Rina pushed all her chakra into her feet to make a distance, the burst from the chakra making a small crater under her as her body shot away to dodge the attack.

Kazuya's attack continued down, striking the ground, sending a shockwave, making a fissure form at the place of the contact. The shockwave continued in Rina's direction and she jumped away but Kazuya had already anticipated the direction of her escape even before she had made the move and was already at her destination even before she reached there.

She was able to bring her chokutō forward to defend almost on instinct but this time instead of a strike like the previous ones, he spun around as if a river changing its path, reaching beside her and kicking her leg, disturbing her balance, leaving her open to the attack which followed and sent her chokutō flying in the air as Kazuya's blade stopped at her neck.

He was just as stunned at the display of power and speed from the young prince as were the rest of his clan members.

That was completely unexpected.

His style of fighting was undoubtedly that of a samurai. Fast movements which didn't give shinobi the time to make any hand signs and prevented them from using any jutsu.

But what they were not expecting was the amount of strength and speed with which he came on to her.

Genshiro was pretty sure he wasn't using any other techniques except the chakra reinforcement technique and his kenjutsu.

"Match! Winner: Kazuya." He quickly declared as Kazuya removed his blade aside and offered her a hand to get up.

Even Rina was stunned and it took her a few moments to understand what was going on before she took his hand with a slightly embarrassed look on her face.

"That was a very good match, Kazuya. That kind of speed and strength is high even for jōnin level ninja, almost reaching the level of an elite jōnin." Hiromi-sama being the first one who broke out of her surprise spoke. "This time try taking on both the sisters at the same time. Their real power is shown when they fight together."

Kazuya nodded but spoke again. "One moment thought."

He sat down in his place and raised his trousers to reveal… leg weights.

Was he wearing leg weights all this time?

He looked around and found that neither of his subordinates nor Kasumi looked surprised. He couldn't help but ask Kasumi. "Does he always wear those weights?"

"Eh… yes. Everyone here does the same. Kazuya-sama is very particular about physical training. He is currently preparing the weights for the students of the Academy and will be introducing them very soon too."

"Oh…" was all he could say and then he realised something… "Wait, does that mean that even you…"

"Yes. Although I am only using lighter ones. Kazuya-sama says that with my Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines, it would be a waste if I didn't train my physique properly."

"...well… he is not wrong."

As they talked, Kazuya had finished removing his weights and took his position again.

Rina and Mina took positions, this time far more serious than last.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes." All three fighters replied.

"Start."

As soon as he said that two things happened simultaneously. First, both sisters dashed different ways, making a distance between them. Smart, this way, even if Kazuya reaches one, the other will be free to use their jutsu.

It was however the second thing that put a damper on their plans.

A massive burst of chakra originated from Kazuya. His chakra signature went from jōnin to kage level instantly.

The two sisters however were already prepared for this technique as they had already seen it once and both began weaving their hand signs but to their surprise, Kazuya almost vanished from his place.

A moment later, the place he was at burst open but by then he had already reached Mina. The girl quickly slashed forward at him but her chokutō just passed through his body. It took Genshiro a moment to realise that it was just an afterimage.

By then Kazuya had reached behind her and had his blade at her neck.

After that he disappeared from his place again, heading towards Rina.

Rina had prepared her jutsu in the meantime and quickly used Water Clone Jutsu, creating multiple clones of her to fill the ground, fully utilising her chakra reserves to buy herself some time.

What came next was both frightening and beautiful.

Kazuya flashed between the clones, dancing and slashing away as he headed ahead, not being affected by the clones in the least.

She and her clones used water bullet jutsu to cover themselves but to no avail.

His speed was just too fast as he weaved through the attacks like a river finding its way, flashing at incredible speeds between the clones.

Rina had used this time to prepare for another jutsu when his figure vanished once more in a burst of incredible speed and appeared right behind her with his blade at her neck. The rest of the clones vanished at the same instant.

"Match. Winner: Kazuya." He raised his hand and declared before going down on the field too.

None of the three were hurt fortunately, at least physically.

Looking at the faces of the two girls, he was pretty sure they were still in shock when they looked at the Prince.

Rina and Mina were incredibly talented and while not focused on taijutsu but in fuinjutsu and kenjutsu, the difference in the strengths of two sides was just too high. Both of them were new jōnin while Kazuya… he was like a Kage…

"Oi brat, what's up with that speed of yours? I couldn't even see you properly after you took the weights off. Just how much do those damned things weigh?" Hiromi-sama spoke up as they returned.

Kazuya merely smiled and handed his weights, one to each of the sisters. They held the weights but as soon as Kazuya let go of the weights, the bodies of the sisters hunched forward due to the weight. They had to use chakra to pick their weight back up and they looked at him in horror.

"You were using this… the entire time?" Mina, the quiet one asked.

"Hmm." Kazuya nodded.

Curious, Genshiro tried to check the weights and found them to be extremely heavy and he had to use chakra to lift them.

He looked at the boy who was just smiling without any care as if it was no big feat and suddenly a realisation struck him. "Kazuya… why is your chakra still at that level?"

"Eh… what do you mean?"

"You opened the inner gates, right? Then why is your chakra still at that level even after the fight?"

"I didn't open any gates. Ah, I understand your confusion. This is my actual chakra level." He smiled and then the realisation dawned on Genshiro, that back then against Shiroyasha, he was actually holding back to give them a false idea in case things went bad. Had Shiroyasha actually tried something… he shuddered at the thought, glad that they didn't go that way.

"That's some amazing chakra, brat. You are a kage level already, not quite Uzumaki Kage but a decent Kage nonetheless. All you need is to diversify your skills a bit more and you could probably hold your own against even the Kage of the five great shinobi villages." Hiromi-sama praised him and then looked at the two girls. "You two will need to work on your physique more. You shouldn't feel bad. With that kind of speed and strength, your loss wasn't a shame. Learn from it and improve the things you lack. Only by continuously pushing ourselves can we survive in this world."

"Yes Oba-sama."

"Actually, you two can train with Kuina. She can show you everything." Kazuya suggested and they agreed as everyone dispersed.

Finally at the end of it all, they returned back home.

"Seriously… a Kage at such a young age. I can only think of two other figures with this kind of talent." Hiromi-sama shook her head.

Genshiro didn't need to ask the identity of those people. After all, he had seen them too.

"Still, I feel like a fool now. I asked those two girls to train with him so that they could get along better and then this happened…" She sighed.

"They are still training together, just not how you wanted. Isn't that good enough?" He asked.

"I guess so. Hmm, I will push the brat to improve his fuinjutsu more. With that kind of chakra, he could spare more than two clones. Since he wants to become stronger, let him push himself even harder."

"Won't that harm him? Shadow Clones can be dangerous after all."

"Not for him. He just shrugged it off like nothing. Didn't you feel his vitality, his chakra? It was so pure. With that kind of chakra, I wouldn't be surprised if he had some Senju or Uzumaki blood, maybe distant. Wasn't his mother a civilian woman the previous Daimyo had married? She could be descended from some shinobi clan."

He thought and couldn't deny it. "After the stunt pulled by Tobirama… we never know."

Hiromi-sama smiled widely. "I can't wait for him to grow stronger and the time when he displays his strength in front of the world. In this era, there are no Hashirama and Madara to rival him. What will those five do when another God rises in this era?"

…

Could he really reach that kind of level?

Genshiro didn't know but he really hoped that he did.

- Kazuya -

"Did you get it?" I asked as soon as I entered the room.

Kuina informed me that Kuroka had returned from her mission and I hurried back here.

This mission of hers was very important as it could solve many problems for us.

Her mission was in Kusagakure to steal the Box of Bliss. The problem was that the Box was a treasure of Kusagakure and was kept under tight security and its disappearance will be noticed soon enough. When that happens the Kusa ninjas are going to be searching for it like mad dogs. That's why I decided to push them in a certain direction, the direction of their immediate neighbours Iwagakure.

It was a long term plan.

First, I had Toji and Kuroka spread the news about the injury of Iwagakure and its losing footing in this war in Kusagakure and the Land of Grass. In that time, they had killed and taken the identity of two Iwagakure ninjas and appeared in the sights of the Kusa shinobi during their rounds but never actually crossed their borders.

And finally, use the same disguise to steal the Box of Bliss and flee into Iwagakure.

For Kuroka, teleporting away from inside the Iwagakure camp was not a big deal.

Was it risky?

A bit, yes.

But it would cause a diversion and keep those bastards busy with each other.

"Where is Toji?" I asked.

"He is outside the city, and will probably reach here in an hour or so." She replied as she stretched lazily on the couch.

"Was everything alright?" I asked.

"Absolutely boss. No one even doubted us. They will find the poisoned body of those two shinobi in the tent tomorrow morning, poisoned by Kusa's signature poison. Whether they fight after that or not is anyone's guess. Anyways, this box," She pointed towards the box on the table. "Has something extremely foul inside. Be careful. I can sense that it's quite powerful."

"I already knew that. Don't worry. I will be careful." I replied as I stored the box inside my Grimoire to get more information about it.

"Now we need only two. That Demon Sōma, must still be in quite a strong state, the last weakening phase was just fifty years ago so it won't weaken again for the next fifty years. We still need to be careful. We will only do the mission with clones. We might need you to use your Kasha to keep it restrained though."

"Yes. Actually, we can try going after that demon in the crystal mine first. It's quite weakened due to being sealed all this time. I have already checked the area."

"Hmm… then let's do that next." I agreed.

Unlike the Box of Bliss, Kuroka couldn't get the other two by herself. We had to transfer them into other vessels and that needed more than one fuinjutsu user. Unfortunately before the meeting with the Uzumaki, I cannot move either.

"Actually boss, we heard of another rumour in the Iwagakure camp."

"Oh?"

"They have been collecting supplies in secret. They are being sent on missions to loot the villages of other lands and steal, disguised as bandits. Later on, they offer help to take care of these same bandits. On the side they are hiring mercenaries to fight from their side to hide this."

… yeah. It does seem like something those rock headed thieves would do.

But still, it seems the invasion of Uzushio is coming.

"By the way, did you find any news about unusually strong beasts or myths?" I asked.

I was searching the Grimoire for something very important right now and couldn't use it to search for other things so I had to tell them to keep an ear out for any such rumours or folktales around the Elemental Nations.

Even Rōen was a legend and it turned out to be true. Who knows how many other such things might be true?

"Nothing yet. I will have to look around in other countries."

"Don't worry. Just keep that in your mind and things will be alright. You don't have any missions for the next few weeks. Stay here, rest and spend some time with Shirone. She is missing you. Oh and don't forget to train. Things will be getting harder in a year. We need to be at our strongest by then."

"Yes boss."

x_

After the festive atmosphere from my marriage subsided from the capital, I focused on some development.

I recruited two dozen people after careful screening depending on their business abilities to start establishing industries in the Land of Flowers.

The industries in the Land of Flowers were very undeveloped. The main source of our income was our crop exports and that was quite inefficient in the long run. I planned to utilise the resources of our nation as efficiently as possible. That's why I was planning to establish new industries which can produce more and varied products using the crops we produce. For example, oil, packaged food, beverages, etc.

Although the effects of these will not be seen soon, after the war ends, we can see the full effects of these industries.

Two more weeks passed and I finally got a message from the Uzumaki. The Uzumaki were ready to move out and the Uzukage will be coming to meet me one last time.

The meeting place was decided to be in the same place as usual as she wanted to meet with the rest of the Uuzmaki Clan members living here too.

I had brought Kasumi, Kuina and Saitō while Toji and Kuroka kept a watch from a distance.

We waited and around an hour later, I sensed two chakra signatures approaching us.

Genshiro went out and led the Uzukage and the Daimyo inside.

"Welcome Uzukage-sama, Daimyo-sama." I welcomed the duo.

They nodded.

I offered them a seat and Kuina poured them drinks. Finally after taking a sip of their drinks, I asked.

"How are the preparations going?" I asked.

"We are ready to move. All the preparations are complete. The only thing left is to collect the supplies you have prepared."

"Oh yes." I looked at Saitō who carried five huge scrolls and handed it to them. "Hiromi-sama has already verified the contents. Here's a list of things." I gave him the list and he took it, quickly going over it. When done he kept the list aside and bowed deeply.

"Thank you. I cannot stress how much this means to us."

"Please don't embarrass me like that. We are allies, not to mention related now. This is what We should do."

He looked at Kasumi. "Is she?" I nodded.

"She is very pretty. I had known her mother although we were not very close. She was a very competent kunoichi and I am sure you will make her proud." Shiroyasha said.

Kasumi bowed politely and thanked her.

The Daimyo also summoned two scrolls and passed it on to us.

"This is something we have no use for anymore. We hope you can make good use of it." He said and I looked at the scroll curiously. He explained further. "It's the cash we had in our possession as well as things we couldn't take away with us. The currency of this place holds no meaning there and you have already given us gold and silver to work with. This will serve you better here." Finally, he brought out another scroll. "We also know your recent plans to collect demons and strong beasts. This is something we had kept sealed in the Uzumaki Clan for a while. You can do with it as you please. Be warned though, it's quite strong so you'd do better than underestimate it. Although it should be fine with Hiromi-sama and the others here."

I didn't reject it either and accepted it. A sudden windfall was not something I would reject, especially when I need it so much.

"Has Uzushio been emptied out?" I asked, looking at the scrolls. Did they really leave everything out?

"The important things, yes. There are still properties of the Uzumaki Clan which we can't move. The industries and properties in other countries which we haven't sold since that would attract attention to us now. They will be sold by the ones who stay back. They will sell everything before the attack."

He then went on to explain the plans of the Uzumaki Clan.

They had started buying ships in different countries under different identities and remodelling them to look the same. Then they had established trade with the Land of Swamps and Land of Forests as well as the Land of Snow which were only accessible by the sea.

In this way, when the ships moved from Uzushio, anyone keeping an eye would not be aware of their actual motives.

Just to be safe, they had bought twice the number of ships needed to transport the entire Uzumaki Clan and had half of them move normally and actually trade to keep the facade going while the other half are on standby in the ocean, outside the range of other villages.

These are the ones they would use for relocation. The entire relocation would take place in two steps. First they would send a part of these ships which would pick up half the clan and leave for the sea. The other half will then pretend to be the next batch of ships which has returned from the Land of Snow, will take the rest of the clan and leave.

The rest of the ships which are trading will then return back to Uzushiogakure finally.

The lengths to which they were going was amazing. They had gone so far as to plan the use of clones to hide the number of people boarding and getting off the ships so that no one could find anything amiss.

The only ones left will be the old ones who had decided to stay.

It will only be a month after they are gone that the old ones will get into action.

First things first they will close the borders of Uzushiogakure and start selling the properties of the Uzumaki Clan at a rapid pace so that anyone keeping an eye on them will be alerted of something amiss. This will be done to force them to act quickly as the old ones will not be able to keep up the facade for too long and if they slip and fail, their revenge would not be accomplished.

Once they attack… Shiroyasha didn't tell me what they were planning, only that I shouldn't go to Uzushiogakure at that time…

Her smile told me everything else I needed to.

"It's sad that we became allies and now we have to part ways. We might not be able to return back to the Elemental Nations anytime soon but you or anyone from the Land of Flowers will always be welcomed as honoured guests in the Uzumaki Clan. I hope we can meet again in the future." The Daimyo offered me a hand and I shook it.

"We hope that time comes sooner."

"Yes. Let's hope so." He nodded and then talked a bit with the rest of the Uzumaki Clan members. He then faced me. "Please take care of them."

"I will. You all take care of yourself too. I have left a gift for my dear teacher inside the scroll. I hope she likes it." I smiled remembering the adorable redhead I had met almost a year ago.

With that they finally left.

x_

Two nights later on a full moon, I gathered my subordinates in the ritual room.

I hadn't summoned anything this month and the gift of the Uzukage was an unexpected boon. From the information, it was another beast like Rōen which had mutated and was sealed by the previous Uzukage, Ashina Uzumaki.

With this, I planned to summon someone who could help me establish a spy network.

Till now, I only had individual spies. Saitō was decent but mostly busy with other work. Toji could work and Kuroka's skills were very good too. But they were good individually.

Establishing a spy network was different and I needed someone like that.

The beast was already transferred into another lamp and the ritual circle was prepared.

I summoned my Grimoire and placed a hand on it before starting the ritual.

Just like this last time, the beast was released from the lamp and disintegrated into motes of light before they began forming the figure of a person.

When the light faded, the figure became clear.

It was a girl with short curly blonde hair, blue eyes, red lipstick, and red-painted fingernails. She wore a salmon coloured dress with a purple end, with pink diamond patterns on the bottom, a small white cape, a sunhat with a flower on it, and high heel shoes with ribbons on top.

She looked quite calm as she looked around the surrounding area as I approached her.

"Are you the one who brought me here?" She asked.

"Yes. My name is Kazuya Katsuyoshi, the prince of the Land of Flowers. May I know your name please?"

"I am… you can call me Stussy. I have never heard of a place called the Land of Flowers. Is it in one of the blues or the Grandline?" She asked. "Also, what kind of Devil Fruit is it?"

….

Grandline… so another one from that world, and Stussy… I knew that name. My memory quickly found the information I had about this person.

"Didn't you hear the message at the time of summoning?"

"I didn't have the time to think much. My situation was quite dire. All I heard was that someone wanted my help and could get me out of trouble, possible death and I agreed." She shrugged.

… was Stussy about to die somewhere? I didn't remember that.

Then again, I had taken Kuina's suggestion of summoning who needed it instead of people who were going to die. So there was a slight chance that she could have survived… or it could be a parallel universe version and she would die regardless.

The Grimoire did say that it can summon people from destroyed timelines too.

"Well… it's like this…" I explained the situation to her and at first she didn't believe me and thought I was joking. Her thoughts were that I was using some kind of devil fruit but I proved her wrong soon. Then came the panic.

The woman's calm facade broke completely in moments and I was actually worried that she might actually harm herself. That's why I threw her a bait.

"Not now but in the future, I might be able to send you back to your world. In fact, you are not the only person from your world either. Kuina here is from your world too and I plan to let her return there when I can."

That returned some light to her eyes. In the meantime, I recollected everything I could about her from my memories.

Stussy was a clone created by Dr. Vegapunk who had sent her to be an undercover agent in the World Government.

There she had infiltrated and had risen to the ranks of their top spies as well as established herself a one of the leaders of the Underworld.

My Grimoire had really summoned someone extremely good for the job. The only problem was to convince her to work for me.

Fortunately I had just the thing for the occasion. She was fiercely loyal to Vegapunk and I knew that Vegapunk was going to die in the future, so I used this piece of information.

"In fact, consider this an opportunity. Not only did you live, now you also get a chance to save bad things from happening in your world in the future."

Seeing her confused look I explained further.

"I know about many different worlds, their pasts and futures. It's just something which comes with the powers. According to my information, your creator would normally meet his end at the hands of the World Government when they find no use for him."

As expected, she froze in shock. "What do you mean? Explain everything."

So I did. I explained the entire fiasco about the Egghead Island and how Vegapunk would be betrayed, his inventions used to power ancient weapons and his death at the hands of Kizaru.

"You can work here with me, learn things in this world that are useful to you and when we go back, we can save Dr. Vegapunk. In fact, I would love for nothing more than to have him work for me if he wanted. How about it?"

As expected, she agreed.

I asked about her skills and found out that she already knew all the Rokushiki and even both Haki. She didn't possess the Conqueror's Haki but she knew quite a lot about it.

She was even implanted with the lineage factor of a Devil Fruit by Dr. Vegapunk, the Bat Bat Fruit. With it, she could summon batlike wings and suck out the blood of others to completely subdue them. It also granted her extra strength and durability.

Her epithet in the Underworld was, 'The Queen of the Pleasure District'.

She ran the biggest pleasure district and a chain of brothels in the world but her actual business was to use those places as ways to gather intel.

Almost my entire chakra was drained in summoning her and that was above the beast we had sacrificed. It was safe to say that she was strong. Insanely strong.

In terms of physical abilities, she was the strongest member of our group, someone who could fight five gates Toji to a standstill. That was strong even in the Kage level and she is only going to get stronger as she was far from her prime.

The original Stussy was a member of the infamous Rocks Pirates, a member alongside the likes of Whitebeard, Kaido and Shiki and she had inherited the strength of that person as well as the powers of a Zoan Devil Fruit. She was certain to surpass her soon enough.

In fact the only reason she even almost died was because there was an accident and the coating of her ship was destroyed while she was deep under the sea. As a Devil Fruit user, she could have drowned and died.

That's when she heard my voice and accepted the summoning request.

I had left her with Kuina for several reasons.

First, Kuina could guide her in learning about this world till she got used to it.

Second, she could bond well with Kuina who was from the same world as her.

Third, she could instruct Kuina in Rokushiki and Haki, something which would be instrumental in her growth later.

After that is done, she can start her real job of establishing a spy network for me in the Elemental Nations.

Truly, this last gift from the Uzumaki was really good for me.

- A (Third Raikage) -

He walked to the place of the meeting followed by his two subordinates, Yukime, the jinchuriki of two tails and Dodai, his trusted right hand man.

There were already several people present inside. The third Mizukage was already present with two of his subordinates behind him, judging by the swords, probably the member of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist.

He took the seat and waited for the last person who entered soon after.

A bandage wrapped around his nose, the third Tsuchikage, Onoki came in followed by two others. One of them he recognised as the jinchuriki of the four tailed beast, Son Goku while the other was Kari, a member of the Explosion Corps.

"Oh Onoki, you are alive? There were rumours that you bit the dust at the hands of the White Fang." He mocked his old time rival.

"As if I would die before a meathead like you." The Tsuchikage didn't fall into his provocation and sat down quietly.

How unusual. Normally, the guy would have jumped up to argue.

With everyone seated, the Mizukage finally addressed the group.

"Our people have discovered that the Uzumaki Clan has closed off their lands. They are not letting anyone enter. On investigating further, we found out that they have been rapidly selling off their properties at low prices. Before this, they had been trading with the Land of Swamps, the Land of Forests and the Land of Snow. Could it be that they have found something out and are preparing for war?"

The Uzumaki clan was a sensitive topic for everyone right now.

There were several reasons for that.

Firstly, that clan of redheads were growing and developing to a level which made some people very uncomfortable. Despite the wars between the five great shinobi villages, there has never been an all out war between the daimyo of the Five Great Nations who have all been connected through marriage or other relations. They were the actual rulers of the land and maintained a crucial balance of power… a balance which ensures both their and the hidden villages they host's continued power.

Now the existence of the Uzumaki Clan threatened to challenge that balance in power. Even the Senju clan was culled and then dispersed into civilians, reduced to a mere shadow of themselves as soon as Tobirama Senju died to prevent another Hashirama from rising.

Those Daimyo were very good at keeping quiet when the other side was strong and attacking when they had any opportunity.

Then again, it had to be done.

The combination of the Senju and Uchiha in one place was just too strong. They even had the Hyuga join in. That kind of power could subvert even the rulers of the nations if the hokage really wanted to and no one could afford to risk that. A knife that was too sharp was often feared by incompetent chefs. The Senju were chosen because they had the most influence in the village as compared to the Uchiha who were mostly sidelined due to Tobirama Senju's policies. This gave the Daimyo and the new Hokage more of a say in the village matters, thus profiting everyone.

As they say, there are never eternal allies, just eternal profits.

Even this time, the other four daimyo had cornered the fire daimyo, that snivelling coward to stop Konoha, and a deal was struck. The Uzumaki die and the Fire Daimyo gets all their lands and mines. Anything that is found on the island would belong to the attackers.

The last condition was to not let any Uzumaki be inducted into any of the villages. It was something he vehemently rejected but the Hokage had been adamant. They can let go of the Uzumaki but no one will get them either. That was the only condition. Unfortunately the daimyos agreed. Those feeble minded morons couldn't understand how valuable the bloodline of the Uzumaki was. That kind of chakra reserve could pump out jōnin, even kage level ninjas in any village… not to mention them being prime jinchuriki materials…

Sigh…

At least they could get the Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan and improve their own sealing techniques for when the next jinchuriki was chosen… and who would know if just a few Uzumaki were secretly shipped out.

Kumogakure has suffered a lot at the hands of the tailed beasts they had bought due to poor sealing techniques. Even just mitigating that would already be a great boon to them and a profit in the long run.

The other two villages faced the same problems but had other motivations as well.

Kiri wanted to remove them to occupy the trade routes while Iwa wanted them gone to weaken Konoha mainly.

"If they get the time to prepare then going to that island would mean no less than walking to our deaths." Onoki said.

"We need to strike hard and fast, only then can we minimise our casualties." He agreed.

The Mizukage nodded. "We have the same opinion too. What remains to be decided is the division of forces. Who will be sending how much?"

Yes. That was the most important part.

After all, everyone wanted to minimise their losses.

This part was probably harder than winning the war.

All three of them argued for hours. In between this, suddenly Onoki's bandage fell and something fell on the table in front of him…

Was that… a piece of wood?

He looked at the man and saw that his signature feature, that big and ugly nose of his… was missing…

"Oi, just what the hell happened to your nose, Onoki? Did you lose it to the blade of the White Fang hahahaha?" He laughed uproariously at the scene. Onoki quickly put back his wooden nose and tied it in his place with the bandage.

"Bastard!" He quickly rose in his chair.

Even the Mizukage was shocked and didn't stop them.

Onoki however didn't disclose how he was injured and instead asked everyone to focus on the topic.

Finally, it was decided that Iwagakure will send the most numbers, Kirigakure will be sending both their Jinchuriki and the ships while Kumogakure will be sending their Kage, one jinchuriki and a team of their elite shinobi but in return the number of soldiers they send will be lower.

Kumogakure and Kirigakure will be shouldering most of the cost for the expedition too.

Both him and Mizukage had realised that Onoki was injured badly and was still recuperating and their jinchuriki mainly kept Konoha at bay with the explosion corps. This meant they couldn't be deployed and thus the task of providing the cannon fodder was forced on Iwa. Almost none of those cannon fodder would be returning either way. Either they die in the traps of the Uzumaki… or they meet some accident on the way back. Iwa will have to give up their greatest strength… their numbers.

In return, he had to promise Onoki not to interfere for a month in which time they could pillage some villages of the Land of Flowers to make up for their losses. That brat prince had killed off several spies from the Land of Lightning during his purge. A considered this as his way of avenging them.

That was fine as long as they didn't invade the country.

The Land of Flowers provided a great amount of tribute and they had recently even increased the amount. Letting go of that would be a great loss for Kumogakure, not to mention it would make the Land of Earth get something they lack the most… fertile lands for food.

Those rock worms could multiply like cockroaches. They already had the most number of shinobi and that was in their harsh conditions. If they got the Land of Flowers, who knows how much they would multiply? That's why under no circumstances could the Land of Flowers be handed over to them… even if it meant war.

That was the reason why Kumogakure had intervened when they were about to be conquered years ago, even while not being a neighbour of the Land of Flowers.

Moreover, them being conquered while their security was the responsibility of Kumogakure would ruin the reputation of Kumogakure in the world, pushing away any future alliances. That's not permissible either so they reached a middle ground.

But letting a few villages be pillaged was not much. It's not like they didn't do the same. In fact, every village did it to get cheap supplies during long drawn wars… even the one with access to the largest fertile land in the continent, Konoha, did.

It was nothing personal, just plain business.

Mizukage also agreed to remove the security from some islands for the same thing.

At the end of the day, everything was decided.

They would gather their forces and would attack Uzushiogakure in a week.

x_x_

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Author's Note:

I am back with another chapter of 'Ruling by the Book'.

Things are progressing.

We got another team member, a very useful one at that.

Stussy would be a great addition to Kazuya's team with her expertise in creating an information network.

Kuroka, while good, isn't capable of being at all places at all times. Stussy can fill up that gap by a lot.

Not to mention Haki and connection to Vegapunk.

The Uzumaki situation is in the final stages too. The Uzumaki Clan is prepared.

The enemies are preparing.

The clash is coming nearer.

And Raikage just sold Land of Flowers off like a bastard.

How will this change Kazuya's plans?

What kind of butterflies will rise after the so-called 'destruction' of the Uzumaki Clan and how will they affect the world as a whole and most importantly, how will Kazuya deal with it?

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.