Ruling by the Book Chapter 16, an Anime X-overs + Naruto Crossover fanfic

Ruling by the Book

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 16: Aftermath

- Kazuya -

I dashed towards the Land of Flowers while thinking of what I had found in the Grimoire.

That bastard A had promised to not interfere in Iwa's looting of the Land of Flowers for a month… Even after taking advantage of us, increasing the tribute… this.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

I don't know what the Uzumaki were planning on doing or how effective their plan was going to be but I couldn't rely on them alone. I need to do something soon.

- Kuina -

"Yes Mira, what can I do for you?" She asked.

"Lord Daimyo has invited Kazuya-sama for a meal."

"Umm, Kazuya is in his lab and has told us not to call him until it's absolutely urgent."

"Then please tell him it's absolutely urgent. We have received a messenger and Daimyo-sama is asking for Kazuya-sama soon." She replied.

"Ah… okay. I will tell him."

Mira nodded and left.

Dammit, Kazuya… where are you?

With no time left, she went to Seraphim who transformed into him and together they went to the palace.

Mira was waiting outside the Daimyo's room and she nodded before entering together with Sera and closing the door outside and Sera took the seat in front of the Daimyo.

The Daimyo didn't say anything and just looked at them… too silent for her liking.

"So, Kazuya is outside? When did he leave?" He asked, unexpectedly.

"Eh…"

"Come on, Kuina-chan. Do you think I wouldn't recognise the kid I had raised with my own hands? I take it that this… Kazuya is one of his retainers? He did tell me that he might pull something like this but he didn't inform me before leaving this time. Sigh…"

"I… I am sorry." She bowed and apologised. The Daimyo had always treated her as a family member since the time she was brought into the palace. Damn that Kazuya, making her do this…

"You don't have to apologise, Kuina-chan. I could see your guilt in your eyes. It's that brat's fault. He could have at least said something before leaving… Anyways, I guess some fault lies in me too. I did tell him to not tell me things which could be extracted from me…" The Daimyo shook his head. "Was he in a hurry?"

She nodded.

"I see. I guess then we just have to wait until he returns. Would you two accompany this old man for a meal? Kasumi-chan will be joining us in a while too."

"I would be honoured to."

"Oh lay off with the formalities in this room, child. Anyways…" He looked at Sera… "Who are you? Kanae? No… that girl cannot pull something like that. She would be feeling guilty about lying and it would show on her face. Saitō? Hmm… yes. He might actually do such a thing if ordered. Fushiguro? Hmm… you are Seraphim aren't you?"

Sera's mouth opened and she dropped the transformation, revealing her true face. "My apologies… if you don't mind me asking… how did you know? I was sure I copied all his movements perfectly."

"Ahahahaha, as I said, I have raised that kid since he was a toddler. While indeed true that your movements were exactly like his… the look in your eyes… that was different. Those were not the eyes of my grandson looking at me."

They looked at him surprised and he continued. "Obviously, there are other clues too. Kazuya hasn't entered Kasumi-chan's room for the last three days. That's not something he has done since he got married. So that can only mean he is not in the Capital at the moment. You still need to work hard if you want to act as his body replacement. It's not just for public appearances. You also need to carry out his daily duties to perfectly camouflage him. Any questions?"

"Umm… he could have had a fight with Kasumi-sama or could be spending time with Kanae…"

"Eh, if he did, Kasumi-chan's mood would be down in the dumps. That girl is too transparent." He waved it off.

Sera actually bowed. "I will work hard."

On the daimyo's urgings, they began their meal.

"Now, I just heard something interesting. What was this about him spending time with Kanae-chan?" He asked, suddenly interested.

"Oh course, he spends time flirting with Kanae." Sera said in her usual tone, making her want to facepalm… have some tact Sera.

"Heh… Kanae-chan is a good girl. I approve. Who else apart from these two? Which other girl does he have a relationship with? And who is interested in him?"

"Girls with relations with him… that would be me."

Kuina's head shot up. She suddenly remembered something and was about to stop her but Sera had already spoken by then.

"I am married to him."

…

"What?"

"I have been married to him for the last nine months."

"…"

She saw the Daimyo's face twitching visibly.

"Nine months… that's before his engagement."

"Three days before that." Sera added… quite helpfully.

"That brat… I need more time, my ass. He's just like his father!"

"It's not like that Daimyo-sama!" She tried to explain the situation to him before the misunderstanding became greater.

"Don't defend him, Kuina-chan. Here, I have been urging him to get married and give me a great grandchild and he keeps acting as if he is very busy. Now it turns out that he went and got married behind my back… worst of all, he didn't even introduce his wife to me. No! He is worse than his father!"

….

"Please… listen to me first. Sera, stop causing so many misunderstandings."

"What's there to listen to? I am going to spank that brat when he returns. I still have more than enough life left in these arms of mine."

"Kazuya doesn't even know about any of this." She quickly interjected.

"Hah… how can he not know and get married?"

"Well… it's like this…" She explained.

…

"So let me get this straight. The village Seraphim comes from has the rule of marrying anyone whom they kiss first… and Kazuya… accidentally kissed her?"

"Yes. I know it's hard to believe but…"

"Well, it's not unheard of…"

"Eh…?"

"You see, there is a village called the Nadeshiko Village in the Elemental Nations. It's a ninja village consisting of only women. They have strange rules too. They search for strong men and fight them and marry anyone they lose to. Ninja villages can have strange customs."

There was such a strange village in this world?

"Still… to kiss a girl is equivalent to proposing. What kind of man kisses and tosses a good girl like her? Let him return. I will talk to him."

…Somehow Kuina felt that the Daimyo was more excited about the relationship than anyone else.

"Now, who else? Are there any more girls? Hidden wives, lovers, potential lovers I should know of?"

"Two more. He has promised to get married to the Uzumaki sisters, Mina and Rina Uzumaki as a part of the alliance with the Uzumaki Clan but he is keeping the whole thing a secret."

"Ah… he did tell me about the whole alliance but told me to not reveal anything about their presence anywhere." He said with a frown. "What kind of people are they?"

"Both of them are very good girls. They are actually distantly related to Kasumi-chan and care for her as their own sister. Oh and they are twins."

"Twins eh…?" He smirked. "It seems I will have to have a long talk with him when he returns back? Would you be a dear and send him to me whenever he returns?"

"Yes, Daimyo-sama."

A while later, Kasumi-chan also entered, escorted by Kanae-san and they joined the meal.

Just as they were eating, Mira knocked on the door. Sera quickly transformed into Kazuya before she came in with a letter.

"This letter has just arrived."

The Daimyo took the letter and read it, his face turning into a frown as he read more.

"You may leave, Mira."

Mira bowed and left and he turned towards them.

"Tell me, has Kazuya gone to the Uzumaki Clan?" He asked.

They looked at each other.

"He has gone secretly with the Uzumaki but not to the Uzumaki Clan. Their meeting place is somewhere outside."

"Did you all know what was going to happen to the Uzumaki Clan?" He asked.

She nodded.

"How long?"

"For months… almost a year."

"Sigh… I was right to not enquire about these things."

"Umm… grandfather, has something happened?" Kasumi-chan asked.

"Yes. This letter was sent by the Uzumaki Clan… to every country in the Elemental Nations. It details the plans of the five great nations who have decided to destroy the Land of Whirlpool because they were feeling threatened with its rising power. They warned everyone that one day, this might happen to them too so as to make preparations to not get caught off guard. They have also claimed to have finished off a joint force of three of the five Great Villages. In the last part, they have given a warning to the five major countries that their capital cities and the ninja villages will meet the same end as the armies should they not stop the second war right now and not engage in any war, big or small for the next two decades. If the war is not stopped, they will face the consequences."

…

"So, do you all know what exactly happened in the Land of Whirlpools and how my grandson is involved in all of this?"

"This…"

"...You know what…? I won't put you all in a difficult position. Send him to me directly when he returns. This is too big. I want some explanations."

"Yes Daimyo-sama."

She was going to throw these types of things on Toji or Kuroka the next time.

- Kazuya -

I reached the Capital City late at night and directly went to my warehouse.

Everyone was already gathered there and Kuina told me that Grandpa had found out that I was outside and had called for me immediately when I returned.

On asking further I found out about the letter of the Uzumaki Clan.

Did they really threaten all five major nations?

What is even their plan?

I didn't know but Grandpa was very worried so I excused myself and went directly to meet him.

He was in his room with two guards waiting outside.

They bowed when they saw me and allowed me entry. Grandpa had ordered me to be allowed inside whenever I came.

He was not asleep but rather reading a book inside.

"Kazuya, when did you return?" He asked, seeing me enter.

"Just a while ago. You haven't slept yet?"

"How could I sleep knowing you were out there jumping into who knows what kind of trouble? What is this deal with the Uzumaki Clan? I thought you had only hired a few of them under disguise to help ward the place."

"It's… well, it's like this…"

I went on to explain everything I knew to him, about how I had warned them of the plans of the five major nations and my meetings and alliance with the Uzukage and the Uzu Daimyo, the terms of the alliance and finally the war.

On hearing everything, he let out a sigh… "Are you sure about all this, Kazuya? Do you really want to do this? It would make you the enemy of all five major countries. That's not something we can bear."

"Trust me Grandpa. I wouldn't have done this if I had any choices. If there was a way to just work honestly and enjoy the fruits of our labour, I would never even have thought of this. Unfortunately we don't. Our people are attacked, taken advantage of and crushed on the whims of those five nations and all we can do is grin and bear it. You saw it yourself, not only our enemies, even our so-called allies are taking advantage of us. As the leader of these people, how can I just stand back and ignore all of this. How can I not even try? Do you know how the Third Raikage had convinced Onoki to join the attack?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Onoki was promised that he could attack and rob the Land of Flowers for a month and Kumo will not interfere as long as they don't invade the country directly. Tell me how many people would have died if that happened? How many children orphaned, how much of our hard work ruined? How can I just close my eyes to all of this?"

He clenched his fist at the news.

"Are you sure about this news?" He asked, through gritted teeth.

"I got this from the third Raikage himself. There is no doubt about it."

"What of the Uzumaki Clan?" He asked.

"The main clan is gone. They are not on the Elemental Nations anymore. The only ones here are the old ones of the Clan."

"And in our country? Can they be trusted?"

"The ones in our country are now permanent members of the Land of Flowers. All of them have new identities and will not be found out by anyone. In fact, the one heading the team previously… is Kasumi-chans granduncle and my teacher. She is the only surviving relative he has. They are not someone who will betray us."

"I have said this once and I will say this again, Kazu-kun. You are the new leader of the country. You get to decide what happens here from now. I am just an old man who is worried about his Grandson…"

"I promised you that I will take care of myself, Grandpa. I don't break my promises."

"Hmm… there is going to be too much chaos in the Elemental Nations after the Uzumaki fiasco. No one was expecting this kind of result. They had already planned everything in advance and blindsided the five major ninja villages and the nations. They are not going to take it lying down. Keep quiet for a few months. Wait until we see what the Uzumaki have planned to back up their threat. Ambush is one thing, taking on the five nations is completely different."

"Yes."

"Oh… and before I forget it… why didn't you tell me about your other marriage?"

"...hah? What marriage? If this is about the engagement with the Uzumaki then I already told you?" I said.

"I am not talking about that. I am talking about your first marriage, the one with the girl called Seraphim. Why do I have to find all this out from someone else?"

"What?!" My mind ran at the words, trying to figure out what he was talking about. What about Seraphim? And then suddenly, I remembered something Kanae had told me…

Oh… was she actually serious about that?

"You seem to have recalled."

"Recalled? No no. More like realise. Who even told you about that?"

"I was told all this by my granddaughter-in-law… that you kissed her and by the law of her ninja village, you are now married."

…

My eyes twitched at the words. "It was an accident, an accident. I didn't kiss her. She slipped and fell on me."

"And yet you are now married."

"Oh come on. What kind of law is that?"

"There are indeed such laws in ninja villages, the Nadeshiko village being one of them."

"That's not the same… also why did she tell you? She didn't even say that to me."

"And yet you know everything? How did you know that then?"

"It's because Kanae told me."

"I see… so Kanae-chan comes and tells you that you are now married to a girl… and you start sleeping with Kanae-chan instead? Seriously… you truly are your father's child…" he shook his head.

I froze.

"Who told you that?" I asked, slowly. No one knew that I was sleeping with Kanae except Kasumi.

"You did… just now. I was just told that you are very close to her. The girl seems to like you too and I approve of her. She is a very bright and talented young lady who would do you well. Good choice on that one."

"Okay… just what in the world were you all talking about? How do you even know all this?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I am just an old man. With you disappearing without telling me, I sometimes call over the girls to accompany me for dinner. We have small talk. I must say, I like this Seraphim girl quite a lot. She is very dutiful."

My eyes twitched at his comment. Seraphim… dutiful…

"Oh don't make such a face. She was willing to come here disguised as you to cover up for you. Appearing like that in front of a Daimyo can result in capital punishment. She still did that on your order. If that's not dutiful, then I don't know what is. She seemed like a good girl to me… although a bit awkward… Go and spend some time with her. Also, the Uzumaki people… ask them to meet me… even the girls you are getting engaged to."

"Yes, Grandpa."

"Now off you go. I need to sleep. Kasumi-chan must be missing you since you ran off without telling anyone."

"Umu."

I went to meet Kasumi first as Grandpa suggested. She was reading medical books. Beside her Ralts was sleeping on a cushion. Surprisingly, even Kanae was present there, reading another medical book.

Were they sleeping together?

"Kazuya-sama."

"Kazuya." Both the girls quickly stood up, seeing me enter the room.

I went ahead and pulled them both into a hug. The last few days have been really stressful so returning home felt much better than I was expecting.

"Were you having a sleepover?" I asked them with a smile.

"I… I was feeling lonely so Kanae-sama was spending some time with me. We were reading about Medical Books together."

"Good. I am glad that you two are getting along. So you two missed me?" I asked with a smile as both the girls blushed adorably.

Suddenly remembering something, I asked. "How are you feeling after the ritual?" I asked as I took them to the bed.

"I am alright. My strength and chakra have increased again but my chakra control has gone down by a bit."

"Rose-sama checked on her again and the ritual was a complete success." Kanae added too.

"Yes, that happens when your strength increases suddenly. You will get used to it in a few days." I replied as we sat down on the bed.

"How was your journey? And Daimyo-sama…"

"Yes… Kuina told me about that and I have already met Grandpa…"

"Ano… Seraphim-sama…" Kasumi asked with some hesitation.

"Hmm… to be honest… I thought it was a joke the first time Kanae told me about it. Sera… has a very unique sense of humour after all… I really wasn't expecting her to be serious about it. I…"

"Sera-sama is not a bad person." She said after some thought.

Kanae nodded too.

I looked at both the girls and shook my head with a smile. "You know, most girls would have a very different reaction if they found out that their husband or lover is married to another girl."

"I… I am not… that…"

"Eh…"

Both the girls were taken aback by the comment but I just laughed and kissed their heads.

"Thank you."

Both of them snuggled into my chest too.

"I will talk to Sera about this matter tomorrow… but for now… let's test how much your stamina has improved due to the ritual. Kanae can help me verify." I whispered as I kissed her neck, sucking on it to leave a hickey.

They were both caught off guard by the words and Kasumi blushed till her ears while Kanae looked like she had turned into a tomato. For all the wild cat she was in bed, it was for when we were alone. That side of Kanae was exclusively for my eyes.

I untied the band of her kimono and removed the piece of cloth aside, revealing her twin peaks for my eyes.

I undressed myself and pulled her into a kiss while hugging Kanae to my side and undoing her kimono, showering her with attention to make up for the last few days.

After I was done with her, I did the same to Kanae.

We didn't have sex, just made out heavily.

I wanted to loosen up both the girls to each other's presence before bedding them together, little bit by bit.

The next day I went to my warehouse early in the morning to find everyone going about their usual duties.

Kanae was out training the new batch of samurai so she was busy and I decided to address the elephant in the room first.

"Sera, why didn't you tell me about the custom of marriage in your village?" I asked the girl who was sitting stoically in front of me.

"You didn't ask."

"Nope… that's not gonna cut it. Then why did you tell Grandpa and Kanae?"

"They asked me." She replied, unphased. "Daimyo-sama asked me about the girls related to you. I told him everything. It was your own order to be loyal to him. As for Kanae, she also asked me how I felt about you and I told her that you were my husband due to the custom of my village."

"...but you didn't tell me."

"I assumed you already knew first. Moreover, Kanae already told you so there was no point in telling you later."

I just stared dumbfounded at the girl in front of me.

She wasn't joking.

In all of this, the strangest part perhaps was the fact that she was being absolutely serious about this…

Just how far does her social ineptitude run?

One day I will have to go to her village and question them on what kind of weed they were smoking while making this dumb rule.

"So… where do we stand in this relationship?" I asked after letting out a sigh. For me it was weird but for her it was the way things have always been.

Different cultures in different worlds…

I should have expected something like this when I started summoning people from other worlds. Moreover, she wasn't even a human but a vampire. Who knows what kind of weird sensibilities they have there?

"You are my husband. I will remain loyal to you in mind, body, heart and soul. What's there to understand?"

"...and how do you feel about this? We both know how… this happened. Do you have regrets about this? Do you have someone else you like or something else you want to do? If you don't want this relationship then tell me, I will find a way to break this off."

"We do not break our marriages… no matter how they happen. It's the law we Vampire Ninjas live with."

"I am not asking you about what the Vampire Ninja Laws are. I can respect your wish to follow those laws but I want to know about your feelings. How do you feel about this relationship? You… don't really seem interested in me… do you even want this?"

"When did I say I was not interested?"

"Ah my bad. But then again, I didn't ask you before, so I am asking you now. Do you really want to go through with this? Do you really want to be with me? Not because of some vampire ninja laws but your own will…"

"I…" There was a flicker of emotion other than annoyance in her eyes, almost as if she were hurt by my words. "If you do not want to be with me, I won't bring this up again."

"That's not what I said, Sera. You are a very beautiful and talented girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you in their life. What I am asking is… are you happy? When I brought you here, I promised you that I will always treat you properly and make you happy. So I am asking you… are you happy with this… marriage?"

"I…"

I held her hand between my own. "Please… I will never forgive myself if I am making you unhappy."

"I… am happy."

"Okay…" I brought her hand to my lips and kissed them. "I know our relationship started off… on the wrong foot. But please give me a chance to make things right for you. Let's get to know each other better. I will announce a public wedding soon."

"That's not necessary. We vampire ninjas don't have anything like that. Also… I don't want people to annoy me like they were annoying Kasumi."

….

"Okay… then so be it. We can make a small ceremony with only the people close to us."

She nodded this time… reluctantly.

Two days had passed since I had returned back to the Land of Flowers.

It was the night of the full moon and I was preparing for the next soul ritual today.

This ritual was very important for me as the things I summoned and even the extent to which I could use the Grimoire's power depended greatly on the power of my soul. Strengthening it was just obvious.

Everything was checked over a dozen times.

The ingredients used in the ritual were too dangerous for there to be any kind of mistake in the preparations.

All my subordinates were standing on the corners of the magic circle. They will be pouring their chakra and assisting me with the ritual today.

Finally verifying everything one last time, I placed the sealed containers with the Demons in their respective places and went to the centre of the circle.

I summoned the Grimoire and placed a hand on it and then nodded towards my subordinates as they started pumping chakra into the magic circle too.

The circle lit up with a white light. In the magic circles, the three lamps with the demons started shaking as black smoke emerged from each one of them.

The demons took form slowly and in around a minute we could see their real forms.

Sōma looked like a skeletal deer with huge antlers.

The demon from the Crystal Cave looked like a werewolf of some kind.

It was the last one that actually made us cautious.

Satori, the demon or youkai sealed inside the huge box needed a huge amount of chakra to be unsealed. Even with the four Kage level, and half a dozen elite jōnin level people like us feeding chakra on top of two dozen chakra beasts being absorbed in the background, it took around fifteen minutes to finally come out.

It was a beast with a size comparable to a tailed beast. It was headless, with bones protruding from the mouth on its chest and was covered in black feathers. It also has a long thin tail, and its hands and feet are clawed and sickly thin to the point where it looks almost bone-like with skin attached.

The beast was not at full power as it could eat even more chakra. Even then, the sheer presence it was exuding was more than Rōen. It was scary to imagine what it would be like if it was at full power. Thankfully, I didn't need it to be at full power, and only enough chakra to open the box.

All three demons started trying to break the magic circle but a transparent sphere of energy bound them.

Their roars shook the entire ritual room but we persisted somehow and their entire bodies were broken down into a black smoky substance. The substance flowed through the magic circle and surrounded me, starting to enter my body through my mouth, nose and ears.

I resisted it for a moment before losing consciousness.

My subordinates were all warned about it so they continued.

- Genshiro Uzumaki -

He bowed deeply towards the man sitting in front of them.

Behind him, Mina and Rina bowed too. The rest had gone out to work on the wards for the new hideouts in the Land of Flowers.

"Raise your heads. This is not a formal meeting. You don't need to be so serious." Kazuki Katsuyoshi, the Daimyo of the Land of Flowers signalled them to sit down. "Would you like tea or some sake?" The Flower Daimyo asked.

"No, I am fine." He replied seriously. It was his first time meeting the man personally. He still didn't know why he was called. Kazuya had just come out one day and said that his grandfather wanted to meet them.

Genshiro was worried. The current affairs surrounding the Uzumaki Clan made them a danger to many. Was the Daimyo worried about their presence here?

"Don't be tense. I know what you are thinking but while I won't lie and say I am not worried about the whole thing, I trust Kazuya more than enough to let him handle everything. That brat… he is too much like his father." He poured himself a cup of sake and had a sip. "The reason I called you three here is because I was told that you are Kasumi-chan's granduncle while the two girls are engaged to my grandson. I wanted to meet all of you personally."

He nodded. "My apologies for not being able to introduce ourselves at an earlier date."

"As I said, I don't care about that. It must be Kazuya's decision. I have given him the permission to keep the things he thinks appropriate to himself. I have heard about the truth behind Kasumi's birth. That Stairs bastard might be a scum but we were lucky to have someone like Kasumi-chan in our family because of it. For this reason alone, I will make his end painless." The Flower Daimyo said, a hint of ruthlessness passing through his eyes.

Genshiro wholeheartedly agreed with the emotion, having known what that person was planning for his grandniece and possibly her children.

That man was living on borrowed time because Kazuya needed him alive.

"Anyways, let's not talk about those unpleasant people and ruin our moods. What are the names of you two?" The Flower Daimyo asked, looking at the two girls.

"My name is Rina and she is my sister Mina."

"Rina and Mina. Hmm, nice names. Are you both shinobi too?"

"Yes. We were Jōnin of Uzushiogakure."

"Jōnin! That's… quite an achievement for ones as young as you two." The man praised.

"Both Mina and Rina are two of the most talented shinobi from Uzushiogakure." He added.

The Daimyo instead looked a little worried. Was he doubting their motives?

"If they are that famous, would they be recognised by people of other countries?" The man asked, slightly worried.

"Please don't worry about that. They have been working in the Anbu of Uzushiogakure since a young age, being trained as the protectors of the Royal Family of Uzushiogakure. Very few know of their real identities apart from the top levels of our village." He reassured.

The daimyo nodded, looking relieved. "That does ease my heart a bit. Still, the protectors of the Uzushio royalty. The Uzu Daimyo and Uzukage must care a lot for Kazuya." He enquired.

Genshiro nodded. "Uzukage-sama and the Daimyo appreciate his help at our most dangerous time. It isn't an exaggeration to say that the only reason our Clan is even alive at this moment is due to Prince Kazuya's intervention. We owe him the lives of all the people of our clan. This is not something that can be measured."

The Daimyo nodded. "Indeed. The gift of life is indeed the most valuable, especially when it's for our loved ones. You are an honourable lot."

"Thank you."

"By the way, what do you two think of Kazuya? Do you two like him?"

"Umm… Kazuya-sama is a very talented and passionate individual. We find his goals and vision very inspiring." Rina said.

"He is also very strong which makes us look up to him." Mina added.

"Strong? While I haven't seen much of him fighting, for Jōnin of Uzushio to say this, he must have gotten stronger."

Genshiro looked at the man strangely.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" The man noticed the odd look on the faces of their group.

"Umm… Kazuya-sama… he is far stronger than us. In fact, the two of us wouldn't last two minutes against him in an all out battle." Rina said, hesitantly.

"Huh?"

Genshiro nodded. "Kazuya-kun is indeed strong. He is already at the Kage level, the youngest person at that level that I have seen."

"Kage level? My Kazuya?"

"Yes… you… didn't know?"

"I… no… I did tell him to keep those things to himself because I wasn't strong enough to protect his secrets… It's just that I didn't expect him to be hiding… so much… Are you sure he is at the level of a Kage? Those same people from the shinobi villages?"

"While just a beginner in that level, he is beyond a doubt at that level. It was verified by our elders too. In fact, I have only seen such talents in two other individuals before him. One of them was called the God of Shinobi and the other the Shura of the ninja… I have no doubt that if he continues to grow, he might reach such a level one day."

The man looked utterly flabbergasted at the reveal and it took him a few moments to come to term with it.

When he did, he poured two cups of sake and pushed one towards him. "It seems I have been left too out of the loop. What can you tell me about my Grandson?"

- Kazuya -

Two weeks had passed since I did the third Soul Ritual.

This time, I had fallen unconscious for two full days.

Kuroka had stayed there with Rose to monitor my condition as she was the most knowledgeable about souls in our entire group.

Soul was something I couldn't exactly feel per say. I could only go by other indications. My spiritual energy had increased by leaps and bounds, which in turn has complemented my chakra reserves. My chakra has surpassed Shiroyasha Uzumaki's.

That said, there were some complications. Right now my spiritual energy is far stronger than my physical energy which was absurd considering how strong my physique already was.

Normally that would have caused serious problems for me but my Senju blood and enhancement rituals were helping me negate the problems to some extent. I will have to strengthen my physique and only then can I fully utilise the effects of my stronger soul and get the most out of this ritual. Still, I expected that my chakra reserves would grow larger the stronger my physique became over time.

Other effects were that Genjutsu didn't stick on me that easily. I was almost immune to genjutsu up to the C Rank.

Kuroka did give me an idea about how different my soul was. Her comparison was that if my previous soul was the size of a grape, the current was like a watermelon.

With that kind of power, I can now start concentrating more on other stuff like Chakra nature training of other elements.

While I was here, recovering from my ritual, many different things were going on in the outside world.

By now the news about the attack on Uzushiogakure had spread throughout the world. Safe to say, everyone was shaken. This was the second time in this war that a country was destroyed… for the same reason too.

All the smaller nations were shivering from the aftermath. But that was not the only reason behind their apprehension.

Right now, everyone was wondering who would be next.

The Uzumaki had played a mastercard by informing every country in the Elemental Nations in advance about the attack with proof about the reasons of the nations involved. Now, every small nation was on edge and were thinking of countermeasures of this whole fiasco.

The whole incident has even shaken the five major nations who haven't taken actions. We don't know if that's because they are taking the Uzumaki threat seriously or if they are wary of spooking all the smaller nations and starting a massive war all around.

A war like that… could fuck up even the five major nations. While they might actually win, they will only be left with ashes and blood covered land to rule over.

No one wanted that.

Especially the Daimyo who considered profit above everything else.

Obviously there had been attempts to calm down these rising tensions. The five major nations had sent envoys everywhere to explain the matter, claiming the information spread by the Uzumaki to be lies and that the reason why they attacked the Land of Whirlpools was because they had found out that the Uzumaki had been making a superweapon to take over the Elemental Nations and they wanted to stop them before they could do so. Unfortunately for them, the Uzumaki had already given enough proof in advance and the destruction of the Land of Sky was still fresh in the minds of the people. There was also the fact that the stories of the five nations didn't match.

Those fools had been in such a hurry that they spread stories without actually collaborating with each other. Obviously, I understood their hurry. The more time they took the more the chaos, resentment and wariness of the smaller nations increased. Having a meeting between the five daimyo and kage so quickly was not possible, especially with the losses in the Land of Whirlpool and the Raikage having disappeared. Thus they had ran ahead to do some damage control first… and fucked up.

The smaller nations were on edge and were huddling together.

In just this last week, we had received the request of the Land of Fangs, the Land of Claws and the Land of Mountains for an alliance.

Such things were not unique to us. It was happening everywhere.

Everyone had a sudden fire lit under their asses and were running around to find the first sign of water around.

I had ordered Kensho and Saitō to recruit more kids for the next batch in advance. We were going to have to increase the speed of training our samurai in the next few years. I had the necessary funds due to the Uzumaki money.

Apart from that, we were paying attention to the Land of Earth and Iwagakure too.

The information from the third Raikage had me on edge even now.

My Grimoire cannot provide me with a direct solution for this situation and thus I took some measures on my own.

Today I was here to add more to those measures.

I stood in the middle of another ritual circle and prepared for the next summoning ritual.

The sacrifice was also prepared.

At the centre of the ritual circle lay the sealed body of the Third Raikage who had been healed enough by Rose to keep him alive.

I had already extracted all the information I could from him. Turns out that being on the verge of death and half conscious can make someone even on the level of the third Raikage vulnerable to drugs and mind control, not that I needed any of those due to my Grimoire directly getting the information from his mind.

Some of this information included the security details of Kumogakure, the knowledge of their best Jutsu including the Lightning Chakra mode and special methods of Lightning Chakra training.

Toji, Stussy and Seraphim were quite interested in those.

I put my hand on the Grimoire and started the ritual.

My thought this time was to summon someone who could help me protect my country from the Land of Earth.

With that I pushed my chakra inside the Grimoire. The magic circle lit up as usual and I felt a drain in my chakra. The Grimoire continued to drain my chakra like a bottomless pit and only stopped when I had genin levels of chakra left.

The Raikage's body disintegrated into motes of light and a new figure started to form.

When the light dispersed, the figure became clear to us.

She was a young woman who commonly wore a cold, stern expression. Her hair was long and pink with bangs that crossed above her nose and she had green eyes.

The most surprising thing however was the presence of a book or tome of some kind summoned beside her. It was the first time another object apart from someone's clothes was summoned with them.

She was looking around with a sharp gaze, not exactly surprised or even afraid. She then looked at us and spoke. "Are you the one who brought me here?"

"Hello. My name is Kazuya Katsuyoshi, the Prince of the Land of Flowers and yes, I am the one who summoned you."

"Kazuya… sounds like a name from the Far East." She eyed the Grimoire in my hand. "Don't they use scrolls in the Far East? And I don't recognise your Grimoire."

"Huh? This is the Akashic Grimoire." I said and the confusion on her face deepeed.

"Akashic Grimoire? I haven't heard of any kingdom with that name. Is there such a kingdom in the Far East?"

"I think you are misunderstanding something. This is not the Far East you speak of or even your world for that matter. May I know your name and the place you are from? I might be able to shed more light on the situation if I did."

"Not my world? My name is Princia Funnybunny… from the Clover Kingdom."

Clover Kingdom… Grimoire…

Oh wow…

"I… see. Yes. This is not your world. You did hear the message at the time of summoning, right? I guess you were in some kind of dangerous situation there."

She nodded. "Yes. I was… in danger." She said, a look of anger, pain and hate passed through her eyes for a moment. "I heard a call for help when I was on the verge of death and accepted it. By the way… I am pretty sure my Grimoire was not with me. How did you get it?"

"That… I don't know. It was summoned with you. I guess that's because it was probably bound to you or something along those lines?"

"What do you need from me?" She asked. "I was just told that you needed someone to help your country. Explain everything."

I raised an eyebrow at her cool demeanour but nodded nonetheless. Saitō was the same and Toji was quite chill too. This was not something new.

I escorted her to the meeting room and got to know her more, and the more I knew the more I realised just what kind of jackpot I had hit this time.

Princia Funnybunny, the 11th Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom… holy crap, I summoned a wizard king…

It's just that the whole thing was not as good as I was expecting.

The reason she was here was not because she was dying fighting some great enemy or anything but rather because she was betrayed by her Kingdom, more precisely the royalty and the nobles of the kingdom and that's why… she was quite hesitant about working with me.

I reassured her but I doubt the words did anything for her.

She agreed to help me to repay me for saving her life by summoning her but I don't think she trusted us at all.

"Then work with me and give me this chance to prove myself. I am not like those stuck up nobles of the Clover Kingdom."

She just nodded stoically at this.

I assigned Rose to show her the ropes of this place. They seemed to have similar personalities from what I could see so maybe they will get along.

And that's how we got the latest member of the group with us.

She explained about her powers. She used Legion Magic. This magic attribute allows the user to create and manipulate magical soldiers at will.

The soldiers created by this magic resemble suits of armour shaped like chess pieces, and are much taller and larger than normal humans. These soldiers, filled with the user's magic power are able to levitate and will carry out any task given to them until they run out of magic power.

The user is also able to make a suit of armour for themself and remotely receive information from their soldiers. Additionally, the user can switch locations with any of their magical soldiers as a means to avoid an attack.

If used correctly and by someone powerful, this magic potentially grants the user the equivalent military power of an entire country, allowing them to wage and fight an entire war all on their own. A multitude of soldiers could even merge together into one gigantic soldier, or pile up together to form barricades and engulf opponents in sheer numbers.

In simple words, Princia Funnybunny was an entire army by herself.

We had taken some time to check how strong individual soldiers were and found out that they could get as strong as she wanted them to but on an average, they were genin level. The best part was that she could endlessly replenish them as long as her reserves lasted… which lasted for a long time. One didn't become a Wizard King just like that.

And just like that, our biggest problem with numbers was solved to some extent.

I appointed her to train the kids along with Saitō. She was experienced in leading armies and could teach them a lot.

Now, I just had to wait for the other side to make the first move.

- Hiruzen -

"I told you that you were going soft, Hiruzen. You should have given that girl to me and I could have trained her into a perfect weapon for Konoha and we wouldn't have to face the situation we are facing now. The other villages will pounce on us after knowing that we lack our jinchuriki." Danzo complained.

Hiruzen sighed. He already knew it was coming.

Still, today Hiruzen couldn't complain either. It was after all his fault.

Kushina disappearing was a major blow to Konoha's strength and he had to take the responsibility for it. The only reason he was even in the seat of the Kage right now, especially after the entire fiasco was because of his performance during the Second Shinobi war.

Even the Fire Daimyo didn't want to remove the newly crowned God of Shinobi from the position of the Hokage… a title he hated as it only served to be a mocking reminder of what he had sacrificed after taking on this seat. He was not even close to Hashirama-sama's level… if he had been, he wouldn't need to sacrifice what he had…

Back then, even Mito-sama had understood what was happening but had remained quiet as Konoha didn't have the power to save everything. Her silence had only served to aggravate the guilt Hiruzen carried even more.

This position… it wasn't easy to sit on.

He had become a Hokage in a very unusual way. Directly appointed by Tobirama-sensei before he sacrificed his life to protect them.

Back then he was barely at a jōnin level so there were obviously people who were suspicious of him. He didn't blame them.

After all, who wouldn't be suspicious if the guard squad of a kage ran away and then came and said that one of them was appointed the next hokage… and that too without having appropriate strength for the given position.

If not for Mito-sama's support and the Senju Clan backing him up, there was no way he could have stood a chance.

Hiruzen had become disillusioned with the position and Danzo had been the one to offer him a way out. The offer was simple too. He would become the darkness of the village so that he may rule in light.

Back then he had agreed readily and thus came the Roots, which support the great tree that was Konoha.

Unfortunately time changed everything.

Over time, his best friend had become affected by the power in his hand and began to seek more and more power. This became even more aggravated after he lost his eye and arm in the current war.

Hiruzen wasn't a fool. He knew that Danzo was't satisfied with Tobirama-sensei's decision to make him the Hokage and while he would have wholeheartedly supported him before, the current Danzo was completely seeped in darkness and wasn't suitable for the position of Hokage.

That's why he couldn't let him lead Konoha or they would be ruined.

He will have to do something about the situation and do it quickly…

"Nothing is going to happen, Danzo. Konoha has never once relied on their jinchuriki. We have won both the wars without them and we can keep doing the same in the future. Also don't forget that other villages are in the same condition. The Five Daimyo have called for a meeting once more. There will be no wars till then."

"So are we just going to do what the Uzumaki say? It will make us look weak in front of the other nations. Make it seem that we are afraid of the warning of the Uzumaki."

"There will be no wars. That is final." He ordered.

"And what about the jinchuriki? Are you just going to let her go?"

"We are trying to find clues about her. She disappeared suddenly and no one knows where she is."

"Obviously the Uzumaki were able to kidnap her back. That would explain how they got their hands on such firepower. Who else could do such a thing other than the strongest of the tailed beast?" Danzo argued.

"If that's the case, then it's the best for us. Because that would mean that Kushina died with the rest of the Uzumaki in the war. In that case, the Kyuubi will reappear in a few years as will the other tailed beasts killed in the fight and we will have to capture them there."

"And what if she isn't dead?"

"That's highly unlikely. The Uzumaki didn't have such power on their side or no one would have tried to go after them in the first place. Still, search every corner of the Land of Fire as well as the other countries for any Uzumaki. We can get clues about Kushina from them. We also need to secure the next jinchuriki for when the kyuubi appears. Right now, we need to take care of the damage control and calm down the other villages." The reason he had pushed for no Uzumaki survivors was for two reasons. First was to prevent any village from acquiring the bloodline of the Uzumaki who were on par with the Senju.

That would be a disaster for Konoha.

The second reason was actually to spare them the fate of captives who are then bred for their bloodlines. Compared to that… death was indeed a mercy.

"Or we could just crush one or two of them and the rest will become quiet."

"Do not speak foolishly, Danzo. Remember that only a part of our income comes from the Land of Fire. A large part of our income depends on the contribution of other smaller countries. Not to mention, we have lost many people. So have the other four villages. If the smaller countries were to team up, they could seriously damage our vitality right now. There are still strong people like Hanzo of the Salamander among them. We cannot underestimate them. We cannot make such bold movements."

Danzo knew him well enough to understand the meaning of his words. They couldn't make any bold movements but cover operations were fine.

They needed to calm down the situation as soon as possible

The Uzumaki have turned the entire balance of the five nations on its head.

The direct damage they had done on the three attacking villages was already great but that had actually worked out in Konoha's favour.

But that was where the good news stopped. Everything else was an utter nightmare.

Whatever attack the Uzumaki had used had not only left a gaping hole in the ocean with no sign of the Uzushiogakure left in this world… it had also caused massive waves, tsunamis to emerge from that point and strike the coasts of the Land of Fire, the Land of Water and the Land of Hot Noodles. Apart from this, there were also several earthquakes which had caused too much damage.

In fact, the destruction had been so massive that large islands around the Land of Water were moved from their place with several of them almost decimated due to the tsunami which followed. The estimated cost of damages were… a dozen times the entire funding of Konoha during the last two ninja wars.

They had been running around to do damage control all over the coastal areas.

If only they had stopped at that.

Their actions of sending the proof of the actions of the five great ninja villages and their nations against the Uzumaki had completely devastated the credibility of the five major nations. The smaller nations who had suffered the most in the war were already on edge and full of resentment for them and now this… this had made them turn against the major nations completely.

Perhaps the only reason no wars had started yet was because everyone was afraid but this could change immediately should someone make one ill considered move. But even then they had completely blocked any trade or even communications with the major nations.

Worst part was that the nobles and the merchants of the Land of Fire were angry with Konoha due to the damages they had suffered due to their actions and the Fire Daimyo was actually quiet, preferring to let them vent their anger on Konoha rather than becoming a target of it himself. Konoha was also asked to… clean their own mess or forget any help from the Land of Fire.

Angering the merchants and nobles meant lesser commissions and that was death for any ninja village so while reluctant, Hiruzen agreed to their demands and sent his people to help the lands devastated by the earthquakes and tsunamis.

This was also stretching their forces to the edge as a large part of their forces were still on the borders, facing off against Sunagakure, just in case they tried to make any moves to take advantage of this chaos.

Whether someone would make that move or not, Hiruzzen didn't know but one thing he knew for sure was that Konoha can absolutely not afford to be the one doing that.

Right now, even his allies were wary of him. If they made such a move, he would be completely turning everyone against them.

All he could do right now was to salvage the reputation of Konoha somehow and wait till the next generation grew up.

While Hiruzen had felt guilty at not lending a hand to Konoha's allies, this time he had his hands tied.

It was either choosing his own people or them and as Kage, his choice was fixed.

x_x_

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Beta Note: The advance chapters are in order of what is updated, a first Tier will not get 2 advanced chapters for every story, only the next two to be released.

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Author's Note:

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

I have been very busy recently so my update schedule has been a bit off but now I am free again so I hope things will go back to the way it was before.

Anyways, several things happened.

Seraphim is a riot even if she is not trying.

The Uzumaki's plan to fuck things up has already begun.

Just the first step has caused the smaller nations to group up.

Kazuya is also preparing for any eventualities after getting that information from the Third Raikage.

Finally, we got a new team member.

Princia will be the last summon for some time.

I will try to focus more on the current summons and the nation building part for a while before summoning more people.

We also got the Soul Ritual, making Kazuya's soul massively strong. We will need something for his body to catch up to his soul now.

Hiruzen is having a massive headache right now.

We got to see his point of view.

The man is… not bad. He is just in a bad situation. That said, he fucked up and thus he will pay.

You can't just back away from responsibility no matter your reasons.

This chapter has become a bit longer than I was expecting so I will continue the rest in the next chapter.

More chaos will ensue in the coming chapters.

Enjoy the new chapter.

Good Day, Peace Out.