The Kage Summit [Observation Thread]

[XyxerCitizen]

This is the topic for bodyguards to observe the event, they can immediately exit this thread if needed to join the main or any subsidiary threads.

[Aryll HyuugaCitizen]

Xyxer was always keeping people waiting.

During their brisk hike through the Land of Iron, Xyxer seemed to have somehow gotten quite dirty, and so while he made the pair wait on him, Aryll took the opportunity to scrub some dirt free of Ludwig’s chassis with a Suiton technique. When the Mizukage finished preparing himself, she’d received a temporary ANBU mask, which she’d sarcastically donned. She was beneath the steel confines of Ludwig, so it hardly mattered, but she supposed formalities were in order.

When Xyxer entered the room, he’d be followed by two steel guardians, and presumably Naoki. Both were quite the marvel of Kirigakure’s engineering capabilities. The first was a Geist, projecting two chakra threads from each finger on its right hand, its left clasped around the hilt of the sword on its side. The machine seemed to be a completely synthetic human, or at least, a well-armored one. Its head occasionally snapped from side to side, surveying the room. The puppet it seemed to be controlling was likely one unlike anything the room’s inhabitants had ever seen. A massive titan came through the mercifully large double doors. The room’s high ceiling (which was 30 meters if anyone was wondering) was a blessing for Ludwig. Really, it was quite large. Almost as if a fight was expected to break out in here. The immense size of the room certainly worked in her favor.

From within Ludwig’s form, of course, Aryll resided, adorned with all of her usual battle gear, and clad with her new mask, sitting within Ludwig’s chassis, her chakra suppressed. All of her chakra threads were invisible to the naked eye, and if one were to peer within the automaton with chakra vision, they’d see naught but a mass of threads controlling the giant. The Geist would come to a halt beside Xyxer on his right side, with Ludwig coming to a halt 10 meters behind them.

(-2 AP Byakugan, All Seeing Eyes active)

[Anaphiel HidemoriCitizen]

They had finally arrived. It didn’t take very long on account of Valen managing to get them relatively close to the border between Earth and Iron Countries from the get go. It took them roughly the same amount of time to arrive at the location of the Kage summit, a particularly large building in itself. As soon as he was in sight of the building, Kotetsu would activate his Chakra disguise technique, changing his chakra signature to appear nowhere near what his chakra was like normally. He also used the technique to reduce its power. Not to the point of being undetectable, but enough for it to seem as if he was not as strong as he actually was. Since he had nothing that he wished to leave behind in their assigned rooms, Kotetsu would make his way in advance to the meeting room, in order to ensure that it wasn’t a trap.

His desired design for the summit was the same as what he had started the trip with: a pair of blue robed pants with silver trim, as well as a vest of small leaf-shaped scales, coloured blue with silver. The silver scales formed a studded design exactly. He wore his Snowflake pendant chain around his neck. To better protect it, the pendant was tucked under the vest for now.  He a blue jacket with silver trim over top of the scales, and his Hoshigakure hitai-ate would be hung around his neck, like a loose gorget. The living metal also formed black fitted gloves on his hands and black combat boots on his feet. Regardless of his outward appearance, his Living Metal would protect him better than most armour, on account of its fine craftsmanship. He bore no openly worn weapons, preferring not to give any hint to the direction that his abilities lay. ‘They are not our allies currently…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he arrived at the open double doors and stepped inside.

The room itself was massive, definitely much larger than it needed to be. Not that it particularly mattered; should a fight start, he had all the room in the world to work. At the center of the room was a table with four chairs ‘Ah, it would seem I’m not the first person to arrive…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he presumably noticed four figures in the room. The first one was a figure in white robes, occupying one of the chairs. Clearly one of the other village leaders, but he couldn’t tell which village they were from. Not that it really mattered. He was there to make sure nothing happened to his Kage. He would find out who was who eventually. The next figure was what appeared to be an armoured machine on the Kage’s right. It looked human for the most part, but something about it…Kotetsu shrugged and looked over the remaining two figures. One was absolutely massive; 10 meters tall, standing 10 meters behind the chair of the only village leader here. The last figure was a tall man with an average build, dark brown hair and eyes, appearing to almost look black. His clothing was as black as clothing could be. Since it did not seem that there was assigned seats for the village leaders, Kotetsu would claim the chair closest to the door for Valen, standing on the left side of the chair, leaving the right hand side for the ANBU that had accompanied them. He would simply stand there with his arms folded behind his back.

WC: 589

Starting AP: 761
-10 AP for This
751 AP remaining

[Kaguya KotsuzuiCitizen]

The moment they had arrived to the location of the Summit they were each shown to their own rooms. Kotsuzui did not stay there long. As a matter of fact he did not stay there at all. He dropped the bag with his belongings and left the room to stand guard for Risako's room. All he kept on him were his personal items, his flak jacket suited over his white jacket, his white pants topped off with the white cloak covering everything. As per usual, he bore nothing on his feet. He did not however, wait right outside her room. He wanted to ensure she had space to herself, whether it was to think things over or not. He wasn't entirely sure if that was her kind of thing. Either way, he positioned himself down the hall from her quarters against a wall with his arms crossed. It gave him a good view of anyone who was approaching the hallway as well as anyone who may attempt to enter the Hokage's room. Soon enough the Hokage exited her chambers dressed in the traditional Hokage robes. He waited until she walked right by him and took the lead. Only then would he follow from behind knowing Hikari would be right there with them. 

As they made their way through the building and towards the meeting room the Kaguya was scanning everything in a 25 meter radius around them, hence the reason why he never wore shoes. As they approached the room he knew how many people were inside before Risako had opened the doors and entered. It seemed they wouldn't be the first to arrive but they wouldn't be last either. Xyxer was there, as to be expected. His two body guards behind him, or three? The slender man Kotsuzui did not know. But the other one he knew or so he thought. The giant machine standing behind the smaller one reminded the Kaguya of the one he saw on the battle field. Her efforts to hide herself from all were unsuccessful to the Kaguya. He could "see" the smaller kunoichi sitting inside. He knew the smaller one closer to Xyxer was also a machine for the simply fact it had no heartbeat. The other two he was unfamiliar with. One had a weak chakra signature but the Kaguya only assumed he was intentionally keeping it low. After all, to be the guard of a Kage you needed to be somewhat capable.

Sooner than later the Konoha trio would enter the room, Kotsuzui following Risako as she took a seat directly opposite of the Mizukage. Kotsuzui took up a position behind Risako on the side of her that had the empty seat. Judging by the symbol on the hat of the unknown Kage, the empty seat was meant for the Raikage. Unless spoken to, the Kaguya would stand there and remain silent as he both listened to the ongoing small-talk as well as continued scanning the room.

[Skill used: Earth Sight]

[ShinCitizen]

Kenshin had been on edge from the moment that the trio from Hoshi had entered the summit venue, knowing that somewhere deep within these walls sat some of the most powerful shinobi in the world. He hated the fact that they had to be here, so far outside of their own territory as they met with the leaders of what were essentially hostile foreign powers. The only upside to the situation was that the summit was happening on neutral ground, and as such none of the other leaders were within their own territory either. The hooded teen was most certainly not afraid of the power held by any of the foreign Kage, and by extension their bodyguards, but at the same time he was not so foolish or arrogant as to believe that they weren’t a threat. On the contrary, the men and women here were quite possibly the most dangerous people that he would ever encounter… but still, that only made his multitude of hearts beat a little faster in excitement.

But still, he needed to ensure that this wasn’t simply a trap for Valen, so whilst Kotetsu escorted him to the meeting room the masked form of Kenshin would do a quick sweep of the rest of the venue. He wouldn’t attempt to gain entry into any of the other guest rooms or other restricted areas, as he knew such a thing would likely result in trouble for either himself or Valen, or more realistically, both. He would simply take a quick stroll down the rather bare halls, his sensitive ears listening for any unusual sounds whilst his Chakra Sensory scanned for any out of place chakra signatures. From there, Kenshin would quickly but thoroughly search through any and all of the venues non-restricted and unoccupied rooms, although he made certain to steer clear of the quarters for any of the other Kage and their bodyguards.

But in the end the half-bloods search would end up being for naught, as he came up completely empty handed. He supposed that such a thing was rather promising, but at the same time knew that it meant absolutely nothing… just that if there was indeed a trap none of the other Kage were dumb enough to get caught. With that done he would swiftly make his way back to the meeting room, silently cursing himself for just how long the sweep had actually taken. The meeting had surely begun by now, and his late arrival would no doubt be noted and judged by the other Kage… but then again, perhaps it wouldn’t be. Who knows, and in the end, who cares.

He would end up arriving at the meeting rooms door mere moments after the Hokage and her guard(s), although the group and he had arrived at the door via two different hallways. He had made sure to keep a respectable distance between himself and the foreign leader, and her guards. He even went so far as to allow them to enter the room first, although he knew that such a thing would have been expected in the first place… he was, after-all, far less important than the Hokage in the grand scheme of things. Once the Hokage and his guards had entered he would wait a few extra seconds before doing so himself.

The hybrid in the black cloak would scan the room the moment that he entered, taking note of the position of each of the three Kage and their bodyguards. The absence of Kumo was rather surprising, but he supposed that there was a chance that they were simply running late… although surely they should’ve endeavoured to at least arrive on time to an event as important as a Kage summit.

He would half pay attention to the words being exchanged by Valen and the Mizukage as he approached the table, coming to a stop when he was two meters behind the Hogokage’s seated form. The golden mask of Alpha would be all that the other kage would be able to see of him, as he currently had his Manipulated Fabric taking the form of a hooded black cloak, and as one may expect the hood had been drawn up, hiding his silver mane from sight. As per usual he had his Ring of Eternal Suppression on his left index finger, and as the name of the ring may imply it was currently preventing his chakra signature from being sensed by anyone and everyone in the room. He had considered using the Transformation Technique beneath the mask just in case he was forced to remove it, but in the end he had decided against actually doing so, if only because it would have been far too much of an annoyance for him at that point. .

“His successor, Lady Akihana, passed away as well…” he would hear Valen say, and despite still hearing everything else that he would say after, only those words actually mattered to him.

Akihana… was dead? When had this happened?...How did he not know?

It took everything that Kenshin had to not break down right then and there… but he knew that he couldn’t do that now. So the Uzumaki did what he did best and began to suppress his emotions, locking them away until it was appropriate.

But until then the silent sentinal would stand behind Valen, ready to defend the man if the need should arise.

After-all, he now needed to get some answers from the man, and getting answers to the questions that he held would be rather difficult if he were to die.

WC: 934

[Hikari HyuugaCitizen Survived 2021 You've completed the Christmas Event of 2021 and qualified for the last reward, by partisan you are awarded this fancy badge!]

When they first arrived in the Land of Iron they crossed the snowy paths until they reached a rather large building, presumably the one they would be occupying while in the neutral territory. The halls were dimly lit with darkened coloring on them, pictures dotting the walls of scenic surroundings such as lightly dusted with white mountains and colorful, flowery fields. It didn’t take the trip long to find their rooms, which were luckily right next to each other with Risako’s room in between theirs. Having memorized their signatures, she was able to tell they were near while she walked into her own room to drop off some of her belongings that were lying dormant in her storage dimension, to free up space in case she needed it. Like her fellow guard, she didn’t stay in her room for much time, just enough to drop off a few things and tidy up her appearance. The last thing she needed was for someone to use her disheveled looks from their trip against Konohagakure.

Her attire for the summit consisted of her usual purple ombré dress, her Silencing Boots in the form of black ninja high heeled boots, her Jounin Flak Jacket over her dress, her headband worn in a similar fashion to a renown medical specialist from Konoha whose hair was as pink as a cherry blossom, and her Amol Selseila around her wrists and over the deep purple sleeved cardigan esque clothing she wore along side the dress. Her Konohagakure Katana was fastened around her left hip, in case she needed to engage in weaponry combat, and she had a weapon pouch on both thighs so she could easily reach behind her to obtain more weapons if the need arose. Her tattoo, which currently held five charges to it, was hidden behind her cardigan, since her back was the canvas used for the masterpiece. 

Once she was satisfied with the person in the mirror, she exited her room and was greeted by Kotsuzui’s presence. She wasn’t sure if he had visited his room at all, meaning that if he did she had taken longer than expected, but from the looks of it their kage was still preparing. Thus, Hikari would take a spot next to Kots along the wall and patiently wait for Risako to finish getting ready, silently staying guard with Kots, her lilac tinted eyes scanning the area all around them through her clan’s doujitsu, making sure to not peak into any rooms for the privacy of everyone around them. She wasn’t sure if the woman, their leader, felt nervous being the representative for a village that had recently been taken over by another attendee of the summit, or if she didn’t care what the other two kages and their guards thought (or would think if it was brought up during the meeting). Hikari knew she couldn’t have kept herself composed enough to sit through an audience with the other kage, especially when one of them was Xyxer, the man who ordered the slaughter of one of their own and broke their Hokage’s back in a sign of dominance. However, he also saved the Hokage from the treacherous attack by Yensung Aburame when he tried to take her life despite the victor of the war having spared her. 

Risako didn’t spend long in her room after the Jounin kunoichi had exited her own, and when the trio were back together they all traveled down the hallways once more. This time they were headed to private room where the summit was to be held. Hikari walked beside Kotsuzui, her nerves growing with every step as they inched closer to the room. She didn’t want to make a fool of herself, or Konoha, especially in their weakened state. The other villages could look down on them if she made a slip up, and the pressure was getting to her a little bit, but more so because she still doubted her abilities as a shinobi for never really proving to herself that she was capable. All she had ever done was rely on the strength of others or luck to get her through, nothing had ever been successful because of her own power. Perhaps she was nervous only because the strongest shinobi of every village would be in that room, or perhaps it was because Xyxer would be there and she didn’t want to make a mistake in front of him. He was the man she wanted to be a student of after all, and what person would allow a fool to follow them?

Her thoughts were halted as they arrived to their destination and muffled voices could be heard through the wooden barrier of the door. It appeared they weren’t the first to arrive, and Hikari hoped they weren’t the last ones either. Luckily, as they crossed into the room they were greeted by only two other kage; Xyxer and a person whose symbol she believed meant Hoshigakure. The potential Hogokage had olive dark complexion and hair the color of her own. The two were already in discussion by the sound of the words coming out of the younger man’s mouth; the man who Xyxer had expected to come was no longer among the living, and every successor after him had also passed away to the after life, leaving the young man in front of them to take up the duty of kage. Hikari, when she arrived at her spot behind and to the right of Risako’s chair, which put her to the left of the raven haired guard for the man currently speaking, she bowed out of respect for the other two kage and their bodyguards, making sure to not disturb anyone’s personal space or hit her head on anything nearby while she lowered her upper torso. 

The petite woman hoped Xyxer didn’t mind that she didn’t fully kneel in his presence for she felt it would’ve been an improper time to do so since there was another kage in the room. Her kneeling would have been an odd thing to do in his eyes, and it would have alerted his guards and himself to the fact that something had happened between Kiri and Konoha, and it wasn’t her place to leak such information. 

After she bowed she surveyed the room, having already deactivated her Byakugan before they entered so as to not appear threatening towards the other kage, and felt a bit of a relief when her pupilless eyes fell upon the automations sitting across from her, as it meant a familiar face sat within them. Aryll Hyuuga, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan, and someone Hikari felt she could trust, if only because of the connection they held in blood and the words Aryll had told her after the war in the Hyuuga District. But if Xyxer himself ordered Aryll to kill her, would the puppet user do it? She wasn’t sure on the answer and could only assume she would for it would be a direct order from her leader, and Aryll was quite dedicated to her village (as any loyal shinobi would be). 

The other person on Xyxer’s guard team that she did not recognize was tall and had dark hair, with eyes the same deep color. What was peculiar to the Hyuuga wasn’t the stranger across from them, but the fact that Aryll’s chakra signature felt different than before, as if it wasn’t even the same person despite the mechs in the room saying otherwise (unless Kirigakure had multiple shinobi with the ability to craft monsters of machines). The only thing Hikari could think of was that she had altered her chakra so as to not be detected by the foreign leaders, and if that were true then she wondered how many of the other shinobi in the room had done something similar. Should they have also hidden their chakra from the others or did it not matter since they were technically under the rule of Kiri?

The Hogokage, whose clothing was adorned with a light purple hue, had both of his guards present as well since the second one had waited for Risako and them to go inside before doing so themself. It was a respectful gesture of the cloaked figure, whose face was covered with a golden mask that rivaled the sun itself. They had brought along one of their anbu to the summit, the other guard not wielding a mask upon his visage. Instead he allowed his face to remain visible, so one could see his coal eyes and matching midnight hair. He wore a mixture of blue and silver in his attire, a great contrast to his companion in black. 

It was around this time that the last kage entered the room followed by his two guards as well. He walked in front of her to get to the last remaining chair, the one across from the silvery eyed man. Whom she presumed was the Raikage had black hair and an eye patch over one eye, with his uncovered eye being the color of sea. 

When the Raikage sat down she bowed to himself his guards as well, taking the same precautions as before. She didn’t really expect any of the kage or their guards to react to her politeness, but if one did she would be pleasantly surprised (unless, of course, their response was out of wrath or disdain, then it wouldn’t be pleasant). It was after the pleasantries that Hikari learned, and made a mental note, that the Hogokage held the name of Valen Akari, and that the name bestowed upon the Raikage was Komori Hozuki. She knew not what either of their clans could do, having never heard of them before, and so she made a note to herself to try and do some research after the summit about them. She also waited patiently, with a little anxiousness mixed in, as the summit’s main purpose would be revealed now that all of the participants had arrived.

(WC: 1,669)
(Note: Because I have to do this on my first post otherwise I can’t use my Amol Seilseila boosts, I will be using the +25 to chakra and med techs boost (in case any fights break out). Also I need to update my stat page with jutsu, however they can be found on the last post of my stat page)

[NobunagaCitizen]

With their conversation in the middle of the cold finally over, the Hiyu unstrapped his Anbu mask from his waist and fitted it to his scarred face. With the porcelain mask resembling a wolf blocking off his desirable face, his hood covering his head and his cloak draped over his entire body, not a single inch of Nobunaga's body was visible save for the metal boots he strolled through the light snow with and the massive great sword hooked to his back. He followed fast behind the two brothers, putting the debacle that just occurred behind him and putting his duty before him. As much as he did not want to recognize Komori as his Kage, he could not show to the other villages that there was any sense of turmoil between the three Kumo nin. Hiding his face with the mask would help.

Once in the facility and making their way towards the meeting hall without Komon who went to check the perimeter, Nobunaga herd the faint chattering of voices coming from the opened doors up ahead at the end of the hall. It would appear that the other Kages had already arrived. Him having forced Komori and Komon to explain themselves appears to have made them the last to arrive to the show. As much as he did not care, for at the time of his halting them he needed answers, hopefully the other Kages would make nothing of their slight late appearance. He did not want a late arrival to be what set the spark in a situation where tension would already be at an all time high. It was a rare situation indeed to find so many high skilled and powerful individuals in the same room. Nobunaga would be a liar if he said he was not at least a little on edge.

"What the hell?" Was the Hiyu's first thought as he stepped into the meeting hall behind Komori after laying eyes on the the massive mechanical structure standing in a room that was shockingly large enough to fit it. Someone decided to bring a machine for war to a Kage summit it seemed.

Through the veiled protection of his Anbu mask, the Hiyu's training instantly kicked in. His senses were on high alerting, sensing all the chakra signatures he could feel, smelling the scents in the air, listening to the vibrations around him, looking for all the possible exits and points of attack, and most importantly looking at and inspecting every person in the room. First, he would look at every guard, checking their weapons, their posture, their build, anything and everything he could know about them from first glance he would learn. The mechanical behemoth in the room was still shocking to him.

Making their way around the table, being the only Kumo guard currently in the room, the brute would take his place to Komori's left as the Raikage took his seat. Half an arms length away from his Kage, now Nobunaga would inspect the other leaders. First was the Kage of Hoshi. Not but a kid. All that told Nobunaga was that the ashen haired individual was not to be underestimated. Next, the Kage of Konoha, the village that took so many of Suna's refugees in after its destruction only to be conquered right after. Its leader, a small Kunoichi who seemed far too lax given the current situation they were in. Last but not least was the conqueror himself. The Kage of Kiri with his flaming blue hair. However it was not the hair that caught the Storm Operative's attention. Rather it was the weapon on his back. Other than himself, Nobunaga did not know an individual who carried such a large weapon, an odd looking one at that. With the weapon of his and the war machine behind him, Kiri clearly stole the show.

With weapons on the table and the four Kage sitting at a table that seated five, the summit was finally ready to commence. However before it could, the Hiyu heard footsteps on the roof of the facility. With the same super Jounin senses the sneaking individual would use to listen in on the conversation, the Hiyu clearly heard him maneuvering along the ceiling as well as the second one entering the building. He knew for a fact others would also be aware of Ryu's presence however currently Nobunaga did not know what to make of the situation. Was the man on the ceiling sent by one of the other Kage? No, couldnt be, his presence was too obvious and one was coming right towards them. Whoever this idiot was, he was clearly acting alone. Just in case Komori had not noticed due to the overwhelming pressure of the position he was in being Kage and all, the Hiyu would lean over with his masked face and whispered just loud enough for him to hear "We have unwanted company." Hopefully this would alert Komori if he were not already privy. Returning to his massive, composed posture, the Hiyu would ready himself if he needed to act. But for now, he would wait to see what this nuisance was doing, arrogantly about to interrupt an event which did not concern him.

[NobunagaCitizen]

The Hiyu's assumption about the rooftop footsteps had proven correct when a Hoshi guard and Kiri guard both left to dispatch of the new arrival. He wondered if they would intercept Komon and know that he was not aligned with the invader. No one here had seen the Raikage's brother and therefore would initially not know that he too was a Kumo affiliated guard. However, that was not Nobunaga's concern for the moment. What concerned him was what was happening before him. So far, the Kage's were engaging in idle chit chat, slyly asking one another questions to figure out the going on's of each village. Although hearing everything, the Hiyu had the majority of his focus elsewhere. Standing tall and strait as ever, the Hiyu would continue to listen to what was going on above the summit, now hearing more foot steps on both the roof and in the hallways. Also, within the room now only the Hokage had both of her guards present. If a fight were to break out did that mean the Hokage now had the advantage, or did they already have the advantage being aligned with Kiri?

As these thoughts ran through his mind and his senses continued to be on alert for what was going on outside of the summit meeting room, the Hiyu's eyes would swiftly dart over towards the Hozuki Mizukage from behind the protection of his Anbu mask. "No..." He though to himself, watching the eight  tentacles sprout forth from behind Xyxer and curl to fill the empty space between his seat and the back wall. Nobunaga's first instinct was to defend himself and the Raikage for it appeared the Mizukage was taking advantage of the reduced numbers of shinobi in the room to attack. However he soon noticed that everyone else in the room remained as they were, completely unaware of what was truly happening. It appeared only he could see it, being a Jin just as Xyxer revealed himself to be. Therefore remaining as he was as to not arouse suspicion, the silent sentry would think to himself "Is this a display of his power, perhaps a challenge of some sort?" Why else would he so arrogantly let forth his inner demon?

Then from deep within the recesses of his own mind, Nobunaga felt the stirring chakra of his caged demon. He could feel it swirling, awaking from its slumber due to the sudden appearance of one of its brethren. This was not good. "Do not do this." The Hiyu thought to himself as he now felt the full waking presence of the Rokubi in the back of his mind, gazing out at its long lost brother. "I have been estranged from my brother for too long Human." "No!" Quickly retorted the Hiyu. "It is unwise to do so. This is clearly an act of aggression from the Mizukage. You will only be putting both me and the Raikage in harms way." The Rokubi had considered the words of its shell, however the sudden appearance of the 5 pearl white tails from behind Hoshi's kid Kage defeated Nobunaga. If only he had better control or a better relationship with his Bijuu then maybe he could have prevented this. But with the sudden appearance of a second brother, the Rokubi let itself free.

"Damn it." Echoed through the Hiyu's head as six bulgy purple tales sprouted from behind him. The docile tails would methodically sway behind Nobunaga, dripping ooze from its flesh as it made it's presence known to its long lost brothers. The current situation was not one Nobunaga wanted to be in. From the looks of it, the Mizukage made a challenge by revealing his Bijuu and the Hogokage and Nobunaga responded. However the response told one of two things. Either they were answering Xyxer's challenge or they lacked control over the actions and decisions of their Bijuu, both of which put them in a precarious situation. Now that the three Jin's were aware of one another's presence as Jinchuriki's, how would the rest of this play out?

[Shichiro HashimotoCitizen Survived 2021 You've completed the Christmas Event of 2021 and qualified for the last reward, by partisan you are awarded this fancy badge!]

(No posting order post whenever that is all)

[Hikari HyuugaCitizen Survived 2021 You've completed the Christmas Event of 2021 and qualified for the last reward, by partisan you are awarded this fancy badge!]

The discussion between the Mizukage and Hogokage peaked the interest of the smallest shinobi in the room. It wasn’t every day you hear of someone being cut in half and living from the attack. How she would’ve liked to study under someone who must’ve wielded immeasurable medical prowess to achieve the feat he had, being able to regenerate the lower half of his body immediately after it had been severed from him.

What also surprised the kunoichi was the tone of the blunette’s, as if he understood the sorrow they most likely had felt at losing so many of their kage. She never thought the man across from her could feel empathy for others, she thought his heart wouldn’t be able to hold emotions that were typically viewed as weak. It opened her eyes, allowing her to see him as more of a human than before, and made her ever more curious about him and the things she had yet to see that would surprise her as much as his empathy.

The first noise Risako muttered had been a small laugh, after Xyxer had told the story about the fight between him and the man known as Den. Hikari glanced over at their leader, wondering why the woman had voiced such a thing at quite an unusual time. Had she known this Denkiteki person, or was the irony of his encounter with Xyxer reminding her of her own with him?

It was then that their final guest walked in, and the Mizukage greeted him as he had with the other kage. A smirk danced upon his lips when he asked if the Raikage had run into any trouble along the borders, a jab at him from the previous words of the Hogokage she noted although Hikari doubted the one eyed man would recognize where the question had actually come from. The dark haired man replied that they had not encountered any troubles on their journey to the Land of Iron, a faint smile dusting his face as he replied. The jab, as far as she could tell, had been missed, or ignored, by the younger appearing shinobi, and the Mizukage didn’t push it further as he asked about two people whose names were foreign to her.

However, not long after the Raikage and his sole bodyguard had entered the room, she could hear faint footsteps across the roof through her experience as a fighter, a skill she had honed while making her way up the ladder to becoming a Jounin. She also could sense a chakra signature quickly moving away from the building, as if chasing after something or fleeing before a “storm”. The others in the room also seemed to notice something awry, as two of the three ANBU members dashed out of the summit to greet whoever was snooping around.

At this time Hikari activated her Byakugan, but made no motion to move from her position. The first place she looked was where she could sense a chakra signature fleeing, wanting to see if they were friend or foe. When her eyes landed on the dashing figure she noted they held an ANBU mask, allowing her to deduce that they were most likely the Raikage’s second guard. The fact that he had not hidden his chakra signature also helped her reason that he was a friend, for if he had been trying to flee he would have failed as an Operative by not being stealthy. Hikari then moved on to locate the person the Kumo shinobi was hunting down, and it took but a turn of her head to find the figure hiding behind a tree about a quarter of a mile away.

After getting a good look at his face, and memorizing his appearance in case she needed to recall it later, she turned her head to the rooftop where more people had gathered. She noticed both the Hoshi and Kiri shinobi’s were facing off against what appeared to be a clone of the man that the Kumo shinobi was tailing. Around that time she felt the same chakra signature of the Kiri and Hoshi men also remain inside the building, and dash off in the direction of the Kumo man. Having knowledge of the Shadow Clone jutsu, Hikari guessed that is what all three of the shinobi had used (the invader, Hoshi, and Kiri), which would be plausible given how many times she could sense the same chakra in different areas (or in a larger amount, as was such with the building since there was double the same people). Despite guessing that a third clone was somewhere near or in the building, she still turned her head to find them to double check that every intruder had been taken care of. Which, as her eyes locked in on the three in the corridors, she reaffirmed what she thought to be true. There were three intruders, all of the same person, and three Operatives fighting them. She felt it would’ve been overkill to add a fourth shinobi to the mix, and as such she averted her attention back to the conversation at hand, having listened in case any of them had made a move to attack Risako while her eyes were scanning around them.

The first person the Raikage had mentioned, Maku, was responsible for the destruction of Sunagakure. Hikari had heard the news about Suna when all of the Konoha shinobi had been called back to the Leaf after it had happened, but she hadn’t been aware that Kumogakure were the ones to launch the takeover. She remained calm and composted despite the revelation for it didn’t change anything about the attack to her, it just gave a face to the people who had orchestrated it.

The news of what happened between Kumo and Suna meant that two of the villages present had won over a village, yet only one of them were merciful in their conquest. The thought of comparing Kiri’s invasion to Kumo’s brought a curious question to her mind: who were the real monsters in the room?

The second person mentioned, Youka, was referred to with something about a rot, although if they were meaning literal or metaphorical rot she knew not which it was. After the brief discussion of Youka, he went into deeper detail and even explained his goals as the new leader of Kumo. It was admirable what he hoped to do for his home, causing a twinge of respect to develop for him as a person and not just a title.

Komori then changed the subject and moved the attention to Valen, asking the Hogokage, in an almost challenging manner she thought, how he had obtained the title of kage. There seemed to be a bit of hostility between the two villages, or between the two men across from each other as the tanned one hadn’t greeted the azure eyed one when he had first entered. Hikari wondered if it had anything to do with what happened when Kumo had visited Hoshi, thinking that maybe they hadn’t left on the best of terms. The mere fact that the two villages had intertwined for a period of time intrigued her, a feeling of longing wedging its way into her thoughts. Konoha had only one ally who was taken away from them before they could do anything. Was Kiri attacking them karma for not trying to assist Suna better? Was there anything they could’ve even done for Suna? Their kage, Kurisu, had been there during the attack yet he was no match against the invaders. How could they hope to help when the strongest person in their village was defeated?

Xyxer did not give Valen much time to respond, allowing him enough of a chance to say that he had been around when Hoshi first came to be a village and that it wasn’t nearly as old as the others gathered. Hikari was surprised to hear that Hoshigakure had only been around for a short period of time, but it also made sense to her why she knew very little about the place and that it wasn’t really her fault for being ignorant about it. Valen then went on to say that he had been the deputy kage when the former Hogokage was their leader, which made sense as to why a shinobi as young as he was able to take charge of an entire village. His mention of a deputy kage caused her mind to drift slightly, to the thoughts about her own village and who their deputy kage was, if they were even allowed to have one since Kiri was in control of them.

Before Komori could retaliate or Valen could think of more to say, the Mizukage cut off any remaining conversations to discuss the real reason he had asked them all to the summit. He had straightened his back and hardened his words to signify he was in business mode now. His teal hair rustled every so slightly as he bowed his head and greeted the kage, thanking them for coming to the summit. Hikari’s eyes focused forward and remained attentive to those around her, the veins surrounding her eyes still bulging from her doujutsu unless she was ordered to deactivate her Byakugan and it’s 360 degree view that it was currently in.

He spoke calmly as he said he wanted to resolve a multitude of issues hindering them, although she was unsure as to what those issues were. The only one coming to mind was the evident issue between Kumo and Hoshi, all others escaped her. She didn’t think signing papers and shaking hands would easily fix the problem between the two major villages, especially if the grudge ran deep from years of hatred.

The next few words that dribbled out of his mouth were cruelly laughable as he spoke of ensuring their people’s safety, protection, and prosperity. It was a little too late for Suna and Konoha to be having this meeting, their safety and protection already lost in the invasions they had been plagued with. Why had Xyxer chosen this moment to host a summit? Had he waited to takeover a village before doing so in order to show off his military strength against the other kage? Was that his reason for going to war against them in the first place? Had Sal died just so the Mizukage could pettily brag about his conquest to the others?

The snowy haired woman inhaled slowly as she struggled to ward off the urges to clench her fists and grit her teeth. She couldn’t become aggravated, not here, not now. They were trying to make peace, not start another war. Konoha wasn’t strong enough to be on anyone’s bad side, and she couldn’t afford to be the reason more people would lose their lives. The weight of Konoha’s lives on her shoulders helped her to resist the wrath creeping in her heart and stop the pain flowing through her blood. She could dwell on Xyxer’s motives once they were back in the Leaf, in the comfort of their village and away from the diplomacy they needed to uphold.

Xyxer was the first to propose an idea, and she listened intently to what he had in mind while she exhaled normally, the violent desires to lash out being tamed and locked away deep inside the recesses of her heart. Her ears perked up at his suggestion, wanting to host bimonthly Chuunin Exams where every village sent their Genin in hopes of them defeating the other villages Genin. What caught her off guard was the notion that they would be free of murder, an idea completely different from those of Kiri’s Blood Games where all of their Genin are pitted against each other until only one sole survivor remains standing. Hikari liked the idea of joint Chuunin Exams being the first step in unifying the villages together in a peaceful alliance, but the doubt of what could happen tugged at the back of her mind. Could they actually achieve peace? Would warring villages actually stop fighting for the exams, or would they bring their fighting into the exams and cause a dangerous disaster?

Hikari honestly felt the idea was too good to be true, distrustful of the hidden politics underlying the proposal, yet she wasn’t foolish enough to voice her thoughts aloud and could only wait silently to see how the others reacted. She wondered if anyone would question it or say what she had been thinking. The kunoichi wasn’t even sure how her Hokage would acknowledge his idea, especially after everything Kiri had put them through recently. Would Ris be weary of it or would she instantly believe it would be a good idea for all of the villages to partake in?

(WC: 3,803)
(-1 Byakugan = 999 AP)