New World Kage Summit (Observation Topic)

“Looks pretty lively to me”, replied the redhead to the comment of his Kage. In as far as the available literature spoke of the Sunagakure, it was a dump, blasted to hell by the ninja of the Kumogakure once and then twice after Kenshin had tried to rebuild it; this second time, Kumogakurian ninja littered the shallow graves while a coalition of Kirigakure and its vassal nation Konohagakure brought the siege engines onto the village walls. “Never would’ve guessed a desert held so many… resources.” The controlled climate within the walls was for sure a nice surprise. Kaito would’ve loathed having to endure the relentless heat for this long, so the habitable weather made him feel more amicable towards the residents. He couldn’t help but feel they cheated themselves though; with such horrible living conditions, they had a true territorial advantage that could’ve worked in their favor, if they willed it. To make the entire country into an armor that protected only those natural to it… what a waste. But, it wasn’t for Kaito to say. After all, where the Sunagakure had sands protecting the village, Kumogakure had corpses and rot.

As they prepared to enter the building, with the white silk always tucked away in the Displaced Dimension, Kaito brought his hair together into a bun that ran down the middle of his head, from the top where it was knotted and slowly rolling it into a manageable roll that met his neck. He held it in place while pulling up the balaclava that would shield his features, eyepatch included, leaving only the dark eye exposed, and on top of it, he affixed the breathing apparatus, before pulling the cowl over it in a neat set meant to protect his identity and with it his humanity. The second generation Darkened Skies might not have the desired effect in a room full of hardened ninja, which he supposed is what it would be. To them as had likely seen so much death, Kaito’s take on the darkness of the world might not come across as such. And yet, it mattered not. The armor was much more of a message to the yielder rather than the beholder.

At his hip, the second generation Jagged Claw hung by the left side, while the right side held a trusty wakizashi. At the back of the belt, two weapon pouches, with two more on either leg, and one repurposed to hold pockets underneath the breastplate of the armor. Alongside the vambrace where it met the gauntlet, senbon awaited a pull to be of service. Military rations would be of use should he require a pick-me-up in the midst of whatever hell came crashing down.

As they entered the building -- and what a building, a surefire way of telling the inhabitants of the village who was in charge, those that blotted out the sun -- someone directed them to the place where a seal showed on the wall, and it would take them to the meeting. Before Kaito could wonder how it might work, the teleportation sensation almost brought Kaito’s breakfast out of him, luckily he caught it in his throat and swallowed it. Walking into the room, a figure with her back the window and a lad bowed to them, while another stood close by. Kaito responded with a curt nod of his head, a sign of respect among the warriors of his country. Someone was already sitting at the table; noting the symbol and motifs of his hat and robe, Kaito assumed this was the Hokage. He felt uneasy; when the Mizukage arrived, the two -- likely allies, even if unwillingly so -- would be a risk in Kaito’s eyes, considering they might be able to team up against everyone else while the other nations would stay each in their corners. Divide and conquer. Even though Kutari had warned Kaito not to shame them or do anything that could put Kumogakure at risk of retaliation, he couldn’t help but try and account for the possibility of danger.

And what a concept that was. Lured into a building in one of the Five Great Nations, at the mercy of the Kazekage… if that was even the Kazekage. As far as he knew these were just clones hanging around, for how could he tell this was the building they had just entered if this was his first time entering. He might like to enable his byakugan and make sure this room hadn’t been recently refurbished with double layering of explosive tags meant to plunge the world into a disorderly kageless nightmare, but one of these fuckers might be able to detect his usage of the byakugan. He couldn’t tell with powerful ninja, so he might as well not risk an incident, just in case.

What he did take issue with was the prospect of sitting down a shade away from his Kage. If he were to guard his body, he might want to stand, and not sit idly by. With that notion in mind, he gripped the chair by its back, pushed it to the side, and stood where the chair had been before, awaiting the rest of the assembly.

The Mizukage arrived with his entourage of a robed guard and an armadillo covered in leather. The Lord of the Mist appeared to be a man of Kaito’s own volition; clad in armor he was, even if he tried to hide it with his robe the characteristic clinking sounds would give it away even to the greenest of genin. He appreciated a man who didn’t risk offending a host for the sake of keeping themselves safe. And yet, when he eyed his Raikage, Kaito couldn’t help but feel a creeping sensation descend alongside the lining of his stomach; the man was dangerous, and his danger might soon find the storm lords.

Lastly, the Hogokage appeared, hailing from the illusive Star Country. Kaito knew very little, in spite of having the cadaver of a living clone of the previous Hogokage stashed away in his Corpse Storage scroll. But alas, as far as he knew, that was just the body of a Bear Country vagabond. He stood by his Raikage, standing proudly with feet spread apart at shoulder length, calves thighs and buttocks stressed, his abdomen flexed so as to support his straight posture, chest out and shoulders rolled back, his right hand gripping the wrist of his left hand behind his back, and his head facing forward.

Everything was going well so far, until the white haired spoke. Kenshin Uzumaki, a mediator for this meeting. Every nerve in his body flared up, warning him of the impending danger everyone was in. Yet, his muscles did not waver in their fortified state, as a statue he was through and through. Something his Kage caught wind of, when he asked that Kaito relaxed. He did so reluctantly, albeit he did have a point; to be so stressed would prove unproductive should a fight breakdown. He relaxed his muscles, but maintained his posture, an indication that anyone aiming for the Raikage would have to go through him first. Chances are, if they couldn’t get through Kaito, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Kage anyway.

The host started by confusing Kaito, being addressed as a Lord rather than Lady when they were a woman. Did the population of Sunagakure not know there was a female variant for the word Lord? It seemed bizarre to Kaito, and beyond the scope of his simpler mind to understand the use of such words in the presence of a perfectly valid counterpart. He wouldn’t waste too much time pondering on the reason though, as he was not here to ponder. He was here to protect.

She spoke at length about the situation Konohagakure found itself in, under the tight grip of Kirigakure, slowly being bled of resources and hope. A valid tactic, as far as Kaito saw it. Villages were, for all purposes and intents, military structures for their countries. Warfare between villages for resources, especially Ryo, seemed perfectly reasonable from a military point of view, just not an humanitarian one. She did make a point: to allow a Hokage who was not loyal to Kirigakure was a mistake, as the entire point of this summit now revealed.

The solution seemed simple in Kaito’s mind: either destroy the village and start anew, or overthrow the invaders and bring the fight to their doorstep. If the Hokage had been against this and had been able to come to this summit, why had they not been able to attack the Kirigakure?

The Hokage stared daggers at the Mizukage, who seemed to be unphased by the situation. The Hokage spoke of the death of the Will of Fire, a famous trait of the people of Konohagakure. There was the answer as to why they had not been able to fight; there were no longer great ninja within the nation, only husks. Kaito could empathize with that; he himself felt as a hollow version of what he might’ve been, if circumstances had been different, if he had been strong. It would seem one last Konohagakurian had the will to bring the fight to the village, but alas, he was no Leviathan, not a Thunder God, or a Wraith. A Boy, perhaps. The Hokage spoke a lot, but only said one thing that made any sense to the redhead: they must return to the ancestral ways, and fight for what is their right.

Kiseragi then spoke of Kumogakure’s dark past, a time in which their blind hunger for power prevented them from seeing how weak they truly were. He sung the praise of the Leviathan, which this Mizukage was not, if the literature was to be believed.

The Mizukage was a man more to Kaito’s heart; he didn’t seem to care about peace or releasing Konoha from their grip, and as compensation for doing so, all he wanted was a secret technique from every village, except Kumogakure, who should instead give the peculiar sword of the Raikage. The Mizukage did indeed have all the cards in his hand, and he played them well. At most, this meeting would serve to bring the issue into the light, but would not solve it. No village would willingly give up their secrets to save Konohagakure, no matter how pretty a song they sing about peace and unity. If peace sold so well, who was buying? The answer could be found in the ever varying price of weaponry and ore. No, peace did not sell. War, on the other hand… very lucrative.

He played a dangerous game when he flashed a three tomoed Sharingan to the room; Kaito felt weary of being put under a genjutsu, and to do so in a room such as this could be perceived as an attack, considering the Sharingan’s abilities. He prepared chakra in case he felt he had fallen under a genjutsu of the Sharingan. The Mizukage went on the point out that the Hokage had gained the rank via murder, in a similar fashion to how a Raikage might come into power. Pointing this out seemed like a weak tactic in the eyes of the warring Kaito.

The Hogokage tried to say as much, and explain that quitting while ahead is not great tragedy. Kaito would have to disagree; why quit when you are winning by such a large margin? Once again, he pondered on teh impossibility of all the nations coming together to hold the Mizukage responsible for this situation.