Chapter 101: 100. Off The Record

MrProper

Special shoutout to user "OAT" for buying me another coffee on...well...Ko-Fi!

The Daimyō's Bureau within Kumogakure

Tetsuo Mori and his head of security Shō were currently having a long awaited meeting with not only the Lightning Daimyō, but the Raikage, A. Along with C and Darui, their assistants Tekkan and Mabui respectively, were present as well

"Mori-dono, even after Tekkan returned, we still don't know what you really desire of us. Is the price we're offering not satisfactory?" (Daimyō)

"Considering the amount, I certainly wouldn't think so" (A)

"It's not money that's the issue, it's trust" (Tetsuo)

"I don't follow, have we not proceeded with good intentions in your eyes?" (Daimyō)

"If this is about the Oni Garrison incident, my village cannot apologize enough for-" (A)

Tetsuo raised his hand, stopping A mid sentence

"I'm not petty enough to hold grudges over that. While the oversight which led to it was indeed Kumo's fault, other issues are what concern me now" (Tetsuo)

"Such as?" (Daimyō)

"I believe in second chances and in my case, Mori Sp is mine. By some miracle, I was able to recover from that incident but I know...if I fall again, I'm not getting back up" (Tetsuo)

"We're not going to let that happen" (A)

"Oh, are you now? Kumogakure's current reputation is, for better or lack of words, shit. And regardless of whether the Hyuga Affair was your doing or not A-dono, as the leader, you bear the responsibility" (Tetsuo)

"..." (A)

"It's well known you actively participated in acquiring Jutsu and secrets as much as possible before the demilitarization went into effect. Your actions enabled the council" (Tetsuo)

Darui interjected

"Forgive me for intruding but, what does that have to do with what we're discussing now?" (Darui)

"Everything!" (Tetsuo)

"!" (Darui)

"There's a reason why Tekkan-dono has had little to no success securing a business partner for manufacturing new power cells" (Tetsuo)

"Tekkan?" (C)

"Sigh. Because of Kumogakure's misconduct during the armistice signing, pretty much all of our partnerships have been lost" (Tekkan)

"All?!" (C)

"I thought we were just losing a bit on clients for missions but-!" (Darui)

Kumogakure boasts having the best economy of all the great shinobi nations. Mostly due to their advanced technology on energy. If they were to lose even that, the village would end up in dire states to say the least

It was solely for this reason the Raikage and Daimyō were so desperate to find a new partner

And despite their situation, Tetsuo wanted them to know the one taking the biggest risk wasn't them, it was him

"In short, just money alone isn't going to cut it. The moment I start dealing with you, that'll be permanently marked on my record and if you screw up again, I'm screwed. My life is over, plain and simple. Not to mention the many employees who work for me, like Shō-san here" (Tetsuo)

"Many of Mori Sp's workers are countrymen who live outside Kumogakure and lost their jobs and/or homes due to your war. Myself included" (Shō)

"Then tell us, what do you want?" (Daimyō)

"Allow Mori Sp to oversee all of Kumogakure's supply and demand for energy" (Tetsuo)

"?!" (Daimyō)

"That's-!" (Tekkan)

"Do you understand what you're asking?!" (Daimyō)

"Yes, I do" (Tetsuo)

Everyone present nearly jumped from their seats. Being a heavily business-focused village, practically every high-ranking member of government had ties to at least one energy or power related business. Including members of the council

"Let's get a bit off the record. The council has been a pain in your ass has it not A-dono?" (Tetsuo)

"Indeed...are you suggesting I take away their power and influence by robbing them of their primary source of income?" (A)

"Money is power. Hell, that's the only reason that idiot of a Head Ninja managed to keep his position. He kept the right people happy and helped the businesses they either owned or invested in stay strong. In return, they always offered their support to him" (Tetsuo)

"And how do you know about such details of our government?" (Daimyō)

"Because I'm a businessman, obviously. Our true currency is information, and I'm quite profitable right now" (Tetsuo)

C responded with skepticism

"So you're well versed on all of our background dealings then?" (C)

"Not all, but most of them. Like how practically all your partners abandoned you after the armistice fiasco or, for example, your little Network project" (Tetsuo)

"?!" (Everyone else in the room)

"HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU-?!" (Tekkan)

"TEKKAN!" (Daimyō)

"Ah! Apologies sir!" (Tekkan)

"To answer your question, I just watched and listened. It wasn't that hard to figure out, considering the amount of funds you've been moving around. Anyone gets curious when the leaders of the village and country are packing that kind of cash, I just followed the money trail" (Tetsuo)

"So...you know-" (Daimyō)

"I only know it's something you've invested in for quite some time and that you need a new age power supply for it. Dropping this project now would no doubt be a huge loss for Kumogakure" (Tetsuo)

"Something you can supply...but you're asking quite a lot from us" (A)

"Heh! You only have a few loyal entrepreneurs supporting you now, and their 'support' for that matter, isn't very helpful to say the least" (Tetsuo)

Tetsuo stood up and walked around the room, stopping in front of a portrait depicting the first ever Five Kage Summit between the great nations

"Mori-dono?" (Daimyō)

"This is a fantastic piece. Cloud, Leaf, Stone, Mist, and Sand. As I said, my currency is information and I'm well versed in shinobi history you know. Tell me A-dono, do remember how this meeting ended?" (Tetsuo)

"...The First Hokage used the Tailed Beasts as a means of establishing a power balance between the nations for peace" (A)

"The Leaf kept the strongest, the Nine-tails, and every other nation received two to maintain the balance" (Daimyō)

"True, but that only applies to the Mist, Stone, and Cloud. They all received two beasts, but the Sand already had one in their possession. So what did the Kazekage1Wind Shadowask for instead?" (Tetsuo)

"...It was a portion of the Leaf's fertile land and 30% of whatever each nation had to pay for the beasts" (A)

"See that! Now that's asking for too much! Reto may have been the Kazekage, but he sure as hell wasn't a businessman. We all know what happened next" (Tetsuo)

The very land the First Kazekage Reto asked for would eventually fall out of his grasp and become the smaller nations of Kusagakure2Hidden Grass Village, Amegakure3Hidden Rain Village, and the recently formed Ishigakure4Hidden Rock Village

His deal would be for naught as Sunagakure5Hidden Sand Villagewould burn through the remaining funds it requested in order to keep their village's status as one of the Five Great Nations. Located on a barren desert, it possessed neither good economy, nor military strength. The only reason it hasn't been conquered already is because no village would find it profitable

The other Kage would also hold a grudge against him and his nation for demanding so much of them when they could easily crush the Sand, the weakest of the Five great nations. A grudge they kept which eventually sparked into more wars that only hurt his country

His own villagers would eventually berate him for his poor methods of negotiation as he was assassinated nearing the end of his reign

"Unlike that fool, I know when I'm asking for too much, and I'm not asking for too much. With this deal, all of Kumogakure's energy marketing will gather into one centralized establishment. And as a bonus, you undermine those you seek to undermine you A-dono" (Tetsuo)

"That's..." (A)

"Not to mention, continuing this trend would eventually grant you the ability to shrink the council, removing those parasites from their positions altogether and installing those you can trust" (Tetsuo)

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"That is true, they are real nuisance" (Daimyō)

BUMP! BUMP!

Before A could give his answer, someone knocked on the door. Mabui decided to see who it was and told A to continue. Leaving the room, a shinobi waiting gave her news she knew A didn't want to hear

Entering the room again, Mabui resumed her position and didn't say a word. Tetsuo was sitting back in his seat

Whispering "Hey, Mabui. What was that-?" (Darui)

"Not now. I'll tell you later" (Mabui)

"I'm not gonna waste anymore of your time playing hard to get. At this point, it's become obvious you already know how desperate we are Mori-dono" (A)

"In other words..." (Tetsuo)

"Kumogakure accepts your request on the condition you provide us with one of your prototypes for testing" (A)

"That's more than acceptable. In fact, I figured that's what you'd ask for and decided to bring one with me. Shō!" (Tetsuo)

"Right" (Shō)

Sho picked up a brown trunk he'd brought with him and placed it in front of the Raikage and Daimyō. Opening the trunk, what came into view was a large rectangular cube

"Oh! Is this-?!" (Daimyō)

"One our newly designed Lithium Batteries, ready and waiting for testing" (Tetsuo)

"C, Darui! Escort Mori-dono and the Daimyō-sama to Dodai's lab!" (A)

"Sir?!" (C)

"We've gone into business together, and what he wants is trust. From this moment on, Mori-dono is apart of our inner circle. Now go" (A)

"Yes sir!" (C)

"I'll handle the contract signing from here" (Daimyō)

"Just like Mori-dono implied, Kage aren't suited to be politicians. I leave the rest to you" (A)

"Tekkan!" (Daimyō)

"Already on it sir, I pretty much have everything written up. Tetsuo-dono, if you wouldn't mind taking a look before signing" (Tekkan)

"Naturally" (Tetsuo)

One by one, the occupants left the room. Only A and Mabui remained

"Spit it out" (A)

"Well sir...I..." (Mabui)

"It's just a simple mission, Rei will be fine" (A)

"Huh? Rei?" (Mabui)

"Huh?" (A)

"What are you talking about? You sent Rei on a mission?" (Mabui)

"That's...not what you were gonna ask me? I assumed you knew?" (A)

"No, I didn't know! You know he's still recovering right?!" (Mabui)

"The doctors reported he made a perfect recovery from his last mission. He'll be fine" (A)

"Maybe physically, but only God knows what he experienced" (Mabui)

"Exactly, none of us know. That's why Motoi is going on the mission with him" (A)

"You sent him with Motoi?! Sir, with all due respect...how could you of all people send him with Motoi after knowing what he tried to do to-AH! THAT'S RIGHT!" (Mabui)

"Hm? What is it now?" (A)

"Sir, what I wanted to talk to you about. I just received word about Killer B-sama" (Mabui)

A immediately stood up in surprise when the conversation shifted towards his infamous, troublemaker of a younger brother

"Apparently, he's snuck out of the village again..." (Mabui)

"..." (A)

"Sir?" (Mabui)

"THAT LITTLE IDIOT!!! HE'LL SUFFER MY IRON CLAW!!!!" (A)

"Sigh..." (Mabui)

A's roars resounded throughout the entire building

♦♦♦

The Hokage's office in Konohagakure

The current leader of the village, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, was addressing two shinobi in private. Their outfits identified them as members of the covert unit known as the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai6Special Assassination and Tactical Squador ANBU for short

"Thank you for coming on such short notice" (Hiruzen)

"It's no trouble"

"We're simply doing our duty"

"What's going on?"

"Kids" (Hiruzen)

"?"

"You see...kids these days talk a lot. So much that a...rumor of sorts has reached even my ears" (Hiruzen)

"...Gossip is it?"

"What kind of rumor?"

"The kind that may suggest where a certain snake may hide" 

"?!"

"This certain snake...must've cause quite the stir"

"This snake tends to dwell in the dark, which is why I thought it best to send you two" (Hiruzen)

"...And where exactly would this rumor take us?"

"Uncharted territory, west of some really nice Hot Springs. Can I entrust this task to you two?" (Hiruzen)

"We'll leave at once and find out if kids are reliable these days"

"Thank you. If it truly is there, I'll personally handle removing it so no one else gets...bitten by it" (Hiruzen)

WHOOSH!

The two anbu vanished without a trace

{I may finally have a chance to correct my mistake. May fortune favor you...} (Hiruzen)

Hiruzen rose from his desk chair and looked out the window behind him. The view overtook the entire village

{Kakashi...Shisui!}

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