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SIX MONTHS AFTER ATTACK ON KONOHA: BUNPUKU THE MONK
"The elders said I should inform you of their decision," he heard her voice again as it intruded on his meditation. Meditation that had become both more and less necessary in the months since he had broken his oath to remain in the kettle. Less necessary because it was much easier to suppress Shukaku's hatred now than it had ever been. Their relationship had shifted since the seals had been taken in. Shukaku, his friend, had taken the cursed seals, and turned them to something that bolstered Bunpuku's strength. Now power flowed straight into and through him at all times.
On the other hand, his meditation had become even more necessary for managing his own power. Just like the Sage of Six Paths had taught. Balance, in all things. His greater power meant he could now more easily keep Shukaku leashed, but said greater power now required even more attention to manage it and keep it in check than Shukaku did. For example, he knew that if he allowed Mina's distraction to make his hold on his power slip, she would fall unconscious just from being so close to him.
"And I informed them already. I am a Monk. I have taken an oath of non-violence. I will not head a ninja village," he said.
"They increased the base salary and even said they'd build a bigger manor for you as the Kazekage," she replied. Bunpuku scoffed. Of course those tethered to the world could not imagine how one who was removed from such chains like he was would see things.
"I still have no interest in ruling a ninja village, girl," he said before returning to his meditation.
He sat, simply feeling the power that coursed into his body and merged with his own before settling into his chakra pool before leaving with his breath as even more power came in. He knew the excess was being taken in by Shukaku. That was the only way having hundreds of cursed seals on his person had not killed him. He wondered what the power was doing to Shukaku even now. His friend was quiet— seemingly asleep, but Bunpuku knew that the tailed beast did not sleep. Not truly, at least.
When he finished, it was to find Mina still in the room.
"Did I not give you a reply already?" He wondered if he had accidentally replied in his head only and not through his mouth. So much time spent with only Shukaku for company had led to some bad habits for sure. And even worse, this particular habit wasn't a recent one. It had plagued him since the day he had been born into this incarnation in the eternal circle.
"You did," she said.
"And you are still here," he commented.
"They wanted me to convince you," she said.
"My yes is my yes. My no is my no." He did not know what the shinobi took him for but he had little interest in finding out. He had one friend in their number, and Shamon was dead. If he could have sealed himself back into his kettle, he would have. Unfortunately, the kettle refused to even attempt holding him with all the power coursing through him now.
It had been a tight fit with just Shukaku contributing the bulk of the power. Now, Bunpuku on his own was as powerful as the tailed beast had been. It was best not to try. He had lost enough, and while he was not one who prided himself on physical attachments, he would mourn the kettle if it was ever destroyed.
Even more so if he was the one who did the act himself.
"I agree. But I think you and the council are misunderstanding each other."
"How so? I have no desire to rule a ninja village, like I have told you already."
"And the council has no desire of having our village ruled by a monk, to be honest. They are not stupid, you know?" she said.
"So why do they pester me with their constant offers if they wish not for me to accept them?" he asked. He could not understand shinobi. Why could they just not learn to say what they meant when they meant it and leave things as such?
"No, you're getting it wrong. They want you to accept."
Bunpuku did not cut in now. Patience was a virtue ranking above curiosity, so instead of pestering her with clarifying questions, he settled to watch and wait.
"They want you to be Kazekage, but not to rule. There's no one else in the village even close to being as strong as you are. With the power you have, you could end fights before they even begin."
"They seek to use me as a weapon." He had heard this argument before. Even Shamon had not been able to convince him to abandon his oaths so thoroughly. Bunpuku doubted this council would succeed.
"No. More like a deterrent. They don't want you to fight. They don't want Suna to fight. No one wants us to fight. Even with your help, we lost so many to Konoha's attack that we're in danger of ceasing to exist."
"A pacifist as a Kage. Is such a thing even possible?"
"With how strong you are, everything is possible. They want you to make sure the other villages don't get any ideas of coming after us while we remain weak. Also, having you as Kage means they can take the time looking for a more permanent candidate for the role instead of having to rush to fill it," she said.
"Hmmm. These are all good arguments but I still have no interest in doing such," he said.
"I feared you would say that," she said.
"Is this now where your council would have you threaten me?" he asked, feeling amusement creep up even despite his usual detachment.
"No. No, of course not. They aren't stupid. What could any of us do to threaten you? You are so much stronger than us that we want to make you our Kage even though you aren't a shinobi. What would make you think that we would want to threaten you into doing our will?"
"So how do you intend to convince me then, because something tells me that you will not be leaving things just as they are?"
"I will not be convincing you. Just giving this to you," she said, pulling out a scroll from her pocket.
"What is this?"
"Nidaime-sama left a letter. A letter that was supposed to go to Tetsuo of the Iron Sands if he had perished during the Konoha negotiations."
"So why are you giving this to me? Hand it over to its intended recipient. Have the role of Kage do the same as well," he said, now fully pushed to his feet and beginning to walk out of the room. A change of scenery would do him good, he thought. Besides, there was a sandstorm brewing and it would be a good test to see if he could still it.
"Tetsuo of theIron Sands was one of those who died before you were able to help. He had been the Nidaime-sama's chosen successor," she said.
"May the winds guide his soul home." He paid his respects, still about to leave.
"Just read it. Just read what your friend intended for his last words to be. If you still wouldn't take the position, then by all means. But I think you owe it to your friend to at least read what he had to say," she said. And what arguments could Bunpuku have in the face of that? He stretched out a hand for the scroll, accepting it, before beginning to read.
XXXXX- SHORIRAMA SENJU— EIGHTEEN MONTHS SINCE THE ATTACK ON KONOHA
"Daimyo-dono," I said in greeting as I inclined my head on entering the room.
"Hokage-dono," he reciprocated, rising from his seat to welcome me.
"Please take a seat. Would you like some tea, or sake?" he asked. "I have some sake from the Land of Rice fields, a favourite of your Granduncle's, if I am not mistaken."
"Just tea would be fine, Daimyo-dono," I said.
"That works just as well," he said, rising and beginning to go through the tea ceremony. The room was empty but for the two of us. His guardian shinobi were hidden in the ceiling, I could tell from the weight placed on it at points, but I doubted he himself knew. It was probably an arrangement made for his safety while allowing him to have the illusion of privacy regardless.
"So how have things been? How long has it been since we last spoke?" he asked.
"Six months, Daimyo-dono. Things continue to proceed at pace. As you know, the Hokage tower was completed at your last visit, and we completed the transition and decommissioning of the old tower. We have also been able to graduate one more class of genin. The last class we will be having before the imposition of the new curriculum, so we can expect to not have any graduations for the next two years or so. The rest of the village remains as always," I said.
"Indeed. I did enjoy getting to see your new tower. What an impressively modern building," he said.
"You do not approve, Daimyo-dono?"
"It is better to say I find myself jealous than anything else. My legitimacy lies in tradition more than anything else. If I tried to do something as significant as change the Daimyo's palace, I would probably have to put down two rebellions in the next years," he said.
"Konoha is always at your service should anyone get any ideas, Daimyo-dono."
"Indeed. But a fight never fought is a wiser one than one won," he said. I nodded, pretending to agree. In truth, there were some fights that just needed fighting. Later this week, I would be embarking on one of those after all.
"It is better not to tempt them with an opening," he said.
"So you must be wondering why I have summoned you here, Hokage-dono."
"Yes, Daimyo-dono," I said, accepting the cup as he finally offered it to me. I took the first sip slowly and delicately as was custom before I lowered it and nodded. A smile split my counterpart's face at the approval. And I wasn't even lying. The tea was quite good. Some of the best I had ever had.
"Thank you, Daimyo-dono," I said.
"You are welcome, Hokage-dono. Now as to why I have summoned you here, the subject of our discussion is to be taxation."
"Taxation? Konoha does not pay taxes, Daimyo-dono."
"Correct, but that was due to a series of temporary exemptions that happen to have stacked onto each other to the point that they have lasted this long, but they were only intended to exist until the village managed to get onto its feet, and you and I can agree that your village has managed to find its feet and then some," he said.
"Taxes still feel unnecessary, Daimyo-dono. Have we not been useful enough to you? I would say that the other contributions Konoha has made to the Land of Fire far outweigh what could have been gained from levying taxes on us. For example, we increased your territory by half again with the annexation of the Land of Grass. That expansion alone brings in more tax income in a year than Konoha could contribute in a decade of taxes," I said.
"And while I remain ever grateful for that, the other nobles and towns are beginning to whisper of special treatment being given to you and yours at their expense."
"Konoha is more useful than all of them combined."
"I did not dispute that, but taxation is not a question of usefulness. It is a question of paying your fair share," he said.
"And Konoha pays her fair share in ways worth more than gold. Need I remind you of specific instances, Daimyo-dono? When your second wife attempted to secure missing nin to assassinate your first, or when your sixth son got it in his head that he ought to assassinate all his seniors, who was there to foil those plots and give you the truth of things?" I began, not saying anything about how Konoha had subtly orchestrated those events to prove our usefulness. Shika had planned it all just for a situation like this one if it ever arose.
"And I am ever grateful, but this is a different matter," he started, but I cut in.
"When your own eldest began to plot a coup with your advisors and counsellors, who was there to prevent any of it from moving forwards and uncovering the whole plot and preventing scandal?" I asked again. This one had been excellent work from Inoken in planting the right ideas in the relevant people. We had been able to get rid of all the anti-Konoha advisors while also ensuring that the Prince who seemed to not have Konoha's best interests in mind would never get to inherit the position of Daimyo. It had been a masterstroke. But clearly not enough.
"Did I not thank you profusely enough for all those actions? If I remember clearly, my treasury compensated you handsomely for every intervention. Now I ask that you do the same," he said.
"Konoha is not ready to pay taxes. Such a thing could stifle our growth and prevent us from being in a position where we can deal with future threats to your position should they arise," I said, adding a weight to my tone that I knew he would not miss.
"Do you mean to threaten me, Hokage-dono?"
"Of course not. I just merely think that if you want Konoha focused on raising funds to pay the taxes you require, then the shinobi I have presently allocated to watching and keeping both you and your family safe would need to be reassigned. It is no threat, Daimyo-dono. It is just the reality of things," I said, threatening him and lying about it through my teeth.
"I see. And you insist that there is no level of taxation that would be unobtrusive enough to allow you to continue to maintain my security and still pay it? Because I find that proposition impossible to believe, Hokage-dono," he said.
"It is not a matter of such. The missions to handle your security are paid for out of Konoha's purse at a base of C-rank. If we wanted to be able to pay taxes to you while still maintaining our present rate of development we would need to increase our cut of mission pay. Our shinobi would be paid less, then, and the higher ranked ones will take higher ranked missions to maintain their earnings. In that case, the only shinobi we would be able to allocate such missions to would be lower ranked and thus less effective shinobi," I said.
"So what would you have me do? Because you cannot be seen to not be contributing your fair share," he said, and I smiled inwardly but said nothing. This had been a situation we had been prepared for for months now. Especially since we could see that the original agreement with Hashirama had run out a decade ago, and the extensions Granduncle had been able to get were up for renewal each year. It did actually say something that he did not bring this up until now. He had probably done his best to give us as much time as he could.
"I understand your position, Daimyo-sama. At present, Konoha charges none of the trade that the civilian merchants do within our walls. With your leave, we would charge a seven-point-five percent tax, and remit half of that to the Capital while keeping half as administrative fees for administering, levying, and collecting the tax," I said.
The Daimyo looked at me for a long second, seeming to work things over in his mind before he suddenly barked out a laugh.
"So how long have you had that in mind?" he asked.
"I have no idea what you mean, Daimyo-dono," I deflected.
"Indeed," he said sarcastically.
"Just as crafty as that granduncle of yours. Well done. The proposal is satisfactory, except you shall only keep one quarter for administration and remit the rest," he said next.
I nodded. It was not much of an imposition. One quarter of the sum would still be enough to cover the costs, and I didn't particularly need the funds from taxing the merchants to keep the village on course. The money we had stolen from Iwa and the increased incomes from missions meant we were sitting on a good amount of gold, and we had the resources to do whatever we needed for the time being.
"That is acceptable, Daimyo-dono."
"Of course it is. Now tell me how my son is doing?" he asked, referring to his first born.
"He remains under house arrest. Like you instructed, he is free to spend his days as he wishes as long as he does not leave the hotel he resides in, and his access to outside influences is limited."
"Has he found anything productive to do with his time? Any signs of repentance?"
"If you call attempting to sleep with the entire escort population of Tanzaku-Gai productive, then yes. There is no repentance so far. He has so far attempted to bribe three of my agents into smuggling him out of the hotel," I said, and this time I was even speaking the truth. The Prince had not taken well to confinement.
A/N: Some time jumps here and there to cover a few things.Next six up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early– 15% discount for a limited time.