"What do you all think of these new laws Azula's trying to shove down our throats?" Hisoto asked, watching the nine faces arranged around the room.
The assembly hall was one of the oldest structures in the Hyūga compound, its wooden beams darkened by decades of incense smoke.
The walls were lined with scrolls nobody had opened in generations, records of bloodlines and branch family lineages that stretched back to before the village had a name.
Except for two of them, every other person wore the exact same expression, like someone had reached into their pockets and made off with something precious.
Years of rigid self-control kept them seated, but the fury was there.
Hiashi and Hizashi were the only ones whose faces didn't match the rest after their father spoke. They looked worried instead.
Hiashi sat perfectly straight, his hands folded in his lap with the kind of discipline drilled into him since he could walk. But the slight furrow between his brows betrayed him. Hizashi, seated half a step behind his brother as always, wore a similar expression, only appearing more tired.
He'd been training with the branch family guards before this meeting, and he still had dirt under his fingernails. He hadn't had time to clean them before their father summoned them here.
The one who answered was Hisashi. "Hmph. Our clan's traditions were ancient before this village was even imagined. Hashirama and Tobirama both wanted to meddle, and they couldn't do it. Now some brat thinks she can?"
Hisashi was the former patriarch, the man who'd stared down Hashirama and Tobirama's pressure back-to-back and come out with the clan intact.
He believed his son, the current head, could do the same.
The pecking order in the room was clear. Hisoto, the patriarch, sat at the top. His seat was raised slightly above the others, a reminder of authority that nobody in this room needed but everyone expected.
Right below him was his father, Hisashi, ex-patriarch and head of the elders.
Then the rest of the elders filled in the gaps, five clan elders arranged by age and influence, their white eyes reflecting the firelight like polished stones.
Hiashi and Hizashi didn't have any real standing yet, neither of them sat among the elders, they were just the future patriarch and the future head of the branch family respectively. They'd been told to attend as a lesson, not as participants.
"A brat?" One of the elders shot back without missing a beat. "Are you seriously calling the Fourth Hokage a brat because of her age?"
"Hisashi, since when did you get this senile?"
The man speaking was Hiroshi, same generation as the former patriarch, and head of the clan's pacifist faction. His mouth had never quite gotten the memo about his pacifist politics.
His tongue had been sharp enough to draw blood since before Hisoto was old enough to hold a kunai.
The two of them, Hiroshi and Hisashi, had been circling each other like old wolves since they were young men running missions together during the Warring States period.
Hisashi wasn't pissed off like one might expect. He and Hiroshi had been at each other's throats for fifty years now.
If the old man hadn't changed the way he talks in all that time, he sure as hell wasn't going to start just because he's got one foot in the grave. He'd heard worse from Hiroshi over morning tea.
"If she's not a brat, then why's she coming up with such naive plans? What, she thinks being strong means she can do whatever she wants?" Hisashi shot back.
Just because he didn't give a damn about his old 'friend's tone didn't mean he was about to let it slide.
"Hmph." Hiroshi was even more annoyed at Hisashi now. "Did you forget why we joined Konoha in the first place? It's a village built on the Uchiha and Senju alliance, Madara and Hashirama. Or did you forget the shock of watching their fight from miles away with the Byakugan?"
The room went quiet.
"Back then, every clan knew that if those two became allies, nobody in the ninja world would stand a chance against them. That's why every single clan in the Land of Fire jumped to join the second they got the invitation."
Hiroshi's voice had dropped, losing some of its sharpness and gaining something heavier. Memory. "We didn't join because we wanted to. We joined because the alternative was being crushed between two forces we couldn't hope to match. That's not opinion. That's history."
Hiashi and Hizashi knew the story of how Konoha was founded, they'd been drilled on it since they were old enough to memorize the clan's oral histories, but they'd never heard it laid out that bluntly. Especially not from one of their own clan elders.
Hiashi's eyes flicked to his father, then back to Hiroshi, his mind visibly working through the implications.
The other elders weren't thrilled either. What Hiroshi was really saying was that their proud Hyūga clan had bowed down to the Uchiha and Senju.
Sure, he was wrapping it in pretty words about survival and pragmatism, but the meat of it was the same.
They'd knelt, accepted terms, put their precious Byakugan under the authority of outsiders because the alternative wasn't something anyone is willing to think about.
A few of the elders exchanged glances, their expressions souring further. But Hiroshi couldn't care less about their feelings. He'd made peace with being the unpopular voice in this room decades ago.
"Back then, they promised not to mess with any clan's traditions or force them to hand over their secret techniques. That includes us." He paused, letting the words land. "Yeah, Hashirama wasn't happy with us. That idealistic man wanted everyone holding hands and singing songs around a campfire. But the guy kept his word. Whatever he thought of our ways in private, he never once tried to force our hand. And Tobirama? He had a war on his hands without time to stir up trouble inside the village."
They didn't even mention Hiruzen. In their minds, you could give the old man a thousand courage talks and he'd still never dare meddle in clan business.
Hiroshi sighed, the kind of exhale that carried decades of exhaustion. "Sure, Azula's not on Hashirama or even Madara's level in raw power yet. But in every other department, politics, scheming, finances, she's got them beat by a mile. And even on the power front, it's just a matter of time. She's young. She'll get the Mangekyō. She's got allies in every corner of the village and beyond. She's already stronger than the Third Raikage, and everyone in this room knows what that means."
"You can disagree all you want, but do not underestimate Azula. Otherwise your baseless arrogance will drag this whole clan down with you."
Silence settled back into the room. Each person lost in their own thoughts, especially Hisashi, who looked like he was remembering the old days.
Hiashi risked a glance at his twin. Hizashi met his eyes for just a fraction of a second, and in that exchange passed a whole conversation neither of them would ever speak aloud in this room.
They'd grown up in Azula's shadow. They'd watched her at the same age as Fugaku and Nawaki climbing from academy prodigy to war hero to Hokage with a speed that didn't make sense unless you understood that she'd been planning every step since before she could walk.
They weren't old enough to know Hashirama or Madara, but they'd see Azula's chakra flare when angry.
"So what does the esteemed elder Hiroshi propose?" Hisoto asked, tone dripping with respect, but the question itself was pure poison.
Hisoto had learned politics at his father's knee, and he knew exactly how to frame a question so that answering it became a trap. If Hiroshi spoke in favor of compliance, he'd look weak. If he spoke in favor of resistance, he'd be contradicting his own warnings about Azula's strength.
Hiroshi knew the score. He'd been playing these games since before Hisoto was born. If he suggested backing Azula, he'd probably get frozen out of future discussions, his voice sidelined in the name of clan unity. If he suggested anything else...
He just sighed and shook his head, saying nothing. The silence itself was his answer, and everyone in the room understood it. He couldn't win, so he wouldn't play.
"The best move, I suppose, is to build alliances," Hisoto offered his take, smoothly stepping into the gap Hiroshi had left. "Whoever Azula's going after right now, she's probably stepping on nearly every clan's toes, not just ours. The Nara are in her pocket, sure, and the Yamanaka and Akimichi will follow wherever Shikoku leads them. But the others smaller clans who don't have a genius advisor whispering in the Hokage's ear would be afraid. And fearful people make useful allies."
"And there's no denying that before we ever joined the village, an agreement was made. The village doesn't get to interfere with clan affairs. Azula wants to rewrite those rules. But she'll have to rewrite them over the objections of every clan that values its sovereignty. We won't be standing alone."
Hiashi and Hizashi watched their father with complicated looks, but neither seemed surprised that he'd support going against the Fourth Hokage. Hisoto had never been the type to bow his head.
He'd inherited Hisashi's stubbornness without the decades of experience that taught a man when stubbornness became suicide.
The twins had grown up watching their father navigate clan politics with a kind of cold precision that left no room for doubt about where he stood. The only question was whether standing against Azula was courage or a death sentence.
•••
•••
(Amegakure)
"Lord Hanzo, we've just received two more letters from Iwa and Suna." Kanzō handed over the scrolls, one marked with Suna's emblem and the other with Iwa's.
Kanzō's hands were steady as he presented them, the hands of a man who'd served Hanzo long enough to know that trembling in front of his master was a quick way to lose fingers.
Hanzo took them feeling something complicated shift in his chest. He never would've believed that those two villages, his greatest enemies not so long ago, could one day become his strongest backers and closest allies.
Suna had tried to invade his country three times, Iwa had sent assassins after him personally, twice. He'd killed every single one of them and sent their headbands back to Ōnoki in a box with no note.
And now, they were writing him letters full of respect and offers and the kind of diplomatic language that tasted like honey and hid poison underneath. The ninja world made less sense every year.
'That's the ninja world for you. No permanent enemies, just benefits and survival.' He steadied himself with that thought before breaking the seals.
Kanzō stood there waiting for instructions, his posture straight, his eyes fixed on a point just over Hanzo's shoulder. But Hanzo was already reading, the rest of the room forgotten.
It was the Iwa letter, diving straight in without preamble, which didn't surprise Hanzo at all given this was their seventh exchange. Ōnoki had never been one for flowery introductions.
["Hanzo-dono, it is with the utmost attention that we have reviewed your last message and the conditions you've put forward."]
Standard opening. But Hanzo could read between the lines. Ōnoki was acknowledging his terms without pushing back, which meant he was either desperate or had already decided to agree. Either way, it put Hanzo in a stronger position than he'd been in a week ago.
["The Fourth Hokage moves fast, far too fast. Several influential clans, including some inside Konoha itself, are deeply unhappy with how she's trampling the founding agreements that guaranteed their autonomy. If we want to protect our own prerogatives, the time to speak with one voice is now."]
Hanzo's eyes lingered on that line. Clans inside Konoha, unhappy. Everyone had heard rumors about it. The Hyūga were practically broadcasting their discontent to anyone with ears.
But seeing it confirmed in writing from the Tsuchikage himself, who presumably had spies feeding him better intelligence than Hanzo could afford, made it real.
["On a personal note, I worry about Azula Uchiha's youth and ambition. I've seen enough prodigies burn up in the fire of their own convictions. But I also know how to spot a blade that's being sharpened too quickly. Better to limit its reach today than to try and dodge it tomorrow."]
["For this reason, I approve a new Kage summit, on the condition that it's held in Ame and that you stand as its witness."]
This was exactly the first phase of their plan against Konoha, starting with a summit and testing the waters.
Get all five Kage in one room, on neutral ground, with Hanzo as the guarantor of security. It gave them legitimacy and cover. And it put Azula in a position where she'd have to answer for her reforms in front of an audience that was already predisposed to see her as a threat.
If she handled it badly, they'd have ammunition. If she handled it well... well, that was why they were having the pre-summit meeting first.
Hanzo skimmed through the rest of the letter quickly, taking in the Third Tsuchikage's various proposals. Trade agreements, mutual defense pacts, a unified front on the clan autonomy issue. Ōnoki had been busy. The man had laid out a framework for cooperation that went far beyond just complaining about Konoha.
He was talking about building an alternative power structure, one that could stand up to whatever Azula was planning. Hanzo had to respect the ambition even as he noted the risks. Aligning too closely with Iwa meant making enemies of their enemies, and right now that list included both Konoha and Kumo, most likely Kiri too, Konoha's puppet.
Until he reached the final lines.
["Lastly, we have received discreet assurances from our Daimyō. Should these discussions lead to concrete measures, material support, medicine, metals, supplies, could be routed to Ame with no immediate compensation required. Consider this a token of our seriousness."]
Supplies, medicine and metals. The things his country desperately needed and could never produce enough of on its own.
Ame was a rain-soaked strip of land wedged between nations that wanted to carve it up like a feast. They had water, strategic position, Hanzo's poison and Hanzo's reputation. But they didn't have iron mines or fertile farmland or the kind of wealth that made a village prosper.
["Ōnoki, Third Tsuchikage"]
By the end, a smile had crept onto Hanzo's face, one he didn't bother trying to hide. "Once this is done, Ame's standing in the ninja world is going to become something else entirely."
His voice was low, almost reverent. He'd spent his whole career fighting to keep his country from being made a puppet by the great powers.
Now those same powers were coming to him, asking for his help, offering him resources and recognition and a seat at the table. It was everything he'd ever wanted, wrapped up in a package that would also let him stick a knife in Konoha's side.
The symmetry was almost poetic.
Kanzō, who hadn't read the letter, didn't know the details of what Hanzo was talking about, but he had a rough idea. This wasn't their first exchange, after all.
He'd been the one receiving the letters and delivering the responses, playing messenger between Hanzo and two Kage who would've happily seen him dead a year ago. The irony wasn't lost on him.
He just didn't comment on it. Commenting on things was a quick way to stop being useful, and being useful was the only thing keeping him alive.
Luckily for him, before Hanzo dove into Suna's letter, he handed over Iwa's without looking up.
"Read it and tell me what you think." Hanzo ordered, his attention already fixed on the next scroll.
Kanzō took the Iwa letter with both hands, his eyes already scanning the first lines. He read standing up, his posture unchanged, only the movement of his gaze betraying that he was absorbing information at all.
Hanzo turned his attention to the Suna scroll, the characters neat and precise but somehow sharper than Ōnoki's cramped handwriting.
["To the attention of Lord Hanzo of the Salamander,"]
The title made him snort softly. Lord Hanzo of the Salamander. He remembered when the same Kazekage had called him 'the tyrant of the rain' in a speech not long ago.
["Your response was delivered on time and we thank you for your diligence. Preparations are proceeding as planned. Suna supports the choice of Amegakure as neutral ground and pledges to strictly respect your security protocols for the entire duration of the summit."]
Good. Suna was playing ball. Hanzo had expected as much, the Kazekage was in a weaker position than Ōnoki and knew it, but having it in writing was another layer of security. If anything went wrong during the summit, he had written proof that both villages had agreed to his terms.
["I believe the Fourth Hokage's recent initiatives warrant a frank discussion, stripped of the usual pleasantries that paralyze our meetings. The student exchange program Konoha forced on Kumo is a clear signal: if we don't react, in five years our own youth will dream of wearing Konoha's headband instead of ours."]
Such a big cooperation between Kumo and Konoha wasn't hidden, also the thing that warranted this cooperation in the first place.
Hanzo noted that the Third Kazekage was far more direct than Ōnoki, without dancing around anything or carefully hedged language about "concerns" and "potential outcomes."
["We propose, ahead of the official summit, a brief tripartite meeting between Ame, Iwa, and Suna. This would allow us to align our positions and prevent the discussions from being hijacked by those who, whether in Konoha or elsewhere, never stop saying 'cooperation' without ever paying its price."]
A pre-summit meeting. Hanzo had seen that coming. It was standard practice in any negotiation worth the name.
Get your allies in a room, figure out what you all wanted, and make sure nobody was going to stab anyone else in the back before the main event. The phrasing was interesting though. "Those who never stop saying cooperation."
That was a shot at Konoha and probably Kumo too, given the exchange program.
["To demonstrate our good faith, Suna is prepared to deposit a portion of its gold as collateral into a shared fund meant to finance protection missions along the trade routes crossing the Land of Rain. We understand Ame's geographic position is both a blessing and a curse. This tangible gesture will prove to all that our alliance is more than ink on a scroll."]
Money. Cold, hard gold, offered up without even being asked. What better way to put Hanzo in an even better mood?
The Kazekage was practically throwing his wallet at Hanzo's feet and calling it a gesture of good faith. Hanzo knew it was a bribe. He knew Suna was buying his loyalty, or at least his cooperation, for as long as the gold held out.
But he also knew that gold could build roads and buy food and pay for the kind of defenses that would make Ame untouchable. If accepting a bribe meant securing his country's future, he'd accept it with a smile.
["Lastly, allow me a word of advice, Hanzo-dono. Verify the identity of every delegation twice before admitting them into your compound. The Sharingan is not the only eye that knows how to deceive. We've intercepted troubling rumors concerning suspicious fund movements toward your country. It would be a shame for a mole to ruin such a fine opportunity."]
["Rest assured of our esteem."]
["The Kazekage"]
[END OF THE CHAPTER]
Very late, sorry, and shout-out to Light YGI for a great idea.