Chapter 168 - 166: The Summit Where Nobody Died (Disappointingly)

The Ninja Federation. The United Villages. The Shinobi Union. The Council of Kage.

The names alone made every Kage, every guard, even Hanzo, feel like the Hokage was about to drop an idea that could kick the entire world into a new shape whether it wanted to go or not.

Azula kept explaining without any dramatic pause. "The goal is to create an ultimate alliance of villages, led by elected representatives from each village, to build a prosperous shinobi world free of conflict."

On the surface, it looked like Azula had nothing to gain from a system like that. A representative from every village meant equal power for every member, at least on paper, unless there was a leader at the top.

But even a leader would have to be elected, which meant she would technically be handing over some of her own autonomy like it was a bonus prize.

But Azula had her own plan tucked away behind that smile. She watched their faces, satisfied by the genuine surprise written all over them, and she didn't elaborate further, letting the information sit there and cook in their heads.

The Third Raikage stared at her and tried to remember how many years he had been fighting wars before she was even born. 'Azula… oh Azula, just how exactly does your mind work?'

He thought he had gotten somewhat familiar with her by now, but no matter how wild he imagined her to be, he had never once pictured her standing there at her age and casually proposing to unite the entire ninja world like she was suggesting a group dinner.

"Hokage-sama, can you elaborate?" Satō asked, because even though he had a pretty good idea of what she meant, he still wanted to be absolutely sure he wasn't overthinking himself into a hole.

Azula nodded. "To put it simply, Hashirama united clans into villages, and that was the first time in the long history of shinobi that the world saw something like peace, but that peace only held for a little while before it started cracking. I'm not saying the First Hokage wasn't good enough, because he did his best and he created a new era and he stabilized it. The problem is that the second generation of Kage, the ones who should have been improving the system, regressed and launched wars just as bloody as anything from the Warring States period."

From behind her, Tobirama felt a part of his dead soul twitch in agreement. Yes, that was exactly what happened.

After his big brother was gone, all those other villages ganged up wanting to suck Konoha's blood, completely forgetting why the villages were created in the first place and who had handed them their Tailed Beasts on a silver platter.

That feeling had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that his own governing philosophy leaned a 'little' more forceful than his brother's, and that he didn't joke around with them either.

The other Kage felt the sting too. Azula had disrespected their predecessors right to their faces, and that hit Ōnoki and Satō especially hard because their villages' second-generation Kage had been their own personal sensei.

Azula paid their feelings exactly zero attention. "I assume that after this war, every village here understands that if things keep going the way they've been going, there will only be more wars, and they will keep getting bigger."

Akiko nodded unconsciously, fully on board with that conclusion.

"Of course," Azula added, "that whole scenario only works if someone like me didn't exist."

It was arrogant, but when the rest of them thought about it honestly, with Azula around, any person or village stupid enough to start a war would just be signing their own death warrant and asking for express delivery.

"Now, with the establishment of an organization charged with overseeing the shinobi world, every pointless conflict could be avoided, and there would only be more and more cooperation between the villages. Isn't that great?"

'Great my ass!' That was the sentence Ōnoki wanted to spit out, but with Azula's gaze resting squarely on him, all his face could manage was a forced smile that looked like it hurt.

"Hokage," he said, still fishing for words that wouldn't get him killed, "while your idea is revolutionary, to put it mildly, it's rather unrealistic to expect the villages to just start getting along like that after everything that has happened since the villages were founded."

No matter how much he didn't want to provoke her, Ōnoki wasn't so terrified of Azula that he had lost the ability to speak his mind.

Azula nodded to show she understood. "True, there is plenty of bad history between the villages, like between your village and Kiri, for example, where your two Kage and elites basically wiped each other out in battle."

"But when you planned to attack Uzushiogakure, did all that bad blood stop you? Why not? Because it benefited your villages, and what I'm presenting here will benefit your villages far more than you realize. Of course, if you truly don't believe that, no one will force you to join. You have my words as Azula Uchiha."

She laid the reality out for them like she was reading a menu.

And as far as Azula was concerned, this was the best offer they were ever going to get. If they were hoping she would keep chasing them and begging them to join her initiative, they could keep dreaming until they woke up broke.

Her whole 'great if you join, fine if you don't' attitude was honestly more intimidating to Ōnoki than any direct threat. The only thing he found satisfying was the thin little scrap of choice she had left them, promising no retaliation if they refused. Even if deep down he knew that refusing would just mean sitting back and watching his village slowly circle the drain.

But the other three at the summit didn't have to wrestle with it the way Ōnoki did.

"Suna has already made its intentions clear, but I want to reaffirm that we support every resolution of the Hokage, and we firmly believe Konoha will not play foul under the era of the most extraordinary Kage." Satō, having already locked in his decision to follow Konoha, once again showed off his decisive nature and actually managed to impress Azula a little.

Akiko's eye twitched. Satō had beaten her to the punch again, and she was starting to wonder if the man had any spine at all or if he just echoed whatever Azula said like a very polite parrot. But she pushed her irritation aside and moved faster than the Raikage, because someone had to.

"Kiri also supports the Hokage's initiative, and hopes that under her leadership, the shinobi world can finally know true peace." Unlike Satō, she genuinely meant every single word.

The Third Raikage, a veteran of the Warring States era who considered himself an expert at judging people, especially after trading fists with Azula, came to his own conclusion quickly.

'Whatever. I already lost, and I already bet on her, so I might as well ride this all the way to the end.' A didn't hesitate long.

"It goes without saying that Kumo also supports this idea." He threw his support on the pile, and suddenly all eyes swung toward Ōnoki like it was his turn to dance.

Ōnoki felt every one of his years pressing down on his shoulders at the same time. He considered every possible alternative to avoid falling under Konoha's claws for good, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't find a single solution. In the end, he just caved.

"Since the Kage have chosen this path, Iwa can't afford to do otherwise. So be it. Iwa also wishes to be part of this initiative."

'Alas...' Hanzo sighed internally, watching dozens of carefully crafted plans and weeks of secret letters evaporate right in front of him.

But he kept his face perfectly still, and he knew Ōnoki truly had no choice left, because Hanzo himself was already calculating how to jump into Azula's alliance the moment this meeting ended, especially after seeing just how unified her camp really was.

Azula couldn't care less about the mental gymnastics Ōnoki had just performed before making his decision. She had almost hoped he would refuse, just so he would keep doing whatever he wanted and give her something more interesting to deal with.

(END OF THE CHAPTER)