Episode 4.8: Stand Unrivaled - Reject the World
FortePlus
The THRILL from Green Hill
- Location
- Toronto
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Together.
Together.
Together. We can move forward.
Some part of you says to weigh this a lot more. It says to be rational about it. Consider the risks and if they outweigh the possible rewards.
You are told that war is not an easy thing. You shouldn't launch into it as an act of defiance. It is brutal. It serves only as an endgame. Do you want to be responsible for the ordinary people being trampled? Do you want to be responsible for the misery and suffering that is sure to come? Do you want to be responsible for the darkness?
Do you want to be the reason for war?
You were built for this.
Like your mothers and fathers before you. You are a child of the gennohito, the first warriors that walked this earth, the ones who built and ruled and still rule for generations that number in the hundreds. Without chakra, they are awe-inspiring.
With chakra, they are transcendent.
You carry the blessing of a name. A title that comes to all those enlightened, but which was given to you before you were born. Out of the earth, from your mother, blessed as a queen, and united with the strength of your father, blessed as a king. From your many mothers and fathers, the title that they claim with 360 degrees of godhood: God Cipher Divine.
And you, who know yourself, hold that title too.
By now, Hannah's tears have dried. She looks at you once more with understanding, and then realization starts to spark and grow in her eyes. She sees that you've chosen a path with confidence.
"I'm going to give you your wish, Hannah."
"Delivering yet another dream to me. You spoil me. You fill my heart to bursting, over and over. Thank you...I will take this chance. I will make it blossom...I will change this world, with you by my side."
You return your attention to the table, looking out at the Five Kage as they sit and wait. With a sharp breath out, you focus on the Raikage.
"My choice is to fight for what I believe in. I won't go anywhere with you under duress. I won't give in to your threats."
A looks down on you. "You've made a grave mistake, boy. You doom the shinobi world and yourself with this selfishness."
"I know who I am, and I know my value. I'm going to change this world, and if it means fighting you every day of my life, then that's what I'll do. I'll challenge you, and I'll win. I promise, Raikage."
"My beloved has spoken," Hannah says clearly. "The man who opened my heart, and allowed me to see a beautiful future for myself, and this world. We are those of the light, chosen of heaven, children of Almighty God. I reject you shinobi, and I reject your world. I promise to challenge you, and I promise to shout victory when this war ends."
"Unfortunate," Rasa says.
"On the name of Hokage, and on my name as Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash. I promise to stand behind these children and guide them forward into the future. I believe in a better world. I choose to put myself on the line."
"On the name of Mizukage, and on my name as Mei Terumi, the Crimson Devil. I promise to stand beside these children and walk with them, into a better, brighter world. We chosen of heaven are going to fulfil our duty, and bring this darkened world into the light."
"Then this meeting is over. The lines have been drawn. Hokage, I stand disappointed in you," A says. "And Mizukage, you are a fool. I will become a terror the likes you would have never seen from Yagura. Your village will soon be crushed for your insolence, and I will teach you to fear my fury."
"Then once the tournament ends, we'll see each other next on the battlefield. I want you to understand, A...I'm not the Yellow Flash you knew from before. I'm just as much of a monster as you."
"Hmph. We will see, then." A gets up and his bodyguards follow suit. "The tournament should be completed without incident. I will wait until I return home before figuring out how to divide your countrymen for use."
"By all means. I'm sure you have enough experience with failed plans for the Leaf."
"..." A is silent as he leaves, escorted by two ANBU who emerge from the far side of the room.
"I must say, it is disappointing. Such talent shouldn't be wasted," Rasa says to Hannah as he stands. "If you change your mind, there's always a place for you in the Hidden Sand."
"So you can leash me like a bitch, and step on my back at your pleasure. If I were into that sort of play, I have much better options, Kazekage. A word of advice: author a prayer for yourself, that I not come within striking distance of your shambolic little village. I make no promises that it won't be left as an empty, blood-caked dustbowl in my wake."
"Bold statement for someone who wished so dramatically for peace."
"Not quite. Ending war means ending the warmongers. You happen to qualify. In war, we do not get to pick and choose who the innocent are when we do battle. The heavens will sort that much out."
"Are you...quite ready to endure? To take the burden of war upon your shoulders? You will not be remembered as heroes. Perhaps not remembered at all," Pakura says.
"This is so. However, as my friend has said in the past...we are not heroes, nor do we pose as them. The folly of heaven sits beyond the wisdom of man. We do not seek validation from shinobi."
"Call us devils. We're ready for it," you follow. "We can carry the burden, together."
She closes her eyes and nods. "Then we'll see the truth of your conviction on the battlefield. Until then."
The Kazekage and his entourage leave.
"Well, that was more than enough excitement for one day. I must say, you were more sincere than I first realized, Mizukage. To so easily put your village in danger for two budding renegades like that," Oonoki says.
"They're more than worth it."
"Really? I figured you would be more worried about marrying and making sure you had a heir before throwing yourself into another war."
"Hmph. Marriage can wait this time. There are things of greater importance, as hard as it might be for you to believe."
"Ha! Well, if you change your minds about your ambitious plans, my office door is open. I'll try not to pull anything too underhanded while you're gone...Akatsuchi, Kitsuchi. Time for us to leave. We have plenty to go over before we get home..."
The Tsuchikage floats up and out of his chair before leaving with his bodyguards.
That just leaves the ten of you.
"War won't be starting just yet," Minato says. "We have time to get out in front of this whole mess. The tournament will be spread out over a week, more or less. Saturday for the opening round, then Wednesday for the semifinals, and then next Saturday for the grand finals. Normally we don't have such a gap, but the daimyo insisted collectively."
"More money, I suppose," Mei says.
"Pretty much. It's not a bad thing, really. The kids get more time to rest too, instead of cramming it into one day. Doesn't do much for the endurance testing, but this is pretty much a spectacle event anyways, so having them in better condition makes for better fights."
"I don't think about it too much...this kind of thing between children."
"Normal, but that's what it is. We can change that in time, maybe get rid of it if people want, but I doubt it. Non-lethal sparring one day? I can see something like that catching on. But the shinobi life is hard, and these kinds of events make the danger evident. Hopefully as the world changes, we can too."
"Agreed." Mei turns and gives you a smile. "As I said, I have no regrets when it comes to standing with you two. I really do admire your bravery."
"As do I. Though I would have to test your ability in conflict," Blues says, speaking for the first time. "The word is strong, but the sword must be sharp as well."
"Ah...I think you'll have a chance to get what you want soon enough," Minato says to her. "In any case, we're allies now. So you can request the data you need."
"Many thanks, Lord Hokage. Our resources are available upon request as well. Lady Mizukage, we must be going. Our scheduled meeting is coming up soon."
"Mm. I almost forgot in this chaos. Thank you, Blues."
"Of course. To serve you is my reason for being."
"Well, you're not that boring. But I appreciate you. Yes, it's time to go for now. Hokage, shall we set up a formal meeting later?"
"Sure. We can talk on Saturday about it and go over details."
"Excellent. Then we'll see each other at the tourney. Thank you again for joining with me," Mei says, standing to give the Hokage a deep bow.
"Thank you, Lady Mizukage. We're happy to stand by you."
She nods and then addresses you and Hannah. "Mei is perfectly fine in private."
"Hannah."
"Joshua."
"Wonderful. These are my trusted officers, Ao and Blues. Ao handles sensor duties and works with our ANBU. Blues is in charge of our naval divisions. Maritime warfare has become pretty complex, you know."
"Only thanks to your genius, milady."
"Oh, stop. Really..." She regains her composure. "I did make a few innovations, but nothing much. Anyways, take care. We'll meet again quite soon."
"Yes, Lady Mizukage," you say in unison. She nods, looking pleased, and then heads out with Blues and Ao following behind her.
"Whew...what a day. Not even deep into the afternoon yet, and...what a mess we're in now," Minato says. "I wonder how the clans will take this."
"We'll be able to convince quite a few. I have great confidence in the ability of these children, as you do," Hiruzen says. "The Sarutobi Clan will follow along with your decision, Lord Hokage."
Shikaku sighs. "You've been pretty reckless, but that's expected...still, from what I've been observing, I have a lot of confidence in your decision, Lord Hokage. It would have come to a head with the Cloud eventually. We now have several powerful allies at our side to face down that threat. Inoichi and Choza will be onboard. So that's the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans with you too."
"The Uchiha are a lock. They're big on lineage and family, and they admire Jacob West. From what Mikoto has told me and Kushina, they'll support us all the way. From there, the other small clans will fall in line, probably. Our only point of contention would be Hyuuga...but this isn't ordinary circumstance, and they're definitely not fans of the Cloud. We can pull them in, too. I think we're fine."
"Danzo won't like it," Shikaku says.
"He doesn't like much. I'll deal with him. Anyways...I'm kinda starved. And I haven't gone walking around the village much lately. I don't want to bother Kushina with cooking today. You kids interested in lunch?"
"A little casual, aren't we..."
"Ah, don't be such a wet blanket, Shikaku. We're just gonna cool off at Ichiraku, or somewhere."
"Then I'm gonna raid your office for something to drink, and get started on the paperwork."
"I have a meeting with Shisui to get to," Hiruzen says. "Take care, young ones. May the Will of Fire continue to burn brightly within you."
The two leave, and Minato stands up to stretch his limbs. "Ah. That's good. So, lunch? If you decline, that's okay too. I know your friend Ritsu is waiting for you at the hotel."
"Lunch sounds nice," Hannah remarks as she stands up. "It was tense earlier..."
"Yeah. A lot went down. Still trying to absorb it," you say as you follow suit. "Maybe some downtime around the village would be cool."
---
[] Lunch with the Hokage sounds nice. You just want to get your mind away from what happened earlier, at least for a little bit.
[] Head back "home" to Ritsu. She'll be happy to see you both safe...though the prospect of war might not be terribly pleasant.
[] Custom option.
---
Current.
Leaf: Allies; formed a conditional alliance with Joshua and Hannah (Ritsu included by nature) and has given out official designation as an ally of the village. In a conditional alliance with the Hidden Mist.
Mist: Allies; formed a formal alliance with Joshua and Hannah. In a conditional alliance with the Hidden Leaf.
Rock: Neutral/unknown; offer of protection and conditional entry into Iron Country for Joshua and Hannah. Refused.
Cloud: Extremely hostile; demanded that Joshua submit to interrogation and confinement indefinitely wrt incidents involving Madara Uchiha, aka the Masked Man, among others. Refused. Triggered S-Class designation in the Bingo Book as a terrorist. Nations suspected or confirmed to be allied with him are treated as hostile, and "defiant actions" towards the Hidden Cloud are considered acts of war.
Sand: Extremely hostile; requested the services of Hannah for a term of at least one (1) year in duration. Refused. Triggered a conditional alliance with the Hidden Cloud and set the same conditions for war.
---
so yeah expect a slate of high speed punching soon™
enjoy
Together.
Together. We can move forward.
Some part of you says to weigh this a lot more. It says to be rational about it. Consider the risks and if they outweigh the possible rewards.
You are told that war is not an easy thing. You shouldn't launch into it as an act of defiance. It is brutal. It serves only as an endgame. Do you want to be responsible for the ordinary people being trampled? Do you want to be responsible for the misery and suffering that is sure to come? Do you want to be responsible for the darkness?
Do you want to be the reason for war?
You were built for this.
Like your mothers and fathers before you. You are a child of the gennohito, the first warriors that walked this earth, the ones who built and ruled and still rule for generations that number in the hundreds. Without chakra, they are awe-inspiring.
With chakra, they are transcendent.
You carry the blessing of a name. A title that comes to all those enlightened, but which was given to you before you were born. Out of the earth, from your mother, blessed as a queen, and united with the strength of your father, blessed as a king. From your many mothers and fathers, the title that they claim with 360 degrees of godhood: God Cipher Divine.
And you, who know yourself, hold that title too.
By now, Hannah's tears have dried. She looks at you once more with understanding, and then realization starts to spark and grow in her eyes. She sees that you've chosen a path with confidence.
"I'm going to give you your wish, Hannah."
"Delivering yet another dream to me. You spoil me. You fill my heart to bursting, over and over. Thank you...I will take this chance. I will make it blossom...I will change this world, with you by my side."
You return your attention to the table, looking out at the Five Kage as they sit and wait. With a sharp breath out, you focus on the Raikage.
"My choice is to fight for what I believe in. I won't go anywhere with you under duress. I won't give in to your threats."
A looks down on you. "You've made a grave mistake, boy. You doom the shinobi world and yourself with this selfishness."
"I know who I am, and I know my value. I'm going to change this world, and if it means fighting you every day of my life, then that's what I'll do. I'll challenge you, and I'll win. I promise, Raikage."
"My beloved has spoken," Hannah says clearly. "The man who opened my heart, and allowed me to see a beautiful future for myself, and this world. We are those of the light, chosen of heaven, children of Almighty God. I reject you shinobi, and I reject your world. I promise to challenge you, and I promise to shout victory when this war ends."
"Unfortunate," Rasa says.
"On the name of Hokage, and on my name as Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash. I promise to stand behind these children and guide them forward into the future. I believe in a better world. I choose to put myself on the line."
"On the name of Mizukage, and on my name as Mei Terumi, the Crimson Devil. I promise to stand beside these children and walk with them, into a better, brighter world. We chosen of heaven are going to fulfil our duty, and bring this darkened world into the light."
"Then this meeting is over. The lines have been drawn. Hokage, I stand disappointed in you," A says. "And Mizukage, you are a fool. I will become a terror the likes you would have never seen from Yagura. Your village will soon be crushed for your insolence, and I will teach you to fear my fury."
"Then once the tournament ends, we'll see each other next on the battlefield. I want you to understand, A...I'm not the Yellow Flash you knew from before. I'm just as much of a monster as you."
"Hmph. We will see, then." A gets up and his bodyguards follow suit. "The tournament should be completed without incident. I will wait until I return home before figuring out how to divide your countrymen for use."
"By all means. I'm sure you have enough experience with failed plans for the Leaf."
"..." A is silent as he leaves, escorted by two ANBU who emerge from the far side of the room.
"I must say, it is disappointing. Such talent shouldn't be wasted," Rasa says to Hannah as he stands. "If you change your mind, there's always a place for you in the Hidden Sand."
"So you can leash me like a bitch, and step on my back at your pleasure. If I were into that sort of play, I have much better options, Kazekage. A word of advice: author a prayer for yourself, that I not come within striking distance of your shambolic little village. I make no promises that it won't be left as an empty, blood-caked dustbowl in my wake."
"Bold statement for someone who wished so dramatically for peace."
"Not quite. Ending war means ending the warmongers. You happen to qualify. In war, we do not get to pick and choose who the innocent are when we do battle. The heavens will sort that much out."
"Are you...quite ready to endure? To take the burden of war upon your shoulders? You will not be remembered as heroes. Perhaps not remembered at all," Pakura says.
"This is so. However, as my friend has said in the past...we are not heroes, nor do we pose as them. The folly of heaven sits beyond the wisdom of man. We do not seek validation from shinobi."
"Call us devils. We're ready for it," you follow. "We can carry the burden, together."
She closes her eyes and nods. "Then we'll see the truth of your conviction on the battlefield. Until then."
The Kazekage and his entourage leave.
"Well, that was more than enough excitement for one day. I must say, you were more sincere than I first realized, Mizukage. To so easily put your village in danger for two budding renegades like that," Oonoki says.
"They're more than worth it."
"Really? I figured you would be more worried about marrying and making sure you had a heir before throwing yourself into another war."
"Hmph. Marriage can wait this time. There are things of greater importance, as hard as it might be for you to believe."
"Ha! Well, if you change your minds about your ambitious plans, my office door is open. I'll try not to pull anything too underhanded while you're gone...Akatsuchi, Kitsuchi. Time for us to leave. We have plenty to go over before we get home..."
The Tsuchikage floats up and out of his chair before leaving with his bodyguards.
That just leaves the ten of you.
"War won't be starting just yet," Minato says. "We have time to get out in front of this whole mess. The tournament will be spread out over a week, more or less. Saturday for the opening round, then Wednesday for the semifinals, and then next Saturday for the grand finals. Normally we don't have such a gap, but the daimyo insisted collectively."
"More money, I suppose," Mei says.
"Pretty much. It's not a bad thing, really. The kids get more time to rest too, instead of cramming it into one day. Doesn't do much for the endurance testing, but this is pretty much a spectacle event anyways, so having them in better condition makes for better fights."
"I don't think about it too much...this kind of thing between children."
"Normal, but that's what it is. We can change that in time, maybe get rid of it if people want, but I doubt it. Non-lethal sparring one day? I can see something like that catching on. But the shinobi life is hard, and these kinds of events make the danger evident. Hopefully as the world changes, we can too."
"Agreed." Mei turns and gives you a smile. "As I said, I have no regrets when it comes to standing with you two. I really do admire your bravery."
"As do I. Though I would have to test your ability in conflict," Blues says, speaking for the first time. "The word is strong, but the sword must be sharp as well."
"Ah...I think you'll have a chance to get what you want soon enough," Minato says to her. "In any case, we're allies now. So you can request the data you need."
"Many thanks, Lord Hokage. Our resources are available upon request as well. Lady Mizukage, we must be going. Our scheduled meeting is coming up soon."
"Mm. I almost forgot in this chaos. Thank you, Blues."
"Of course. To serve you is my reason for being."
"Well, you're not that boring. But I appreciate you. Yes, it's time to go for now. Hokage, shall we set up a formal meeting later?"
"Sure. We can talk on Saturday about it and go over details."
"Excellent. Then we'll see each other at the tourney. Thank you again for joining with me," Mei says, standing to give the Hokage a deep bow.
"Thank you, Lady Mizukage. We're happy to stand by you."
She nods and then addresses you and Hannah. "Mei is perfectly fine in private."
"Hannah."
"Joshua."
"Wonderful. These are my trusted officers, Ao and Blues. Ao handles sensor duties and works with our ANBU. Blues is in charge of our naval divisions. Maritime warfare has become pretty complex, you know."
"Only thanks to your genius, milady."
"Oh, stop. Really..." She regains her composure. "I did make a few innovations, but nothing much. Anyways, take care. We'll meet again quite soon."
"Yes, Lady Mizukage," you say in unison. She nods, looking pleased, and then heads out with Blues and Ao following behind her.
"Whew...what a day. Not even deep into the afternoon yet, and...what a mess we're in now," Minato says. "I wonder how the clans will take this."
"We'll be able to convince quite a few. I have great confidence in the ability of these children, as you do," Hiruzen says. "The Sarutobi Clan will follow along with your decision, Lord Hokage."
Shikaku sighs. "You've been pretty reckless, but that's expected...still, from what I've been observing, I have a lot of confidence in your decision, Lord Hokage. It would have come to a head with the Cloud eventually. We now have several powerful allies at our side to face down that threat. Inoichi and Choza will be onboard. So that's the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans with you too."
"The Uchiha are a lock. They're big on lineage and family, and they admire Jacob West. From what Mikoto has told me and Kushina, they'll support us all the way. From there, the other small clans will fall in line, probably. Our only point of contention would be Hyuuga...but this isn't ordinary circumstance, and they're definitely not fans of the Cloud. We can pull them in, too. I think we're fine."
"Danzo won't like it," Shikaku says.
"He doesn't like much. I'll deal with him. Anyways...I'm kinda starved. And I haven't gone walking around the village much lately. I don't want to bother Kushina with cooking today. You kids interested in lunch?"
"A little casual, aren't we..."
"Ah, don't be such a wet blanket, Shikaku. We're just gonna cool off at Ichiraku, or somewhere."
"Then I'm gonna raid your office for something to drink, and get started on the paperwork."
"I have a meeting with Shisui to get to," Hiruzen says. "Take care, young ones. May the Will of Fire continue to burn brightly within you."
The two leave, and Minato stands up to stretch his limbs. "Ah. That's good. So, lunch? If you decline, that's okay too. I know your friend Ritsu is waiting for you at the hotel."
"Lunch sounds nice," Hannah remarks as she stands up. "It was tense earlier..."
"Yeah. A lot went down. Still trying to absorb it," you say as you follow suit. "Maybe some downtime around the village would be cool."
---
[] Lunch with the Hokage sounds nice. You just want to get your mind away from what happened earlier, at least for a little bit.
[] Head back "home" to Ritsu. She'll be happy to see you both safe...though the prospect of war might not be terribly pleasant.
[] Custom option.
---
Current.
Leaf: Allies; formed a conditional alliance with Joshua and Hannah (Ritsu included by nature) and has given out official designation as an ally of the village. In a conditional alliance with the Hidden Mist.
Mist: Allies; formed a formal alliance with Joshua and Hannah. In a conditional alliance with the Hidden Leaf.
Rock: Neutral/unknown; offer of protection and conditional entry into Iron Country for Joshua and Hannah. Refused.
Cloud: Extremely hostile; demanded that Joshua submit to interrogation and confinement indefinitely wrt incidents involving Madara Uchiha, aka the Masked Man, among others. Refused. Triggered S-Class designation in the Bingo Book as a terrorist. Nations suspected or confirmed to be allied with him are treated as hostile, and "defiant actions" towards the Hidden Cloud are considered acts of war.
Sand: Extremely hostile; requested the services of Hannah for a term of at least one (1) year in duration. Refused. Triggered a conditional alliance with the Hidden Cloud and set the same conditions for war.
---
so yeah expect a slate of high speed punching soon™
enjoy
