A huge river is flowing through the forest of the Phoenix country,which instead of the regular gurgling sound that rivers usually make, it generated a sound that seemed like rhythmical footsteps. It was a river composed of soldiers, samurais and captives.
Somewhere in this river our hero marches as well, keeping an eye on the chakra-molding pirate.He sent his clone made from pure lightning to scout further into the forest, in case of an attack. Everything were going perfect until someone approached Hayato.
"Uhmm... 'xcuse me!"
Hayato ignored him at first,since he was focused on monitoring Tomoko.
"Ahem...'xcuse-"
"What do you want?! Don't you see I'm busy?"Hayato abrupted him with irritation in his voice, after turning around.
The voice was coming from a soldier who was smoking a pipe. Noticeable were his huge eye bugs and bloodshot eyes. Well... It was clear what kind of " ingredients" were in his pipe.
" What's the matter?" he asked the soldier with calmness.
The soldier put his hand into his pocket and grabbed an envelope.
"Y'got a message from Mo-I mean Akira-sama."he spoke with a bored voice, while staring at Hayato's eyes with a deadpan expression.
Hayato then rudely snatched the envelope from his hand and quickly opened it.The envelope bore a red seal on which a two-headed eagle was engraved. He had seen this symbol on charred flags that were scattered around the war-stricken locations.
" Aye aye chill out man the message ain't goin' anywhere, haha! "the soldier laughed, releasing a horribly smelling breath.
Hayato didn't pay any attention to him to carefully read the message;
3rd of December, Satsuma
Hayato
I'm sending this letter to you because the Daimyo would like to have a talk with you about highly classified information about the Otsutsuki that you will surely find interesting. Well, I could have shared this information with you myself but it seems the Daimyo would like to talk to you about some diplomatic and military(?) missions with high reward.
The location of the Daimyo's palace is marked on the map that was probably given to you together with the letter. And don't worry, your identity is also classified and its only known to me, the Daimyo and the army. Be careful!
Sincerely,
Takahisa Akira (alien bitch)
Hayato was rather skeptical about Aki's decision to reveal his identity to a person that holds so much power, like the Daimyo. Of course, since he charged at Satsuma's walls back then with his original appearance, he thought that the news about a "devil" that speaks in human language and thinks like a human would had probably propagated through the army like wildfire. His identity being revealed to the Daimyo was just a matter of time.
What kinda frustrated him about this letter was the possible reason of why the head of Satsuma revealed his identity to the Daimyo. From the letter, Hayato understood that the Daimyo wants to use him for the country's affairs and he definitely didn't want to mix himself again with politics. On the other hand, what he wouldn't do for information about the Otsutsuki.
Hayato then flipped the letter and found a small map of the Phoenix country on the other side of the paper,which had a red dot that marked the Daimyo's palace.
"Alright understood, I'm heading there right now" he informed the soldier and jumped on a tree's branch. He decided to leave his clone behind in order to watch over the convoy.
"W-where the fuck is he going?" thought Tomoko.
Surprisingly, none of the soldiers reacted to Hayato doing an impossible jump for a human. Not only that, they also didn't ask any questions when they witnessed the pirates utterly defeated by one person. Those men had probably seen weird stuff during their careers.
Hayato's body was engulfed with lightning bolts, and with his sage mode activated to enhance his perception, he passed through the forests, mountains and plains in no time, like an alive thunder. He finally made it to the city where the Daimyo was, and surprise surprise, this city was the capital of the Phoenix country.It's name was "Koshiku".
The city was built on a basin, with the shadow of a tall mountain covering it. On this mountain cherry blossom trees vegetated, giving it a pinkish color.It's walls were huge, almost twice as big as Satsuma's and the buildings were higher as well, having over 5 or 6 floors each.The roads were paved with marble, in comparison to Satsuma where the roads were paved with gravel.Overall, Satsuma was like a shithole compared to that city.
Overly, the human development index seemed that it was much higher in this city.
The residents were definitely wealthier as well, judging from their clothes that appeared to be of very good craftsmanship. Lastly, the military there looked like it was funded more, since the samurai there preferred to protect themselves with high quality plate armor, painted with the usual red color of Phoenix country's army.
Hayato thought it was better to tour around the city later, since his priority was meeting the Daimyo. He asked a few people around for directions to his palace. Though he got the directions he wanted, many of those who he asked advised him to not go there. And that's when his interest peaked.
He hopped from roof to roof in order to avoid the crowd on the road and reach the palace faster. As Hayato approached his destination, a loud habbub could be heard which was getting louder and louder as he was getting closer to the palace.
The palace was huge, huge enough to make that of Satsuma's seem like a wooden shut,and the source of the hubbub was also found. The was a violent riot ongoing.
Hayato took a good look on the rioters. They seemed like foot soldiers, though they were armed more poorly. They wore a chainmail long-sleeved shirt, trousers and conical helmes that had metallic cheekguards. Each of them were armed only with a katana.
Some of them didn't even wore armor, others had a missing eye or foot or arm. They were trying to get into the palace, though their attempts were halted by samurai that seemed like royal guards.
"WHY ARE YOU STOPPING US!? AREN'T WE COMRADES!?" one of the rioters shouted.
"WHERE IS THIS PUSSY DAIMYO?! WHEN IS HE GOING TO PAY REPARATIONS?!" another one screamed.
"HOW MANY FAMILY MEMBERS DO I HAVE TO LOSE FOT YOU TO FIND A DIPLOMATIC SOLUTION?! MY CHILDREN ARE STARVING AS WELL!" and another roared with all of his might.
Hayato, confused and intrigued as well, descended from the rooftops, transformed as a bird and hid behind a barrel, undoing his transformation.
He then approached an elder who was watching the riot from a safe distance.
"Uhm... sir? Can you enlighten me please about what is going on?" Hayato asked kindly.
"Hmm. I assume your neither from this city nor from this country, isn't it son?" the elder replied with a question.
"Hahah, yes! You are right!I'm a merchant!" Hayato answered awkwardly, surprised by his statement.
"Those rioters are neither foot soldiers nor samurai. Those are border guards."the elder said.
" From the 5-year ongoing war with the Empire of Mesur, this guys are the once who suffered the most. Since they are border guards they saw a lot of conflict and killing and there were times that they had to fight alone the massive enemy army.Raids, attrition, hunger and diseases were the status quo for them.
Most of those people now are homeless, without family or money since most of their properties were either burned down or went to the block, after the territories where they lived were ceded to the empire. If I'm not mistaken, they ask for material compensations and diplomatic solution to the war."the elder man explained.
" The Empire of Mesur? What kind of weird name is this? "wondered Hayato and immediately searched that country on his HUD map.
The Empire of Mesur was a gigantic state that stretched from the ex-Wind, Bird, Rivers,Stone countries and also possessed lands from the ex-Earth and Fire countries. The only bit of land that separated the Phoenix country and the Empire of Mesur was a tiny bit on the old Amegakure, which was unmapped.
Well, Hayato didn't care much about the politics of this period for now.He just cared about getting his hands on those Otsutsuki info, even if he had to get past of all those rioters and guards.
"Sooo, the Daimyo is in the palace now?" Hayato asked the man.
"No, I think he is on that mountain, praying on a shrine. I think he also has guards with him." the elder replied,while showing the cherry blossom mountain whose shadow covered the whole city
Hayato then nodded positively.
"I'm gonna leave know mister, 'cause the goods are not going to be sold by themselves.I think it's better for you to leave as well because the situation is heating up. Anyways, thank you for your kind explanation!" Hayato left while waving at him with a smile.
As he finished his sentence, tensions started to rise dangerously around the place. The guards shoved away the rioters trying to enter the building and some of theme even unsheathed their weapons.
" Yeah, you better do kid. The last time a riot this scale occurred, blood littered the earth." the old man warned him.
Hayato didn't want to waste any time and immediately left the scene. He once again climbed a building and started jumping from roof to roof, with his destination the mountain this time.
He made it to the base of the mountain on which a path made of cobblestone was built. At the sides of the path two statues were constructed, resembling monks sitting cross-legged. What drew his attention was the fact that on their foreheads, a third eye like a Rinnesharingan was engraved. Both of those statues held an open scroll,each with a different script.
"Trust is the fundament of every relation. No one progressed without building healthy relationships through trust". That was inscripted on the one on the left.
"Question everything and everyone, even the quote on the left. Questioning means research, research means knowledge, knowledge means advancement.".And that was inscripted on the one on the right. Hayato didn't spend anymore time on those statues and thought it was better to continue on the path.
Just before starting, he activated his sensory abilities. There was a faint signal of chakra, barely reaching civilian level. Was it the Daimyo that was praying or one of his guards?
Hayato didn't let his guard down, just in case something bad happened. His first interaction with Aki taught him a few things.
_____
As he was running though the cherry blossom trees, that feeling of unsureness and doubt stroke him again. Those feelings were not revolving around the info he was about to get. He... couldn't define from were those feelings were coming from, so he partially ignored them.And with those thoughts in mind he kept on heading to his destination.
After reaching the top of the mountain, Hayato distinguished a small shrine that was built upon a mound, not taller than 5 meters. On the top of that mound there was a figure, sitting on it's knees and was also muttering something.That figure definitely belonged to a man. This was the Daimyo!
"You can undo your transformation, no one is here to witness your otherworldly appearance." the man spoke and got up. There were no guards like the elder said, just him. So the chakra signal was coming from the Daimyo!
Hayato obediently canceled his transformation, revealing his appearance to him.
" Uhm sir-I mean... Daimyo-sama! I was sent here by Akira, the head of Satsuma.She informed me that you have info to share about uhmm... you know uhmm...-"
"The Otsutsuki." the Daimyo interrupted him, completing his sentence.
"Yes! Yes!Exactly!" Hayato said enthusiastically.
The Daimyo then turned around and faced him directly. He nailed his cold gaze at Hayato's eyes.
"May I ask, Uchiha-san, what are you going to do with those info?" the Daimyo asked him with a serious tone in his voice.
A question that pierced through Hayato's chest. He finally managed to find the source of this unsureness and doubt.Our hero was so focused on getting the info that he literally forgot planning his next move or analyze different strategies, scenarios and possibilities that he had to follow later.
"In order to move against them!For what else would I want those info?!"Hayato gave him a rough answer.
" And what do you mean by 'move against them'? "the Daimyo answered with another question.
The second question cought Hayato off guard. He wasn't really sure how to reply,so he stayed silent for a bit.
" I mean to, if there are any of them still on Earth, sent them back from were they came from!Return this world to it's rightful owners!" Hayato responded with a rougher answer.
The Daimyo's serious expression changed as he tried to not burst out laughing.He couldn't help it and let out a huge bark of laughter. The Daimyo slowly walked behind a cherry blossom tree, and then...a mysterious, yet terrifying phenomenon.
Hayato's HUD graphics started glitching and lagging,as he felt a terrible headache, like something was drilling his head. His hearing was corrupted and the only thing he could hear was a loud buzz.He could barely even move himself.This anomaly wasn't caused by some kind of interference with his systems.
It was caused by sensing this man's chakra signal.His chakra levels had risen tremendously and even Aki's chakra weren't even remotely comparable to his. This man wasn't human...
He came out of the tree with completely different appearance and attire. This... appearance wasn't unknown to Hayato.Someone recently described to him an identical appearance.
"Y-You are...!" Hayato stuttered shocked, raised his arm and pointed at him. Unable to keep his cool, his arm started trembling, producing a rattling metallic noise.
"Otsutsuki Omoikane. My pleasure Hayato-san!" the man in celestial robes exclaimed and sarcastically bowed.
Tomoko's description was literally identical to his look. Though strangely, Hayato didn't feel fear and horror when he witnessed him. The aura that Omoikane gave out didn't feel... hostile.
"Aki...it appears you deceived. Well, not surprised." Hayato thought, as this possibility always existed at the back of his mind.Deep inside him, he was expecting it.
The Otsutsuki then menacingly walked towards the edge of the mount and faced down Hayato. He placed his one feet on a rock and leaned his arm against it.
" Return this world to it's original owners you said? Look, there are 20.000 of my clansmen still residing on this planet for over 3000 years. A time span big enough for them to consider this planet their home. Several children were born during this time period and they haven't known another home. They think of themselves as indigenous! "he paused for a bit.
" Those children, children which I see as children of mine as well, bear little to no difference than your average human child,except from a pale skin and lavender eyes.They feel, think, eat, run, play, sleep, laugh...
I'll take you to one of those children and you are going to say to their faces that they have to abandon the only home that they had ever known. A home that their parents RIGHTFULLY conquered. A home of such beauty, that it was decided to not harvest it's chakra for a God Tree. Instead, it was decided to become our new homeworld. A homeworld that would make us forget about our everlasting lust for power. "he paused once again.
His way of speech, his way of forming his sentences and formulating his thoughts was truly admirable.This man spoke like an orator.
" And you shouldn't forget that this conquest bears your signature, Hayato-san! "Omoikane spoke intensely and pointed at him.
Omoikane's final words made the "chain" around Hayato's heart tighten to the point that it was impossible to even breath. This chain of guilt, wrapped around his heart from an early age, grew bigger and bigger as mistakes and misfortunes occurred during his life.
Hayato had an expression of desperation and angst on his face,his facial features squinted to the point he was unrecognizable.
He breathed slowly and placed his hand on his chest. His heart beat like machinegun fire and tears started flowing through his face. Terrible times were recalled.
_______
Not able to bear his pain, he fell on his knees while holding his chest tightly with both of his hands.And thus, everything darkened. Suddenly Hayato found himself in the depths of a lake made from pure blood, drowning and desperately trying to call for help. Then, a figure swam near him, a figure of a shinobi. The shinobi had no face, like it was cut from a sword.
"It's your fault! " the shinobi shouted to Hayato.Several other shinobi then, each one of them bearing a fatal wound, gathered around him.
"It's your fault!" they all chanted together.
While doing his best to ignore them, Hayato swam towards the surface of the lake.After reaching the surface, panting from lack of oxygen, it was made clear to him that this lake wasn't in the middle of a forest or plain. It was in the middle of the main Konoha street. Everything around him was burning, crumbling, exploding. Though screams could be heard, no one was in the street, except a woman, holding her dead baby, which was probably a newborn.
"The king has died because of you." spoke the woman with a dead expression on her face.
Not wanting to answer, Hayato glanced at the Hokage Monument,and noticed and that every face was destroyed, except the one of the 1st Hokage.
Mysteriously, the face of Hashirama Senju stared upon Hayato from up there. It had a look of rage on it and seemed like it was alive. It's eyes made of rock seemed full of hatred and anger.
"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" screeched the face so loud, that it made Hayato's ears bleed.
_______
"It's not...my fault." Hayato whispered to himself while sobbing, cowering in fear and shaking.
Omoikane, upon noticing Hayato's psychotic state, he couldn't help but smirk behind his mask.
"OH! Whats is this? All that machinery inside you can't ease your pain or stop your tears? Isn't that machinery supposed to help you overcome the human imperfections?" Omoikane exclaimed sarcastically.He stretched then his left arm and opened him palm, which had a yellow Rinnengan,and pulled Hayato towards him.
" So, under this calmness and sarcasm that I saw during your fight with Tomoko, resides guilt, sadness and desperation? Are those that what led you to Aki's help?Hn! It seems that you don't implement in your life the quotes that are engraved on the statues at the beginning of the path!" said Omoikane, commenting on the seal that Aki casted on Hayato, the" DEAL" seal.
"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM ALL!" Hayato growled while clenching his jaw, as a response to him.His expression of utter sadness and desperation changed to utter rage and fury.
" I assume that those who we killed were shinobi right? Well... What if we did? How did ordinary humans benefited from the shinobi system? Well guess what.They didn't! Instead they suffered from it!" Omoikane answered to Hayato's nonsensical growl, with clarity and sense.
"Hayato-san, the only reason why your head isn't already on a pole is because of that Karma on your right shoulder!I will tear you limb by limb, if it's needed, in order to find the host!" Omoikane continued, speaking more intensively and passionately.
Then, the vessel that contained Hayato's fury exploded, making him releasing his rage. As he was levitating by Omoikane's Bansou Ten'in technique, he activated his sage mode once again.
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!" he howled vigorously and let out a shockwave from natural energy, forcing Omoikane to cancel his technique, letting Hayato free. Hayato took advantage of the opening that he made, but instead of attacking he shiftly dashed back to his original location. The shockwave turned the mount and the shrine literally into debris anf dust.
Hayato tried to relax himself. He wiped his tears and took a deep breath in order to forget all those horrible memories that popped in his head earlier.An empty head was needed to inflict some damage to him.
He then unhesitantly unsheathed his dagger, which was straight single edged and long bladed, and placed the blade horizontally on his mouth, bitting it fiercely.
"Watch out! The blade is going to break, heheheh." Omoikane said jokingly and let out a chuckle,looking down on him by a tree branch.
He then put his hand into his sleeveless coat and pulled out a scroll.
"You know, this battle won't have the outcome you want." he warned Hayato, whose rage now had subsided, but not entirely...
... TO BE CONTINUED